Asian World Cup Qualifiers

[Jimbo]

Exactly the point I've tried to make. Verbeek did Australian football no favours by serving up such a shoddy team and a dull match in front of 70,000 people.

The ref didn't help matters either...

 

[NK Arsenal]

The Asian refs are always against the Socceroos :x

Hopefully our draw ain't that hard.

This would be ok:

Group A
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Korea DPR
Qatar - can we play them again???

Group B
Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
United Arab Emirates

 

[Misanthrope]

Qatar - can we play them again???

Yes, we can.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

How can anyone blame the ref last night FFS?

We didn't create a single decent goalscoring chance in 90 minutes.

Disgraceful.

 

[fish eel]

Exactly the point I've tried to make. Verbeek did Australian football no favours by serving up such a shoddy team and a dull match in front of 70,000 people.

One thing which hasnt been said in defence of the side selected is that the only O/S players who wanted to play were Kewell, Petkovic and Valeri.

Pim apparantley put the offer - who wants to play and who wants a break? To a man, they wanted a break.

Now, you might argue they shouldnt have been given that choice.

But what type of spectacle would we had gotten if we had a bunch of players who DIDNT want to be there, and whose main concern would have been not picking up a knock?

Sometimes football matches can be turgid affairs, and there's no guarantee we'd have gotten a better match simply because the names on the back of those gold shirts were bigger.

 

[fish eel]

How can anyone blame the ref last night FFS?

We didn't create a single decent goalscoring chance in 90 minutes.

Disgraceful.

One at least. Kewell gifted Djite an almost open header from close range and he missed the target.

 

[Misanthrope]

Pim apparantley put the offer - who wants to play and who wants a break? To a man, they wanted a break.

I could have sworn I read articles featuring quotes from both Bresciano and Carle stating they wanted to play.

 

[fish eel]

I could have sworn I read articles featuring quotes from both Bresciano and Carle stating they wanted to play.

I've been told and read elsewhere he apparantley left it open.

I'd be surprised though, if any player publicly said they didnt want to play.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen Carle get a run - and I also would have liked to have seen Richard Garcia called into the squad.

 

[Deacon]

what time is the draw on Friday and is it coveraged?

 

[Deacon]

oops sorry answered me own question here............
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/1,9191,23847161-23218,00.html

 

[Jimbo]

I could have sworn I read articles featuring quotes from both Bresciano and Carle stating they wanted to play.

Bresciano was on a yellow. Perhaps Pim didn't want to risk him for September

 

[Munky]

Thank god the tickets we got were free.

I couldn't imagine how it would have felt to spend $360 on what was provided last night.

Do any young players in Australia have skill?

 

[NK Arsenal]

James Holland does.

That is all.

 

[Misanthrope]

Do any young players in Australia have skill?

Of those on display last night: Holland looked fine playing in a position he doesn't play regularly, Williams looked good if not a little over-awed, Zadkovich looked fine in attack but shouldn't play defence, Spiranovic didn't look out of place at all, and Djite would have been a lot better had he not been played as a sole striker.

 

[fish eel]

Djite better get used to playing up front by himself for australia.

especially while we have pim.

 

[Misanthrope]

The sole striker is such an ass backwards tactic. The nations that do employ it provide adequate support and/or have a striker capable of doing it. We have no strikers capable of being a good solo striker and while our midfield has some good attackers, they seldom give the support necessary.

 

[fish eel]

The sole striker is such an ass backwards tactic. The nations that do employ it provide adequate support and/or have a striker capable of doing it. We have no strikers capable of being a good solo striker and while our midfield has some good attackers, they seldom give the support necessary.

Mark Viduka is the only guy with the strength and skill to do it, but even dukes, unless he is getting the support, looks at times wasted.

 

[Misanthrope]

Mark Viduka is the only guy with the strength and skill to do it, but even dukes, unless he is getting the support, looks at times wasted.

Yeah, he worked alright, but we seldom gave him adequate support so he was essentially a distraction. People say he never scores goals for us, but it's damn near impossible when you're on your own up there.

 

[fish eel]

Yeah, he worked alright, but we seldom gave him adequate support so he was essentially a distraction. People say he never scores goals for us, but it's damn near impossible when you're on your own up there.

up there by yourself, against a quality defence with at least one world class centre back marking you.....he worked had, did the job but because of the tactics employed we never saw the best of him for australia.

Its no co-incidence his best football in england has been played with a quality partner up front, ie robbie keane, yakubu etc.

 

[Tom Shines]

Verbeek is a fraud.

Pim is hired because of his passport and nothing else. Just because he is Dutch and led Korea to the semis of the Asian Cup, he was touted as a replacement in the same ilk as Advocaat or Guus.

Truth is, he is a long-ball merchant, and an imposter. It's like hiring Sam Allardyce when you're really after Arsene Vegner.

Back to South Korea at the Asian Cup, that side played out THREE nil-all draws in the knockout stages (QF v Iran, SF v Iraq, and TPP v Japan). That's six hours without scoring a single goal.

Kinda shows his pedigree.