WC 2010 squad

[midfielder]

Here is a thread for our 2010 WC Squad and media articles...

To start it off ...

Here is my fantasy 23 man World Cup Socceroo squad, playing in Pims formation:

GK: Mark Schwarzer, Adam Federeci, Mitch Langerak .... 3

DEF: Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Mark Milligan, Scott Chipperfield, Luke Wilkshire, Ryhs Williams, Matthew Spiranovc, David Carney ....... 8

MID: Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Jason Culina, Nicky Carle, Vince Grella, Mile Jedinak, Carl Valeri, Mark Bresciano, Brett Holman, .....8

Strikers: Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Nikita Rukavystya, Scotty McDonald ....4

My first team 11 against Germany playing Pims famous 4-2-3-1 is:

Mark Schwarzer

Ryhs Williams_____Matthew Spiranov____Lucas NeillScott Chipperfield

Vince GrellaLuke Wilkshire

Brett EmertonTim CahillMark Bresciano

-Harry Kewell

Dario Vidosic, Tommy Oar & Richard Garcia could make it they would replace Brett Holman, Scott Chipperfield, & Brett Emerton

 

[midfielder]

Further to my team above Nikita Rukavystya may be in the squad so I must be an astute judge...

But from TWG

Former Perth Glory flier Nikita Rukavytsya is heading for the FIFA World Cup after a resounding run of form in Belgium for relegation battler KSV Roeselare.

The lightning-quick striker, on loan from FC Twente, has scored three goals in two games as the Belgium Pro League club prepare for a series of relegation play offs, starting this weekend.

Rukavytsyas latest strike was the winner as Roeselare beat Pro League champion Standard Liege 1-0 at the weekend in a practice match and he has been closely monitored by Socceroos assistant coach Henk Duut during his recent hot streak.

His goal was a testament to his talents, the speedster bursting clear of an attempted offside trap to finish with panache.

Add that to his tally of four in the regular season for the club he joined on loan from newly crowned Dutch Eredivisie champion FC Twente, and the outcome for the 22-year-old is a ticket on the plane to South Africa.

Rukavytsya, who had scored twice in a warm-up match against third tier Willebroek-Meerhof the previous week, was described by a Socceroos insider as in irresistible form.

Asked if he had done enough to be named in Verbeeks preliminary 27-man squad for South Africa on May 11 to be trimmed down to 23 on June 1 the insider added: He certainly has and hes looking the goods because he has incredible pace, which is something all defenders fear.

Hes the quickest player in Australia by some distance. He can play central striker or out wide and that makes him even more of an asset.

Hes somebody who could come on and turn a game with his sheer speed and every team needs a player like him to call on.

The news isnt looking so good for Nicky Carle, the midfielder lauded by some and lambasted by others, with AZ Alkmaars perpetual motion man Brett Holman set to edge out the silky skilled Crystal Palace as understudy to Tim Cahill in the Rainbow Nation.

MSV Duisburgs Dario Vidosic has also caught the eye and is almost certain to be called up in a wide attacking midfield role. He did his case no harm at all by coming off the bench to bag an 87th minute goal for his loan club as they slipped to a 3-2 home loss to SC Paderborn at the weekend.

Three goalkeeping spots are cut and dried, with long-time No.1 Mark Schwarzer backed up Readings Adam Federici and Middlesbroughs Brad Jones.

 

[Jesus]

Here is a thread for our 2010 WC Squad and media articles...

To start it off ...

Here is my fantasy 23 man World Cup Socceroo squad, playing in Pims formation:

GK: Mark Schwarzer, Adam Federeci, Mitch Langerak .... 3

DEF: Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Mark Milligan, Scott Chipperfield, Luke Wilkshire, Ryhs Williams, Matthew Spiranovc, David Carney ....... 8

MID: Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Jason Culina, Nicky Carle, Vince Grella, Mile Jedinak, Carl Valeri, Mark Bresciano, Brett Holman, .....8

Strikers: Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Nikita Rukavystya, Scotty McDonald ....4

My first team 11 against Germany playing Pims famous 4-2-3-1 is:

Mark Schwarzer

Ryhs Williams_____Matthew Spiranov____Lucas NeillScott Chipperfield

Vince GrellaLuke Wilkshire

Brett EmertonTim CahillMark Bresciano

-Harry Kewell

Dario Vidosic, Tommy Oar & Richard Garcia could make it they would replace Brett Holman, Scott Chipperfield, & Brett Emerton

I know moore will be there, but it is a damn awful choice. Going into the last world cup there were issues with his pace and awareness, these things have gotten far worse in the following years.

I think Ruka will be very lucky if he makes it. Does not specifically fit Pims system, and is not really pushing it with a high standard league. Pretty sure Chippers is comprehensively outscoring him this season as well despite injury

 

[goingtoadisco]

Anyone remember what formation we played at the world cup ? guessing 4-1-3-2 ?

 

[dibo]

4-2-3-1 I think. Viduka leading the line.

Something like

              Schwarzer
Emerton Moore Neill Chipperfield
          Grella Culina
    Bresciano Cahill Kewell
                Viduka

But it can flick around to something more like

              Schwarzer
Emerton Moore Neill Chipperfield
Bresciano Grella Culina Kewell
                  Cahill
                Viduka

or

              Schwarzer
Emerton Moore Neill Chipperfield
    Bresciano Grella Culina               
        Cahill Viduka Kewell

It was flexible depending on the game situation. I think Pim's using a 4-2-3-1 as well, but frankly it flattens out to a 4-5-1 and doesn't seem to come back out very easily. It's like a flattened accordion.

It's all 'meant' to be a 4-3-3, with the 3s in little Vs pointing forward or backwards.

Two obvious variations are this (recent Socceroos):

      GK
RB CB CB LB
    DM  DM
      AM
RM          LM
      ST

or this (Mariners 2005-8):

      GK
RB CB CB LB
      DM
    RM  LM
      AM
ST          ST

 

[scottmac]

Dario Vidosic, Tommy Oar & Richard Garcia could make it they would replace Brett Holman, Scott Chipperfield, & Brett Emerton

???

No, there is no way in hell that this guy could be replaced by anyone. Even if he is on one leg he beats all the guys you could name for his spot.

 

[serious14]

He meant to type Holman. 

Otherwise he truly is insane.

 

[dibo]

Emerton might struggle to beat out Luke Wilkshire at RB. Wilkshire's basically our best player at the moment.

If he plays at RM, he's against Bresciano basically. Bresciano hasn't really impressed since 2007 or so and has been in and out of the Palermo side due to form and unjury, but Emmo's been injured quite a bit in that time too. Garcia for that spot? Not sure - still essentially unproven in green and gold.

Tommy Oar is LM, and basically he's up against Kewell. I'm honestly not sure at the moment who you'd pick given Kewell's continuing injury woes.

Vidosic is there as an attacking midfielder - he could play in place of Holman but I'm not sure he'd get picked in front of him.

 

[scottmac]

Breciano and Garcia are both injured. Bresc you would probably still take but not Garcia.

As for Emerton, its not a point of if he can beat Wilkshire to RB or if he is still injured. Emmo can play so many positions you just can not leave him behind.

He can play up front, out wide, at the back. No other player we have can do that. Even if it is for only 20 or 30 mins a game he needs to be there.

Oar and Vidosic i agree with. Both of these guys are the future of our attacking line and need to be there. The only reason you would take lolman is for his nusiance value when defending a lead. He wont make the starting 11 and no-one in their right mind would bring _him_ on to chase a game.

 

[Jesus]

Emerton might struggle to beat out Luke Wilkshire at RB. Wilkshire's basically our best player at the moment.

If he plays at RM, he's against Bresciano basically. Bresciano hasn't really impressed since 2007 or so and has been in and out of the Palermo side due to form and unjury, but Emmo's been injured quite a bit in that time too. Garcia for that spot? Not sure - still essentially unproven in green and gold.

Tommy Oar is LM, and basically he's up against Kewell. I'm honestly not sure at the moment who you'd pick given Kewell's continuing injury woes.

Vidosic is there as an attacking midfielder - he could play in place of Holman but I'm not sure he'd get picked in front of him.

Kewell is back in full training isnt he?

 

[BrisRecky]

list from the "ROAR" Newsletter containing either injured players or players who havent played a decent amount of footy recently:


Craig Moore: Hasnt played for over a month since his departure from Greek club Kavala.

Jason Culina: Has been resigned to training in the Netherlands since Gold Coasts season ended months ago.

Carl Valeri: Has struggled to secure a starting berth at Sassuolo but if not in first XI generally comes off the bench.

Mile Sterjovski: Been training with Blackburn and Fulham since A-League season ended.

Tommy Oar: Another A-League player who hasnt played for months.

Richard Garcia: Inconsistent season partly due to recovery from injury. Started last two games for Hull City but hasnt scored for over a year.

Alex Brosque: Last game was at Etihad Stadium in the A-League Grand Final.

Harry Kewell: After months out injured, came off the bench on Saturday.

Mark Bresciano: Season is over after a lower back injury has troubled him all year. Might even be a risk to make the World Cup.

Vince Grella: Missed two months of football but has made an appearance in most Blackburn games since late February.

Josh Kennedy: Another Socceroo with a back injury but is back in the Nagoya squad and scored on the weekend.

Matthew Spiranovic: Move to Urawa has seemingly backfired with Spira being restricted to two league cup games only.

Jade North: Made huge personal and financial sacrafice to move to Norway in search of game time but has only played four times since he joined Tromso.

Simon Colosimo: Stuck training for five weeks in the Netherlands since his move to the K-League fell through.

David Carney: Is another player who couldnt nail down a starting position since returning from injury.

Dario Vidosic: Struggled with injury following his loan move to Duisburg but has started getting some game time in recent weeks and will start the last game of the season on Sunday.

So thats a massive 16 possible inclusions that are either not playing, sidelined or just returning from injury....hmmm...hopefully they all hit their straps by the time play the yanks on June 5

 

[bjw]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27094396-5014539,00.html?from=public_rss

Socceroos star Harry Kewell is an injury doubt for next month's World Cup according to reports.

The striker has apparently re-injured his troublesome groin, ruling him out for the remainder of Turkish club Galatasaray's season and putting a question mark over his fitness for Australia's World Cup campaign.

Galatasaray's assistant coach Johan Neeskens confirmed the injury and suggested it would be very difficult for Kewell to be fit for Australia's opener against three-time champions Germany on June 13.

"Right now, I think it's going to be very difficult," Neeskens is quoted as saying in Fairfax media.

"Stage by stage he got better but then he fell back again. He chose to stop practising and take treatment but sometimes after three or four days and he stops treatment and starts training again, it comes back again.

"I don't know if he really is to make the World Cup at this rate. First of all it's up to himself and the doctors in Australia. If he cannot participate, it's a big loss for Australia."

The 31-year-old Kewell had surgery on his groin in January but told Gala's management on Tuesday of further pain in that area just three days after playing his first game for the club since breaking down in a Turkish cup match on January 10.

Kewell was expected to play as a lone striker for Australia at the World Cup but if he is ruled out it will put further pressure on Tim Cahill to be the Socceroos' main goal threat in South Africa.

"If you miss a player like Kewell you are missing a lot," Neeskens said.

"They know each other very well, they know how to play with each other.

"I think that's even more difficult if Harry cannot play at all. All his experience, he's played in all different countries, different clubs and his performance before injury was really good. For him it is a pity and also for Australia."

Despite the injury, Kewell's importance to the squad will most likely see him selected when coach Pim Verbeek names a 27-man provisional squad on Tuesday, giving him the country's two warm-up friendly fixtures to prove his fitness.

 

[serious14]

Kewell was expected to play as a lone striker for Australia at the World Cup

 

[jarrad]

Much better idea than our other options.
Although, I'd love to see Ruka or Djite get a run there in the pre world cup friendly's.

 

[serious14]

Kennedy??

Seeing as we're gonna hoof it 80% of the time, may as well have someone proper tall there.  Especially since we're up against Mertesacker, Metzelder, Vidic and the like.

Kewell has shown his best form for Australia on the left wing.  Keep him there I say.

 

[jarrad]

No, please stop the hoof. Especially since we're playing the likes of Meltzelder, Vidic, etc.
We have to keep the ball on the ground if we have any chance of getting through
this group stage. For me, having Kennedy in the team ruins that entire dynamic.
Besides, imo upfront Kewell, Scott Mac, Ruka, Djite > Kennedy.
All I know is that he can head the ball, would much rather someone with some pace that can beat players on the ground and finish well, Aka Ruka when at the Glory.

 

[pjennings]

For me, having Kennedy in the team ruins that entire dynamic.

Having Spike doing his Rory Delap impressions all game also becomes a tad tiresome.

 

[serious14]

I forgot about all those goals that Fat Mac gets for Australia. Woops.

And the way that Jesus scores goals and brings Kewell, Cahill and whoever-the-right-winger may be into play.... no no, let's go with Ruka/Djite.

You really think Pim's going to change his system now??

 

[Sym]

Kewell was expected to play as a lone striker for Australia at the World Cup

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

 

[jarrad]

I forgot about all those goals that Fat Mac gets for Australia. Woops.

And the way that Jesus scores goals and brings Kewell, Cahill and whoever-the-right-winger may be into play.... no no, let's go with Ruka/Djite.

You really think Pim's going to change his system now??

Don't think, wish.
I'm praying that at least gives them some sort of a chance in the friendlies.
Yeah, I know that Josh can score, though only with his head.
80% of our players are actually talented and can play the ball on the ground.
If Macca scores one to 'finally' end this international drought, he'll surely pick up confidence
and become some sort of a machine. (IE Matt Simon)

Personal opinion, just hate the long ball crap, it bores me.
I know we're not Spain, but we're better than the mariners V4 aswell.