As a result of multiple players being hit with injury, the Socceroos second match against Ecuador on Tuesday saw Graham Arnold give some younger players an opportunity to don the green and gold.
Joe Gauci, Aiden O’Neill and Connor Metcalfe are all players that are relatively new additions to the squad. So after the success of the 2022 World Cup it is a great time to be optimistic about the future of the Socceroos. For the first time since the 2006 golden generation, the Australian manager is going to be facing numerous selection headaches – a good problem to have.
Socceroos fans have had to suffer through some mediocre years since the 2006 World Cup, but things seem to be looking up heading into the next four-year cycle.
A possible reason for this is the ever increasing quality of the A-League Men competition, strengthened by the creation of elite training academies that allow clubs to develop players from a young age.
A stellar example of this is Jordan Bos, who was signed to Melbourne City’s academy at the age of 14 and has since progressed through all the age groups to break into the first team and solidify his spot as the starting left-back for the club.
However, after the match against Ecuador, Arnold said that the ALM still has much to improve when developing younger talent.
“We’re as good as anyone up to 16-years-old.
Then after 16 we hit a brick wall and I think that that brick wall needs to be removed for the players to develop and for the kids to come through,” Arnold said.
“South Australia are doing a great job. They’re clearly doing a great job, but the other states and the A-League [need to improve]. At the moment there’s no NYL [National Youth League], that was there a few years back. We’re just not playing enough football in Australia.
“All around the world everyone’s playing 10 months of the year, and we’re playing for six, seven. And if I asked him [Joe Gauci] today what he’d rather do, have four months or five months off, or play and not have such a long preseason. He would want to play.”
Despite the loss against Ecuador in Melbourne, there were a lot of positive signs that Arnold can look to as he builds towards the Asian Cup in 2024. Arnold can be reassured that the young players who he picked to play against a strong opposition looked like they had the necessary talent to compete and deserved their spot in the Socceroos squad.
Adelaide United goalkeeper Joe Gauci, who made his debut for the Socceroos spoke after the game about how the confidence he now has as an international player will help him improve as a player at club level.
“We’ve had a strong year so far [at Adelaide United], So hopefully I can take some confidence from knowing now that I can play an international level and take that back to Adelaide to build on for the rest of the year and and take the form that we as a team at Adelaide into finals and and have a strong year and look to win something,” Gauci said.
Overall, the Socceroos’ welcome home tour provided a good foundation for Arnold and his staff looking to build upon as they look to compete for a chance to win Australia’s second ever Asian Cup in 2024.
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