He says the rising stars need more playing time than he can handle – and whole structure needs a shake-up if Australia is to have any hope of major international success in the future.

Arnold wanted the dual role so he could mastermind the evolution of youth into the Socceroos.

But he came under fire from critics for skipping a chance for the Socceroos to play or at least go into camp during the last international window because he was with the Olyroos at the AFC U23s Championships qualifiers in Cambodia.

"It's something I've got to sit down over the next couple of weeks and decide which way I go," he told AAP. "I can't be in two places at once.

"I took this Olympic job without any extra salary or reason. It was more about the growth of the Socceroos. When I watched the Socceroos in Russia, we were thin on depth.

"The only place the depth can come from is underneath. (Underage teams) need to have training camps and games in all FIFA windows."

Arnold has now speculated about a radical shutdown of the A-League in January to allow an intense international break with a run of games for the U23s and to allow for the Asian Cup for the Socceroos.

"It's been an ongoing problem for years and we need to fix it. We need to sit down and talk about it," he told AAP.

"The problem I see is that the A-League [...] is not in line with Asia. Every January there's a major tournament in Asia.

"What's the best way to deal with this? Maybe it's to have a break in the A-League."

He added: "You have to take your best team and best players and on top of that you need preparation.

"Asia is getting harder and harder. You can't turn up with a second rate team with no preparation thinking it's going to be easy. It's not."