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Neill still on the outer
Comments(5)Tim Cahill and Lucas Neill have been left out of Pim Verbeek’s latest Socceroos squad to face South Korea in next week’s friendly. While Cahill’s absence is purely due to injury, the omission of captain Neill is major cause for concern. Just a year away from the World Cup, the classy defender is still wandering the baron soils of free agency, with several stinging reports claiming greed as the cause of his situation. Whatever the reason, the Socceroos need our best defender and captain to start playing regular first team football as soon as possible. Jesse Fink from The World Game has written several interesting articles about the debate here and here.
That dilemma aside, it was good to see Jason Culina’s powerhouse performances of late for the roaring Gold Coast United did not go un-rewarded, as he earned a recall after missing the Ireland match. Vinnie Grella and Michael Beauchamp also return after injury lay-offs, while Shane Stefanutto helped prove that Pim will still pick A-League players who aren’t named Jason Culina. Harry Kewell heads into camp with an injury cloud hanging over his head, while big Mark Schwarzer is again expected to take the armband.
Scotty McDonald will be looking over his shoulder as Josh Kennedy is also recalled into the squad. Having given Jesus the night off against Ireland so that he can adapt more quickly to his new club in Japan, Pim couldn’t resist picking the big forward after his solid start in the J-League. The pressure is clearly on Macca, as his search continues for that elusive first Socceroos goal.
Dario Vidosic, Rhys Williams and Nikita Rukavytsya again make the cut, giving the squad a nice balance of young and old, and the impression one gets is that Pim is grooming them for more important roles come South Africa 2010.
Socceroos Squad
Michael Beauchamp,
Mark Bresciano,
Nick Carle,
David Carney,
Ante Covic,
Jason Culina,
Vincenzo Grella,
Brett Holman,
Danny Invincibile,
Mile Jedinak,
Josh Kennedy,
Harry Kewell,
Patrick Kisnorbo,
Scott McDonald,
Mark Milligan,
Jade North,
Michael Petkovic,
Nikita Rukavytsya,
Mark Schwarzer,
Matthew Spiranovic,
Shane Stefanutto,
Dario Vidosic,
Rhys Williams,
Luke Wilshire
Marco the transfer window closes on the 31st hes a free agent he can sign whenever
Well, rumours linking him to Atleti Madrid in Spain. While it could be a good move, a bit sad about all the reports, claiming he’s only moving to Spain because of the low tax rates…sadly it’s probably true
Free agents gets more time to sign (I think it’s about an extra month or something, at least that’s how it is in Football Manager…). There’s been a lot of talk about him going all over the place, with the firmest offers coming from Gala. But apparently (take note – APPARENTLY) his personal problems with Kewell prevented him signing there. I actually thought Villa would have been a good destination for him, they needed a right/centre back as well as experience after Laursen retired, things which Neill provides, but alas no.
He clearly needs to get his ass into gear and sign for someone, if not for him then at least for the good of the Socceroos. As evident by last night, our defensive stocks aren’t too deep and we definitely need his experience.
He just needs to start playing. Losing respect for him by the day!!!
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hi pat
thanks for the report. any new news about neil’s change of club? and am i correct to think that he only has until 31 of aug for the window to close.