Olympics: Olyroos v Argentina

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We are all very quick to jump on Arnie’s back when we think that he gets it wrong. So, it is refreshing to say that I think the changes to the starting line-up were pretty much on the money. Out went players that would undoubtedly struggle with the pace and trickery of the Argentineans (Topor-Stanley and McClenahan). In came ball players with Troisi, Kilkenny and Celeski and also a much less direct style of attack.

I think you have to be a pretty harsh critic to not applaud the team for the obvious improvements from the game against Serbia. I think the best way to sum up the game is to recognise that we were outplayed at times by a team with world-class talent while for long periods, we held our own and forged chances through good enterprising play.

The Argentineans should have scored more goals. Messi missed a sitter by his standards in the 3^rd minute when he blazed over from only about five metres out. He had more other good chances in the game, as did Riquelme, Aguero, Lavezzi and even the goal-shy Mascherano. We rode our luck on several occasions but Federici also came up with some quality saves while Spiranovic was again a standout. His timing with challenges and reading of the play is top-class. As for the other backs, North and Carney were solid as usual. Zadkovich delivered a bit of a mixed bag. He was solid in defence but his inability to complete passes and make the right decisions really makes a waste of those surging runs that he makes. At 22, is he going to improve much more? Maybe. Australians have a habit of developing late. Maybe he is not the complete lost cause that many believe he is.

I thought Musialik was again excellent and I can’t wait for him to come back and start to pull the strings for Sydney. His distribution was a class above that of Milligan and his superb first-time ball towards the end for Rukavytsya was an incisive pass that Riquelme would have been proud of. I thought Milligan was a bit anonymous. The play was going through the other midfielders while he didn’t do a great job of shielding the back four. Riquelme shrugged him off as he surged through the midfield of before giving the ball to Aguero who setup Lavezzi for the winner. His challenges were often too easy for the likes of Messi to side-step and once dragged out of position, this often caused problems for the defenders as someone had to come out of the backline to meet the running midfielder. It is a bit of a shame that Milligan hasn’t kicked on since the Asian Cup. With the rise of North and Spiranovic, you have to wonder if he will be able to break into the Socceroos given that defensive midfield is packed with stars.

As for the other midfielders, I thought Celeski was the pick of the attacking midfield trio. He was very lively, always willing to take on defenders, provided excellent link-up play all around the park and was often an outlet for Musialik. He provided Australia’s first genuine chance when he jinxed around a few defenders at the edge of the box before his shot was blocked. A ball to the far post would probably have been better while his dribbling was not as elegant as Messi with the ball bouncing kindly off a defender. Still, you make your own luck. Merrick needs to rethink the idea of playing this kid at full-back where his talent is really wasted. He will definitely come out of this tournament with his reputation bettered. My complaint with Troisi always seems to be the same: lively when he has the ball but he isn’t involved enough over the course of the 90 minutes. Again, he floated in and out of the game and I got no idea why. Celeski and Troisi were a real contrast in this respect: one was really making things happen for himself and the team while the other seemed to be waiting for things to happen to him. Kilkenny was solid but not spectacular. He is good on the ball and doesn’t hit speculative passes which helped to shorten our passing game.

I guess the major problem was the lack of quality strikers. Thompson again showed that he has great work-rate but he had a few opportunities when he was shoulder to shoulder with the last defender and had a chance to run and shoot. He would usually pull up and find a pass. This also happened with Rukavytsya at the death when he had the chance to take on the final defender. He decided to pass to the on rushing Zadkovich who hit an awful shot wide of the target. If Messi had the ball in these positions, there would only be on thought on his mind: beat the player and shoot. We carved out chances but through a combination of poor finishing and perhaps lack of confidence, we failed to score.

So, plenty of positives. The Ivory Coast beat Serbia so it looks like if we can beat the Africans, we will progress. A draw will not do. If we play like we did today, we are in with a chance. The Elephants are a team that embarrass defences and rack up plenty of chances and goals. Our defence will need to be very solid again.

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