Superman Wears Tim Cahill PJs

How nice to sit through a Socceroos match with a smile the entire 90 minutes. Pim Verbeek couldn’t have asked for a more emphatic performance this morning and should satisfy even the most ardent of his knockers.

Right from the opening whistle Australia dominated this match and even though Ireland were unlucky not to score at least 1 goal the end result was well deserve. What was especially satisfying was the way we moved the ball from defence to attack, using short sharp passing to control the tempo.

The joke during the commentary was that when Superman goes to bed he wears Tim Cahill pyjamas and who can argue with another outstanding half of football from Super Tim. His ability to find the back of the net is uncanny and he has a knack of being at the right place at the right time.

But what would Pim have gotten from the match and who has elevated themselves in contention for South Africa (which was the point of the match for us). I am not going to go threw the whole squad but there were a couple of stand out performances for me.

Firstly Rhys Williams backed up he excellent debut with an even better performance this morning. Although he was beaten on several occasions by the tricky McGeady and in the second half by Hunt it didn’t deter him from pushing up and backing himself. His ability to get forward and cause headaches for defences and the pressure he applies in the midfield are a real asset and he would be close to stamping his passport to SA already but I look forward to seeing him a few more times, hope he gets a start again against Korea.

Carney also had a good game at left back that was capped off with a truly world class goal. Like Williams I loved the way he is always thinking attack and thought him pushing up high and pressuring the Irish midfield was a major reason we dominated possession. There is no doubt that Carney is the backup at left back but if he can find a starting spot at a decent club he should be pushing for number 1 spot ahead of Chipperfield.

To me the biggest surprise this morning was how well Wilkshire and Jedinak played in the Culina/Grella roles. Wilkshire has really grown over the past two years and his box-to-box running this morning was a major part in our success. With Culina back in Australia could Wilkshire steal the box-to-box role from him? It is possible but doubtful, I am sure Wilkshire will revert to the right back role when Culina is available. Jedinak played the screening role perfectly but I think Grella is always going to be first choice. Jedinak will be competing with Valeri for the backup role.

In terms of the substitutes; Nikita Rukavytsya’s pace really added an interesting element late in the game and he made some excellent runs but I think he is competing with Brett Holman for the spot in South Africa, who seems to be a Pim favourite (though for the life of me I cannot see why as once again he murdered a golden opportunity to score). I also thought Nicky Carle was excellent in the last 15 minutes, two really quality passes into the box and really worked hard. Pim really needs to start him in one of the upcoming friendlies (maybe against Korea?).

Overall there was a lot to like but the Irish gave us a lot of room in midfield and let us play to our strengths. They didn’t use the wings that well and allowed our full backs to push up high. They also failed to convert the chances they did create, we were the better team but the score line flattered us.

It will interesting to see what side Pim send onto the park next month against Korea. Would especially like to see Williams start again and give Carle a full game. Maybe give Bresciano a rest and start Carle with Kewell and Cahill either side of him.
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