FIFA World Cup qualifiers: Socceroos exposed again as new system encounters more problems

FOR the third time the Socceroos played Ange Postecoglou’s new-wave formation, and for the third time its faults were glaringly more obvious than its strengths.

The Socceroos had plenty of problems stopping the swarm of early Saudi attacks.

HERE’S a question for Socceroos fans to ponder amid their post match discussions. When did this Australian team last play well, perform in a convincing manner for the whole of a game?

BIG RELIEF: nervy Socceroos get home

This observer would suggest the trip to Abu Dhabi last September would be it, a performance of control and intelligence. Since then they have flattered to deceive, and their latest outing was true to that form.

In the end Thursday night’s precarious encounter with Saudi Arabia procured the three points that Australia so desperately needed, but let’s follow Ange Postecoglou’s philosophy and look at the performance, not the result, even though it’s not a comforting experience.

For the third time the Socceroos played Postecoglou’s new-wave formation, and for the third time its faults were glaringly more obvious than its strengths. A square defence is a liability whether it has three men in or four, and several times in the first half the Socceroos rearguard was bypassed with ease, just as Iraq did in Tehran in March.

When he named this squad a fortnight ago Postecoglou reacted with weary disbelief to a question about the lack of fullbacks, but opponents have quite the opposite response. They know that on this evidence, a quick break leaves Australia’s defensive flanks as uninhabited land, and the home side could have conceded more than twice in the first half.

The Socceroos had plenty of problems stopping the swarm of early Saudi attacks.

It is, though, meant to be an attack-loaded formation, designed to free up the creativity of Messrs Rogic and Mooy. Yet for large swathes of the game, Mooy was dropping deeper and deeper in a forage for the ball, while Rogic found a Saudi defence rather less forgiving than multiple Scottish counterparts.

Rogic did, it’s true, score a breathtaking goal, but any critique of the home side’s tactics could not view them as a success in terms of allowing Rogic and Mooy to play.

Through sheer force of personality Mooy tried to impose himself on the contest, but this is a player who has used the physical contest of the English Championship as a canvas on which to produce a wonderful season. For Australia he seems far more constricted by the structure around him, and any system is indicted if it doesn’t allow Mooy to play.

But then the system as a whole remains studded with question marks, defensively and in attack.

Luckily the next two opponents are only Brazil and Germany.