Socceroos goals now flowing from a collective effort in wake of retirement of Timmy Cahill
The Socceroos are finding it hard to escape Timmy Cahill’s legacy, especially on their travels, but with the great man’s retirement comes a new-found, collective goalscoring optimism.
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Almost a year to the day since he retired from the national team, Tim Cahill still can dominate a discussion about the future of the Socceroos.
The fact his name was brought up by Jordanian media last week before the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying win in Amman begs the question of the extent to which the national team has been able to replace him.
With 50 goals, Cahill set a bar that may never be beaten but plenty have auditioned to replace him — the likes of Apou Giannou, Adam Taggart, Jamie Maclaren, Tomi Juric, Andrew Nabbout.
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None has yet grabbed the role with conviction. Juric looked the most likely but went off the boil at club level to such an extent he is no longer in the Australian squad.
As the first Socceroos coach since Frank Farina to not have Cahill at his disposal, Graham Arnold has tried to spread the load.
His system uses three strikers and, in 14 games since he took over, Australia have scored 34 goals — from 15 players.
Compare that with the last 14 games of Cahill’s time — which included matches at the World Cup against top-flight defences. There were 18 goals, scored by 10 players.
It’s not the totals that matter so much as the breadth of scorers.
“Timmy was great, hey? A great player,” said Arnold to Jordanian journalists.
“But Timmy’s not here anymore.
“We’re working more as a team together. If you look at all the goals we’ve scored while I’ve been in charge, we share the goals.”
Taggart is the man in possession, leading the line, and scored a fine winner in the 1-0 victory over Jordan. But he doesn’t want to be compared with Cahill.
“Timmy was unique and I don’t think he can be replaced in his own right,” Taggart said.
“People need to step up and score goals for their country but his record and the performances he put in — especially those last seven or eight years, was unbelievable.
“Everyone wants to be up to the standard of Timmy but, as a player, I just have respect for what he’s done.
“I know how tough it would be to follow in those footsteps. We’re all different players and we follow different pathways. It’s important we contribute as much as we can for the national team.”
Originally published as Socceroos goals now flowing from a collective effort in wake of retirement of Timmy Cahill