The Sound Of Knives

Greame Arnold has the appearance of a man under siege. Seemingly frustrated at the continuing criticism of his squad selection for the upcoming Olympics he was again in the press yesterday defending his selections.

It seems he has backtracked from earlier comments where he appeared to dismiss the idea that Rob Baan and Pim Verbeek had input to the squad and has made it clear that the directive from the FFA executive is to bring home a medal (a clear indication that development of players for the Socceroos is not the priority).

Jesse Fink’s latest article outlines the impact that Arnold’s self interest is having on selections but I think that he is being a little unfair. There is no doubt that Arnold’s desire to hold onto his role within the national team establishment is clearly influencing his choices though I doubt that Arnold is making those choices in total isolation from the FFA executive.

There is little doubt that Baan and Verbeek saw this squad before it was released. Whether they were allowed to have direct input to its selection though is another question. You have to wonder where Frank Lowry, Ben Buckley and Pim Verbeek are hiding themselves at the moment. If what Arnold says is true why has Frank not released a statement supporting his Olyroos Coach and choices? Where is the Verbeek statement concurring with the choices that were made.

The fact is their silence is deafening!

Facing Argentina, Serbia and Ivory Coast will be far from easy and at this stage we would be favourites to finish bottom of the group. There is no doubt that the FFA want the Olyroos to put up a respectable performance at the Olympics. To lose all three games would be seen as a disaster by the brand focussed FFA and so Arnold will be under clear guidelines that at least escaping the group stage would be the minimum that he should be aiming for.

I cannot agree with Craig Foster who seems determined to believe that the FFA should see this tournament as a purely development opportunity. I am sure Pim Verbeek and Arnold himself would love to have been given the scope to select a developmental squad with no emphasis on results but this is just not going to happen. It is important for Australian football to continue to do well at international events and the fact that these games will be shown on FTA and further highlights the need to do well.

The fact is Arnold overage attacking options were severely limited for a variety of reasons when selecting the squad and so he has selected a squad based around defence rather than attack. He has failed to explain the Archie, Rukavytsya and Bridge choice over Djite and Burns to any satisfaction. The ridiculous explanation of heat and age has left him open to wide ranging criticism.

This is Arnold’s biggest issue. His communication on selection overall has been poor. His antagonism towards the media and his inability to clearly articulate the reasons behind the selection choices are hurting his credibility and it is no surprise that nobody else is willing to jump into the mire that he is creating for himself.


The sound of knives can be heard running across whetstones at FFA headquarters and I suspect Greame Arnold may find several in his back come the 13th August.

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