Is Tim over the CaHILL?
Not many were surprised when Ange Postecoglu named his thirty man preliminary squad, sure some of the press were staggered that keeper Schwarz had retired, especially after he had googled his name that morning and found he was starting for Chelsea during the later parts of the season.
Some were non committal about the squad, Fox Sports told us 84% of us were ‘happy’ with the squad, but I found myself in the 16% of the nation, a little disgruntled about the team. I have watched over the last 18 months waving goodbye to the so called ‘Golden Generation’ sometimes finding it hard to let go to certain individuals, whilst holding the door open for others.
Let’s be honest we don’t stand a chance of qualifying out of group stage of Brazil 2014. Once we drew Spain, Holland and Chile our dreams were instantly shattered. Even my non football mates have heard of two of those countries, surely that tells me something. Ange won’t be able to our possess Spain, use total football to beat the Netherlands or outrun Chile, but this isn’t to we shouldn’t bother turning up. The World cup is the biggest event on the sporting calendar; this may come as a shock to those in my state, who believe Aussie Rules is played around the world. We should be honoured to make the final 32 teams and give that the respect it deserves. Personally I think we should’ve chosen our strongest 23 players, and start building for the Asia Cup at the conclusion of the tournament.
With the omission of Holman, Ognenovski and Neill we are not taking our strongest line up. We are falling over ourselves trying to get footage of Bailey Wright’s league one exploits at Preston after he was named in the squad of thirty. We are quick to dismiss the likes of Lucas Neill as he tried to find that one club who would help him find his Brazilian golden ticket. Neill hasn’t publically spoken about his omission but I can only image his is privately seething about the decision.
His central defensive partner Sasa Ognenovski was also left out must to my personal surprise. I thought Sasa had done enough at Sydney FC after returning to Australia to increase his chances. Once he announced he hadn’t been contacted by Ange during the ACL coverage on Fox Sports you knew his World Cup dream was over, a bitter pill for the defensive giant to swallow. Ognenovski has now retired from international football, slipping out of the limelight as soon and as quickly as he entered the Socceroos fold. Why would you take Ognenovski to Brazil, all he would add is experience and a strong defensive mindset to the young squad? His knowledge of our Asian counterparts will now be used to entertain television audiences, instead of coaching staff on the lead up to the Asian Cup in 2015.
Maybe Sasa shouldn’t have chosen the Petro leagues over the A-League, like his former Socceroos teammate Brett Holman. From an outsider it appears Holman chose the easier option after falling out of favour at Aston Villa. Instead of knuckling down and getting his spot in the starting XI back, he chose $ over sense. Holman was a special talent who could turn a match at any moment. Players like this are frustrating for fans and coaches to watch as their potential far outweighs their output. These three men along with Mark Schwarzer were all clearly tapped on the shoulder (or given a cold one from Ange) but should be thanked for their service to football in Australia.
Now onto the part where I get controversial (See the Headline) Tim Cahill shouldn’t go to Brazil. No this isn’t click bait, ok maybe it is, but there is a point to this. If we aren’t choosing our strongest possible squad why not go full circle and turn our total attention to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. We saw firsthand how difficult Asia has become to qualify, no longer are we pencilled in for a place in the Wold Cup finals, we must go through a tough qualifying campaign.
This will only get tougher as the football dollars grow stronger in the Middle East and other Asian nations become stronger opponents. Cahill’s best playing days are behind him, but he is still a quality player. We all know he bleeds green and gold, and will instil Ange’s philosophy to the remainder of the squad. Cahill won’t be around in 2018 but his legacy will live on (and his Weet-Bix tin will still be in my cupboard). Our highest goal scorer in World Cup football won’t lose his record in Brazil, but I don’t think he will add to it either. Tim Cahill’s troublesome hamstring could also be an issue; this has plagued Cahill in the last few seasons and could be an added risk to our squad.
Ange has given a clear indication that we are focussed on the 2015 and 2018 events, but hasn’t fully committed to the occasion. Naming Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill demonstrates Ange believes in taking players based on quality, rather than age. I expect both to receive a bulk of the playing time during the three games the Socceroos play, but does this help or hinder the Socceroos.
Choosing players such as Tom Rogic and Curtis Good on very limited preparations is tough to swallow as a supporter. All throughout the selection campaign Ange has sold his ‘you must play regular football to be selected’ policy, both players have been struck down with injury this season, but have been given this training campaign to prove their fitness. I would be very surprised to see both in the final 23, but Ange’s preferential treatment should see Rogic on the plane to Brazil.
Australia enters the World Cup as rank outsiders, as supporters we must unite behind them and show our united support. From here on in I’m fully behind Ange and his 23 man squad. I just needed this off my chest before I enter World Cup mode.
Do us proud boys.
Google+