So far Pim Verbeek has run his calculator eyes over a swag of players young and old, but come crunch time he's selected the tried and true. Should we expect anything different when the time arrives to select the 23 players for the World Cup squad - assuming Australia qualifies?
For Germany 2006, surprise call-ups from Guus Hiddink went to Milligan and Beauchamp, while Covic could also count himself fortunate to be in the manager's mind at the right time.
Like his former mentor, Verbeek appears to be another surprise puller in spirit (or concession bender, if we interpret Hiddink's selection of a few candidates for the bench as a gesture of respect to the local football fraternity - let's remember his comments about Sarkies too, whom he declared squad material after he belatedly saw him in training). Might he be keeping something up his sleeve, like a poker player already thinking ahead to a 6am fleecing of the table at the beginning of a tough night's play?
Bearing these thoughts in mind, here's my wild and woolly prediction for Verbeek's squad in 2010.
GKs
Schwarzer - no realistic competition
Federici/Coe/Van Strattan - one of these guys ought to start making a longer lasting impression soon
Bouzanis - the wonderkid, assuming he doesn't pledge his future to Greece
DEFs
Neill - let's hope he stays healthy - without him we won't have sufficient experience at the back
Spiranovic - given his technical quality, stepping up should be a breeze - ought to be the major addition to the NT over the next two years
Milligan - still very talented, but must eliminate the lapses
Leijer - with Beauchamp treading water in Germany, may get an opportunity, but will need to seize it when it comes
Kisnorbo - his versatility increases his chances for a tournament appearance
MIDs
Cahill - finally starting to take the focus away from Kewell, Viduka and Bresh
Bresciano - deserves to have a better WC than in 2006
Grella - the only worry might be a Moore-like loss of physical speed to go with the mental speed as gets on
Emerton - can he stick around for 2014?
Culina - will Pim release him forward a bit more often?
Valeri - becoming an increasingly seamless deputy anchor
Carney - Chippy unlikely to go the distance
Wilkshire/Carle - hmm, the dependable or the unpredictable?
Holland/Herd/Zullo - selected for the experience
FWDs
Viduka - what retirement? (Lucas will be captain, though, with Emo a dark horse.)
Kewell - used up front or off the bench, ala Guus
Kennedy - nobody can replace Viduka, but so far seems capable of performing as a target man as well as Crouch-like on the deck
McDonald - problem is he needs to keep scoring to remain in the frame, since that's his game
Troisi - already a Pim favourite but may find first team opportunities hard at Newcastle for some time yet
N. Burns - seems patient with success but must be due to move overseas shortly and it's hard to believe he won't have an impact wherever he goes
No place for Holman (Wilkshire is more versatile and Carle has creative flair), D. Williams (McDonald is the pure finisher), A. Elrich (Herd might be a better long term prospect down the right, and Elrich doesn't like to lie deep). Sterjovski deserves a place but could just as easily see himself sacrificed for a young gun.
16 March 2008
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3 comments:
Bouzanis looks like he has been lost to Greece although he is still eligible for both countries. All the keepers you have listed are European based and except Schwarzer, none are playing first team football. What about the A-League keepers? Valphi put in a man of the match performance against Mexico and stopped the Mexicans from beating the Olyroos by a clear 2 or 3 goals.
Vukovic, at 22, has already established himself as the Mariners' first choice for all the A-League seasons and has also shown himself to be a bit of a nutter.
You could even throw in Michael Theoklitos who will be at the right age of 29 by the time 2010 rolls around.
Why is Beauchamp not listed? Sure, he has fallen out of favour at Nurnberg but he was a regular last season when the team gained a UEFA Cup place.
Topor-Stanley has a chance simply because he is left-footed and from the defenders listed, they are all right-footed. Additionally, Pim seems to rate him.
As for the other positions, I think Djite will be with a shout while my predicted blotters are Rukavytsya, Celeski and Musialik.
I'm still thinking (maybe hoping) that Bouzanis is foxing with Greece - just using them to get more experience.
Granted, none of the young keepers I mentioned are playing first team football at the moment, but they're all reaching an age where either they will soon find a team that needs them or they'll end up like Frank Juric and sit on the bench for their entire European careers.
Vukovic and Velaphi - we'll see.
Sort of agree re: Mike Theo, though. If he can seize half a chance . . . . See my post below.
Beauchamp I can see falling off the radar. He's played okay for the NT so far, for a newcomer, but he hasn't added any sort of new dimension, as Spiranovic would in my opinion. Kisnorbo has played badly for the NT in the past, but he remains a contender given (a) his versatility, and (b) he's a regular contributor for Leicester - a decent-sized club with a good reputation, even though they bite it in the Championship.
If Topor-Stanley gets a chance in Europe, then maybe. Not sure we terribly need another leftie, given Carney's emergence and Wilkshire's knack for slotting in (to a sufficient level).
I like you other picks, barring Celeski - he'd have to do some amazing things over the next couple of years to have a shout.
Rukavytsya definitely a golden dark horse - it'd be brilliant to see him emerge.
Now that the groups are finalized let us see the squads from qualified nations.
World Cup Football Squad
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