Asian Cup 2015: Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou says he won’t change Australia’s attacking approach
THERE will be no holding back, no sitting on a lead, no getting the job done. Ange Postecoglou will only send his players out to play one way.
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THERE will be no holding back, no sitting on a lead, no getting the job done. Ange Postecoglou will only send his players out to play one way, chasing goals and glory so long as the game is alive.
As he prepares the Socceroos for their second Asian Cup tie, knowing a win over Oman would confirm their place in the knockout stages, Postecoglou will fire them up to play the game in the only way he believes is worthwhile.
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Applauding the fact that they chased — and scored — a fourth goal in the dying seconds of Friday’s win over Kuwait, rather than seeing out a 3-1 success, Postecoglou admitted he would be happy to see a scoreline more familiar in other codes. And the “purists”, as he dubbed potential critics, had better get used to it.
“I said to the players that I love the fact that in the 92nd minute against Kuwait we get a free kick and we’re looking to score a fourth goal instead of sitting on 3-1,” he said. “Australians want their sporting teams to play like that and we’re Australian.
“I know it won’t please the purists but I’m happy to win 7-3 or 8-3 if it means winning games and we’re attacking. That won’t change as long as I’m in charge.
“Of course we don’t want to give away goals and we were very disappointed with the one we conceded the other night. That was unacceptable and the players have been told in no uncertain terms it can’t happen again.
“But that doesn’t come from having an attacking approach, it’s a lack of concentration. Maty Ryan also made a fantastic save but that’s why you have a goalkeeper, otherwise what’s the point.”
It’s the Postecoglou way, and he is adamant he will win or lose following his instinct only. Having had 14 months to educate his players, the coach identified the 2-1 loss to Japan in November as the point at which they began to really assimilate with his vision.
“It’s not an Ange Postecoglou side, it’s the national team,” he said. “But I do feel the players are a lot more comfortable in the way we want to play, and along the journey we’ve given quite a few an opportunity. You can see with the group we’ve got now they’ve grown with that and developed a much better understanding of the kind of football we want to play and the kind of team we want to be.
“I really felt the Japan trip was a real turning point for us, in terms of bedding down the philosophy and the chance to work with them for 10 days in camp. It clicked with the players, and the pleasing thing about Friday night was yes, we won, but the performance was centred around being disciplined in the way we want to play.”
Postecoglou confirmed that Tim Cahill will captain the side in Mile Jedinak’s absence, and suggested several other changes will follow as he bids to avoid his players running out of fuel. But that, he insisted, did not indicate any sense of being able to ease off against an Oman side that has enjoyed success against the Socceroos.
“I anticipate every opponent being tough — I think people were a bit harsh on Kuwait, and I’ll be interested to see how they go against Korea,” he said.
“It’s the biggest cliche there is but we really can only concentrate on one opponent. The first game was Kuwait, we prepared for them to be a tough nut to crack and it will be the same.
“We’ll prepare for a strong opposition — you prepare to play them at their best, and if they don’t bring their best then so be it. But we expect every game in this tournament to be a tough one.”
Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou says he won’t change Australia’s attacking approach
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