2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

[pjennings]

I don't think it would have been the right move to bring Garang on v Denmark or Tunisia. We needed experienced heads for game management and he would have burst forward and left a hole in a our defence. I expect to see him only if we are behind and need the x-factor to score.

JC = JMac in terms of bringing them on late in a game.

Vuka won't get a run at all.

I can see Garang coming on with a few minutes to go if things are tied up as well. He can make things happen and hopefully we can avoid penalties. tbh a lot of our guys would have had 4 games in quick succession and asking then to go 120 mins may be a step too far. Fresh legs like Garang against tiring defences may be a master stroke

 

[Ironbark]

Agreed

 

[true believer]

Bring on the Argies, well Arnie and this team have just been written into folklore. 2 wins, 2 clean sheets, 3 open play goals and beating #10 in the world. Biggest scalp at a WC to date. So proud of the team.

On a positive note Dingo, Garanski and Vuka will be fresh when they get back. Maybe get some time again if the Argies are flogging us.

this one will be personal for arnie .we lost the play off against argentina in 1994.
after a 1all draw in australia (where arnie was called offside while in the clear 25 metres out .
the replay showed it was a stooge decision)
we lost 1nil in argentina from a fluke deflection .with maradona later found to be juiced out on ephedrine .

no rates us we don't care

 

[marinermick]

I don't think it would have been the right move to bring Garang on v Denmark or Tunisia. We needed experienced heads for game management and he would have burst forward and left a hole in a our defence. I expect to see him only if we are behind and need the x-factor to score.

JC = JMac in terms of bringing them on late in a game.

Vuka won't get a run at all.

I agree about Garang. He needed more experienced players to come on.

And Cummings didn’t do himself any favours with his performance, or lack of, against France

 

[Allreet?]

I agree about Garang. He needed more experienced players to come on.

And Cummings didn’t do himself any favours with his performance, or lack of, against France

He was on a hiding to nothing there. Zero service with France rampant. He did come looking for the ball a couple of times and started an attack which led to a chance. Much better outlet option than JMac.

 

[true believer]

Kuol would be deadly in these scenarios and can press faster than McClaren too. Anyway. Arnie has just made Australian legend status. Could almost forgive him for taking Clarkey, Crawley, and our players... Almost

this . mctappin doesn't have the pace to pull a defence out of shape .
defending a lead with garang out front would stifful any count attack .

 

[marinermick]

He was on a hiding to nothing there. Zero service with France rampant. He did come looking for the ball a couple of times and started an attack which led to a chance. Much better outlet option than JMac.

Hiding to nothing but at least make an effort. For all his history with us and plaudits on this forum about his work rate, there was none. Probably why he has been overlooked for the last two games.

 

[Allreet?]

Hiding to nothing but at least make an effort. For all his history with us and plaudits on this forum about his work rate, there was none. Probably why he has been overlooked for the last two games.

I thought he did his best with no opportunity. In fact he came deep a couple of times in an effort to make an opportunity. Obviously Duke is much more an Arnie player and I daresay JMac is slightly faster than Cummings and therefore seen as the better late outlet.

Wouldn't be surprised if the Argie game goes into extra time - in which case we might see Cummings and/or Kuol.

 

[Tevor]

I found it interesting people preferred Mabil in the Tunisia game, he genuinely looked lost in defence and butchered a great chance. Worst cameo off the bench in all three cup games so far. Garang wouldn't have done any worst. JMac made a great run and produced an excellent cross in the Tunisia game and I've been OK with him coming off the bench and he had bugger all time against the Danes to do anything.

You could see the fatigue at the start of the game against the Danes however Mooy, Irvine and Leckie come good after they warmed up but Goodwin didn't and was rightfully hooked. I've seen Baccus in the SPL and he has definitely improved and did a great job filling in for Goodwin with a couple of good runs.

I do have to remind myself that the mentality of playing in a WC is very different to playing every weekend. Teams try not to lose a lot more in WC's and whilst Arnie has taken some big gambles with parking the bus it has paid off so kudos to him. I'll still yell at the TV like I know better though.

 

[Coastalraider]

I think what I’m most impressed with about this squad is that the majority of players are at the start of their overseas and international careers. There’s obviously players like Leckie, Mooy and Matty who have peaked overseas, there a TONNE of players in the SPL, Garang on the way up, Souttar etc all who are getting decent minutes early in their overseas careers, getting great exposure at this World Cup, and are in an upward trajectory.

I guess my optimism is based in the fact that while currently we don’t have any players playing in big leagues, we have the base to have any number of players in big years during the next WC cycle with final 16 experience from this year. January may be a busy transfer window for socceroos players. Really good platform.

And kudos to Arnie, I had expected him to roll out his usual dads army with Sains, Rogic etc, but he has made some surprising calls this campaign, including giving a couple of mariners a run after I suspected he wouldn’t even select them, and it’s paying off for him now, and has likely saved his coaching career after a stubborn qualifying campaign.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Agree. Cumdog was very poor against France and on work rate alone, Dukey will start (and should)
Yes, we can dream but an honourable loss is a great outcome too
The filthy cheating Argies will deservedly be favourites and should win.
Looking forward to Kye going right through Messi early on too

 

[FFC Mariner]

(I have a certain Maggie Thatcher clip about the filthy Argies ready to go should they lose)

 

[marinermick]

What better way to honour the first WC since Maradona died than for the Argies to go all the way and win this thing!

 

[scottmac]

I agree about Garang. He needed more experienced players to come on.

And Cummings didn’t do himself any favours with his performance, or lack of, against France

I was really impresses with Baccus. Put in a solid shift.

 

[VicMariner]

I thought it was a brilliantly coached game. Aus played to their strengths and did not hide in a full defense. They went at them. f**k showing respect or being scared. The opposite of Verbeekball.
It was a great all round team effort. Stoked!
Bring on the Argies!

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I can see Garang coming on with a few minutes to go if things are tied up as well. He can make things happen and hopefully we can avoid penalties. tbh a lot of our guys would have had 4 games in quick succession and asking then to go 120 mins may be a step too far. Fresh legs like Garang against tiring defences may be a master stroke

Absolutely. IMO there's only one player in our squad who you could reasonably to come on with twenty to go and run right through Argentina and bang a couple in. He has that special edge that can shines in big moments - love to see it come out at a WC. And so does the Dingo - just doens't have the pace. But there were several times last night around the box that I think if JC was in the same position as the player we had on, I'd have fancied him to have scored.

For mine, Kewell, Cahill, DIngo and Kuol are all big game players. So at least in Garang and CumDingo we have that genuine firepower on the bench if coming from behind.

Souttar, Degenek and Behich also stood out as true big game players as defenders. Our defence was genuinely better to watch than Denmarks attack.

 

[FFC Mariner]

What better way to honour the first WC since Maradona died than for the Argies to go all the way and win this thing!

Not even close to good enough. The 1st time they play a good side they are going home

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Disagree on the CumDingo comments. He wasn't poor. Didn't butcher any chances, show poor touch, or give the ball away cheaply a lot... He just wasn't really involved. Except for the time he came deep. (Neither was Garang.) Happens to strikers even in games when their sides are on top, let alone when they're being utterly dominated by the WC champs. Australia had 38% possession in the second half. And probably around 95% of that in our own half.

Could the Dingo have pressed harder? Yeah, I think so. Would it have made a difference? No. Should he have anyway? Probably. Even just for fan perception. But I really don't it's a sign he doesn't care or lacks work ethic. That would be nuts. Imo the guy was obviously just trying to play calm.

Stress heavily impacts players. Some players control their nerves by coming on and running around like a maniac — over arousal. Others try to calm themselves and can become overly calm — under arousal. Karacic looked literally asleep against Tunisia. Which is just crazy, But that's exactly what can happen to inexperienced players. What best mitigates this is experience. CD is talented, and clearly has it in him to perform in big moments, but he isn't truly experienced yet. It's his first minutes in a world cup and what just his second NT game for us? Which is why he isn't and shouldn't be starting tbh. But he's still a great player and at the very least I predict he'll be a big part of our next qualification run and following WC if he doesn't get another opportunity in this one.

Anyway, Duke has been magnificent and entirely fit for purpose in how we've needed to play. A good old fashioned nine. Skilled enough but always combative and doing all the little things with 110% commitment. There's so much to be positive about right now. No need to be dissing the Dingo. He's going to come home and score a bagful for us

 

[Allreet?]

Our defence was genuinely better to watch than Denmarks attack.

We did see an awful lot of our defence, to be fair...

 

[BrisRecky]

well...that was a bit good huh, a wins as good as a draw to a blind koala (or whatever that Monty Python sketch says) thought we might have got the OS version of f**king Kurt Ams there for a second or two with that rapid fire yellow for nothing minor and his pointing TO the spot late until the liney said "Hoi f**kwit, he was offside" BUT we got the bikkies and thats all that matters ...UPWARDS AND ONWARDS