by There is a sense of déjà vu about where Australia are now and, perhaps more pressingly, where they could be heading after reaching the Asian Cup in Qatar.
At grassroots level, the most important step is that two wins and a final ensured the Socceroos progress to the round of 16 as winners of group B, where they will face Indonesia. It is a competition they will be expected to win and maintain their record of reaching at least the quarter-finals in every Asian Cup they have competed in.
Related: Australia pegged back by Uzbekistan but finish top of the Asian Cup group
But there are also echoes of history in the way this side approaches its opening month in Doha, in terms of the style of football played, the messages coming out of the camp and perhaps even how that is being absorbed. at home. It wasn’t necessarily the 2022 World Cup setback they were hoping for.
After the Socceroos’ 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan, coach Graham Arnold seemed concerned by the criticism leveled at his side for their inability to convert possession dominance in their opening three games into fluidity and incisive in attack. Arnold highlighted the challenges of bringing a diverse group of players together on short notice and getting them to perform as a collective group, how the team was built behind a strong defensive base and how individuals who were not hitting “the final pass, the cut-off or the final end” that was pulling the team down.
None of these points are wrong, it must be noted, because a press conference with Arnold is just a press conference. As far as the fourth estate is concerned, he is well practiced in the art of promoting a message or phrase, a perspective, or even a reality that he chooses to suit his needs. There are signs of a defiant attitude, a siege in which Arnold and his teams will thrive, and while he will know that improvements are needed, it is much better for him that those public criticisms come from others and the group at rallies internally around each other. Take a look at the Socceroos’ heavy defeat against France at the 2022 World Cup and what happened next.
But placed in the wider context, it’s not the whole picture either. Australia’s issue of low penetrating defensive blocks has been prevalent throughout Arnold’s tenure since 2018. The concerns must cost the coach his job as he qualifies for the final World Cup when a draw against China and Oman – fixtures where it is often asserted from some corners that the Socceroos did not have the “cattle” to compete, did not carry weight – put them on a path to an intercontinental playoff.
The following 12 months helped a lot of the criticism. It’s a tough job to ask someone who led Australia to their best ever men’s World Cup performance, after all, and that’s an achievement that can’t be taken away from him. But there was always the possibility that the struggle would resurface during this cycle, once the circumstances of the World Cup went back against the wall, us against the world and Asian football grinds back.
Arnold has been coaching since 1998. His methods have certainly evolved, but his foundation has made him one of the most successful coaches in Australian history, as well as being a highly respected mentor abroad. Football Australia knew all about the highs but also the lows – the lows that saw the federation itself strip Arnold of the medal after Japan’s defeat – when they moved to give him a new deal very quickly and without much review after the World Cup. Asking him to change now, or getting angry at him for being who he is, is missing the point. The Socceroos star of the north is not the one who decided his vision.
So maybe this is just how it will be. Over the next four years, if this Asian Cup group stage is any guide, we’ll lose all our minds as the Socceroos put elites like Bangladesh to the sword and make their way through the middle class of major league football. -department in a way that gets results but probably not pretty. In games against the best on the continent, as well as the World Cup proper, where they can play a more reactionary role, Arnold’s strengths are likely to come to the fore. There will likely be requests for more, and those questions will not be unreasonable.
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That goes for the next few weeks in Doha as well. A quarter-final exit against Saudi Arabia would not be surprising but at the same time it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Socceroos could improve things while dealing with their own problems. Enough a deep run through the knockouts is on. Ultimately, that’s what we want. Even if football is football, there are different interpretations of how to get there.
