‘The quicker he’s tied to Australia, the better for us’: Robbie Slater says Alex Robertson is key to future Socceroos’ success
Time is running out to lock in dynamic midfielder Alex Robertson as a Socceroo. ROBBIE SLATER explains why it is crucial for Graham Arnold to name him in the next squad.
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Every time Alex Robertson isn’t chosen in a Socceroos squad, fears arise that he may decide to pledge allegiance to another nation.
And with good reason, because the 21-year-old midfielder – who was recently sold by Manchester City to Cardiff City – represents the future of the Socceroos’ engine room.
The problem is that he’s also eligible to represent England, Scotland and Peru through family heritage
Despite Robertson having already played for the Socceroos, two appearances in friendlies isn’t enough to lock him down to Australia.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold knows that, and would have been tempted to pick him in the squad named for this Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain, and the one the following week against Indonesia.
However, Arnold probably made the wise call in leaving him out considering Robertson has just come back from a serious injury and needs to settle in at his new club.
But let’s hope that by the time October’s World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan come around, Robertson has done enough at Cardiff to be named in the Socceroos squad because the quicker he’s tied to Australia, the better for us.
It was a similar case with young defender Alessandro Circati, who represented Italy’s under-20 team before thankfully pledging his allegiance to Australia.
Still only 20, Circati is now a starter in the Italian Serie A – one of the world’s top five domestic leagues – for Parma.
Because of that, he should be one of the first names on the Socceroos’ team-sheet.
We’re blessed to have good central defensive options, but in my first-choice Socceroos 11, Circati lines up alongside Harry Souttar in the heart of Australia’s defence.
The other central defenders in Arnold’s latest squad are Cameron Burgess, Kye Rowles and Thomas Deng.
Scotland-based Rowles and Japan-based Deng can also play at left-back and right-back respectively, and could very well be used in those positions against Bahrain at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast.
That leaves Burgess, whose club Ipswich Town has just returned to the English Premier League.
Heading into the weekend, Burgess was yet to taste EPL action, having been an unused substitute in losses to Liverpool and Manchester City.
However, he played a full match midweek in Ipswich’s surprise League Cup loss to fourth-tier AFC Wimbledon, but for the moment, Burgess doesn’t seem to be in the Tractor Boys’ first-choice 11.
What he needs is consistent game time to keep putting his case forward for national team selection.
When I look at my own career in the EPL, I didn’t always start for Blackburn, West Ham and Southampton, but I was still getting game time, even if it was off the bench.
If that will eventually be the case for Burgess, he’s better off staying in the Premier League.
However, if it gets to the point that he’s very much on the selection outer, he would perhaps be better off moving to an England Championship club as Souttar had to do recently when he joined Sheffield United on loan from Leicester City, where he barely kicked a ball in anger.
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Originally published as ‘The quicker he’s tied to Australia, the better for us’: Robbie Slater says Alex Robertson is key to future Socceroos’ success
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