The debate around Aaron Mooy’s ‘shock axing’ exposes much in this ugly Ange Postecoglou saga, writes David Davutovic
THE hysteria surrounding Aaron Mooy’s “axing” is treading a fine line between sporting and personal attacks on Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou, writes David Davutovic.
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FOR a man who has regularly welcomed soccer debate, Ange Postecoglou has not handled criticism well it seems.
But how much talk has been based on soccer issues, and how much of it has been playing the man?
The hysteria surrounding Aaron Mooy’s shock omission on Tuesday night goes to the heart of an issue that appears to have driven Postecoglou to the brink.
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Akin to suggestions that a suicidal back three is a point-proving ego trip, Mooy’s axing has been viewed through a similarly cynical lens.
There has been little analysis on the potential sporting and tactical reasons behind his “axing”.
The Mooy saga has also been used to ram home the point that Postecoglou has lost the dressingroom, with all sorts of rumours flying around pre and post game.
“I would like to take a moment to clarify some of the comments that I made post match yesterday, which seem to have been taken out of context,’’ Mooy Tweeted on Wednesday.
“I was trying to simply make the point that I was disappointed to have not started the match and this is a natural feeling for all players.”
I would like to take a moment to clarify some of the comments that I made post match yesterday, which seem to have been taken out of context
— Aaron Mooy (@AaronMooy) October 11, 2017
I was trying to simply make the point that I was disappointed to have not started the match and this is a natural feeling for all players.
— Aaron Mooy (@AaronMooy) October 11, 2017
Contrast the Mooy episode with Harry Kewell’s shock omission against Uruguay in 2005.
Postecoglou was slammed for merely saying “you’re not playing” to Mooy, however Guus Hiddink broke the news to Kewell via assistant Graham Arnold.
“He (Hiddink) said give out the bibs to the starting line-up. And don’t say a word to him (Kewell). Harry put his hand out for it, I didn’t give it to him I kept walking past. You see Harry’s face and I went ohhh,’’ Arnold recalled.
Kewell came on after 32 minutes after Tony Popovic narrowly escaped a red card, which could have potentially left the Socceroos down to 10 men for 90 minutes.
Mooy came on after 11 minutes for injured Brad Smith, which was claimed to be an admission of fault.
Both players helped turn momentum. Hiddink was a genius. Postecoglou was lucky.
Was his early introduction of Mooy an admission of fault? Or was it a calculated call considering the subs he had in mind?
Nikita Rukavytsya and Tomi Juric came on later. Would either of them been a better option?
A like-for-like replacement would’ve prevented one of those three from coming on. All played roles.
“It was just a selection decision. We wanted to be a bit more aggressive in attack and Aaron was the one who missed out,’’ Postecoglou said.
Many have viewed the Confederations Cup match against Chile as Australia’s best recent high-intensity performance. Mooy did not feature.
So let’s presume the decision to drop Mooy wasn’t driven by sinister, egotistical reasons and the plan was to run Syria ragged before unleashing Mooy in the second half against the tiring visitors. Did he make the right call?
Considering the passage that led to the 109th minute winner involved Mooy releasing Robbie Kruse, who had been shifted from central to the left after Smith’s exit, and Tim Cahill scoring, I would say yes.
“I feel for Aaron because he’s played so many games (this season) and with the Premier League comes a lot of pressure, with the national team comes a lot of pressure. Whether he starts or doesn’t, you need to look a lot deeper into the amount of games,’’ Cahill said.
“He’s played in Syria, he’s just played Tottenham, the flight time. I also feel the fact that we’re trying to protect him has been missed.
“For Azza, he’s a professional and every single player has to sit on the bench and be part of the bigger picture of seeing the end result.
“You can say the same thing about Tomi Juric, Jackson Irvine, Massimo Luongo who scored in the final of the Asian Cup. Why aren’t you making an issue about Mass?
“Every single player can contribute but I feel the angles are coming out before we play the biggest game. There’s an angle to try and derail us.’’
The Postecoglou criticisms have trod a fine line between sporting and personal attacks.
Originally published as The debate around Aaron Mooy’s ‘shock axing’ exposes much in this ugly Ange Postecoglou saga, writes David Davutovic