Socceroos Socceroos "National Pool"

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Australia u20's vs Columbia u20's is on SBS right now.

We're playing pretty well here, De Silva is holding his own for a 16 year old.

This was the most relevant thread to post this I could find

They look quite impressive with the way they are moving the ball.

Pain looking dangerous as well.
 

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Anyone reckon Adam Taggart is a chance to make the WC squad? Clear standout in the A League this season.

You'd think Ange would at least select him for the training squad and choose 4-5 attackers from that. Would reckon Cahill, Kennedy and Leckie would all be locks at this stage.
 
Anyone reckon Adam Taggart is a chance to make the WC squad? Clear standout in the A League this season.

You'd think Ange would at least select him for the training squad and choose 4-5 attackers from that. Would reckon Cahill, Kennedy and Leckie would all be locks at this stage.

I'd think he'd be in the squad. From memory Ange said something about if an Australian A-League striker had an outstanding season then it would be hard not to take him.

Assuming Sainsbury isn't fit then my squad would be something like this:

GK: Ryan, Langerak, Galekovic
Def: Davidson, Good, Spiranovic, Ognenovski, McGowan, Wilkshire, Franjic
Mid: Bresciano, Rogic, Oar, Leckie, Halloran, Milligan, Jedinak, Troisi, Brattan, Sarota
Att: Kennedy, Cahilll, Taggart
 
I'd think he'd be in the squad. From memory Ange said something about if an Australian A-League striker had an outstanding season then it would be hard not to take him.

Assuming Sainsbury isn't fit then my squad would be something like this:

GK: Ryan, Langerak, Galekovic
Def: Davidson, Good, Spiranovic, Ognenovski, McGowan, Wilkshire, Franjic
Mid: Bresciano, Rogic, Oar, Leckie, Halloran, Milligan, Jedinak, Troisi, Brattan, Sarota
Att: Kennedy, Cahilll, Taggart

Hard to believe any of those players are World Cup standard. :\
 
Hard to believe any of those players are World Cup standard. :\

We'll see but I think you are perhaps selling a couple of those guys short. Matt Ryan was the best keeper in Belgium this season in his first season there at 21 years of age throughout the season. That's extremely young for a keeper and probably about the equivalent of an 18/19 year old outfielder doing the same. He'll go on to big things. Jedinak is a mid table PL team captain and has been defensively dominant and very strong in the air, even making the whoscored.com team of the season. Not to say he was one of the best central midfielders in England but he has been damn effective at what he does and has gotten better when it comes to his distribution. Davidson has said he has PL and Bundesliga offers on the table and has been a great attacking full back for Heracles netting a few goals and collecting a few assists, also quite young at 22 years old. Oar was one of the better young players in Holland last season before becoming injured this season and taking a while to get back into his groove. Leckie is very versatile and has been scoring a lot both up top and out wide. Sure he's in the second tier Germany but I could easily see him take his game to a lower Bundesliga team. Similarly Halloran after coming back from injury for Dusseldorf netted four goals in four games and they weren't tap-ins either. He certainly isn't incomparable to Kruse at the same level and the same club at an even younger age.

Obviously Kruse, Williams and probably Sainsbury out has been terrible and there is a gaping hole in that 24-29 year old group but there is some hope for 2018 and beyond IMO. I doubt we were ever really going to go too close to progressing in our group, hell I don't think we would have done it with the 06 team. I'm just going to enjoy seeing glimpses of what's to come.
 
Those were my thoughts exactly. The only position I'm confident about is Ryan/Langerak in goals.

With the amount of times the ball is likely to be fired goalwards, you'd hope we at least have someone decent between the sticks! :D

I'd think he'd be in the squad. From memory Ange said something about if an Australian A-League striker had an outstanding season then it would be hard not to take him.

Assuming Sainsbury isn't fit then my squad would be something like this:

GK: Ryan, Langerak, Galekovic
Def: Davidson, Good, Spiranovic, Ognenovski, McGowan, Wilkshire, Franjic
Mid: Bresciano, Rogic, Oar, Leckie, Halloran, Milligan, Jedinak, Troisi, Brattan, Sarota
Att: Kennedy, Cahilll, Taggart

No one else has really shown more than he has. This pool might be a little outdated now.

I hope Ange names him in the training squad at least, would be good experience for him and a reward for a fine individual season. Could realistically be around for another 10 odd years so getting him involved in the national pool/training camps should help his development.
 
Hard to believe any of those players are World Cup standard. :\

While we probably won't have many names that cause a bit of worry to other teams, I think if Ange can get the team playing as a cohesive unit, they might be able to surprise a few expecting a walkover. Ultimately, if the team can play better than the sum of its parts, that would be pretty encouraging.

We'll see but I think you are perhaps selling a couple of those guys short. Matt Ryan was the best keeper in Belgium this season in his first season there at 21 years of age throughout the season. That's extremely young for a keeper and probably about the equivalent of an 18/19 year old outfielder doing the same. He'll go on to big things. Jedinak is a mid table PL team captain and has been defensively dominant and very strong in the air, even making the whoscored.com team of the season. Not to say he was one of the best central midfielders in England but he has been damn effective at what he does and has gotten better when it comes to his distribution. Davidson has said he has PL and Bundesliga offers on the table and has been a great attacking full back for Heracles netting a few goals and collecting a few assists, also quite young at 22 years old. Oar was one of the better young players in Holland last season before becoming injured this season and taking a while to get back into his groove. Leckie is very versatile and has been scoring a lot both up top and out wide. Sure he's in the second tier Germany but I could easily see him take his game to a lower Bundesliga team. Similarly Halloran after coming back from injury for Dusseldorf netted four goals in four games and they weren't tap-ins either. He certainly isn't incomparable to Kruse at the same level and the same club at an even younger age.

Obviously Kruse, Williams and probably Sainsbury out has been terrible and there is a gaping hole in that 24-29 year old group but there is some hope for 2018 and beyond IMO. I doubt we were ever really going to go too close to progressing in our group, hell I don't think we would have done it with the 06 team. I'm just going to enjoy seeing glimpses of what's to come.

Good post, there is definitely some hope for the future with some of the young talent coming through.

Would also like to see Rukavytsya possibly get a look in if we want to add some pace. Young enough to be around for the next WC as well. As well as my man, Curtis Good who should be recovered from his injury in time.

I'm just glad Neill definitely won't be going!
 

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So now that we've blooded youngins at the World Cup and probably seen the last of a few regulars, what would our national pool look like now?

Imagine it wouldn't change a great deal - at least until after the Asian Cup next year. I think Ange would have chosen his WC squad (and final team) with an eye on the AC. From accounts, Cahill looks set to play on and I think Bresc might feel he can finish his career with a medal if he sticks around for a bit longer.

Of the already capped players, Kennedy might be worth a look in just for the tournament where his height might prove a weapon against the generally shorter Asian defences. Wilkshire would be one I'd like to see come back into consideration (even if he isn't the future) given I still have some concerns about RB and Franjic.

If they are fit and back playing, Kruse, Williams, Good, Herd, Sainsbury and Rogic are guys I'd like/expect to see pushing into the selection frame (certainly most of them would be almost considered best 11 in our strongest team if available).

In terms of new talent, they might be a bit young but hopefully we can involve Chris Ikonomidis and Rafa Jimenez in the national team picture in the coming months/years as well!
 
I'd love to see some video of this!

If we're lucky, it might pop up somewhere in the next 24 hours or so (possibly on the FFA website). Given it was a friendly tournament for u20s (and not a official FIFA tournament), might make it hard to find footage. Hope someone has it though, sounds like an amazing game!

I'll keep an eye open.
 

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