The Socceroos are struggling at the moment, having had the chance to qualify directly for the World Cup slip through their fingers – but the problems go far beyond the coaching regime and recent results.
“It’s about development. If you have a look at the Socceroos who are playing now, the difference in generations is stark,” Craig Foster said on Nine’s Sports Sunday.
Australia’s 2-0 loss to Japan meant that the automatic route to Qatar was no longer an option – it capped off a brutal six-game run where the Aussies took just five points from a possible 18, after winning their first three matches.
“After a very strong start, where Japan started poorly in this round, they then got back into form and all of a sudden we started to go the wrong way,” Foster said.
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When Australia returned to the big stage in 2006, the team was littered with players who either were or had previously played at some of Europe’s top teams.
“In 2006 everyone was playing at the top level of the world,” Foster said.
“Essentially what we’ve done is we’ve switched between the Matildas and the Socceroos.
“Now we’ve got all our male players, the vast majority of them aside from probably Maty Ryan are not playing at that level, and the Matildas are there. They’re all playing for Chelsea and Arsenal and the top teams in the world.
“Development is a very serious problem and it has to be looked at.”
There’s no doubt that the game is in a precarious state in Australia right now. From extortionate fees at junior level, particularly for rep squads, to the staleness of the A-League, it’s unclear if we will ever get back to the golden era of the mid-00s.
“These contentious and difficult moments are really important for where you want to to be in 20 years’ time,” Foster said.
“We are struggling in a lot of respects, we aren’t developing the players we used to – and if we had have got to this World Cup quite comfortably, people wouldn’t have asked the questions.”
The former Socceroos midfielder said that the discussions that needed to continue around how Australia moves forward as a footballing nation went beyond qualifying for a World Cup.
“The reality is, we have problems that we have to interrogate and if Graham Arnold as the coach, who’s under huge pressure at the moment, if he had have got them there it doesn’t mean that everything was rosy, and if he doesn’t get them there it doesn’t mean it’s all about Graham Arnold.
“There are bigger questions to be answered.”
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