My Thoughts on Postecoglou's Squad against Costa Rica


Ange Postecoglou has named his Socceroos squad for the up and coming friendly against Costa Rica and he has freshened up an ageing team.

Australia plays Costa Rica in Sydney on November 19 and he has picked some local-based players. Hopefully this approach can result in the Australian team looking more competitive.

Here are my thoughts on the squad:

·         Mark Schwarzer’s retirement isn’t a bad thing. He is an Australian legend but it’s probably time for someone like Mitchell Langerak to get a chance

·         Not seeing Luke Wilkshire and Sasa Ognenovski in defence is a good thing, especially the latter. Ognenovski is 34 years old and he was never a fast player

·         Lucas Neill has been called-up but surely his time must be running out. He isn’t a regular at club level and would Postecoglou really want to rely on a 36-year-old at centre-back next year? Neill would probably still be a good presence in the locker room bar his recent rant on young players

·         Aaron Mooy was one attacking midfielder that should have been selected. If he can work on his free-kicks, then Postecoglou really needs to take another look at the WSW player

·         James Troisi should have received a call-up too. Perhaps Postecoglou didn’t want to show too much favouritism towards Melbourne Victory players

·         Postecoglou has selected some players from his former clubs. He selected Milligan from Victory and he picked Ivan Franjic and Matthew McKay from the Brisbane Roar. Having these players will be ideal for the new Australia coach because they will be familiar with his tactics

·         With the arrival of Postecoglou as national team coach, McKay should kiss his chances of playing left-back goodbye, which would be a good thing. McKay can play in his natural position

·         Aside from Josh Kennedy, Postecoglou hasn’t got a centre-forward that stands out. Will he bring his 4-2-2-2 formations with attacking midfielders and wingers into international football? His striker-less formation would stand-out and if he can somehow get results with it, the formation could be the tactical innovation of the World Cup


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