Socceroos players may be anxious about Popovic, and that’s a good thing

During the course of his 33-minute unveiling press conference, there was only one moment Tony Popovic bristled. It occurred when a journalist suggested “it’s not the easiest time to take over” the Socceroos. He was referring to the World Cup qualifying predicament – the fifth place in a six-team group from which only the top two will secure a direct spot in the 2026 finals.

Popovic interrupted before the reporter could finish. “No, it’s the best time,” he said. “Why wouldn’t it be a good time?” He went on to explain that bad results – such as the loss to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia that expedited Graham Arnold’s departure – can sometimes mask good things, that Australia are only two games into the third phase of qualifying, and the last World Cup under Arnold showcased a “fantastic group of players who did remarkable things”.

Quite a few people would probably disagree with Popovic’s assessment here of what makes for good and bad timing, but that might also be precisely why he is the most suitable coach to manage this team at this particular juncture.

There was a resolute energy to the 51-year-old’s characteristically measured public manner on Monday afternoon. From a pure football perspective, that was conveyed through calm guarantees that, when he oversees his first (crucial) matches against China and Japan in less than three weeks, “we will play a lot quicker than what we have recently” and “be a lot more connected as a team, with and without the ball”.

“I can assure you there’ll be a different style of play,” he said. “I expect us to be a very dynamic team come the China match.”

Analysis of Popovic’s style of football can be held until we have actually seen his Socceroos play. Presently, we have only one press conference to examine, and the most revealing message to come out of it was the one he directed straight to the players.

Tough road ahead … new Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.Credit: Steven Siewert

“We always wore that shirt with integrity, and we wore it as a privilege, as a badge of honour,” said Popovic, who was capped 58 times as a member of the fabled ‘golden generation’. “We never took it for granted … and I just want to make sure that the players understand that no one is entitled to that shirt, regardless of talent, regardless of age.

“Those values, which I know exist, can sometimes fade away or can sometimes get lost. We need to make sure that every player understands that honour is number one, to wear the shirt and wear it with pride and represent your country and your family.”

The implication was clear: that he believes complacency has crept into at least part of the playing group under Arnold, and he intends to weed it out. Popovic had yet to speak directly with any of the players when he said this, but any who listened might already be feeling anxious about their national team future under the new manager. Right now, this can only be viewed as a positive.

Tony Popovic’s coaching style has a bit of Ange Postecoglou about it.Credit: Brendan Esposito

The approach evokes memories of the Ange Postecoglou era. Soon after Graham Arnold took over following the 2018 World Cup, there was chat among that crop of Socceroos about how intimidating Postecoglou could be. How, each morning during international windows, each player had to personally shake his hand in the hotel restaurant before sitting down for breakfast. How the now-Tottenham boss would deliberately keep himself at arm’s length from those he coached to ensure he could make ruthless selection decisions without too much torment.

Then Arnold arrived and chilled everyone out, turned the environment into one that was player-led, encouraged joking around and felt a bit like one big family. The 61-year-old, another former Socceroo whose international career briefly crossed over with that of Popovic, was heavily invested in the players he selected. Many of them he had coached at domestic level since they were teenagers. Those he recruited later bought in, and many have credited the relaxed, inclusive set-up as a big part of why the Socceroos were able to make the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time in 16 years.

More recently, that very same set-up may have worked against Australia as they enter the tougher end of another notoriously challenging Asian qualifying campaign, and it is fascinating that Football Australia has opted to swing heavily back towards an authoritarian managerial approach.

Popovic is known for somewhat totalitarian methods at club level. Like Arnold and Postecoglou before him, the new Socceroos coach has demonstrated he cares deeply about the wellbeing of his players. But more like Postecoglou than Arnold, that does not appear to translate into friendships that penetrate the barrier between professional and personal.

It is little surprise, given Popovic’s historical penchant for off-season personnel purges. Back in 2015, after Western Sydney narrowly avoided the A-League Men wooden spoon, he got rid of 18 players and replaced them with new ones who fit his desired new playing philosophy (it was possession-based, for the record). He will not have quite that much freedom in his first national team role, given the comparatively restrictive pool of players from which he can select and the even more limited time he will have to train them.

But there was still a distinct sense that he will attempt to qualify the Socceroos for a sixth consecutive World Cup by whatever means necessary, even it means a Postecoglou-esque, circa 2014 changing of the guard. And even if it does not, any players who began to feel a bit comfortable under Arnold may now have new, enforced impetus to push themselves, at both international and club level.