Socceroos World Cup Squad Selector: Sasa Ognenovski

With Ange Postecoglou set to announce his final Socceroos World Cup squad, From The Stands examines the players who should make the final cut.

A somewhat overlooked omission from Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos squads has been Sasa Ognenovski. With Pim Verbeek having constantly overlooked the established defender, Ognenovski become a stalwart of the side under Holger Osieck.

Tall, powerful and uncompromising, the former Adelaide United defender was ideal for the German’s conservative tactics – asked to sit very deep alongside Lucas Neill, with his primary job simply to protect the penalty area. All of his 22 Socceroos caps came under Osieck, with his last appearance for the national side being that 6-0 shellacking at the hands of Brazil.

That game, more than anything, probably demonstrates why Ognenovski won’t be adding any more caps under Postecoglou. He, along with the rest of the side, were simply blown away by the Brazilians’ speed, agility and trickery, and Ognenovski was simply unable to cope physically because his opponents weren’t playing to his strengths, and instead exposing his weakness, a lack of pace. The key issue behind the heavy defeat was how the Socceroos simply weren’t compact, with too much space between the lines and players constantly being dragged around by Brazil’s movement – had they stayed narrow, kept the side compact and forced Brazil to cross from wide areas, Ognenovski wouldn’t have been so exposed, without wanting to understate his own poor performance.

An important consideration of selection for international football is the system a player plays at a club level, and whether that translates into the template for his national side. Frank Farina became increasingly cautious over the course of the season which, of course, suited Ognenovski – playing centre-back in a deep-lying defence, he was particularly excellent in the wins over Perth Glory and Western Sydney Wanderers.

However, it seems unlikely Postecoglou would be quite as defensive, and will surely play a more proactive game (accounting for the tremendous quality of opposition the Socceroos will face at the World Cup) – coupled with the fact it is the new coach’s missive to bring through a younger generation of players, and Ognenovski, for three years a permanent member of the side, will most likely spend his summer in Australia.

Follow Tim Palmer on Twitter: @timhpal

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