The heat’s on ahead of the Games

A look at Arnold’s Beijing 18

APPARENTLY Djite and Burns can’t handle the heat. Now it’s firmly on Graham Arnold.

Their omission, and that of James Holland, are undoubtedly the most contentious of Arnold’s Beijing selections, but there are numerous others.

Before delving into them, a quick reflection on the Djite/Burns saga, which has got everyone talking.

For starters, I find it hard to totally concur with Arnold’s “conditioning” reasons. There has to be more to it.

Other than for stylistic reasons (ie. the way we plan to play – more on that later), the only logical thing I can think is that it’s a strategic thing from the FFA.

Surely it’s not a vendetta? If Burns and Djite had been advised not to sign for a club prior the games, Zadkovich would also have been left out, right?

So maybe it’s strategic? Given they’ve signed in Turkey and Greece, perhaps the FFA feel they would be doing the players, their clubs and Australia's future a favour by letting them be with their clubs. The logic is it would build relations with Genclerbirligi and AEK (something the FFA under Verbeek have been really big on), allowing Djite and Burns to try and establish themselves in the first 11, thus give Australia a couple more attacking European-based weapons to draw upon in the upcoming world cup qualifiers and beyond.

The theory goes; the worst thing that could happen, both for their development and for the sake of our own player pool is that they go to the Olympics, and then spend months afterwards trying to catch up.

If that’s the case, it’s a gamble either way. What’s to say they don’t spend months on the bench anyway? Having missed the Olympics, that would be a double-whammy.

Anyway, it’s a debate that’s likely to rage, but in the meantime, there is much else to dissect around Arnold’s 18;

Thanks for playing a part; already mentioned the omission of Burns, Djite and Holland, but there are countless others, including Vidosic, Williams, Downes, Dilevski, Broxham, Ward, Zullo, Elrich, Cornthwaite, Boogard, Simon, Hearfield, D’Apuzzo, Hoffman and not to mention Vukovic. It’s always tragic to come so far and get so close, so a big thankyou and ‘keep your head-up’ to all.

Defensive selection; on the surface there appears to be far too many defenders, with central men North, Milligan, Leijer and Spiranovic complimented by wide defenders Zadkovich, McClenahan and Topor-Stanley. Factor in the two keepers and half the squad shape up deep. Ok, perhaps Milligan or Zadkovich can play in central midfield, but given the defence (especially the Vukovic-Leijer-Milligan central axis) was the strongest part of the qualifiers, surprising there are so many. Arnold has been on the record saying he needed to find some solutions in the front third, yet he appears to have stacked the back.

‘We’ve got no left sided players’; that’s been the cry for years. Yet, in this squad there are four left-sided men in Topor-Stanley, Troisi, Carney and Rukavystya, just about every left-sided player we’ve got. Perhaps first choice at this stage is Topor-Stanley at left back and Carney on the left side of attack, but given that Sarkies spent much of the quals out on the left, and appears to be an Arnold favourite (along with Troisi), did we really need four lefties?

Sarkies saved by his set-piece; speaking of Sarkies, for me he’s the luckiest man in Australia, only in the side due to his delivery from corners, which was instrumental in getting the Olyroos to Beijing, but otherwise (in three seasons of the A-League) has been underwhelming. His form for Adelaide in the ACL was poor and Arnold has to decide if he can carry him in the 11 simply for this set-pieces. Surely Holland, handy over the dead ball, would have been a better all-round option, but, of course, he’s probably “too young”, ironic considering he’s a Socceroo.

The style of play; according to Arnold, the Olyroos struggled to bag goals in the qualifiers, relying on set-pieces. He has gone for pace in the front third here, indicating that there might be a bit of counter-attacking going on. Perhaps he’s been sitting back and analysing the Euros, thus the inclusion of the quick Thompson and Rukavystya. If so, it might explain Djite’s omission, but puzzling how Burns would be overlooked from any counter-attacking template. Surprised also there is no change-up battering ram option off the bench, someone like a Djite or Simon. Arnold’s gone for mobility and adaptability all round, and that might be a clever move, especially against Argentina.

Drive out of midfield; one of the features, for me, of the qualifiers, was the drive out of central midfield. It came from the likes of Celeski, Burns and Ward. Given that Sarkies struggles to offer any drive, maybe it’s expected to come from Zadkovich, Kilkenny and Celeski, but Burns has to wonder why he’s not among them. Based on this, he feels he at least should be ahead of Celeski.