Tony Popovic will pick his first squad as Socceroos manager this week after being thrown headfirst into the complicated world of international football management.
The former Socceroos defender, unveiled as national team boss last week, has built an impressive resume as a head coach over the last 12-years, but is unlikely to have encountered a situation before where the weight of expectation is so high, and the preparation time to meet that moment is so short.
Come kick-off in their next World Cup qualifier, against China in Adelaide on October 10, Popovic would’ve been in charge of the Socceroos for just 17 days. But in that period, he’ll only get one or two training sessions with the players, at most, before his first match at the helm starts.
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The 51-year-old seems at peace with that prospect; he’s had little choice but to embrace the chaos of the last fortnight.
Popovic decided to move his family to Croatia, after not renewing his contract with Melbourne Victory at the end of the last A-League men’s season.
He also admitted he’d only watched the Socceroos last two qualifiers, against Bahrain and Indonesia, just days before walking into Football Australia’s headquarters in Sydney.
Now, the fate of that side rests in his hands.
The Socceroos don’t do World Cup qualifying campaigns devoid of tension; so in a way, the situation Popovic has walked into has almost become an expected mode of operating when it comes to booking a spot at football’s showpiece event.
Long-term, as investment in national team programs across Asia outpaces what Football Australia is currently capable of, continually finding a way to jump out of the fire is unsustainable.
That might be Popovic’s problem in the future if he does manage to turn things around.
In the short term, however, these are the four biggest issues facing the new boss ahead of this looming international window.
HOW QUICKLY CAN POPOVIC GET HIS MESSAGE ACROSS?
Popovic is a self-confessed, meticulous planner with training sessions delivered in great detail, but how much he can convey to his new players in such a short amount of time is one of the biggest unknowns ahead of the clash with China.
A lack of time on the training pitch was the part of the job that former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold found the most challenging – even six-years into his tenure.
Players don’t arrive in camp until completing commitments with their club sides around the world.
It means the full squad isn’t likely to assemble in Adelaide until 48 hours prior to kick-off against China.
That would be less consequential at the start of a qualifying campaign. During the third phase, and with automatic qualification spots up for grabs, it becomes a huge factor.
It leaves Popovic with one or two sessions, at most, to get his message – a new message for the players – across.
How quickly that message not only sinks in, but turns into performance on the pitch, will be crucial.
Popovic has promised Socceroos fans, unhappy with the style of play under his predecessor, a change.
“There are obviously some areas there that I believe we can improve,” Popovic said at his unveiling last week.
“We can be a little bit more dynamic, we can move the ball quicker, we can get more players in the box.”
Translating that onto the pitch, with limited preparation time, against an opponent they’ll be expected to beat, is the first hurdle for Popovic to jump.
WHERE IS THE CREATIVE SPARK?
Arnold named an abundance of wingers in his squad to face Bahrain and Indonesia at the expense of more creative players in behind the strikers.
The plan was to dominate one-on-one situations out wide before delivering a decisive ball into the box.
It made the side one-dimensional in a 1-nil defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast, but tactical tweaks were evident against Indonesia just five-days later with largely the same personnel.
The Socceroos were incredibly unlucky not to come away from Jakarta with more than a draw but, largely, the responsibility for creating chances during those two fixtures fell to the wide-men.
The conundrum when it comes to the Socceroos is that they often play better against higher ranked opponents than their usual foes in Asia.
At a World Cup, Australia enters matches as the underdog, and higher ranked teams aren’t shy when it comes to attacking.
The Socceroos’ game-plan at the last World Cup in Qatar, for example, was built around an ability to soak up pressure and then rapidly counter-attack opponents who had left space in behind.
In Asia, that isn’t the case for most matches during the qualifying phase. Australia is one of the powerhouses of the region, and as a result, expected to be the aggressor against teams who prefer to sit back with men behind the ball.
Breaking down opponents, who defend in large numbers in and around their own box, is the next step in Australia’s progression as a national side.
A different type of player; one who can pull the strings in-behind the strikers and unlock defences with clever passes is needed, to compliment the pace out wide.
Three players, all of whom missed selection for the last international window, currently fit that profile: Cardiff City’s Alexander Robertson, Salernitana’s Ajdin Hrustic and Middlesbrough’s Riley McGree.
Hrustic spent part of last season on loan at Heracles in the Eredivisie, before sealing a permanent move from Serie A outfit Hellas Verona to Serie B side Salernitana in the off-season.
Riley McGree suffered a foot injury against Lebanon in Sydney in March that required surgery, ruling him out for the rest of Middlesbrough’s campaign in the second-tier Championship in the UK.
A knock picked up in pre-season halted his comeback, but he got 76-minutes under his belt in a 2-0 win over Stoke at the weekend.
Under Arnold, McGree has mainly been used on the left of a front three, but like Hrustic, possesses the required tactical nous to play in a more central role.
Arnold preferred to let 21-year-old Robertson settle into life at Cardiff, who also play in the Championship, after a move from Manchester City.
The decision was understandable. The young Aussie was sent on-loan several times while at City, eventually landing at Portsmouth in 2023, as they secured promotion from League One. After establishing himself as a regular starter at Pompey, he suffered a season-ending hamstring tear at training in January.
A round-trip from the UK, that included stops on the Gold Coast and Jakarta wouldn’t have been ideal for a player who is trying to establish himself after a nomadic existence at club level. But he hasn’t been seen in green and gold since the Socceroos’ friendly against Argentina in Beijing in June of 2023, and with the stakes this high, the national side is in desperate need of a player with his unique abilities.
WHERE DO THE GOALS COME FROM?
The Socceroos stormed through the second round of qualifying, scoring 22 times without conceding, but the goals have dried up in the third round.
They failed to score against Bahrain and Indonesia and finding the back of the net was made even harder, after striker Kusini Yengi was sent off against Bahrain, meaning he missed the game in Jakarta through suspension.
He has one-game of that red card ban left to serve and is also battling a groin injury, so his participation in the October window, where he’d only be available for the showdown against Japan, is in doubt.
It’s a huge setback. Yengi has scored four goals in nine international appearances so far and looks the man most likely to lead the line for the Socceroos moving forward.
In his absence, Arnold turned to 33-year-old Mitch Duke and 18-year-old Nestory Irankunda, who is on the books of German giants Bayern Munich, against Indonesia.
Popovic has options, but none that have shown themselves to be prolific. Aside from Mathew Leckie, who has struggled with injury since the World Cup in 2022, Duke has the most goals of any current Socceroo. But his return of 12 goals from 42 appearances sees him hit the back of the net every 195 minutes on average.
Former Melbourne City striker Jamie Maclaren is the next best with 11 goals from 31 games.
The A-League Men all-time top scorer departed for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giant in July, and is yet to open his account for his new club after two substitute appearances from their three games.
Maclaren was also left out of the Socceroos Asian Cup squad earlier this year by Arnold, and contemplated international retirement as a result. While a re-call would be a risk on current form, the 31-year-old is a proven goal scorer.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is also an option after playing the last two games for Motherwell in Scotland. The former Newcastle Jet missed the last set of internationals after injuring his quad against Rangers in mid-August.
Denmark based John Iredale has been used sporadically this year as well.
CAN HE MAKE UP FOR MISSED EASY POINTS?
It was put to Popovic at his first press conference, that perhaps there were easier times to take over as Socceroos coach.
He met that query with: “Why wouldn’t it be a good time?”
The Aussies sit fifth in a six team group after two games, and although there’s eight games remaining in this phase of qualifying, four of those fixtures are against group heavyweights Japan and Saudi Arabia.
A chance for bankable points against Bahrain and Indonesia also went begging, but as Popovic would go on to say “that’s football.”
While that’s true, it hardly makes the road ahead smooth sailing – especially when a top-two finish in the group will seal automatic qualification for the next World Cup in two years’ time.
The Socceroos were ticking along like a marathoner comfortably churning out the kilometres until the most recent window. Now, the pack has kicked and increased the pace as they head for the finish line.
Popovic will need to get his side back-up to speed quickly, or another wild ride; filled with play-off jeopardy potentially awaits.
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