Yes, Mitch Langerak is stiff to miss out, Adam Taggart too for that matter, but Graham Arnold largely got his Socceroos squad for the 2022 World Cup right.
With Australia lucky to be going to Qatar at all, Arnold was left with some big calls to make when it came to rewarding those that got the side there and those that have been on fire at club level.
In this regard, the Socceroos coach managed to largely strike a perfect balance.
Langerak’s omission was the talking point once the squad was revealed and rightly so. He has been playing well consistently and came out of international retirement recently at Arnold’s request. But Andrew Redmayne saved those penalties, Maty Ryan is untouchable as number one and Danny Vukovic will be a vocal third-choice that keeps the other two on their toes. As far as calls come, this one won’t make or break Australia’s World Cup campaign, even if it is harsh on Langerak.
Slightly further up the field, Arnold made the bold call to drop his son-in-law, Trent Sainsbury. Out of form in the green and gold for some time, this was the right call – even if it leaves the Arnold household in an awkward place come Christmas.
The Socceroos have been gifted two young, talented centre-backs in Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles.
Qatar looks like their time to make the positions their own. Leaving out Sainsbury is the biggest indication yet that Arnold is ready to back these two moving forward.
In midfield, Tom Rogic was rightly left out after barely playing at club level recently and opting to sit out of the World Cup playoffs. While he is capable to producing magical moments, Ajdin Hrustic and Riley McGree have earned the right to be picked ahead of him based on the past six months.
In the final third, Taggart was cut loose despite previously being a favourite of Arnold. While the forward hasn’t done too much wrong, his competition simply outshone him.
Garang Kuol and Jason Cummings were impossible to ignore as they ran riot in the A-League Men for Central Coast Mariners. Jamie Maclaren can’t stop scoring goals for Melbourne City and love him or hate him, Mitch Duke’s aerial ability is arguably the best we’ve had since Tim Cahill.
Arnold has also preached developing the next generation of Socceroos over the past four years and to his credit, he’s backed them in when push has come to shove. From Rowles and Joel King, to Keanu Baccus and Cameron Devlin, this World Cup will give a number of youngsters invaluable experience on the world stage.
This Socceroos squad is far from a gamble with Arnold not left asking, “Pokies near me open now” as he selected it.
This side will fight tooth and nail for Australia in Qatar. Can they win the nation’s first World Cup game since 2010?
Only time will tell, but this side looks likely to give them their best shot.
Feature image credit: Alen Delic
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