Cup Qualifier against Saudi Arabia

[Ga Pala]

Brosque is showing his true potential . He's always had the goods and for me he will be vital in the socceroos future as playing with Kennedy makes the team play too much long ball which doesn't get the team playing to their full potential. Bresciano and kewell showed their class but the truth of the matter will these two guys be over the hill
By 2014 ? I think so , so is it worth playing them? or playing guys who will definitely be at their peak by the world cup .

[winzor]

was more a case of Saudis capitulating and awful defending than the socceroos playing better
those guys should be drug tested

some of the worst defending i've seen by professional footballers

Bad defending...?? Oh well, that excuses everything; the goals don't really count then...

[dudley]

Lets just get to the world cup, 3 in a row is massive, even if we get knocked out in the group stage, its still great exposure for the game and our fans, the world cup followers that go and camp in the countries just makes for great news stories and grows the love for our socceroos and sport!!!

[Steve#4]

Bresch, Brosque and Harry all had great games, was an entertaining game to watch.

What peeves me though is so called professional players can't select the right boots for the conditions.

They can't be that dumb can they....I'm looking at you North.

[Drusetta]

What was the starting line-up...and subsequent changes?

[cole_trickle]

Australia
No. NAME POS
1 Mark Schwarzer G
2 Lucas Neill D
8 Mark Milligan D
6 Sasa Ognenovski D
5 Jade North D
4 Matthew Spiranovic D
7 Brett Emerton M
20 Marco Bresciano M
11 James Troisi M
10 Harry Kewell F
22 Alex Brosque F
Substitutes
No. NAME POS
18 Matthew Ryan G
3 David Carney D
15 Michael Thwaite D
14 Michael Marrone D
16 Nick Carle M
12 Erik Paartalu M
13 Adam Sarota M
9 Archie Thompson F
Substitutions
MIN. SUBSTITUTION
63' Archie Thompson for James Troisi
82' David Carney for Matthew Spiranovic
87' Nick Carle for Alex Brosque

Milligan played as a DMC

[Bresciano]

I thought Bresh had an ordinary first half, but was b.o.g. in the second half. And Brosque, well without being an international superstar he seems to be fitting in very well in the squad and is a great alternative should Kennedy not play or Holger decides to play less direct.

Spot on. Was really concerned about his ability to find the ball and his defensive pressure. But then he plays a killer ball which is pure Bresch. In the second half he was great, much sharper, got a lot more ball. A natural playmaker. Not many in Oz but players like him are critical to success. Was rapt with Brosque, always rated him highly since watching him win player of the tournament in U20s tournament in Adel many years ago. Very enjoyable second half.

[nachoman]

Have the socceroos been taking defending lessons from aufc?

Need to get Milligan off and someone else on who can play in a defensive midfield role to properly screen the defence and put pressure on the man with the ball.

Mile Jedinak is the obvious choice here as the DM.
He's starting to really shine at Crystal Palace after a slow start...

[Wraith]

Bresciano had a blinder.

[bapa]

Bresciano had a blinder.

how awesome was he, it was great to see him back in the AUSSIE team.

he is my ideal midfielder, always looks goin forward when he gets the ball, takes on midfielders and lays off the through ball.....

I only wished he was 4 yrs younger. at 32, he may not make the Aussie team in 2014



the whole team played well in the 2nd half....but PLEASE DONT NOT PLAY 4 Central defenders again!

[mike17]

obviously if you are going to play bresh in the middle you need good cover. milligan did an ok job but i think this is an area where jedinak is in front of everyone

i guess its where grella/bresh worked so well for us

could start seeing less of valeri

i just hope holger doesnt go all negative when we play tough teams

id like to see

brosque/kruse kennedy/cahill

bresh
kewell emerton
jedinak

carney og neill wilkshire

schwarzer

spiranovic
r.williams
mckay
zullo
valeri
oar
herd
thompson

are all around the mark too imo

we seem to have so much depth thanks to holger, who because of this becomes the most important person in the situation - the best xi is not obvious

[OldRedback]

Have the socceroos been taking defending lessons from aufc?

Need to get Milligan off and someone else on who can play in a defensive midfield role to properly screen the defence and put pressure on the man with the ball.

Mile Jedinak is the obvious choice here as the DM.
He's starting to really shine at Crystal Palace after a slow start...

Therein lies the problem with the quality issue.

[OldRedback]

big crowd for this game considering its a dead rubber for us

Shouldn't be any such thing when you wear your country's shirt. Very ordinary performance lacking heart so far. Pretty embarrassing for Australian football.

More mature analysis from redback...

So what is it that you dispute? The apparent devaluing of playing for your country? The poor first half performance?

They managed to rescue it by showing a bit more heart and committment in the first half or it could have been a disaster and embarrassing.

[ozzie owl]

Great to see Socceroos turn it around in the second half.

[soccernuts]

gotta get to brazil, will be a world cup to remember

[BlackBrian_7]

Milligan was terrible, his passing was sloppy and his defensive game didn't make up for it. Would like to see how Rhys Williams or Chris Herd would go in this role, they would have to be our best bets at the moment but they are very much unproven at International level.

I also forgot how effective bresciano can be. Was the creative cog that the team was built around and it really is a shame that he is the wrong side of 30.

I thought that Archie had a good game when he came on and made an impact.

I think Holger got a lot more out of it than most throught ie Spiranovic should only be used in the centre of defence.

Would have been good for Paartalu or Marrone to get a run for their good form this year in the A-league but the international 'caps' need to be earnt not just handed out.