Socceroos

[Tigerfan]

good one Antman, thanks.

i certainly hope our internationals can be available to help in our world cup qualifiers while we develop others in the asia cup.

wouldn't it be nice if an Aussie coached us too?

 

[AngryAnt]

good one Antman, thanks.

i certainly hope our internationals can be available to help in our world cup qualifiers while we develop others in the asia cup.

wouldn't it be nice if an Aussie coached us too?

No worries DDT! World Cup qualification will be a top priority for the FFA so expect to see top guys back for crunch qualification games - don't expect all back for every game though. As always it will be a balancing act for the FFA.

An Aussie coaching? Would have to be Arnold - he has the reigns until after the AFC finals so lets see how he goes.

I think the FFA will probably try to get a high profile coach for the World Cup campaign though - a return by Hiddink is not out of the question at this stage.

 

[Tigerfan]

it can't be long until we play kuwait ???

 

[skybeau]

Thursday morning, I think...3:15am on SBS...but yeah, its this week, noticed it in the TV guide.

 

[AngryAnt]

Thursday morning, I think...3:15am on SBS...but yeah, its this week, noticed it in the TV guide.

Yep, that's right Skybeau - 3.15am-6am Thursday. I am going to tape it and wake up at 6am to watch - 3.15 is too early for me for a cup qualifier we have already qualified for! We do want to top the group though as it will benefit our seeding for the finals.

Culina is out with a hammy - it will be a defensive game plan with attempts to score on the counter attack/ fast break. Apparently it will still be 40 degrees C at the kickoff time. Arnie says he will start the 7 WC players and then make choices from the remaining young guys... see story at http://theworldgame.com.au/home/index.php?pid=st&cid=74772

 

[AngryAnt]

What a fizzer.

We should have scored three in the first half. The second half (which I mostly fast-forwarded) the Kuwaitis seemed to cope better with the heat and conditions and ran over the top of us.

All is not lost however - we can still top the group with a win over Bahrain in Sydney next month.

 

[JPM]

A very poor effort and result, still not professional enough as a unit.

Arnold has no chance of remaining as/for anything more than a caretaker coach, his instructions to the group are obviously not clear, the players were running around like headless chocks, all over the shop, especially defensively and in the middle of the park!

And lets not even mention the goal keeping, made a certain other keepers perfomance against Croatia look okay! :-[

 

[Liverpool]

Calm down people.....it was a game that didn't matter, was played in 40+ degree heat, we had 1-day preparation, with a team that hadn't played much before.

If we win against Bahrain, we'll be top of the group....so no knee-jerk reactions....see Italy only drew with Lithuania the other day at home, Northern Ireland beat Spain, England beat Macedonia 1-0......all good teams have some poor results at times.
Its just important we don't get too worked-up about it, thats all...and concentrate on the games that DO matter.

 

[AngryAnt]

A very poor effort and result, still not professional enough as a unit.

Arnold has no chance of remaining as/for anything more than a caretaker coach, his instructions to the group are obviously not clear, the players were running around like headless chocks, all over the shop, especially defensively and in the middle of the park!

And lets not even mention the goal keeping, made a certain other keepers perfomance against Croatia look okay! :-[

Neither of the goals were Schwarzer's fault. The first goal the guy was not tracked back and had a free header. The second goal the guy beat a player (or two) and fired in a great shot into the top corner far post. Defensive errors yes - but not the fault of the keeper.

I didn't see much of the rest of the second half so don't know what bloopers Schwarzer made after that but no more goals were scored.

 

[AngryAnt]

Calm down people.....it was a game that didn't matter, was played in 40+ degree heat, we had 1-day preparation, with a team that hadn't played much before.

Spot on Pool-Man. Dead rubber in difficult conditions - and I thought we played well for most of the first half. We should have scored which would have changed the game.

Lets see what happens in Sydney next month before we put Arnie's head on a pike.

Since we have moved into Asia many were of the opinion that we would be undefeated. Now we have lost people want to lynch the coach. People - away games in Asia are not easy. The sooner we learn this the better.

 

[JPM]

Schwarzer's positioning on many occassions, and especially in the second half, were poor for a keeper of his standing. His timing when coming off his line was deplorable, and he needs to help out with the positioning of his last line of defence especially.

He will never make captain, has no voice on the pitch, he needs to be barking orders back there and helping the formation/positioning. Gee they really miss Lucas Neil back there, not just for his skill, but his voice and organisational skills.

 

[AngryAnt]

Schwarzer's positioning on many occassions, and especially in the second half, were poor for a keeper of his standing. His timing when coming off his line was deplorable, and he needs to help out with the positioning of his last line of defence especially.

FBF - like I said I didn't watch the second half properly but will check it out tonight. Agree that it would be nice to have Lucas available for all our games but that ain't gonna happen.

I don't think keepers should captain anyway - but if Schwarzer was not marshalling his defence properly then he is at fault and needs to lift his game.

 

[Tigerfan]

yep let's forget than one - regroup, move on :-X

 

[D85]

bad luck for elrich, was looking forward to seeing him have a good game.

who did we all think impressed?

 

[Tigerfan]

well done Socceroos

nice to claim top spot: even if it is only against Bahrain Lebanon and kuwait :clap

 

[Lidsand]

well done Socceroos

nice to claim top spot: even if it is only against Bahrain Lebanon and kuwait :clap

hey, at least they are better than american somoa, tonga and fiji

 

[AngryAnt]

well done Socceroos

nice to claim top spot: even if it is only against Bahrain Lebanon and kuwait :clap

hey, at least they are better than american somoa, tonga and fiji

Yep - and great to have semi-regular international games now.

 

[Tigerfan]

well done Socceroos

nice to claim top spot: even if it is only against Bahrain Lebanon and kuwait  :clap

hey, at least they are better than american somoa, tonga and fiji

totally, 21-0 v tonga wasn't much fun 8)

 

[Lidsand]

31-0 vs american somoa and archie thompsons 13 goals was a farce

 

[Tigerfan]

RE: the Asia cup qualifiers

why did Lebanon withdraw from the comp due to shelling by israel

when you consider that iraq finished top of their table?