Month: March 2017

Ange Postecoglou reckons that the Australian association should enrol new teams into A-League sooner rather than later.

In the opinion of Postecoglou, with the lesser number of teams being there in the league at the moment, the regular chances are not there for the local youngsters because of which they are not being able to develop as quickly as they should.

Ange Postecoglou reckons that the Australian association should enrol new teams into A-League sooner rather than later.

In the opinion of Postecoglou, with the lesser number of teams being there in the league at the moment, the regular chances are not there for the local youngsters because of which they are not being able to develop as quickly as they should.

As per Postecoglou, in the past, when NSL was in place rather than A-League, more teams were participating. So, there were places available for the youngsters in every team and because of that, even if they had an off day or two, they would still find themselves playing.

But, now, because the teams are not as many as they were in the past, there is congestion for places and if a youngster plays on a certain day, he has to make it count on that very day itself. If he doesn’t, then nobody knows when he will be going to play again.

And youngsters can’t develop under that much pressure. They will always commit errors; that’s normal, but, they have got to have chances to learn from those errors and rectify those errors. That’s how the development happens. If the chances are few and far in between, it’s difficult for them.

Postecoglou was in Europe not so long back and he says that he didn’t find anyone talking about any young Aussie player there.

Whenever he tried to start a conversation with someone about Australian Football, they started referring to the legends of the past and that’s because no young player from down under has caught the eyes of the international audience of late and it has a lot to do with the fact that there are not many chances for them in the domestic circuit.

Australia haven’t had everything their own way so far in the qualification stage for the 2018 World Cup but Ange Postecoglou’s men can take a giant step in the next few months. Wins against Iraq and the United Arab Emirates should see the Socceroos take firm control in the race for Russia.

With five qualifying fixtures remaining, six points could prove crucial come the end of the preliminary round. It would be foolish for Postecoglou and co to underestimate both sides but the Socceroos will be confident of victory; especially as they have defeated Iraq and the UAE already in this competition.

Australia haven’t had everything their own way so far in the qualification stage for the 2018 World Cup but Ange Postecoglou’s men can take a giant step in the next few months. Wins against Iraq and the United Arab Emirates should see the Socceroos take firm control in the race for Russia.

With five qualifying fixtures remaining, six points could prove crucial come the end of the preliminary round. It would be foolish for Postecoglou and co to underestimate both sides but the Socceroos will be confident of victory; especially as they have defeated Iraq and the UAE already in this competition.

In fact, Australia are the only remaining unbeaten side in group B – Iran have managed to avoid defeat in group A. The Socceroos have struggled to inspire confidence in front of goal in recent times but they usually find the back of the net at least once; the last time Australia failed to score was against Jordan back in October 2015.

On paper, the Socceroos aren’t blessed with talent like they were a decade or so ago but the rise of the A-League has helped the national team to build a much-improved rapport. It was fine and dandy having big-name players on the roster but Australia are now much more focused on the collective rather than individual talent.

That isn’t to say that Australia don’t have a plethora of talent strutting their stuff in foreign leagues though. Bournemouth duo Adam Federici and Brad Smith will both be available for international duty at the end of March as Australia look to secure six points in the space of five vital days in the context of securing automatic qualification.

For now, both men will remain focused on keeping Eddie Howe’s men in the Premier League and soccer tipsters OLBG will be following their progress closely in the build-up to the next round of international fixtures. After all, performing well in England’s top flight, arguably the best division in the world, will stand both men in good stead for international recognition.

Next up is a trip to Iraq and Postecoglou will be confident of three points in this fixture. The Socceroos have won their last four games against Iraq, conceding just once in that excellent run. Iraq are currently second bottom of group B and Australia will definitely see this as ‘three points dropped’ if they fail to win when they visit Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium.

Following that encounter, a home clash with United Arab Emirates shouldn’t throw up too many complications. Australia have never lost to the UAE and victory last time out could spur the Socceroos on to claim another important three points towards qualification.

3 @Socceroos X-Factors against UAE – https://t.co/3t6gExbXO7 pic.twitter.com/D5enG2yRmm

— Caltex Socceroos (@Socceroos) January 25, 2017

Australia cannot afford to play catch-up with the likes of Japan and six points could see the Socceroos climb above their rivals at the top of the group. At the moment, it looks like it could be a three-horse race between Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia and Postecoglou will have his troops raring to go as they push for a convincing week of results at the end of the month.

Australia national team coach Ange Postecoglou claims that he has sent scouts in order to watch the national team’s next opponent Cameroon.

The African team were recently involved in the 2017 African Cup of Nations. As of the most successful teams in this tournament, Cameroon were one of the early favourites going into the title. However, not many actually expected them to go all the way and win the honour for a fifth time in their history. As a result, expectations are already high about the team being able to do well in the upcoming Confederations Cup.

Australia national team coach Ange Postecoglou claims that he has sent scouts in order to watch the national team’s next opponent Cameroon.

The African team were recently involved in the 2017 African Cup of Nations. As of the most successful teams in this tournament, Cameroon were one of the early favourites going into the title. However, not many actually expected them to go all the way and win the honour for a fifth time in their history. As a result, expectations are already high about the team being able to do well in the upcoming Confederations Cup.

The Confederations Cup will be like the preview to the World Cup 2018. Australia will be keen to win the honour, despite the national team knowing very well that teams successful in the Confederations Cup have not been able to win the World Cup. Part of the reason for this knowledge not affecting the team is that Australia are not considered as favourites, or even as candidates, to win the World Cup.

The Socceroos are more concerned about making an impact at the tournament by reaching the quarter-finals, or even the semifinals. In order to do so, they need a top Confederations Cup tournament. Germany, Cameroon, and Chile will be the opponents for Australia in the upcoming Confederations Cup.

“Cameroon is one of Africa’s traditional football nations and it will only add to what is going to be a great tournament and fantastic challenge for us in Russia with three quality matches against three big countries in the group stage.The Confederations Cup is a highly prestigious tournament and gives us another chance to compete for a title and also gain valuable experience against quality sides in Russia, 12 months out from the World Cup,” said Postecoglou. Prior to this competition, Australia will have to negotiate three World Cup qualifiers.