Equation is simple. We need Jordan to beat Indonesia, but we need to beat Qatar by more.
Might need to work out what the weird white thing at the end of the pitch is for though.
Equation is simple. We need Jordan to beat Indonesia, but we need to beat Qatar by more.
Might need to work out what the weird white thing at the end of the pitch is for though.
Better for the nation that these useless little shits go out failing to score here, than embarrassing us even further by failing to score in the Olympic village.
Well, we know why some players wouldnât be able to score in the Olympic villageâŠ
Took the words right from my fingers. Disgraceful we cannot beat Indonesia at any adult level. There are no excuses that would satisfy me. It is a sobering reality check for our future national team. Wouldnât surprise me if we donât qualify for the WC in 2030, or maybe even 2026.
Itâs been 20 years and we still do absolutely fuck all in these Mickey Mouse Asian youth tournaments. If thereâs some lessons to be learned about how to better prepare or better approach them then weâre really fucking slow on the uptake. They also hardly provide a ramp into the NT proper, whoâs done anything of note for the Socceroos after having done anything of note for the Olyroos, U20âs or Joeyâs? Iâll waitâŠ
Reckon these players would be way better served remaining in clubland, familiar environments theyâve been in all year, approaching the business end of a proper competitive season. Instead they get yanked away outside a window courtesy of ALM contract stipulations, travel to some stinking hot backwater to play anti-football for a fortnight, with new teammates and a coach theyâve just met. The second we get arsed, once again without achieving anything, theyâre back on a plane to pick up where they left off trying to pretend that horrific disruption didnât just happen on the eve of Finals.
One thing Iâll ask and I genuinely have no idea about the answer.
What does Vidmar offer to this setup? Heâs done 5 years with the olyroos, and 5 with the joeys.
With the joeys the tournament results were:
2014 Asian Cup - Semi Finals - Lost to North Korea. The QF was against Malaysia so not the hardest but we did beat both Japan & China in the group.
2015 WC - RO16 - 1/1/1 in a hard group. Smashed by Nigeria 6-0 in the RO16
2016 Asian Cup - Group stage - Three losses (Japan/Vietnam/Kyrgyzstan)
2017 WC - DNQ
Now looking at a group stage exit in what should be a qualifiable group.
Is Vidmar supposed to be good developmentally for the individual players or what? Or is this just jobs for the lads?
I was curious about this so I had a look at the last senior squad (and recent call ups listed on the wiki) for who had played 5 or more games for the Joeys through to Olyroos (so U17, U20, U23).
Gauci - 5
Glover - 18
Ryan - 6
Thomas - 5
Redmayne - 31
Bos - 8
Miller - 8
Behich - 9
Degenek - 19
Burgess - 10 (surprised by this)
Souttar - 7
Rowles - 24
Atkinson - 10
Deng - 25
McGree - 11
OâNeill - 9
Genreau - 8
Baccus - 18
Irvine - 20
Metcalfe - 12
Yazbek - 12
Tilio - 20
Bang Average - 11
Taggart - 27
Maclaren - 32
Mabil - 15
DâAgostino - 11
Leckie - 13
Not sure Iâd say any of them did anything special for the youth sides but itâs quite a few graduating from the u20âs and u23âs to the senior side - and some key players too.
What I was surprised by was how few had joeys matches. Rowles, Bos, Degenek, & McGree were the only ones listed. Though I wouldnât be 100% confident it was completely accurate. If that is the case though I wonder how other international setups fare. Maybe thatâs good in comparison. Admittedly Souttar & Burgess both had u18 caps for Scotland before playing in our youth setups.
I guess the joeys only play like max 1 tournament a year basically right? Asian cup one year and WC the next if we make it. So there are not a whole lot of games to go around. Only 6 of the current olyroos squad played for the olyroos. Perhaps that would seem like a better barometer of how well the talent identification for the joeys works? That number would be 7 if Irankunda was in the squad. 6/23 seems low but I donât have any comparison I guess.
We need Fozzie to grill Vidmar on national TV and call for his resignation. If nothing else, seeing Vidmar coaching EPL in 15-20 years will be fun
If only they had the opportunity to play in the smaller regional tournaments weâre eligible forâŠ
It was good that we were invited to the West Asian games last month, but a lot of teams heading into the Asian Cup also played 2-3 friendlies beforehand. We didnât play a single one.
Just to name a few.
Given the relative lack of games that our junior NT sides play, I canât see why the senior NT coach canât be the head coach of these squads as well. Each squad should have its own assistant coach that only works with that squad.
If there is a clash of fixtures then the NT coach takes charge of the more senior side and the assistant for the younger side takes charge of them.
Isnât that what Arnie did originally, or was wanting to do?
Hold on, isnt it a pretty common complaint from ALM that taking the youth players away for smaller tournaments is completely pointless as they lose out on starting positions in their current squads? I mean we cant have it both ways. Our league heavily relies on youth in our teams and itâs generally been a focus on it. If you start pulling that youth out for more random games, itâs less attractive for clubs to give them a chance
I think we do play in that one now but itâs u16âs.
He did it with the U20âs or U23âs during the COVID years in the lead up to the Qatar World Cup qualifiers.
I think this was more a logistical thing as getting to games to see and talk to players was next to impossible. It was easier to bring them to him.
And everyone complained that not having a full-time coach for the youth teams was hurting them plus other Arnie whinges.
Iâm not sure why the youth teams need their own standalone full time coach. Itâs not like theyâre in an AIS style setup where theyâre training as a squad every day of the week. Theyâre barely together and when they are itâs for the shortest possible time as their parent clubs want them back ASAP.
I think breathtakingly few players graduate from Under 17 level to play internationally, and I believe thatâs true around the world. Even from the under 20 World Cup, itâs pretty few. The Olympics is a different story I think.
So JGR serves his suspension against Perth and heâs back for the finals?
He was suspended at the start of April, so surely it was served against Newcastle/WSW?
Yeah, the Olyroo squad gathered after the Newcastle game, so the Newcastle game counted in the suspension.