Graham Arnold has been the epitome of optimism throughout the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign but his grave fears for the future have surfaced on the eve of one of Australian football’s biggest ever matches.
What happens against Denmark on Thursday morning (2am AEDT) will go a long way to defining Arnold’s tenure as national coach, and the future outlook of the sport, as his youthful squad attempts to match the 2006 golden generation’s feat of reaching the last 16.
A win will guarantee a progression and a draw against the world’s 10th-ranked would also likely be enough but even if it happens, Arnold says it will paper over cracks that are putting future success at risk.
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A hallmark of Arnold’s reign has been his development of young players in his dual role as Olyroos coach. Nine players from the Olympics under 23s squad are at Qatar 2022 – 10 if you count Mitchell Duke who competed as an overage player. The contingent features Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles, Riley McGree and Nathaniel Atkinson, all of whom have started matches in Qatar.
The move will be regarded as a masterstroke from Arnold should Australia achieve further success this tournament but Arnold said it was not a long-term solution.
“It was a quick fix and it’s not right,” Arnold said in Doha on Tuesday.
“When I say that, whatever happens with this World Cup I think the organisation needs a review of what’s going on in junior development.
“Because when I went in 2018, when I first got appointed to the job in Russia and I watched them play, I could see straight away that (Tim) Cahill, (Mile) Jedinak, (Mark) Milligan, (Robbie) Kruse, an ageing squad was there… I’d already taken the job, I needed to find players. And when I started looking, there was nothing coming through.
“When you’re ringing A-League coaches and you’re talking about two players per club… I could barely get a squad together to go to Thailand and to Cambodia.
“It’s not right. We need kids more given an opportunity in Australia. For me there’s massive concerns for the future moving forward unless it’s fixed. It was a quick fix, that’s why I did the Olympic team for nothing.
“That’s why I had to do it, for a reason, when I asked the organisation ‘what’s the Olympic program’ and it’s ten days preparation with a team that didn’t have a coach two months before. Those type of things are not right.”
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Arnold said the appointment of Socceroos great Tony Vidmar as Olyroos coach and improvements in the under 23s system were steps in the direction.
But he again pointed to the performances of Asian rivals Saudi Arabia and Japan as evidence that Australia risked falling behind, and putting future World Cup qualification at risk, if the sport was not adequately funded.
“The game is growing and growing and Asia is growing so quickly,” he said.
“People can sit back at home and their opinion is maybe Saudi is not that good or Japan. Look at what they’ve done. Beaten Argentina. Beaten Germany. Asia is throwing a lot of money into football and we need to catch up.”
The proof ultimately, Arnold says, will be in the pudding. And on it.
“The Socceroos are just the icing on the cake – and whatever that icing, whether it tastes good or bad, the most important thing is the ingredients.
“The ingredient is junior development, junior national teams. If that’s not right, the icing will not taste very good.”
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Arnold’s contract will expire after the tournament but the 59-year-old, nor Football Australia, have given any firm indications of a desire to extend the deal.
The coach insisted “it’s not about me” and that his purpose is to help leaving a legacy that can be built upon. Guiding only the second Australian team to reach the knockout stage would certainly help in sport that feeds of the success of its national team perhaps more than any other in Australia.
“To leave a legacy is huge. 2006, and what that generation did, all the kids that grew up… that’s these kids (in this team), this generation,” Arnold said.
“They were 10 years of age watching these guys do what they did in 2006. Those guys were their inspiration. When you sit around in the lunchroom now, this generation is talking about emulating the 2006 squad and achieving the same goals they saw when they were 10 years of age.
“It’s about putting the game on the map a bit more in Australia … but there’s so much more work to do and to look at.”
