Colman’s call: Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has earned the right to prove critics wrong
SAUDI ARABIA stuck a knife in the heart of Australian football supporters this morning. Hours earlier, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou was copping knives in the back.
Opinion
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SAUDI ARABIA stuck a knife in the heart of Australian football supporters this morning. A few hours earlier, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou was copping knives in the back.
The despondent Aussie players hadn’t even left the ground after their 2-1 win over Thailand before commentators and former Socceroos Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater were calling for Postecoglou to be sacked.
Given that the Socceroos are still in with a show of making it to the World Cup in Russia that might seem a little premature, although as Bosnich rightly pointed out, there is a precedent.
Four years ago Australia’s German-born coach Holger Osiek was replaced by Postecoglou four months after the Socceroos had qualified for the World Cup, following 6-0 losses in “friendlies” against international heavyweights Brazil and France.
Given that Australia must now come out on top in a do-or-die four-match series against Syria and a still-to-be-chosen American opponent just to qualify, there are plenty of experts saying Postecoglou should go.
In fact, last night former goalkeeper Bosnich questioned why he hadn’t gone already.
“Are we softer on Ange because he is Australian?” he asked. “Would the media be as kind to him if he was from overseas?”
It’s a fair point. Having covered the Socceroos’ matches as they traipsed around Europe and parts of the Middle East in 2014 and 2015, I know I looked very favourably on the efforts of the coach and players over that period.
I can’t say if I would have been just as sympathetic to a Dutch or German coach because I have never had that experience, but I do know I found it easy to have a rapport with a straight-talking Aussie who was always available to speak to the press and never left us in any doubts about what he was thinking.
It seemed to me, during that period anyway, that the players felt the same way.
Slater suggested last night that the Socceroos have tired of Postecoglou’s voice; that he isn’t getting through to them anymore.
He could be right, but I’m not sure a different voice would have changed the trajectory of the shots from Aaron Mooy, Tomi Rogic and Tim Cahill the required few centimetres so that they hit the back of the net rather than the post.
If those attempts, or some of the other 40 or so that the Aussies fired at the Thai goal had found their mark we wouldn’t be having this conversation — or would we?
Bosnich in particular seemed to have his anti-Ange speech well prepared and ready to go before kick-off, which is fair enough. He is paid to be a fearless commentator and he does his job very well, but it was equally illuminating to hear a contrary view from his co-panellist, Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi.
As the only person in the studio to have been both part of a successful World Cup-qualifying campaign and coached a professional team, Aloisi was strident in his support of Postecoglou.
His message: it’s not easy.
I can vouch for that. I have seen Postecoglou pacing a hotel foyer like an expectant father, waiting for his players to arrive from various locations around the world, wondering about their physical and psychological state.
Some will be carrying injuries, others feeling low after a poor performance or stint on the bench. In a matter of days he will have to pull them together, make them forget about the role and pattern they play day-in, day-out for their clubs (that’s 21 clubs in 10 different countries in the most recent squad) and fit in with his.
I’ve seen them manage it magnificently against World Cup champions Germany, take it to Belgium, battle hostile crowds in Jordan and sub-standard playing surfaces in Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan.
Most of all, I’ve seen Ange Postecoglou pull them together as a proud, committed Australian team.
His critics say Postecoglou has lost his way. That’s their opinion and they are entitled to it, but surely he has earned the right to prove them wrong.
That’s another point Aloisi made: it’s not over yet.
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