The new poster boy of Australian football has substance to go with his undoubted style. And with the temperament of a leader, the captain’s armband beckons...
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When it comes to football captaincy, there’s the theory that the most effective captains tend to be playing at the back in defence. As a centre back himself, FourFourTwo put the theory to Neill. But he dismissed the theory and elected not to use it as an opportunity to press home his claims to the role. Understandably, the captaincy is something that Neill – or any of the other Socceroos would welcome – but he’s also happy to bide his time should Mark Viduka reclaim the spot.
“No (I disagree),” he replies bluntly “I’ve had strikers as captains and goalies as captains and midfielders as captains. To be captain is to be someone who’s a representation of the team, epitomises the attitude of the team and is willing to be responsible in good times and in bad.
“A leader can be any position on the field but there are different forms of leadership. There’s communication in leadership and there’s performance. There’s no better example for your team to follow than your own performance on the field and there’s no better way to help the team than to communicate. I think we’ve got a few leaders in this team, me being one of them. I’m just the one who happens to flick the coin at the start of the game.”
The Socceroo culture has often been spoken about, and the team harmony in Germany is something that has been written almost as much as the team’s performance itself. With the retirements of Popovic, Kalac, Stan Lazaridis and Tony Vidmar the generational change is now in full effect and a number of young and fringe Socceroos are being tested.
So will the team’s culture be able to cope with a new wave, and new blood? Is the Socceroo culture welcoming?
“The game has changed now to the point where age is irrelevant. It matters about quality on the field because no one cares if an old guy is playing or a young guy is playing. All anyone cares about is performing and winning games. You pick the best team for the job regardless of reputation, regardless of age and it’s all about who’s going to be able to do the best job for the team and that’s something that we’ve got for the Australian team.
“No one is better than anyone else, there’s no reputation bigger than any other reputation... that’s certainly the attitude in the camp and as a result everybody plays as a team because no one’s out for their own personal success. We’re out for team success and everyone’s rewarded.”
The World Cup has done wonders for Australian football on every visible level, but on plenty of more subtle levels below the surface too. The England-based players are currently trying to start a new tradition of more regular catch-ups and dinners to stay in touch, which is something they vowed to do while in Germany. Prior to returning home for the Paraguay and Bahrain games, Neill and Rovers’ team-mate Brett Emerton met up with Cahill, Viduka and Josip Skoko for dinner in Manchester.
“We’re starting to do it more. The timetable of the Premier League makes it very difficult for us. But it’s always great when we get together, especially when we’ve all come together through an experience like the World Cup.
“When you go into camp all the boys are just worried about how someone else is getting on and you want to hear stories about different people’s lifestyles. That’s why there’s such a buzz around camp every time we get together. Everyone’s so pleased to hear somebody else’s war stories. We’re a very strong unit and I think there’ll be a lot of friends, not only during football, but after it as well.”
The remainder of the year will be huge in the life of Lucas Neill. When the European transfer window opens again in January, Liverpool are almost certain to re-open interest in “our” Lucas after impressing them less than 24 hours after returning from Australia in a 1-1 result. Blackburn won’t be giving in though, having recently used the captaincy as a deal sweetener to keep him.
And the issue surrounding the Australian captaincy isn’t likely to go away either. While Mark Viduka has committed to the Asian Cup, there may be some logic in passing the baton on now, for the side to settle as we look to the 2010 World Cup. The captaincy lifted Viduka’s spirits immeasurably though, so Graham Arnold will have some issues to mull over.
Armband or not, Lucas is a leader of the new generation of Socceroos, and his rise from Sydney schoolboy to national hero has been swift. Something tells us there’s a few more chapters in the Lucas Neill story still to be told.
“No (I disagree),” he replies bluntly “I’ve had strikers as captains and goalies as captains and midfielders as captains. To be captain is to be someone who’s a representation of the team, epitomises the attitude of the team and is willing to be responsible in good times and in bad.
“A leader can be any position on the field but there are different forms of leadership. There’s communication in leadership and there’s performance. There’s no better example for your team to follow than your own performance on the field and there’s no better way to help the team than to communicate. I think we’ve got a few leaders in this team, me being one of them. I’m just the one who happens to flick the coin at the start of the game.”
The Socceroo culture has often been spoken about, and the team harmony in Germany is something that has been written almost as much as the team’s performance itself. With the retirements of Popovic, Kalac, Stan Lazaridis and Tony Vidmar the generational change is now in full effect and a number of young and fringe Socceroos are being tested.
So will the team’s culture be able to cope with a new wave, and new blood? Is the Socceroo culture welcoming?
“The game has changed now to the point where age is irrelevant. It matters about quality on the field because no one cares if an old guy is playing or a young guy is playing. All anyone cares about is performing and winning games. You pick the best team for the job regardless of reputation, regardless of age and it’s all about who’s going to be able to do the best job for the team and that’s something that we’ve got for the Australian team.
“No one is better than anyone else, there’s no reputation bigger than any other reputation... that’s certainly the attitude in the camp and as a result everybody plays as a team because no one’s out for their own personal success. We’re out for team success and everyone’s rewarded.”
The World Cup has done wonders for Australian football on every visible level, but on plenty of more subtle levels below the surface too. The England-based players are currently trying to start a new tradition of more regular catch-ups and dinners to stay in touch, which is something they vowed to do while in Germany. Prior to returning home for the Paraguay and Bahrain games, Neill and Rovers’ team-mate Brett Emerton met up with Cahill, Viduka and Josip Skoko for dinner in Manchester.
“We’re starting to do it more. The timetable of the Premier League makes it very difficult for us. But it’s always great when we get together, especially when we’ve all come together through an experience like the World Cup.
“When you go into camp all the boys are just worried about how someone else is getting on and you want to hear stories about different people’s lifestyles. That’s why there’s such a buzz around camp every time we get together. Everyone’s so pleased to hear somebody else’s war stories. We’re a very strong unit and I think there’ll be a lot of friends, not only during football, but after it as well.”
The remainder of the year will be huge in the life of Lucas Neill. When the European transfer window opens again in January, Liverpool are almost certain to re-open interest in “our” Lucas after impressing them less than 24 hours after returning from Australia in a 1-1 result. Blackburn won’t be giving in though, having recently used the captaincy as a deal sweetener to keep him.
And the issue surrounding the Australian captaincy isn’t likely to go away either. While Mark Viduka has committed to the Asian Cup, there may be some logic in passing the baton on now, for the side to settle as we look to the 2010 World Cup. The captaincy lifted Viduka’s spirits immeasurably though, so Graham Arnold will have some issues to mull over.
Armband or not, Lucas is a leader of the new generation of Socceroos, and his rise from Sydney schoolboy to national hero has been swift. Something tells us there’s a few more chapters in the Lucas Neill story still to be told.
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