If there's one untouchable in Australian football it's Guus Hiddink. Granted, the Dutch saviour's exploits in getting Australia to the Big Dance for the first time in a generation can never be overstated. And when we were there, we were one of the best footballing teams in the tournament, matching Brazil, outplaying Croatia and falling to the eventual winners who had the footballing gods on their side.
But there is also a negative aspect to Guus Hiddink's Socceroo legacy that still resounds today, one that is still shaping our thinking and ultimately holding back our game. In many ways we're still looking back to Hiddink's achievements rather than looking forward to what we need to do to acheive success now. Until we address these issues the Socceroos will never fulfil their potential.
Here are some reasons we need to get over Guus:
GUUS AS GOD
Hiddink is held up as a messiah in some circles and there's no doubting he changed the very fabric of Australian football by helping Australia to qualify for Germany 2006. The timing was perfect for us, with the launch of the A-League, the move into the AFC and World Cup qualification representing the holy football trinity.
But it's also worth remembering that the timing was also great for Hiddink. He inherited a talented and hungry team from Frank Farina, one that would probably have qualified if Guus hadn't of taken the job.
And have no doubt that Hiddink would have been shrewd enough to know this before accepting the job, realising that all he really had to do was win a two legged match against a South American side to be perceived as doing his job. The World Cup, and our performance in it, was always going to be just a bonus.
Guus did an amazing job but many pieces of the jigsaw were in place before he came on board.
EXPECTATIONS ARE TOO HIGH
Why can't we go back to the days when we were expected to lose and every victory was like winning the World Cup? What happened to the days when it was just enough to be a coach of Australia? Louis Van Gaal recently poured cold water on speculation that he might coach the Socceroos by saying they weren't good enough to win the World Cup. There's two things wrong with that way of thinking: a) if that was your mindset before taking a coaching job, only Brazil and Italy would ever have coaches. England, Spain and Germany aren't good enough to win the World Cup but they have people, and b) isn't the whole point of taking a coaching job that you use what you know to improve a team?
Maybe Mr Van Gaal has an inferiority complex when it comes to his Dutch counterpart. But it again goes back to how high Hiddink raised the bar. Whereas before managers would coach the Socceroos for their plucky underdog tag, they're now turning us down because we can't win the whole thing.
THE KOREA FACTOR
Part of Hiddink's genius is his ability to get his teams to play at an extremely high level. He did it with South Korea in 2002 and he did it with the Socceroos last year. But post-Hiddink, South Korea floundered, unable to match the intensity levels the Dutchman insisted upon and they quickly found themselves back in the heap of world football also-rans.
And the same could be said for what he did with the Socceroos. If we were good enough to beat Italy and advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup then we should have no problem against a team like Denmark and yet they totally outplayed us.
We should have a more realistic outlook and view Australia's performances in the World Cup as a one-off involving the coming together of a great coach, highly motivated players and some fortuitous timing.
THE OVERSEAS SAVIOUR COMPLEX
Ever tried working with your boss standing over your shoulder? I know that when it happens to me, simple skills like typing and talking suddenly go out of the window and you suddenly look like a complete f*ckwit in everything you do (some might say that's nothing new, but that's a whole other story).
Graham Arnold must be feeling the same way. He has the hardest and most thankless task in all of Australian football. The harsh reality is that even if Arnie wins the Asian Cup, the FFA will probably appoint a foreign coach to lead us through World Cup qualification. That's cold...
SCHILLY ACCSHENTS
Hmmm... having said that, maybe the infatuation only extends to silly accents. The soluton could be for Arnie to start speaking with an accent like Mike Myers' Goldmember after the next match and see if his approval ratings go up. If nothing else, it would make great TV.
Simon Hill: "So Graham, how did you feel the match went?"
Arnie: "Yesshh, Shimon, it wash a very intereshting game, with many chanshes falling to both teamsh. The Shocceroosh desherved to win though. I'm off for a shmoke and a pancake. Wanna come?"
But there is also a negative aspect to Guus Hiddink's Socceroo legacy that still resounds today, one that is still shaping our thinking and ultimately holding back our game. In many ways we're still looking back to Hiddink's achievements rather than looking forward to what we need to do to acheive success now. Until we address these issues the Socceroos will never fulfil their potential.
Here are some reasons we need to get over Guus:
GUUS AS GOD
Hiddink is held up as a messiah in some circles and there's no doubting he changed the very fabric of Australian football by helping Australia to qualify for Germany 2006. The timing was perfect for us, with the launch of the A-League, the move into the AFC and World Cup qualification representing the holy football trinity.
But it's also worth remembering that the timing was also great for Hiddink. He inherited a talented and hungry team from Frank Farina, one that would probably have qualified if Guus hadn't of taken the job.
And have no doubt that Hiddink would have been shrewd enough to know this before accepting the job, realising that all he really had to do was win a two legged match against a South American side to be perceived as doing his job. The World Cup, and our performance in it, was always going to be just a bonus.
Guus did an amazing job but many pieces of the jigsaw were in place before he came on board.
EXPECTATIONS ARE TOO HIGH
Why can't we go back to the days when we were expected to lose and every victory was like winning the World Cup? What happened to the days when it was just enough to be a coach of Australia? Louis Van Gaal recently poured cold water on speculation that he might coach the Socceroos by saying they weren't good enough to win the World Cup. There's two things wrong with that way of thinking: a) if that was your mindset before taking a coaching job, only Brazil and Italy would ever have coaches. England, Spain and Germany aren't good enough to win the World Cup but they have people, and b) isn't the whole point of taking a coaching job that you use what you know to improve a team?
Maybe Mr Van Gaal has an inferiority complex when it comes to his Dutch counterpart. But it again goes back to how high Hiddink raised the bar. Whereas before managers would coach the Socceroos for their plucky underdog tag, they're now turning us down because we can't win the whole thing.
THE KOREA FACTOR
Part of Hiddink's genius is his ability to get his teams to play at an extremely high level. He did it with South Korea in 2002 and he did it with the Socceroos last year. But post-Hiddink, South Korea floundered, unable to match the intensity levels the Dutchman insisted upon and they quickly found themselves back in the heap of world football also-rans.
And the same could be said for what he did with the Socceroos. If we were good enough to beat Italy and advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup then we should have no problem against a team like Denmark and yet they totally outplayed us.
We should have a more realistic outlook and view Australia's performances in the World Cup as a one-off involving the coming together of a great coach, highly motivated players and some fortuitous timing.
THE OVERSEAS SAVIOUR COMPLEX
Ever tried working with your boss standing over your shoulder? I know that when it happens to me, simple skills like typing and talking suddenly go out of the window and you suddenly look like a complete f*ckwit in everything you do (some might say that's nothing new, but that's a whole other story).
Graham Arnold must be feeling the same way. He has the hardest and most thankless task in all of Australian football. The harsh reality is that even if Arnie wins the Asian Cup, the FFA will probably appoint a foreign coach to lead us through World Cup qualification. That's cold...
SCHILLY ACCSHENTS
Hmmm... having said that, maybe the infatuation only extends to silly accents. The soluton could be for Arnie to start speaking with an accent like Mike Myers' Goldmember after the next match and see if his approval ratings go up. If nothing else, it would make great TV.
Simon Hill: "So Graham, how did you feel the match went?"
Arnie: "Yesshh, Shimon, it wash a very intereshting game, with many chanshes falling to both teamsh. The Shocceroosh desherved to win though. I'm off for a shmoke and a pancake. Wanna come?"
