Socceroos and Olyroos coach Graham Arnold says he’ll be blooding exciting young talent
LAST month Graham Arnold took a trip to a Joeys camp, hoping to find evidence of genuine young Australian talent.
Football
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News.
LAST month Graham Arnold took a trip to a Joeys camp in Narrabeen, hoping to find evidence of genuine young Australian talent.
Two weeks into his Socceroos tenure and a customarily grave World Cup post-mortem examination was throwing up questions abound about the country’s apparent inability to develop the next generation of international stars.
ARNOLD: ‘I’ve learnt from my past mistakes’
TRANSFER COMPLETE: Arzani follows Mooy path
Whiz kid Daniel Arzani was the only player under 23 in Bert van Marwijk’s Russia squad, and Arnold could only hope Trevor Morgan’s under-17s might offer a glimpse of a bright future.
“I saw 70 kids, I went home to my wife and said ‘wow, I have just seen kids do stuff I’ve never seen’,” Arnold told the Daily Telegraph.
“And that’s only a small percentage. The kids are coming, and we need to help bring those kids through.”
Success at the World Cup, he believes, is born from local talent, a theory he’s proven through nurturing A-league products such as Tom Rogic, Trent Sainsbury and Mat Ryan.
While not the Bible, he sees Han Berger’s controversial national curriculum as a solid starting point for grassroots that can be adapted as needed with increased flexibility and principles of play.
It’s part of the reason Arnold has decided to add the Olyroos to his Socceroos coaching portfolio, with the support of backroom staff featuring former Manchester United assistant Rene Meulensteen and Ante Milicic, along with long-trusted club colleagues Andrew Clark (sports science) and Doug Kors (analyst).
It started with reflection on his own past coaches who’d straddled both teams such as 1980s supremo Frank Arok, ‘90s man-manager extraordinaire Eddie Thomson and, later, Frank Farina.
Then came phone calls to a handful of the golden generation to gauge which age bracket Australia’s most successful stars felt they’d made the most headway.
The answer was 19-22, and the statistics appeared to back it up.
One example he points to is Brett Emerton, a retired veteran of 95 caps over 14 years and two World Cups, who played 76 internationals in various age groups by the time he’d hit 23.
In comparison, he says Mat Leckie had the most of the current squad at 41.
FFA’s head of national performance Luke Casserly had already suggested assigning the most experienced coaches to the youngest teams, where he realised expertise was most critical.
Arnold went away and checked the schedules, felt it was a feasible balance.
“My full focus in on the Asian Cup and the Socceroos, but when I looked at the program I can fit in two to three mid-week camps for the Olympic team before the Socceroos.
“I need, and I will, unearth some great young talent that will come through.
“We need to feed the Socceroos from underneath. I do believe Ange Postecoglou went all around the world and found every Australian.
“We can’t just sit here and hope someone will come from somewhere. We need to feed the pot.
“I believe we’ve got some great talent in that age group. They need preparation, and that’s up to me to provide that.
“(Olympic) qualification is the key. Qualification will give these kids an extra two years of international football while also aligning them with the same staff as the Socceroos.”
Arnold has planned up to five Olyroos camps in the lead-up to next March’s under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers - themselves the qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
He’s visited every A-league club to ensure none are opposed to releasing players for the midweek gatherings at the Australian Institute of Sport, where it all began for the golden generation.
The grand plan, of course, centres around the Socceroos and the increasingly rare concept of winning games at World Cups.
The priority at January’s Asian Cup is defending the trophy Postecoglou’s group lifted in 2015.
“But there’s also a changing of the guard with Timmy retiring, so it’s about making sure we’re giving people the opportunity as well,” he said.
Such a youth-targeted approach may render uncertain the futures of skipper Mile Jedinak, 34, and clubless stalwart Mark Milligan, 33.
Where the goals will come from is another question entirely, but not one of great concern to Arnold.
“The way we played was very heavily reliant on Timmy to score those goals and I will do that differently,” he said.
“(Scoring) will not be an issue at all.
“We have the players already there that can score those goals. I know (them) very, very well.
“I have a clear plan in mind of the players and what they can do and what they will do.”
LIVE stream the FFA Cup Round of 16 on FOX SPORTS. SIGN UP NOW >