Once more unto the playoffs, dear friends. After 27 hours of competitive football that began back in June 2015 in Kyrgyzstan, Australia is again faced with a sudden death World Cup qualifying scenario. Nobody wearing gold on Tuesday night needs reminding of the traumatic experience that can be.
“It’s a game of inches,” said a phlegmatic Ange Postecoglou in the aftermath of his side’s ultimately futile 2-1 victory over Thailand. Three times the home side hit the woodwork and on countless more occasions shots that seemed destined for the back of the net somehow failed to reach their expected destination. Saudi Arabia’s 1-0 win over Japan meant Australia required a three-goal winning margin to progress.
The final reckoning is agonising. Australia finish Group B in third place but only one point behind group winners Japan and level on points with Saudi Arabia, who qualify by virtue of scoring one goal more and conceding one goal less over the course of 10 matches. Such fine margins separate history-making and purgatory. A game of inches.
An inability to force open the floodgates against Thailand in Melbourne hurt, but the real damage was done by the draw in Bangkok in November last year when the Thais earned one of their only two points of the campaign. Tellingly, the War Elephants lost their next fixture, at home to Saudi Arabia, 3-0.
The World Cup dream remains alive but the shock of failing to qualify automatically has delivered a major jolt to the system. As the dust was settling on AAMI Park Mark Bosnich led the inquisition, questioning Postecoglou’s future as head coach. Despite the fineness of the margins, such scrutiny is now inevitable.
For anyone underwhelmed by this iteration of the national team, the performance against Thailand could hardly have been more fitting. For 90 excruciating minutes Australia did what Australia have tended to do in recent times: adopt a discernible shape, pass neatly, dominate possession, look to Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic for inspiration, lack a cutting edge, and leave everyone concerned immensely frustrated.
“We just played some really good football – it’s exactly how I want my teams to play,” Postecoglou said. “They performed their task and they did all they could tonight.” The coach’s comments once again highlighting the existential dilemma at the heart of the project.
Postecoglou wants his team to play a sophisticated, proactive style of football, one that when executed to precision could allow Australia to compete against the best in the world. But on the evidence of recent months the harsh reality is the coach simply doesn’t have the players at his disposal to pull off such an ambition, however laudable. On Tuesday, as throughout this campaign, the Socceroos did everything their coach wanted them to, but it wasn’t good enough. Other managers may have seen it prudent at times to settle for something more rudimentary to achieve the basic objective but Postecoglou is not that coach.
Postecoglou cannot be blamed for the the lack of talent, particularly in attack, and when the few that have the required class demonstrate it, it’s easy to see why the coach would be so bullish. The nimble, geometric passing he longs for looks sublime when Mooy and Rogic perform their in-game rondos, but all too often those passages end without penetration leading to frustration in the stands and irritation with the laboured build-up.
This combination of style, diminishing results and festering dissatisfaction has handicapped Postecoglou. Despite the Asian Cup success this remains a side difficult to take to heart. It’s not thrilling, it’s often difficult to understand, and it lacks a totemic presence. Australia lost just once in this final stage of qualification yet it seems to always leave us wanting more, something visceral. Relative failure has been accompanied by a sense of impotence not despair. The sound at the final whistle on Tuesday night was indicative, neither a primal scream nor a rallying cry emerged from the stands.
Postecoglou has dared to dream from the outset, unapologetically raising expectations. He believes in his system, his methods, his ability to coach and improve players, and but for goal difference we could be lauding a genius. Instead we’re contemplating two legs with Syria in October; it’s a game of inches.
