The departure of Graham Arnold from the head coaching role with the Socceroos will come as a shock to many and incite plenty of reflection around his time in charge. Statistically, his second tenure at the helm of the national team has been successful in part, with World Cup qualification and participation inspiring the nation equally, a deep squad of players developing under his watch and the team always committed and passionate towards the cause. Yet along the journey, plenty a disaster played out, as we saw evidenced in the recent 1-0 loss to Bahrain that began the current phase of World Cup qualification for the Socceroos, just a fortnight ago.
There was an underwhelming performance at the most recent Asian Cup earlier in the year, when South Korea ended Arnold’s troops tilt at the quarter-final stage and some of the poor results in qualification that lead to what eventually occurred in Qatar cannot be forgotten. All the while, Arnold stuck to his guns and talked the talk. A new era of the UEFA Champions League is here, only on Stan Sport.
The walking of the walk did not always follow, yet never once did the 61-year-old waver from his belief that the team was better than many pundits in Australia thought it was. Every time they would gather, the siege mentality came into play, with the coach always insinuating that there was indeed something to prove. That something was not just the fact that Australia will always be seen as a football backwater to much of the world, but also the fact that domestically, the game needed a Socceroo team that challenged historical and racial attitudes in Australia that continue to ensure the game sits a rung or two below a few others; despite the dominance in participation and the beauty of the contest itself.
Arnold was a far better manager in his 2018-24 reign than he was back in 2006-07. There were six wins from 15 matches during his first stint, but the obvious limitations were clear and it was destined to end very quickly. After proving himself as a domestic manager, during championship winning stints at Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC, his time in the harbour city had Arnold in the crosshairs of Football Australia, in desperate need of a coach after sending Bert van Marwijk away with the squad to Russia in 2018 in what will go down historically as a very negative and wasted campaign for the national team.
Graham Arnold (Photo by Ryan Pierse – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Arnold answered the call soon after, backed plenty of A-League players during his tenure and built wonderful relationships with the men playing abroad. Never was dissension an issue, with players from all over the globe determined to come back and play for the boss when required. Sadly, despite all the emotion, passion and loyalty that Arnold was able to foster in the squad and present openly on the field whenever the side played, his tactical nous let him down.
The Sydney-born ex-striker knows the game as well as most, yet was rarely able to parlay that knowledge into performances that allowed the Socceroos to dominate teams -particularly in Asia, where qualification remains an absolute nightmare for the Socceroos, as we are discovering again early in the current campaign. Two schools of thought exist around Arnold and the dogged battles his team has been involved with against opponents over which many feel they should have an advantage. One group feel it is Arnold’s tactical limitations that restricts a squad that could do better, whilst another will go down the route of the players available and that Arnold might indeed be getting almost every inch of potential production out of them.
The ultimate truth might sit somewhere between the two. Graham Arnold. (Photo by Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista/Getty Images,) Personally, I lean towards the latter and feel the Socceroos almost certainly over-achieved in Qatar.
Moreover, the disrespect shown towards teams like Bahrain, Singapore and Jordan in the Asian Confederation by people in Australia who don’t seem to appreciate just how polished and increasingly professional they have become, further hurts their view of Arnold. I guess none of that really matters now as Football Australia look for a replacement and Arnold rides off into the sunset and potentially a new A-League or overseas opportunity in the future. All we can say for sure is that the gaffer gave us everything.
It was a decent run and the Socceroos are in a decent place, aside from a couple of poor recent results, heading into the future. Thanks Graham, it was fun, stressful and inspiring and we’ll always have Qatar..
