Ange Postecoglou may be coming off an eighth loss from 12 matches at the helm of the Socceroos, but the Australian coach is confident he can right the ship before January’s Asian Cup.
The Socceroos went down 2-1 to Japan in Osaka last night, looking good in stretches before ultimately allowing a number of fatal second half defensive lapses.
Postecoglou has won just two matches in the past year and has officially guided Australia to its worst ever standing in FIFA competition under his rebuild- a record low world ranking (94) and Australia’s first ever position outside of Asia’s top 10 countries.
The Australian coach criticised his side’s consistently sloppy play following the latest loss, a running theme in recent months.
“It was the little details that let us down, which is unacceptable,” Postecoglou said.
“We talk about wanting to progress our football, but if we are going to be that sloppy about a key part of the game, set pieces, then it doesn’t matter what we do, we are going to pay a price.”
But the 49-year-old now believes he’s accomplished his primary goal of blooding youthful prospects and is confident that his squad can quickly turn around months of poor form despite last night’s schedule being the final friendly fixture heading into the Socceroos’ January 9 Asian Cup opener against Kuwait.
“We had a plan post World Cup to try and expose some of our less experienced players to a good level of football. We have done that,” he said.
“Tonight’s performance for the most part shows we are certainly going to be ready for that first game.”
Australia’s last win came against Saudi Arabia in September following a winless group stage World Cup exit. Last month the Socceroos recorded a draw with United Arab Emirates and a 1-0 loss to Qatar.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images.
