Daniel Arzani should have been a star. This might be his last chance to prove he still can be

Daniel Arzani should be a superstar by now. Should be, but isn’t. It’s been eight years since he emerged as Australia’s next great hope in the months preceding the 2018 World Cup, his blistering form for Melbourne City earning him a spot in then-coach Bert van Marwijk’s squad for the tournament, where he was the youngest player to get on the pitch.

As the quadrennial bandwagoners clamoured for van Marwijk to bring a 38-year-old Tim Cahill off the bench in Russia to get the Socceroos out of jail again, real football heads knew Arzani was the only true game-changer in the national team’s ranks. Only he possessed the sort of game-breaking creative instincts that Australian players too rarely exhibit, and the confidence - arrogance, sometimes, it felt like - to actually take players on in one-vs-one situations.

Daniel Arzani at training on Wednesday in Sydney.Credit: Getty Images

“He’ll always be that Daniel to me,” Socceroos midfielder Jackson Irvine said this week.

A move to Manchester City followed, and the sky appeared the limit for Arzani. He was immediately loaned out to Celtic, worked hard to earn a debut in the Scottish Premiership under Brendan Rodgers ... and then did his ACL on debut.

He only made one more senior appearance for Celtic before a series of three more loan moves, each with diminishing returns: FC Utrecht in the Netherlands, AGF in Denmark, Lommel SK in Belgium. All throughout, there were concerning murmurs about his application, discipline and fitness levels. Only three times in his four years in Europe did he complete a full 90 minutes.

In 2022, Arzani was released by Manchester City and returned to the A-League with his tail between his legs. He joined Macarthur FC and showed flashes of that old brilliance, but only flashes. Then-coach Dwight Yorke worked hard to bring it out more consistently, but had to resort to public criticism on more than one occasion to improve the defensive side of the game.

Daniel Arzani hurt his ACL on debut with Celtic while on loan from Manchester City, and his career has been in a tailspin ever since.Credit: PA

Arzani missed selection for the World Cup in Qatar that year, and by that stage, Socceroos fans had a new shiny toy to obsess over: Garang Kuol, who pressed his selection case with an Arzani-esque run of form for the Central Coast Mariners.

At the end of the season, despite having one year remaining on his contract, Macarthur FC cut ties with him, and any hope of the highly gifted Arzani becoming the player Australia wanted him to be had seemingly evaporated. Socceroos fans were still in love with the idea of Daniel Arzani, but the reality was very different.

Here’s where Tony Popovic comes in. Then coach of Melbourne Victory, he signed Arzani for the 2023-24 season, which turned out to be probably the best of his career, if not quite as consistent as many would have liked - but it was still enough to earn his first Socceroos call-up in nearly six years for last June’s World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine. Arzani attributed his revival to Popovic’s focus on the mental side of his game.

But then Popovic left Victory at the end of the season, and Arzani’s form suffered in his absence. It was back to fleeting glimpses again. Months later, when Popovic was a few months into his tenure as Socceroos coach, he was asked about Arzani, who he called into his first camp last October, and did not hold back.

Daniel Arzani with Tim Cahill at the 2018 World Cup.Credit: Getty

“He knows what I think of him, so I’ll be telling you something now that he knows: It wasn’t good enough,” Popovic said. “It wasn’t good enough in October. His level was really poor in training. Now maybe for him, it’s okay, but it’s not enough.”

This was clearly a ploy to conjure a reaction out of Arzani. Why such a ploy is required to get a reaction from him is a matter for his therapist - but it didn’t come. Between those comments and Popovic naming him anyway in his latest Socceroos squad, ahead of several arguably more deserving candidates, Arzani did not register a single goal or assist for Victory.

Two days after, of course, Arzani produced perhaps his best match of the season in a 4-2 defeat to the Western Sydney Wanderers. And since arriving in camp, he has apparently met Popovic’s high expectations.

So perhaps the ploy will come off, should the Socceroos need inspiration in the second half against Indonesia at Allianz Stadium. Popovic, of course, is giving him no guarantees, keeping him on his toes until the last.

“Very good. He’s doing a great job so far at training,” Popovic said on Wednesday.

“I think all the players have, so I’m not singling him out. Obviously, in October he wasn’t good, and you asked the question back then, and I answered it. You ask it now, and I tell you he’s doing very well.

“Does that mean that he’ll be in the squad for the game? No … but very happy with his contribution so far.”

Those who know Arzani describe him as a “unique” character, which is why Popovic treats him as one, even if that might put the players he has overlooked for him offside.

“Danny’s a lot wiser than maybe some assume,” said Socceroo Jason Geria, a former teammate of Arzani’s at Victory.

“I think he took those comments on board … I’ve seen what he’s trying to do on the pitch. I can see that there’s a genuine effort there in trying to be a better version of himself. That’s also what I think the boss and the coaching staff have also seen, and I think that’s why he’s here in this camp now.

“We all know the quality that Daniel has … in his prime, he’s one of the players with the most technical ability that this country has. I guess it hasn’t been consistent enough. But when he’s flying, he’s almost unstoppable. He’s almost unplayable. If we can get that in these next two games, I think it’s going to be a massive asset for us.”

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