IT may only be a friendly but Ange Postecoglou won’t want to upset a winning formula, declaring a full-strength squad will travel to Germany to face the world champions.
The Socceroos coach conceded defence was his main concern ahead of the double-header that includes a trip to Skopje to play Macedonia on March 30.
UK-based defenders Bailey Wright and Ryan McGowan are back in contention, while stoppers Connor Chapman (Melbourne City) and James Donachie (Brisbane Roar) are knocking on the door, but preferential treatment will be given to the Olyroos for the concurrent 2016 Olympic qualifiers.
The first phase of Rio 2016 qualifiers start in Chinese Taipei (March 23-31), ruling out Terry Antonis from the Asian Cup squad, while Mark Bresciano (retired), Robbie Kruse and Chris Herd (injured) will mean a minimum of four changes from the Asian Cup.
Melbourne City’s Aaron Mooy looks set to be one of those inclusions, while
“Coming so close after the Asian Cup we want to build on form that, we won’t make too many changes,’’ Postecoglou said.
“Defensively, even at the Asian Cup, we were still light on and that’s the area we want to get some more numbers and that’s the area we’ll be concentrating on, particularly for these two games.
“There are a couple I’m looking at, there’s 2-3 going well in the A-League and the likes of Bailey Wright back playing and Ryan McGowan playing in Scotland.
“It’s about rewarding good form, that’s important in terms of consistent messaging, then seeing where we need to create some depth.
“Aaron was stiff to miss out on the Asian Cup squad, no doubt, and he’s continued his good form and he’s very much in contention.
“It (Germany) is going to be a great test for us, we knew that when we got the game.’’
Having overhauled the squad since taking over from Holger Osieck and brought the average age down, Postecoglou admitted that he won’t look far beyond Russia 2018.
He said A-League players would still form a good chunk of his side, starting with the Germany match on March 25.
“The focus will be on this cycle and we want to make sure everyone we select can contribute to this cycle in its entirety,’’ he said.
“That will minimise players who we think potentially might not be able to be at their best next World Cup.
“Our first goal is to qualify for Russia and alongside that is to have a team that will be very, very competitive and fit that profile.
“That won’t exclude anyone who’s younger at the moment because we’ve seen that players can improve very quickly in a short period.
“But it doesn’t exclude guys like Mark Milligan and Matt McKay who are still very strong contributors, the fact in three years they’ll be in their early 30s doesn’t exclude them.
“We’ll pick a team that is best suited for us to keep improving and if that means A-League players so be it.’’
source:heraldsun.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 