FIVE possible debuts as new era dawns; Mooy loss creates huge chance: Socceroos Burning Qs

The Socceroos return to home soil this week for their first matches since this historic success in Qatar last year, facing fellow World Cup participants Ecuador in a pair of friendlies on Friday and Tuesday.

Heralded as the ‘Welcome Home’ series, it is an opportunity to celebrate Australia’s finest men’s World Cup showing, as well as the dawn of a new World Cup cycle – a chance for young players to stake their claim in the next iteration of the Socceroos.

Here are the biggest questions ahead of the two blockbuster clashes.

Just how bold will Arnie be?

This question can easily be reframed as such: Will coach Graham Arnold prioritise the next generation or celebrate those players who starred in Qatar?

It will be a difficult balancing act, made harder by the remarkable depth at his disposal.

20 Aussies received match minutes at the World Cup, and 15 of them have been named to this squad. Add to that a handful of others named to this squad (like defender Thomas Deng, midfielder Cameron Devlin, and attacker Marco Tilio) who were at the World Cup but didn’t take to the pitch.

His selection headaches might be made a little easier by injury-forced absences of a quartet of Mat Leckie, Ajdin Hrustic, Aaron Mooy, and Jamie Maclaren. That’s four World Cup heroes who Arnold almost had to play at some point in this pair of games. Instead, he has the chance to give minutes to other players – meaning more chances for fresh faces.

And there’s no shortage of fresh faces. In fact, there are five possible debutants in the 27-man squad: Jordan Bos, Joe Gauci, Aiden O’Neill, and Alexander Robertson, plus train-on player Nestory Irankunda – who Arnold said was in with a strong chance of making the squad for the second game.

“He’s in there as a train-on at this moment, but there are two games, (and) that the back-up (between) the games is very short.

“We play Friday (then) Tuesday, and there’ll be a good chance for the second game especially that he’ll be in the squad.”

With the four aforementioned veterans ruled out, the squad is tilted towards youth. The average age of the 26-man squad (thus excluding the 17-year-old train-on Irankunda) is 25.8 years. Besides the five possible debutants, 12 other players have seven caps or fewer.

Youth and international inexperience is partly what makes this series so exciting. Will Arnold hand out debuts to all of the exciting quartet of youngsters at his disposal, including the teen sensation Irankunda? If so, who misses out?

Those sorts of tricky questions face every position. Assuming locked-in first-choice goalkeeper and skipper Mat Ryan plays one of the matches, does Arnold reward veteran Andrew Redmayne – the ‘Grey Wiggle’ – for his heroics in the World Cup play-offs by giving him a game?

Or does Arnold look to the future (and reward superior club form) by giving young Adelaide FC gloveman Joe Gauci a debut between the sticks?

At least a couple of debuts are a veritable certainty this series. But who starts, and just how much Arnold is willing to roll the dice on youth, will be one of the big things to look out for.

“It’s a blank sheet of paper, and these guys have been given the first chance,” Arnold said.

Tactical tinkering or revolution?

Graham Arnold has remained largely consistent in his tactical approach throughout his Socceroos reign. Typically that sees him deploy a 4-3-3 formation with roaming inverted fullbacks to support an emphasis on wide play, and a willingness to play long balls to stretch defences or to a holdup attacker.

Combined with an emphasis on physicality, workrate, and dogged determination – the ‘Aussie DNA’ he champions – it has proven remarkably successful, particularly in backs-to-the-wall situations against more vaunted opposition at the World Cup.

But with the Asian Cup not until January 2024, and the tougher stages of World Cup qualifying further down the track, Arnold now has an opportunity to revolutionise or at least revamp his approach.

Will we see a new formation? A new focus or style in attack?

While the World Cup was our greatest-ever, significant problems confronted the Socceroos through their gruelling slog to qualify for Qatar. The focus on wide play and bombing balls into the box proved ineffective against well-marshalled defences such as Japan and Saudi Arabia, the two top rivals in Asian qualifying last time out.

But the unique skill-sets and attributes of the younger generation also offers Arnold room to change his approach. Australia is blessed with a raft of extremely talented rising stars, such as Melbourne City’s 20-year-old left-back Jordan Bos.

He presents a contrasting style to the incumbent Aziz Behich, the 32-year-old who has 57 caps over a decade.

“He’s a completely different player to Aziz Behich as a left fullback,” Arnold said.

“I don’t think I’ve seen one like this one since Scott Chipperfield. I hate to put a name on it, but he’s a very, very similar player to Scotty.

“He gives you that extra way that we can play, that maybe we don’t need to play with an inverted full back now.

“We can play with a fullback that can be high and wide and give us something different.

“During a game, for example, if we are playing with that inverted fullback, we can change our style and change our way with one substitution.

“That’s what he brings to us now.”

Australia’s depth in central defence – Harry Souttar and Kye Rowles played every game in Qatar, but Thomas Deng, Milos Degenek, and Bailey Wright are still beating down the door – could even tempt Arnold to move to a three-man defensive line.

No Mooy in big midfield chance

Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy, and Jackson Irvine. For almost a decade, Australia’s midfield has been largely dominated by three men, each of whom have played over 50 times for the national team. But Rogic missed the World Cup – having pulled out of the Socceroos earlier last year in mysterious circumstances – and a lack of game time at West Brom in England’s second tier means he hasn’t earned a recall. Mooy pulled out of this series due to a back injury, meaning Irvine is the sole midfield veteran in the squad.

Ajdin Hrustic, Australia’s best player in the previous World Cup qualification cycle, is also out with injury.

Irvine, in stunning form at St Pauli in Germany’s second division, will play a key role in the midfield this series. But Mooy’s absence throws up some interesting questions.

Mooy has played largely as a six – a deep-lying playmaker or defensive midfielder – for the Socceroos in recent years. For Celtic, however, he typically plays in a more attacking role, where he has added plenty of goals to his exceptional passing and creativity.

Arnold strongly suggested he had planned to deploy Mooy this series in a similar role to his club position, due to both the absence of playmaker Hrustic and the greater depth of defensive midfielders in the current squad – namely Keanu Baccus and Cameron Devlin.

The recalled Connor Metcalfe, an unlucky omission from Qatar, provides a more box-to-box option alongside potential debutant Aiden O’Neill, who has been in sensational form for Melbourne City.

Another potential debutant is Manchester City midfielder Alexander Robertson, a genuine number eight who has huge expectations on his young shoulders.

Arnold typically deploys three midfielders – either two holding midfielders in a double-pivot, or one holding midfielder and two further forward. Irvine will take one of those positions in at least one of the two matches, while Riley McGree could be shifted from his usual role on the flanks to an attacking midfield role usually reserved for Hrustic.

But who Arnold taps to fill the other spaces – or whether he shifts formation to drop from three to two midfielders – could give a big hint as to the future.

Full socceroos squad for Ecuador friendlies

Goalkeepers

Mat Ryan

Andrew Redmayne

Joe Gauci

Defenders

Nathaniel Atkinson

Aziz Behich

Jordy Bos

Milos Degenek

Thomas Deng

Harry Souttar

Bailey Wright

Kye Rowles

Ryan Strain

Midfielders

Keanu Baccus

Cameron Devlin

Jackson Irvine

Connor Metcalfe

Aiden O’Neill

Alexander Robertson

Riley McGree

Forwards

Brandon Borrello

Jason Cummings

Mitchell Duke

Craig Goodwin

Garang Kuol

Awer Mabil

Marco Tilio

Nestory Irankunda (train-on)