When a squad is named ahead of a World Cup attention rightly rushes to the new faces, in this case Daniel Arzani and Fran Karačić. But what is most telling about these inclusions are the concerns or anxieties they betray in Bert van Marwijk, most pointedly in the case of Karačić and the Socceroos’ ongoing weakness at right-back.
With classic Dutch brusqueness van Marwijk justified to the gathered football media on Monday his inclusion of the uncapped Croatian-born defender. “The problem is we don’t have a lot of choices for the right back position,” he said. “What I’ve seen until now is we don’t have a lot of right-back defenders.”
It’s hardly a glowing endorsement of the existing options, with a key feature of Van Marwijk’s first game in charge against Norway being his experimentation with Milos Degenek and Bailey Wright – both who play for their clubs as centre-backs – in the troubled position.
The order with which Van Marwijk announced his squad was also telling, with the coach naming 12 defenders, six or seven midfielders and nine or 10 attackers. With the middle of the park more or less settled, huge selection dilemmas still loom at the back and up front.
By Van Marwijk’s ordering, grouped by position, Josh Brillante is framed as another potential right-back consideration, with Mark Milligan being considered as a central defensive option rather than in midfield.
The issue at right-back is by no means a new headache; it continues a pattern of concern dating back years, with the Socceroos struggling to find a long-term heir to 2006 and 2010 World Cup stalwart Luke Wilkshire following his unceremonious dumping by then new coach, Ange Postecoglou. So dissatisfied with the dearth of specialist full-backs on both sides, Postecoglou even experimented with shifting to three-at-the-back, to considerable hostility within the football media and supporters.
Rather than being a squad rebuilt however, the Socceroos defensive backline – all the way across – suddenly looks again one in transition. Of the defensive unit named by Van Marwijk, only Wright survives from the squad that flew to the 2014 World Cup, with none of the starters in Brazil – Jason Davidson, Matthew Spiranovic, Alex Wilkinson, Ivan Franjic or Ryan McGowan – even in this extended group.
With Wright seeing no game time in Brazil, there’s little wonder Van Marwijk lists Milligan as a centre-back option, with the Al Ahli utility just one of six named with previous World Cup experience throughout the entire squad.
In this context, Karačić’s inclusion could be enormous. Tall, strong, already experienced in a top-flight league and more than that – a specialist full-back – the 21-year-old who captains his hometown club Lokomotiva Zagreb could become a vital component in a Socceroos backline lacking world-class ability.
In including Karačić, a player Van Marwijk revealed during Monday’s press conference that he’d never seen play in person, the Dutchman also gave a tremendous vote of confidence to his support staff, and assistant Ante Miličić who had been tracking the player. In contrast with the arrogance of previous European Socceroos managers this willingness to listen and heed the advice of colleagues cannot be overstated.
In retaining all 26 players from his original squad – no scapegoats, no warning shots – Van Marwijk has also showed trust in his playing group, a quality that could prove invaluable when coming up against vaunted opposition such as France at the World Cup. “I am not a person who changes all the time and we thought for a long time about the first squad that we selected,” he said. “I had a good experience with the 26 players in the 10 days that I worked with them, so I had no reason not to nominate them again.”
In selecting Arzani, Van Marwijk has also alluded at another anxiety point, keeping his attacking options very open with as many as 10 players selected in competition for just three starting spots.
Almost certainly Tim Cahill will travel to Russia, the Dutchman as good as confirmed this at the press conference, as once again the golden forehead will carry the hopes of a nation, even if only this time in 15-20 minute cameos.
But for strikers, who trade on sharpness and the most miniscule of margins between success and failure, a squad full of options that keeps not just opponents guessing but also the players themselves is a canny move. Arzani may or may not yet be World Cup ready – but if he doesn’t play a single minute in Russia his selection has already fired a warning shot to more established Socceroos like Robbie Kruse or Mathew Leckie.
In eschewing a farewell home fixture in exchange for an extended training camp in Turkey, Van Marwijk has also already won a huge victory over the purse string holders at 1 Oxford Street. Away from the Australian football media and public, the players can focus on earning their places. Van Marwijk took efforts to explain how important this was for him. Time in camp, time together. Time building combinations, time honing strengths and removing weaknesses.
Compared to the “golden generation” of the 2006 World Cup there are few world-class stars among the Socceroos of this squad – any aspirations to get out of a difficult Group C will rely on the collective being much more than the sum of its parts. But with potential wildcards like Karačić and Arzani in the mix and with so many starting places still waiting for somebody to make their own, this Socceroos group could yet produce some surprises.
