Making a Mountain out of a Cahill
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. For over a decade now Tim Cahill has continued to answer the call to rescue the Socceroos. Debate will linger on forever over which has been his most important Socceroos moment but at present all these seems irrelevant as he makes a push for his final World Cup campaign.
The last twelve months have been challenging for Cahill to say the least, the Melbourne City saga leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of many back home, but his super human efforts against Syria for me far outweigh his choices of late. When Cahill announced he would be leaving Melbourne City due to lack of opportunity it was assumed Cahill’s management team had plenty of opportunities in the pipeline but his shock return to Millwall showed to most his management team were far more interested in his social media profile rather than his playing future.
Essentially Tim has swapped his off the bench role from Melbourne to Millwall and having limited impact at either club. Currently Cahill is playing only a handful of minutes in the English Championship at the club that launched his career and where he is held with high esteem. Millwall on a club level is on par with the Socceroos regarding where both sit at present. Millwall is currently playing above themselves sitting in 10th, with no promotion aspirations but have secured their Championship future after gaining promotion in the playoffs last season. The Socceroos who also won via the playoffs although a World Cup position can be thought of as a far greater prize. Including the Premier League Millwall is currently ranked 30th in the English football pyramid, whilst the Socceroos enter the World Cup ranked 37th in the world with little likelihood of success.
Cahill never looked suited at Melbourne City and when you start to see the Millwall and Socceroos comparisons you might see why. Cahill on the park is a tenacious battler, giving his all at every opportunity. He strikes me as the type of player who would win at all costs, even if it was a five a side park game, Cahill has that competitive instinct. Saying this he did give up rather easy in relation to fighting for his place at Melbourne City but as an outsider looking in the writing was on the wall very early for the champ. With the City season now appearing in freefall Cahill appears to have got out at the perfect time, although Warren Joyce probably wishes he had the Cahill option right now.
Does Cahill’s previous exploits for the Socceroos deserve an automatic selection for the 23-man squad for Russia? Under former manager Ange Postecoglu there would be little doubt about Cahill’s selection. Postecoglu is a student of Australian football and knows the impact Cahill would bring to every single player in the group. If Ange was still in charge history would play a part in the squad selection, but this is not the case and Cahill must build his case for current coach Bert van Marwijk.
With this in mind BVM will only be in the seat for a short period of time and issues like history and building for the future fly out the window. Graham Arnold has already been appointed as his successor to the role, giving BVM a very short cameo as coach. Essentially a guest role to take this nation to the World’s biggest event, attempt to get out of the group stage and cash his cheque.
This could work in Cahill’s favor as he could be chosen over someone like former City teammate Daniel Arzani who could have a lengthy Socceroos future but for arguably have less of an impact that Cahill in Russia. If a long-term coach was sitting in the chair Arzani would be one of the few taken with the next World Cup in mind as a future prospect to give the talented youngster a taste of the world’s biggest stage.
In regard to minutes played Cahill doesn’t have a convincing argument languishing on the Millwall bench whilst other attacking options are clocking up the minutes around the globe. You can defiantly build a better case for the inclusion of Jamie McLaren for the upcoming friendlies.
How Cahill performs at this current Socceroos camp will have far greater impact on his chances than a handful of minutes at ‘The Den’. Cahill must have a significant impact with the playing group and use the same charm offensive that saw the FFA hand over millions for his brief return “home” to the A-League.
There is no doubting that in the last few months has been challenging for Cahill and his decisions questionable to say the least. He has a new coach to impressive if he wants to complete his goal of scoring at a fourth consecutive World Cup and his is on borrowed time. Of course, a Tim Cahill header that secures the Socceroos a birth in the second round would most likely forgive most of his perceived choices of recent times, well at least for a few minutes.
When the squad is selected Tim Cahill will be the most discussed player amongst everyone back home, even though there is no guarantee he will see a single minute of playing time in Russia.
Image: “The Australian”
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