Harry Kewell doesn’t believe Tom Rogic did the best thing for his career by taking so long to find a club after leaving Celtic. But he would still have taken him to the World Cup with Australia.
The decision to let Rogic leave Parkhead after nine years was met with surprise by most in the summer. It was assumed that the midfielder was keen to head closer to home or even land a lucrative deal in the Middle East after calling time on his career in the hoops. But as the weeks ticked on, Rogic appeared no closer to sorting out his next move after rejecting an offer to play in Indonesia. He was pictured training alone in Sydney wile Socceroos boss Graham Arnold admitted he was “concerned” for the player.
Rogic eventually signed for English Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion on a one-year deal after the transfer window closed. However, he’s made just six appearances for the Baggies, providing one assist and evidently didn’t do enough to convince Arnold that he belonged in his squad for Qatar. Kewell believes the time spent in limbo after leaving Celtic wasn't good for Rogic’s prospects. However, given what he's capable of producing, the Celtic coach would still have had him in the 26-man pool.
“Do I believe he’s picked the strongest squad? No,” Kewell said of Arnold on SBS. “I think he’s missed one or two key players, which is a shame. But he's on the ground and is there 24/7. He knows exactly what he needs in his team to make this a successful World Cup attempt.
“I hope he’s got it right. I just would have liked to have seen the likes of Tommy Rogic in there. I know Tom hasn’t done the right thing by his career by getting a club earlier , just kind of waiting and drifting it out before last minute he’s got a club. I still would’ve liked to have seen him go because he could have been the difference.
“It’s going to be huge because we’ll be using a lot of our energy in the defensive part of the game. You need fresh legs and someone to hold the ball up, drive the ball, drop the shoulder and get past someone one, allow the back line to get up and give Matty Ryan that little bit of space. He [Rogic] is the player that can do that.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are other players in the squad like Boyle, Mabil and Duke who can all hold it up. But when you have a class player like Tommy Rogic, he could have been the difference in maybe the last 15 minutes in a game.”
Hearts defender Kye Rowles is in the squad, alongside Tynecastle teammates Nathaniel Atkinson and Cammy Devlin. Harry Souttar, young brother of ex-Jambos favourite John, is also in despite just coming back from a year out with a knee injury.
Kewell doesn’t think the Aussies are lacking in ability at centre back. But he does worry about their level of understanding and familiarity.
“We won’t be weak, but it’s one of the areas I don’t feel the players have played long enough together or been around each other long enough,” he explained. “Even if I go back to my time, we had one centre half leaving and one was coming in.
“Craig Moore and Lucas Neill were a pairing and had a connection. They read each other and work together well. This is what I need to see from these centre halves. Souttar being back is fantastic. He’s a big threat on set pieces and they are going to be very important for us at this World Cup.”
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