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Episode 153: Where to Now for the Socceroos · Death by Multimedia

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  This is thoughts from the metal cabin, where only one opinion
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  matters, and it's not yours. We're tuned now for Australia's
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  men's football team. The soccer ruse it's been a
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  disastrous few months winning. Only one of their last seven
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  qualifying matches for the World Cup this year.
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  And as a result failed to make automatic qualification for this
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  year's walk up now, they face an uncertain to knockout games
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  against good opposition. In order to be in Qatar later
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  this year, But is it a matter of poor planning and response over
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  recent times with covid-19, possibly as a reasonable excuse
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  for the downturn or has this been a long-term downfall one
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  that has been seen to be coming? But the Hope was that it
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  wouldn't eventuate look to be honest.
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  I'm a novice when it comes to the detailed ins and outs of
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  soccer and its repercussions, but it doesn't take a genius to
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  see. Just where on the surface at
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  least, The sport in Australia is still falling down.
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  That's today's talking point on this episode of the podcast.
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  Where one person's opinion, can make a difference here on
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  thoughts from the middle cabin. Hi there, and welcome to today's
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  discussion. So Australia have finished their
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  qualification period for this year's World Cup.
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  And to say that it's been anything, but a disaster, I
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  think would be underrated. So the last seven games
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  Australia has failed to win more than one of those games.
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  So they won their first three games in their group.
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  They then lost to Japan. They drew with Saudi Arabia
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  nil-nil which left them in third spot there after that first
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  round. So they had to find some wings
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  in the second part in the And of the hi Mona.
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  Why E-Series, they drew 1-1 with China?
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  They defeated Vietnam for nil, hooray, and then Drew 2-2 with
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  Oman. And this week, they've lost to
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  kneel to Japan and then one kneel to Saudi Arabia again.
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  So they finished third in their group of the Asian
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  qualification. So, now, to make the World Cup,
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  they have to boot the United Arab Emirates.
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  It's in a one-off game on June 7, the winner of that game has
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  to play Peru to decide on the final spot for the World Cup
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  finals. And what's our record like
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  against Peru? Well, they are really a group at
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  the last World Cup in Russia, in 2018 and we lost to nil.
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  It's an interesting thing because soccer in Australia is
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  still we're still all casual viewers of soccer.
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  I think in the long run and we all want to see Australia.
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  Make the walk up, I want to see them play in the World Cup and
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  hopefully progress, but we've qualified for all the World Cup
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  finals since that breakthrough in 2006, when Australia's
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  probably greatest ever team was able to make the quarterfinals.
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  Was it? Or the Of 16 at least them so
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  they did. So we'll it's really been easy
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  and even though we've made those playoffs we haven't really ever
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  extended ourselves beyond that and it always seems to be the
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  same for things that seem to crop up every time we get to
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  this point of the campaign and we never seem to be able to find
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  a solution to get beyond that. So one a defense always seems
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  watery Australia had some excellent Defenders over the
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  years, they really have, but it always appears that when we get
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  to the big matches. They sometimes seem to get in
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  each other's way or they seem to be out of position.
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  And they just allow what seemed to be easy.
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  Goal scored against them in the big games.
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  That's probably unfair and an over simplification of it.
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  But other teams These seem to be able to find a way to get
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  through our defense. Now, it's not the goalkeepers
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  fault because I mean, we've had two of the best since 2006 who
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  have more often than not being Our Saviors in these big games.
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  And originally it was Mark schwarzer, who was just an
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  absolutely brilliant goalkeeper and then in recent times it's
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  been Matt Ryan who has played in Premier League in England as
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  well and he's been Rific. So the goalkeepers aren't
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  necessarily to blame but a defense just seems to be able to
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  be a bit leaky. To Air Attack is never good
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  enough to score enough goals, to win enough games ever.
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  Now we had Tim Cahill up the front for so long, who scored
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  most of our goals, whenever he was playing.
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  And we didn't be seen to be able to find anybody else who could
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  come in and help him out, and help the load and score goals as
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  well. And since Tim's retired, we are
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  lacking a genuine world-class striker Ryker with enough
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  quality bull. Put through to him by a Midfield
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  to produce enough. Good finishing to produce enough
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  goals to win these big games. I mean it's as tough as it is on
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  a defense to say that they need to be able to stop other team
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  scoring. If we can't score goals, we
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  can't win games, it's as simple as that.
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  And apart from Tim. Hi Tim Cahill.
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  In the last decade. We just haven't had enough
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  people up front able to be scoring enough goals for us to
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  win games. Now, that possibly comes back,
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  two point three and point three is finding the right manager who
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  then Has the right plan to help us, not only make the World Cup
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  but then be a force at a World Cup or an Asian cup.
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  So we started off with Ozzy Gus old.
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  Good old Gus hiddink, who was our manager back in 2006 when we
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  finally break through and made the World Cup finals, Now,
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  following Goose, we had Pim verbeek who was our manager,
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  coach. Whatever you want to call it in
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  Australia, who got us to the 2010 World Cup finals, and they
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  were in South Africa. And again, our plans seemed not
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  in line with the way other teams were playing in that World Cup.
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  Then we had whole goal seek who was our next manager, who didn't
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  even get us to the next World Cup.
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  We started getting our asses handed to a six nil by other
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  teams. Just before that woke up and he
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  was sacked and then we had engine postecoglou, who come in?
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  Who was it? Australian who'd been a very
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  successful straining coach. And he took us through to the
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  2014 World Cup. Where again we were unable to
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  win a game but we scared the crap out of the Netherlands and
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  Really seem to stick it up to them.
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  And then we of course won the Asian cup, the next year.
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  But before the next World Cup, the one that he'd been booked to
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  take us to in 2018 in Russia, he was shown the door because our
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  qualification period hadn't been good enough.
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  And then Bert van marwijk came in and he changed the way and
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  had been doing it and should be having throughout the back and
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  and Burt brought in for and we never seem to get out of first
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  gear in that Whole World Cup in 2018.
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  We just sitting around in the Midfield not scoring and
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  concerning enough that we keep losing these games and since
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  then we've had gray Model, come in another one, another strength
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  coaches had a lot of success at domestic level and now of
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  course, After the last week, his head's on The Chopping Block.
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  So is it the plains of these managers that are not allowing
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  us to do our best in World Cups? Or is there a different reason?
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  Point for are highly is still not becoming the breeding ground
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  and the excellent competition. It needs to be for Australian
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  football to go forward. To be honest at the moment, it
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  feels as though football is going backwards in Australia.
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  Again now again I haven't been in the last two years.
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  Probably in the covid period, I haven't paid as much attention
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  to the a-league as I probably did before that.
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  And the fact that it's changing stations and free-to-air is not
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  really their Available is part of that but it just feels like
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  all the excitement that we used to have about Australia, making
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  the walk up and the a-league starting and the quality of
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  teams and players. We had in the a-league that
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  seems to be going backwards. I could be wrong, but that's
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  just my feeling. So, what's the answer?
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  I don't know. I'm no expert.
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  Look, I think we need to take out of the equation making this
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  walk up. Now, if we make this world cup,
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  that's fantastic. If we can win the next two games
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  and make the World Cup finals, that's brilliant.
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  But there needs to be some tough decisions made as to, where
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  Australia needs to improve and how to go about it and that's in
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  all areas, players managers. Competition.
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  Where do we make the world cup or not?
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  These decisions have to be made now, and they have to start
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  being followed through, because we've got the Asian Cup coming
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  up again. And then we've got to start
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  looking thing about four years down the track for the next
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  World Cup. Now, it always seems to be that
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  we are thinking of these things in for you periods, but we
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  absolutely need to improve the standard of the a-league and do
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  something about that. Now I don't know what that is.
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  I really don't but something has to be done about that.
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  We have to and a way to not only improve our players who are
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  coming through but get them playing, hi domestic competition
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  here and overseas to improve their play and then we've got to
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  find a manager who not only gets on with the players gets on with
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  the administrators gets on with the Australian public, but also
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  has a decent bloody plan for how teams are going to play.
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  So that we Just sit in the Midfield and not be in have our
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  destiny in our own hands and allow teams to dictate to us.
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  I know you've got to have good players to play attacking
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  football and be an attacking team.
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  But Australian teams in all sports have always been
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  attacking. We've always looked to win, not
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  to draw, not to hold that the opposition but to go out there
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  and win. Now, maybe that's against what.
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  The thoughts of international managers are but we need to find
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  someone who wants to take that mindset.
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  And then we need to find the players who are want to take
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  that mindset into the games with them.
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  And we need to mold them into a team that can do that for
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  Australia. Because for me, that's what we
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  have to do if Australian football is going to improve.
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  The simple answer at the moment. In regards to this world cup,
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  isn't it? Just doesn't feel like we have
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  the quality or the depth of player to be serious contenders
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  for any of those tournaments and look at it, if Italy are missing
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  their second consecutive World Cup and what hope does Australia
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  have We need to rebuild for the next Asian cup and find a way to
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  go forward from me. So instead Eyes episode of
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  thoughts for the middle, Kevin? Hopefully it will have given you
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  something to consider and discuss among your own group of
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  enthusiasts. And don't forget if you have any
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  thoughts on this topic or any other topics raised on other
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  episodes. Feel free to drop us a line or a
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  voice message at our website. It's a tanker dot f m--,
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  forward, slash metal Cavern. Thanks for tuning in and
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  hopefully you'll be back for the next riveting episode of
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  thoughts for the middle cabin. You have been listening to a
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  metal Cavern production. You have been listening to a
• 13:33
  metal Cavern production.