Australia took on South Africa last night at ANZ stadium as more than 50000 people turned up to farewell the Socceroos before they depart for Brazil. Unfortunately a shaky performance and an underwhelming result left more questions than answers by full time. One thing is for sure, there is still a lot of work left to do before our first World Cup group match. Brazil 2014 will undoubtedly be our toughest World Cup tournament to date. Here's my analysis and thoughts after last night's match...
Goalkeeper: Matt Ryan seems to have cemented the number one spot for the Socceroos although he wasn't really tested for most of the match. He was also not at fault for South Africa's goal and actually got some finger tips on the shot nearly saving it. He continues to show how well he fits into Ange Postecoglou's style of play with excellent kicking and passing even on the poor surface at the Olympic Stadium. Matt Ryan will definitely be the starting goalkeeper at the World Cup.
Defence: a very shaky performance from the back four, especially from the centre backs. Australia has had a lot of unfortunate injuries, mostly defenders, but our lack of depth is really going to hurt us. McGowan and Wilkinson started in the middle and were at fault for South Africa's goal by letting them get in behind and then not clearing the ball fast enough, letting the shot for goal be executed. Overall the defenders looked nervous at dealing incoming balls into the box and lacked awareness and strength to stop attacking dribbles and runs towards goal. Reality really hit home watching our defenders struggle against a second string South African side, it's scary to think what Spain, the Netherlands and Chile will be able to do against us.
Midfield: the midfield trio of Milligan, Holland and Troisi started the match and looked lively and in control for the first 15-20 minutes. Ange seems to want the midfield to keep rotating and be mobile to present more passing options and keep the opposition on their toes. The problem is that the level of intensity needed for that to be effective can't be kept up for the full 90 minutes. It was evident throughout the match as the midfield switched off and a poor South Africa dominated the middle of park for long periods of time. The midfield did well on the night but need to be more patient and play smarter football by choosing the right time to attack or when to hold the ball. Another big problem was the high amount of cheap turnovers, luckily the opposition weren't good enough to take advantage.
Attack: the most reassuring area in the Australian squad is the attack. It's clear what the plan of attack is, players are getting into the right positions and plenty of chances are being generated. The front three that started the match were Leckie, Cahill and Oar, who were probably the three best on the park. Tommy Oar in particular as he continues to show why he's the most promising new talent that the Socceroos have. Man of the match for me. All three players up front looked threatening throughout the match but the goal came from an all too familiar source, a Tim Cahill header only one minute after South Africa scored their goal. The main concern in attack is the end product, the final ball was not good enough. I understand taking advantage of Cahill's skill in the air but an over reliance on that meant the Socceroos were looking for crosses too often and became fairly predictable.
Main points to take out of the match:
- Defense needs a lot of work, lack of depth in that area will hurt us dearly at the World Cup.
- The Socceroos need to reduce the number of turnovers to have any chance against top nations, especially in dangerous areas on the pitch.
- Tracking back, getting compact and defending as a team needs to improve as South Africa exposed us on the counter way too often.
- Attack is working well but end product needs more work, we need to make sure to finish off our chances, we won't get many against Chile, Netherlands and Spain.
- An over reliance on Cahill might have a negative impact in our attack, we need to be less predictable by mixing it up more.
- The midfield need to be more patient and choose their moments carefully.
We've come a long way from the football played under Pim Verbeek and Holger Oesick, watching the Socceroos with Ange Postecoglou in charge is a much more enjoyable experience. However, this match against South Africa has really let reality set in. If we can't dominate a match against a second string South African side, what hope do we have against the likes of Chile, the Netherlands or Spain?
In saying that, the Australian side was also heavily hampered by injury. We still have Jedinak, Bresciano and Spiranovic to come back into the squad. The friendly against Croatia next week will give us a better indication of where we are truly at. While it might be sad to say we are simply just not good enough at the moment, it's nice to know that every Australian player will give it their absolute all on the pitch in Brazil.
