The former caretaker coach for the national team made it clear the squad’s experienced players needed to lift their game if the Aussies were to make Brazil.

The Central Coast Mariners boss was responding to questions about the omission of  the club’s Josh Rose and rising star Trent Sainsbury from the line-up to take on Japan, Jordan and Iraq.

But he said he wouldn’t be dishing out unsolicited selection advice to head coach Holger Osieck.

“It’s not my position to tell Holger and push players forward because I’ve been in the position he’s in now and everyone has an opinion,” Arnold told Soccer Stoppage Time on 2MM radio station.

“When you watch the Socceroos play against Oman and Matty McKay has to play left back and he’s not a specialist left back...

“I think that Josh Rose has been the stand out left back in the (A-League) for two to three years and I don’t know what else Josh could do.

“I understand Holger, against Japan – especially away from home – it’s tough. And to throw the young boys in or debutants in that type of game is a risk and no doubt that’s why he’s stuck with experienced campaigners.

“But it is time now that the experienced campaigners stepped up because their last few performances haven’t been crash hot and they need to do more.”

The Socceroos’ World Cup hopes are on a knife’s edge with the team currently sitting third in Group B and needing a top two place to guarantee automatic qualification.

During the interview Arnold reflected on his brief and ill-fated cameo as national team boss and spoke about his rejected proposal to take a Socceroo B (developmental) squad to the Asian Cup in 2007.

Arnold said it “wasn’t disrespecting” the tournament but an effort to expand the international-standard talent pool which former Socceroos mentor Guus Hiddick had identified as 15 players.

Since then, there has been continued and widespread criticism regarding the speed of renewal within the team’s ranks.

Arnold has certainly had far more success on the domestic front, dealing with the annual exodus of promising youngsters to overseas clubs and bringing through the next generation of rising stars.

This season has been no exception with Mat Ryan, Sainsbury and Bernie Ibini all set to exit Bluetongue.

“I don’t think there’s any one player that’s bigger than the club,” Arnold said. “There’s plenty of young kids out there that are just waiting for the chance.

"If you can give kids the opportunity, long as you have the right senior players around the kids that make the culture and are always a positive influence on the field then the young kids can step up and perform.

“We’ll find more kids. We’ve got Zac Anderson who’s been great this year – he’ll come in probably for Patrick Zwaanswijk. We’ve got young (Anthony) Caceres who didn’t get much of a go this year but will get more of a go next year and get better, and young Mitchell Duke.”

Arnold said one of his biggest jobs when he arrived at the Mariners was to “teach the senior players how to be good leaders”, revealing he turned to a book by retired Geelong captain, Tom Harley for inspiration.

“It was all about leadership and how to be a leader, Arnold said.

"I gave it to the senior boys to read and made them come back with a book report and tell me what they learnt from the book because they have to carry that out in the dressing room and educate the younger players.

“The senior players are the most crucial thing when it comes to culture. Young boys will always follow, they’ll always do what they’re told.

"But if you’ve got senior boys who are undisciplined and doing the wrong thing well that’s going to filter down to the kids – so the older boys have a huge responsibility.”