Arnold looks to future in combining Socceroos, U23s

Graham Arnold believes the sport is ready for an explosion of talent coming through over the next couple of years.

Graham Arnold walks past FFA CEO David Gallop as he arrives for his first press conference as national coach in Sydney. Picture: AFP.

This time last season, Graham ­Arnold was in the thick of the cut and thrust of an A-League pre-season as he prepared for Sydney FC’s defence of their Premiers Plate-Championship double.

The FFA Cup, which the Sky Blues would go on to win, had kicked off as Arnold continued to look to strengthen his squad with some late player additions.

But it was a different scenario yesterday as Arnold sat in front of a huge media contingent at Football Federation Australia headquarters for the first time since taking over from Bert van Marwijk as coach of the Socceroos.

While saying he missed coaching at club level, a relaxed Arnold said he is ready for the challenge that will come with the Socceroos, and also with the Olyroos (under-23s) following his decision to combine both jobs.

“I miss the day-to-day coaching on the grass and that’s part of the reason I have also taken on the Olympic team,” Arnold said. “It will give me the chance to work with 40 players a month with the Socceroos and Olyroos.

“Adding the under-23s to our structure will also mean our younger players are exposed to the same systems and processes from the early stages of their international football development, making the transition into senior international football smoother for them.

“My full focus is on the Socceroos but I do feel by doing both teams it will inject new blood, young talent into the Socceroos quicker.”

Arnold believes the sport is ready for an explosion of talent over the next couple of years.

“The talent is coming through. I watched under-17s (Joeys) train recently and I saw 70 15 and 16-year-olds do stuff I have not seen before in Australian football. The kids are coming through and I am very excited about the future.

“Now they have to be given a chance. The good thing is that there should now be a progression.”

Arnold, who won A-League and Premiers Plates with Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC, as well as an FFA Cup with the Sky Blues, said he is a far better coach now than he was in his first stint with the Socceroos in 2007 when he took over from Guus Hiddink.

“What I am half decent at is learning from mistakes,” Arnold said. “I can sit here today and say to you that in 2007 I wasn’t a coach. I inherited a job I didn’t deserve and I feel I walked away from that a much better coach after making the mistakes I made.

“I can sit now and talk to those guys I coached (back then) and I’m actually embarrassed to say that I coached them, because I didn’t coach them in the right way, especially trying to replace Guus Hiddink — that’s like going from the top to the bottom in one go.

“But I’ve gone away into the A-League and I’ve worked extremely hard and I’ve learnt a lot of lessons by my mistakes, and I do feel I deserve and am ready for this opportunity.”

Arnold will have his first Socceroos camp next month before a friendly in October, followed by two more in November, when one of the games will be used to farewell Tim Cahill.

Finding someone who can replace Cahill, the national team’s greatest goalscorer, could be one of the toughest jobs for Arnold, but he is very confident it won’t be an issue.

“What Tim did for the Socceroos was simply brilliant. He is a legend of the game and I have utmost respect for him but it is not about one person,” Arnold said.

“It is about getting the right environment and also, on the field, getting the key men on the ball and getting numbers in the box to score.

“The way we played, we had a very heavy reliance on him to score. I will do that differently.

“I have a clear plan in mind what the players can do and what they will do. I know them very, very well.”