Defender Brad Smith grateful to be back with the Socceroos
Recalled to the Socceroos by Graham Arnold after more than a year-and-a-half on the sidelines, Brad Smith is finally finding his feet again and keen to make up for lost time.
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Just 11 minutes cost Brad Smith dearly, and the Socceroos left back has taken nearly 20 months to recover.
Recalled to the national team by Graham Arnold after more than a year-and-a-half on the sidelines, Smith is finally finding his feet again and keen to make up for lost time.
Those 11 minutes came in the World Cup qualifier with Syria in October 2017, when the dropping of Aaron Mooy by Ange Postecoglou caused such a storm.
As it turned out, the injury Smith picked up 11 minutes in didn’t just inject Mooy to the fray almost immediately, it left the defender with an injury he knew would take some time to recover from, just when he was fighting to establish himself at EPL side Bournemouth.
By the time he was fit, the prospects of doing that had dwindled, as had his hopes of going to the World Cup once Postecoglou — a firm champion of the Penrith-born leftie — had quit the Socceroos.
That’s why he traded the English south cost for America’s north west, going on loan to Seattle Sounders in the MLS. Playing every week for a side second in the table, the move looks more sensible than some thought at the time.
“It has been a difficult period since the Syria game, when I got injured I knew immediately I’d be out for a while,” Smith said.
“Ange had believed in me and picked me when I wasn’t playing regularly, which I’m grateful for, but I knew it wouldn’t last for ever.
“Losing the chance to go to the World Cup, I knew I had to get my club future sorted out. I needed to get game time — at Liverpool it was hard to get into the first team which is why I moved to Bournemouth but that wasn’t meant to be either.
“The important thing is that I’m doing well personally, and I have a clean slate with the Socceroos, hopefully I can go in and impress, be in the set-up then for the World Cup qualifiers.”
Arnold is keen to see Smith up close, as he seeks to deepen the pool of players ready for those qualifiers.
“He’s been injured in the past, but I saw what he did under Ange and he’s an exciting player who gets forward well and has a good left foot,” said Arnold.
“We want competition for places and he’s playing every week in the MLS. I’ve never worked with him and this is a good opportunity to do so.”
It might also help Smith with mapping out what comes next, as his loan deal in Seattle expires next month and his Bournemouth contract has a further year to run.
“I’ll have to see what the clubs want to do, Seattle want to keep but I’ll have to talk to Bournemouth and see what their plans are,” Smith said.
“Certainly playing for the national team isn’t just representing your country, though I love that part of it. It’s also a bit of putting yourself in the shop window.”
Arnold sees opportunity to create depth in Socceroos squad
Graham Arnold sees it as more than just a silver lining, giving him the chance to test how deep run the stocks of green and gold.
As The Daily Telegraph revealed on Thursday, most of Arnold’s senior Socceroos have been given a leave pass for the friendly with South Korea on June 7 and told to rest their weary bodies after years of national service.
Instead a host of understudies and wannabes get the chance to step up, with places in the imminent World Cup qualifying cycle on offer to those who come through the audition.
“This is the first day of the World Cup qualification, and an opportunity to create depth for the cycle that the past has shown is a tough one,” Arnold said.
“The whole reason for this game was for players to show whether they can meet the demands of a higher level. The core group have done a hell of a lot of travelling in the past few years, and half of the World Cup squad has been injured this season.”
In their place are fringe players like Dimi Petratos and Jimmy Jeggo, but also a graduate from the Olympic program in 198cm-high Stoke City centreback Harry Souttar.
“If he’s a baby he’s a big baby,” Arnold said of his youth. “He’s very mature, and did exceptionally well in Cambodia (in the recent Olympic qualifiers). His brother opted to play for Scotland but he’s always wanted Australia.
“The expectations are that he will cope very well in this environment. This is the benefit of me working with the Olympic team.”
- Tom Smithies
Originally published as Defender Brad Smith grateful to be back with the Socceroos
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