Farina Back in the Spotlight

Miron Bleiberg resigned last week knowing full well that whomever his replacement turned out to be, his successor's immediate job was not going to be simple. Queensland's next opponents were the runaway league leaders; a home match but far from an easy one for new coach Frank Farina. Contrast this with the move to axe Nick Theodorakopoulos the weekend prior to Newcastle's clash with the cellar-dwelling New Zealand Knights. Gary Van Egmond stepped in, got the relatively easy victory that was expected, and the Jets have looked a different team ever since - certainly a group with more zip and confidence.

It's going to be extremely interesting to chart Farina's success - or lack of it - in the A-League. His tactics never quite managed to cut the mustard on the international circuit, but his player management skills were passable and his talent identification has arguably been of a very high standard. Farina blooded Marco Bresciano when he was nothing much more than a bouncy go-getter. He gave Mile Sterjovski every possible chance to prove himself on the big stage, inevitably leading to the Sterj's mini-downfall after a woeful performance against New Zealand (and Danny Hay in particular) as a target man. Farina also fully supported the likes of Jonathan McKain and Ljubo Milicevic, burly stoppers who he often attempted to play in the holding role.

Something Farina's first match in charge of the Roar showed is that old habits die hard. Chad Gibson and Stuart McLaren both found themselves thrown into the defensive midfield position by Farina. Utility-man Spase Dilevski, another old favourite of Farina's, started wide in midfield, just where Farina routinely positioned him during the Athens Olympics. Then there was Ante Milicic - whose caps for the national team have all come under Farina's stewardship - getting a full game up front at last. Miron Bleiberg had been playing him off the bench in previous weeks, but clearly Farina is a fan and will be determined to see Milicic play himself into some form with regular appearances.

Given some of Farina's reasonably predictable approach, presumably Victory coach Ernie Merrick was comfortably prepared for the mental duel. The 2-0 result may have been an indication of the quality and confidence gap between the two sides, but Farina's gambits might not have helped constrict that gap to any telling effect. That's part of the battle he'll have to face over the coming months. Every head coach, assistant, and trainer in the league knows all about Farina's methodology, at least they do if they've had more than a passing interest in the national team over the past decade or so (Terry Butcher might be excused, but that's why you have Ian Crook around). Finding a way to sustain his preferred tactical arrangements while introducing new elements to surprise opponents - that would seem to be Farina's first challenge on the road to . . . winning the A-League, yes . . . but also becoming the national team coach once again. Surely, even if it's just lurking in the depths of his subconscious, that above all else would have to be his long-term objective. He's likely to outlive Frank Lowy, his number one naysayer, after all.

Testing the Depths

The Socceroos will be without Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Josip Skoko, Scott McDonald and possibly Craig Moore for this week's clash with Ghana. As a result, Patrick Kisnorbo, Michael Thwaite, Shane Stefanutto, Kasey Wehrmann, Ryan Griffiths and possibly Michael Beauchamp could all play a part in the fixture. England-based Neil Kilkenny, Aaron Downes, Trent McClenahan, James Troisi and possibly James Wesolowski (and/or Nick Ward; conflicting reports) have also been brought into camp in order to bolster training numbers.

If Moore can't go, Beauchamp and Kisnorbo may start in the middle of a back four featuring Chipperfield and Emerton out wide.

Strange days.

I wonder how long it's been since a League Two player (McClenahan) was involved in the national set-up?

Of the lot, I'm most interested in how Wehrmann goes. Australia still lacks a natural deputy for Vince Grella (perhaps Mark Milligan in the long-run). Vinnie is fit and ready to tangle with Michael Essien and friends, and I'm sure Wehrmann would be a big step down in terms of passing and organisation, but I'd still like to see the Lillestrom hitman come on for a few minutes. His presence might also lead to the release of Jason Culina further upfield. I really enjoyed watching Jason hound the Dutch backline for 90 minutes in that build-up match to the World Cup and would love to see him given that sort of dogged front-running role again.

Brett Holman is another guy I hope gets a run, a much longer one. He may be one of the few Socceroos with the pace to stretch any of the Ghanaians. It seems that Australia will need to rely on tight, slick passing from Grella, Bresciano, Culina and Sterjovski if it's too have any chance of breaking the Black Stars down. I rather fancy John Aloisi's chances too. This is a big match. It's going to be physical and require mental toughness. Openings will be scarce. Factors like these seem to sway in favour of Aloisi, who has demonstrated before that he naturally thrives under such pressure.

U-20s Coming Home Early

Well, the better team won and it certainly wasn't Australia. Korea Republic were scintillating in a match they utterly dominated yet only managed to win 2-1 due to over-zealous long-range shooting and the best efforts of Australia's last man standing, Matthew Spiranovic.

Someone will have to take the fall for a performance that put the Koreans eons ahead of us in terms of teamwork, skill on the ball, tempo, organisation and running in midfield, and slickness in attack. We were no match at all, which is quite alarming when you consider this generation of U-20s is ostensibly one of our best.

Some will blame the pitch, again. The Koreans managed to adapt to the bumps and hollows, playing some marvellous football. Why not us? Did coach Postecoglou give the lads a fair run on cow paddocks back home in order to prepare? Or did we continue to play on smooth AIS pitches during our pre-tournament drills and warm-ups? Instead of air-balling it would have been nice to see a bit of the old Control The Ball First mantra being exercised.

Some of the players just have to share the blame. Shaun Ontong was terrible tonight, as he has been during the tournament in my opinion. He's Postecoglou's general on the park, and I see no other reason why he's been made captain. His distribution was woeful, his Grella-like suggestions made with much pointing and arm-waving were often not the best choices, his long balls were constantly cut out by the opposition 'keeper, and so it goes on. Aside from Spiranovic, the back line has also been at fault during the tournament. Tonight goalkeeper Tando Velaphi joined the merry antics of the clowns in front of him, finding himself out of position for the Koreans second goal, which bounced over his outstretched arms (probably off a divot of some kind). Kaz Patafta ran out of breath after about sixty minutes. David Williams was majorly unsighted for most of the evening. Incessantly, Bruce Djite tried to turn when safer options were available. Sebastian Ryall was sent off late in the match for a badly disguised follow through on a Korean who made a mockery of Ryall's defensive abilities a little earlier with a glorious skinning - you could almost hear the Korean thinking his way through the move, which he executed with perfection, leaving Ryall sprawled on the ground and attempting to haul the Korean in with his . . . arms.

It's hard to find positives, really. In fact, I'm not far off disgusted. As for the South Koreans, I hope they win the thing. Postecoglou will surely receive his pink slip now, but who's going to replace him? Nobody seriously qualified comes to mind, frankly, especially when you consider that anyone brought in will be obliged to acquaint themselves with the AIS and state league system that has been erected in "support" of youth football here. Sure, we need an academy, but I'm not sure the AIS structure is the answer.