Just weeks after being announced as Pim Verbeek’s successor, Osieck will be given his chance to impress his style on the Socceroos.
The most burning question though…which way will he go?
Will he go conservative and select most of the squad who were in South Africa with a sprinkling of youngsters thrown in, or will he go radical knowing he has to rebuild for the future and select a squad made up mostly of youngsters with a sprinkling of experience?
It’s a tough choice as no matter which way he goes he will be criticised.
Without wanting to get splinters from sitting on the fence, I’d like to see him go somewhere in the middle, leaning slightly towards youth.
With one young gun already ruled out in Mark Milligan, I would like to see a squad like this:
Goalkeepers
Adam Federici
Brad Jones
Mitch Langerak
Defenders
Lucas Neill
Matthew Spiranovic
Luke Wilkshire
David Carney
Ersan Gulum
Shane Lowry
Ryan McGowan
Midfielders
Tim Cahill
Brett Holman
Tommy Oar
Carl Valeri
Mile Jedinak
Neil Kilkenny
James Holland
Dario Vidosic
Forwards
Josh Kennedy
Nikita Rukavytsya
Nathan Burns
Matthew Leckie
Scott McDonald
Whilst containing a strong core of players with the likes of Neill, Wilkshire, Cahill and you could throw Holman, Carney and Kennedy into that bracket too, it also has a strong emphasis on youth and the future.
With the Asian Cup only 3 ½ months away, and with World Cup Qualifiers starting just eight months later, Osieck has no time to waste in rejuvenating the squad.
If he sticks to “tried and tested” in order to achieve success in Qatar, he risks not having the rising stars ready for September 2011 when World Cup Qualifying begins.
It may be a bitter pill to swallow for experienced guys like Culina, Kewell and Schwarzer, but as good as they’ve been we need to start looking for their replacements and we’re only going to find them by giving them a chance in games like this.
Over to you Holger.
No real surprises with the seleciton. Selecting players like Richard Garcia, Michael Beauchamp and Jade North will only slow down the rebuilding faze which if anything needs to be fast forwarded.
ReplyDeleteIf he plays with a formation that suits Josh Kennedy and Scott McDonald then all will not be lost.
Liam.