‘Need for speed’: New-look Australia target back-to-back Asian Cups

The Socceroos are a different beast to Ange
Postecoglou’s team that beat South Korea in extra time to lift the
trophy on home soil in 2015.

They have a new coach in Graham
Arnold and a mostly inexperienced squad, with the majority of the 23 in
the United Arab Emirates never having experienced the cut and thrust of
Asian Cup football before.

Since taking the reins after Australia’s poor
showing at their fourth consecutive World Cup in Russia under Bert van
Marwijk, Arnold has asserted his authority with the team unbeaten in his
four games in charge.

He has jettisoned several players and changed the style of play.

For years Australia used to have one target
man up front — usually Cahill — but the traditional centre forward
role has been replaced with an attacking trio.

“The need for speed is up front,” Arnold
declared, naming a host of players who can “make a difference” in such a
role — Matt Leckie, Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout, Chris Ikonomidis,
Awer Mabil, Robbie Kruse and Tom Rogic.

“They’re technically very good but quick,” he
said. “People talk about the goalscoring side of it — we’ve got
goalscorers everywhere.”

Arnold is keeping opposition teams guessing who will lead the line. McLaren and Leckie would seem to be the frontrunners.

He was also banking on Martin Boyle, but the
Hibernian striker was ruled out of the eve of the tournament after
picking up a knee injury in their 5-0 rout of Oman in a warm-up game on
Sunday.

It is a blow for Australia with Boyle already
scoring two goals in three appearances for a country he had never even
visited until Arnold travelled to Edinburgh to convince him to switch
allegiances in recent months.

Australia are already without midfielders Daniel Arzani and Aaron Mooy due to knee injuries.

When Cahill has not played, Australia have
struggled to get goals and former long-time Socceroos goalkeeper Mark
Schwarzer said he was a hard act to follow.

“Timmy has always been a real force,” he told
reporters. “Whenever you lose one of those players, it’s very difficult
to replace them.

“But when they move on, it allows other players to develop and come into their own and step up. Everything is up for grabs.”

‘Attitude and character’

Arnold has opted for a mix of old and new.
Mark Milligan, Kruse and Leckie have plenty of experience, while there
are youthful additions such as Chris Ikonomidis and Mabil, a Sudanese
refugee who came to Australia in 2006 and made his debut in October.

Only South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia have
managed back-to-back Asian Cup titles. Australia first need to get
through Group B, which also includes Jordan, Syria and Palestine.

Schwarzer pointed to South Korea and Japan as
Australia’s biggest threats, and said anything less than making the
semis would be a failure.

“We’ve qualified for four consecutive World
Cups, and are currently Asian Cup champions so there’s a very high bar
in the national team,” he said.

“The players they know what I expect from them
and it’s about attitude and character and we go into this tournament
with that intact.

“We have seven games and I expect to win every game.”

Australia squad: Mustafa Amini (AGF
Aarhus/DEN) Aziz Behich (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Milos Degenek (Red Star
Belgrade/SER), Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg/NOR), Rhyan Grant (Sydney
FC/AUS), Chris Ikonomidis (Perth Glory/AUS), Jackson Irvine (Hull/ENG),
Matthew Jurman (Al-Ittihad/KSA), Robbie Kruse (Bochum/GER), Mitch
Langerak (Nagoya Grampus/JPN), Mathew Leckie (Hertha Berlin/GER),
Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers/ENG), Awer Mabil (Midtjylland/DEN),
Jamie Maclaren (Hibernian/SCO), Mark Milligan (Hibernian/SCO), Aaron
Mooy (Huddersfield/ENG), Andrew Nabbout (Urawa Red Diamonds/JPN), Josh
Risdon (Western Sydney Wanderers/AUS), Tom Rogic (Celtic/SCO), Mathew
Ryan (Brighton/ENG), Trent Sainsbury (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Danny Vukovic
(Genk/BEL)