‘No one is entitled to that shirt’: How Popovic plans to make Socceroos great again

Tony Popovic has vowed to restore pride in the Australian jersey and introduce a new “dynamic” style of play after being unveiled as the man tasked with turning around the Socceroos’ ailing World Cup qualification campaign.

Popovic described his appointment, which came just three days after Graham Arnold’s shock resignation, as a “dream come true” and a huge challenge he believes he is perfectly prepared for.

“Five years ago I wasn’t ready for this role. Three years ago or two years ago, I wouldn’t have looked at this role,” he said. “I’m ready. I want this job. So I’m here because I want to be here.”

Capped 58 times for Australia as a player, Popovic is the first member of the famed ‘golden generation’ to take the reins of the national team, having won silverware with three A-League clubs as a coach - most notably the Western Sydney Wanderers, where he guided them to the premiership in their first season and the 2014 AFC Champions League title.

Popovic, 51, suggested some players may have grown too comfortable with their positions under Arnold, and promised that would change immediately.

“We always wore that shirt with integrity, and we wore it as a privilege, as a badge of honour,” he said on Monday.

Tony Popovic is unveiled as new Socceroos coach on Monday.Credit: Steven Siewert

“We never took it for granted … I just want to make sure that the players understand that no one is entitled to that shirt, regardless of talent, regardless of age.

“Those values, which I know exist, can sometimes fade away or can sometimes get lost. We need to make sure that every player understands that honour is number one, to wear the shirt and wear it with pride and represent your country and your family.

“The second part is that we play better than the Socceroos have ever played. If we link the two, we really, with those values, can do something special.”

Having just relocated his family to Croatia after ending his three-year tenure as Melbourne Victory coach in June, Popovic said he was in the process of moving back to Sydney. He will soon begin reviewing his coaching staff, with all of Arnold’s assistants still currently employed by Football Australia - and while he said he wouldn’t make changes for change’s sake, if he does wish to make any, he will have to move quickly.

His first games in charge are less than three weeks away, starting with the must-win clash with China at Adelaide Oval on October 10 and the trip to face Japan five days later.

Popovic has vowed to restore pride in the Socceroos jersey.Credit: Steven Siewert

The Socceroos, currently fifth in Group C, must take three points from China and ideally a point from Japan to keep alive their hopes of direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

Popovic said he was not able to watch live from Croatia the two most recent Socceroos performances, the 1-0 defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast and the 0-0 draw with Indonesia that followed, which prompted Arnold’s decision to step down. But he said that he had reviewed them and identified areas where the team can do better immediately.

“The team maybe looked a little bit flat. That can happen in games,” he said. “Maybe we can be a little bit more dynamic, we can move the ball quicker, we can get more players in the box. These are things that they were doing, which brought a lot of success. But in the last two games there wasn’t a lot of evidence of that. I’m sure we can get that back and do it even better moving forward.

“I know we’ll play football that everyone will enjoy.”

Popovic said he was yet to speak with any Socceroos players, but that he intends to cast the net as wide as possible ahead of the selection of his first squad next week - and that includes those who play in the A-League, who Arnold tended to overlook in the international windows held prior to the season’s start in October for fitness reasons, and those who are officially retired from international duty like Massimo Luongo and Mitch Langerak, provided they first approach the team and declare themselves available.

“The results haven’t been good in the first two games, but look at the history of what’s been done with the Socceroos. Have a look at the World Cup,” he said. “Have a look at a fantastic group of players that did remarkable things over there. A lot of those players are still there, so the talent remains, and a lot of young players have come through, and there are probably a lot of other players that are waiting for their opportunity.”

Popovic also welcomed heightened expectations of the team, and said the calibre of players available was more than good enough to match them.

“We have good players,” he said. “It’s a different generation of players that are now playing overseas. We’ve got young players coming through in the A-League. We exceeded expectations at the World Cup and what follows from that is we expect more in the Asian qualifiers.

“It’s not a bad thing, is it? I hope you expect more from me. I hope you sit there and you expect more. When we win, you expect more. I think that way, with that mindset, we have a chance to grow and get better. I want to be at the forefront of that, and I want to lead the way where I can to make sure that our expectations remain.”

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.