Adam Taggart
and David Williams are in the race to be leading goalscorer in the A-League and
both players should be considered for the Australian national team.
Both
forwards have scored nine goals each for Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Heart respectively
and they will also have age on their side.
After the
reliance of veterans in the Holger Osieck era, Ange Postecoglou has gone for a
more youthful approach with the Socceroos.
These days
Australia does not have many star strikers playing in major leagues around the
world. In the previous decade, there was Mark Viduka, who was playing in the
EPL, and John Aloisi was playing in La Liga for Osasuna and Alaves.
Robbie Kruse
is at German club Bayer Leverkusen but he has been ruled out of the World Cup with
a knee injury.
The quality
of the A-League has improved since its inception in 2005-06 and with the amount
of young Australian players coming through now, Postecoglou wouldn’t have too
much to lose by calling-up players actually based in Australia.
The attack
in particular is one part of the squad that Postecoglou can call upon players
from A-League clubs but what makes Taggart and Williams stand-out?
Taggart will
be 21 years old when the World Cup is on. He has experience playing for the
Young Socceroos, he is regularly scoring goals for a team struggling on the A-League
table and he can score from any distance or angle.
Sometimes he
has also been moved to the wings in order to accommodate him but he is scoring
more goals than experienced teammates like Michael Bridges and Emile Heskey.
Another
option I’ve considered is Williams, who is playing in an in-form team and under
returning Heart coach John van’t Schip, he is probably realising his potential
now.
Twenty-six-year-old
Williams can play as a winger and as a striker and five of his goals have come under
van’t Schip, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 against Wellington Phoenix.
His pace and
agility have been a real headache for defences and he is useful even as a
super-sub. Williams could be having a purple patch now but if Williams
continues scoring and the Heart get into finals contention, Postecoglou should
keep his eyes on him.
Australia
does not have any big stars playing for big clubs and with the Socceroos in a
transitional phase, Postecoglou looks keen to play young players, particularly
locals.
If
Postecoglou doesn’t want to go for strikers in the lesser known league around
the world, there are two forwards in Taggart and Williams that would be worthy
of Socceroos caps.
Comments
Post a Comment