Cliché often dictates that a team discovers more about themselves when the chips are down. Typically, the saying extends to assert that the most crucial individual assets of a collective unit will come to shine when a side has its back against a wall.
The same can be said of Australia’s important yet, at times, equally frustrating victory against the United Arab Emirates where a first half marred by indecisiveness, lethargy and structural inconsistencies was rendered redundant – at least on the scoreboard – by a comparatively promising second 45 minutes.
Having recently helped Eintracht Frankfurt to success in the UEFA Europa League, Ajdin Hrustic was defiant and cultured in the final half-hour as he sought to revive the Socceroos from the depths of despair after they had registered just two shots in the entire first half. Playing in an inside right position in Graham Arnold’s 4-3-3, Australia’s creative fulcrum found himself isolated and struggling to make a material impact on proceedings until subtle intricacies with respect to his positioning came to the fore.
Crucially, Hrustic correctly identified the gaping space on the left hand-side of UAE’s midfield as he often rotated positions with right full-back Nathaniel Atkinson. Not only did this allow Hrustic to get on the ball, but it also provide sparks of flair and entertainment as he looked to exhibit his individuality while driving at UAE’s stoic rearguard.
Hrustic’s desire to drop deeper to receive the ball also shifted UAE’s way of defending and often assisted in manipulating their defensive shape. This was immediately clear in the lead-up to the Socceroos’ first goal in the 53rd minute.
Here, Hrustic drops in alongside Aaron Mooy to create a double pivot in midfield. As a consequence, UAE scramble to mark him which gives time for Nathaniel Atkinson to play a driven pass towards the side’s centre-forward Mathew Leckie who has space in front of him to drop into.
Australia then have the ball in their final third and can supply their attacking players. Hrustic also plays a crucial role in this area given that he threaded a nice ball for Boyle in the lead-up to his mazy run which resulted in him cutting the ball towards the front past where Jackson Irvine beat his marker and tapped the ball past Khalid Eisa.
These movements from Hrustic assisted in the creation of fluid attacking movements down Australia’s right hand-side as Martin Boyle repeatedly outworked and outsprinted his direct marker. Although Hrustic’s subtle shift in positioning meant that he was receiving the ball further away from his goal, the resulting synergy and high-tempo attacking sequences meant that the shift was nothing other than a net positive to his side.
Needless to say, Hrustic’s individual quality and ball mastery was on show once again for the game’s decisive goal as he rocketed home his volley, with the help of a deflection, after a headed clearance fell to him on the edge of the penalty area.
However, despite Hrustic’s quality, and despite his confidence which pervaded his side in the second half, there remains a myriad of unanswered questions that Arnold will need to resolve ahead of next week’s do-or-die encounter against Peru. It is safe to say that if Australia were to mirror their first half performance against Peru, then the South American side will likely be more ruthless than the UAE and capitalise on the Socceroos’ disjointed play which would render the match unsalvageable before the second half.
Perhaps most obviously, there was an evident disconnect between Australia’s defence and midfield as Mooy cast a lone hand at the base of Arnold’s midfield. He was seldom supported by his teammates and was tasked with shouldering a disproportionately significant responsibility in build-up as his teammates often remained stagnant and unsettled in other areas of the pitch.
While the UAE continued to monitor Mooy closely, such is his quality and temperament on the ball, they allowed Australia’s two centre-halves time and space on the ball and remained confident that neither Kye Rowles nor Bailey Wright possess the requisite quality of passing range to progress the ball to the final third. These problems in early phases of possession were at the core of Australia’s first-half malaise as the Emiratis outpossessed (52%-48%) their Australian counterparts while also registering two shots on target compared to Australia’s zero.
Clearly, the absence of defensive stalwart and natural leader Trent Sainsbury made a difference in this respect, particularly given that he is usually the player with the confidence to carry the ball forward and launch progressive passes from deep.
However, it is currently unclear whether Sainsbury will be fit enough to start next week which will leave a burgeoning selection headache in the mind of Arnold. This problem is accentuated by Milos Degenek’s relative lack of minutes since joining Columbus Crew in the MLS. Degenek had started four out of Australia’s last five World Cup qualifiers before the UAE game and is more comfortable on the ball than Rowles and Wright. The 28-year-old seems unlikely to be restored to the starting XI despite the side’s defensive struggles against the UAE.
Without the ball, Australia were perilously timid and struggled to win the ball in high areas on the pitch which allowed the likes of Caio Canedo and Hareb Abdullah to express themselves in the final third for Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s side. Atkinson seemed overawed by the occasion in the early parts of the game as he lacked the confidence to trust his unique skillset and strengths.
While largely not supported by Wright who was guilty of failing to cover for him on multiple occasions – not least the singular goal scored by the UAE – Atkinson’s positioning left a lot to be desired as he failed to check his shoulder and allowed Abdullah to make runs on his blind side.
As the game grew on however, so too did Atkinson’s confidence as he began to make the marauding forward runs that made him such a valuable commodity in the A-League for Melbourne City. Irrespective of this, Atkinson’s place in the XI remains a massive question mark ahead of the Peru game given that Arnold may wish to opt for the more defensively solid Fran Karacic to help thwart the influence of dynamic and technical wide player Christian Cueva.
Perhaps most jarringly, however, the victory against UAE did little to quell the already existent woes regarding Australia’s midfield composition and how to best utilise the side’s rich creative talents. While Mooy acted as a conductor at the base of midfield, and successfully helped to recycle possession, the defensive side to his performance often left a lot to be desired as he struggled to cover enough ground to help stop any emerging attacking sequences.
Frustratingly, the lack of a true ball-playing No.6 in the squad somewhat necessitates Mooy’s selection in that department, particularly in wake of the peculiar omission of James Jeggo who starts regularly for KAS Eupen in the Belgium Pro League. While Mooy’s reputation and general ability on the ball almost justifies his selection alone, there is merit to suggest that other individuals could perform better – both in and out of possession – if they were given the same scope and role as the former Huddersfield and Brighton midfielder.
One of the other consequent factors of Mooy’s selection at the base of midfield is that it demands that other midfielders be selected on the basis of their ability to cover the ground that Mooy is simply incapable of covering. As such, despite his efficacy in possession largely being limited to late arrivals into the penalty area, Jackson Irvine finds his way into the starting XI in place of the technically superior Riley McGree and Denis Genreau.
Although Irvine seems more comfortable in his role on the left of Australia’s midfield three than in a double pivot, he could be used in a more nuanced fashion. Currently, he seems to almost exclusively position himself ahead of the ball which does not play to his strengths given his struggles at keeping the ball while under pressure in tight spaces.
It also means he is somewhat underused in possession, because he does not often find himself moving into areas where he can receive the ball. This is a possible explanation for why Irvine (17) completed less than half the amount of passes as Mooy (49) and Hrustic (42) during the game against the UAE.
These concerns regarding utilisation and composition have been existent throughout Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign but could ultimately meet their ugly head against Peru – a well-coached side with the capacity to punish subtle errors of judgement and positioning.
While the Socceroos will again call upon the brilliance of Ajdin Hrustic to attempt to ensure that they are not caught between a rock and a hard place, there is only so much that one man can do on his lonesome. Suffice to say, a much more comprehensive and cohesive performance will be needed or else the Socceroos will miss out on qualifying for the FIFA World Cup.
At that point, it is fair to say that the ever-growing set of unresolved questions will continue to swamp the limited set of answers about the Socceroos’ playing style, composition and identity. There is enough evidence to suggest that these questions will remain unanswered for quite some time.
