Remove Graham Arnold as Australian coach now and give Tony Popovic a free hit at the World Cup playoffs, if he wants the job long term.
That’s the view of former Socceroos defender and media pundit Robbie Cornthwaite, who says Arnold has had enough time in the post and believes the lack of belief in the squad is palpable ahead of two stages of do-or-die playoff games to make it to Qatar 2022.
Australia’s 2-0 defeat in Sydney to Japan on Thursday night, their first loss in a live World Cup qualifier at home in 40 years, has ended their hopes of automatic qualification for the World Cup.
In order to make it to one of world sport’s grandest stages for a fifth straight time, they’ll need to beat either the UAE or Iraq in a one-legged playoff in Qatar in June and then the fifth-placed South American nation.
It’s a monumental task and considering Australia has only won one of their last six games in a qualifying campaign that has unravelled disastrouxjmtzywsly, optimism is near non-existent that the nation can keep its World Cup run going.
Arnold was arguably sitting even par in the job to the midpoint of last year.
There was an underwhelming Asian Cup in 2019 when Australia exited at the quarterfinal stage, but he bounced back by qualifying the Olyroos for the Tokyo Games, ending a 12-year Olympic drought.
At the same time, Australia was cruising in qualifying for Qatar.
But since then, the campaign has been in free fall and Cornthwaite, who played under Popovic at Western Sydney, believes it’s worth making the change now for a better chance of rejuvenating the team.
“If I was Football Australia, I’d be calling Tony Popovic after the Saudi Arabia game, regardless of the result, and saying you’ve got a free hit at the playoffs because the job is yours for four years after anyway,” Cornthwaite said.
“Arnie’s had enough time, we haven’t seen enough flexibility or energy in the team at a crucial time. We need a revamp and a lot more energy than what we’ve seen so far.
“Playoffs are a one-off game and you need everyone on the same page and a lot of energy. A new manager can inject something different.
“At the moment the belief amongst the players doesn’t seem to be there. We hear all the right things, but talk is different to what we’re seeing.”
Whether or not Popovic wants the job, having only signed on at the Melbourne Victory at the start of this season, is another matter.
But Cornthwaite is adamant he’s the right man for it and would take it.
“It’d be a very, very hard thing to say no to,” he said.
“We know Poppa isn’t afraid to make the big decisions even when he’s comfortable at club level. I’m sure he’d love the chance to coach the national team and prove again how good he is and maybe go on to bigger and better things like Ange (Postecoglou).”
With an Asian Champions League crown, two A-League premierships and FFA Cup title and two A-League coach of the year awards to his name from his time at the Wanderers, Perth Glory and now the Victory, there is no doubting Popovic’s credentials.
A big part of his success, however, along with his tactical acumen and aura amongst the playing group, is the famous “Popovic regime”, based on a military-like control of players’ conditioning, which is something you have little control of in the international football sphere.
Arnold, however, remains focused on Wednesday morning’s clash with Saudi Arabia in Jeddah that now has no bearing on the group stage.
“I don’t see it as a dead game, I see it as a game of opportunity to try out players. I don’t think a World Cup qualifier is that. We learn from things and kids get an experience,” he said.
