It’s been clear for a while that with a full strength team on display the Socceroos can worry most teams but the question marks have always been the depth in the squad and whether the quality could be maintained were the Socceroos to be hit with injuries or suspensions.

I think we saw some positives and negative answers to those questions this morning.

First the positives...

David Carney showed himself to be a worthy deputy to Scott Chipperfield and as he showed in injury time has the capacity to surprise from distance. Now he needs to find himself a club, quickly, and get a full season under his belt.

Rhys Williams looked assured in defence against a tricky customer in McGeady but most encouraging was his willingness to get forward in support no better demonstrated than by his role in the second goal.

Nikita Rukavytsya showed something a bit different to any of the other striking options – genuine pace. If he can begin to challenge for a first team spot in Holland this season and continue to develop, I think we’ll see him on the plane to South Africa.

Tim Cahill has now leap frogged Harry Kewell as the most important man in the Socceroos team. He is the critical element to Pim’s formation working. When Cahill plays, the lone front man is rarely isolated as Cahill is so adept at getting forward to support. The first goal was a perfect example where Cahill and MacDonald combined to leave four Irish defenders stranded. The second goal showed again his innate ability to be in the right place at the right time. Eighteen goals in 34 games is a phenomenal return for an attacking midfielder in international football and he’s fast becoming the talisman for the team.

Harry Kewell still has so much to offer as he matures....he may not be marauding down the wing as he did in his pomp but he’s intelligent and technically adept enough to make a difference all over the park. He can still beat a man or make the angle to deliver quality into the box but as we saw in the second half he can drift inside and has the range of passing to open up defences. He can also be effective playing a more forward role as we saw during World Cup qualifying which could be critical if we find ourselves needing to chase a goal at the World Cup. But most of all, Harry does the simple things consistently well under pressure all over the pitch and this is critical to the team wherever he plays.

And the negatives....

Brett Holman again failed to grasp the opportunity he was given...coming on at half time with the side 2-0 up, he managed to squander an inch perfect through ball from Harry Kewell and then shot weakly when well placed on the edge of the box. He’s an infuriating player, often taking up fantastic positions or creating great openings for himself but all too often he’s shows a lack of composure and confidence when it matters most. With time running out, surely it’s time to give other players the game time Brett has enjoyed to see if they can step up.

Mile Jedinak for me is not quite cutting it at international level. Yes, he breaks a lot of play up and yes, his positioning and ball winning skills are up to scratch, but it’s his distribution that lets him down. Too often he’ll send 10 yard balls astray or more often look for a more difficult option and fail to execute. The Socceroos enjoyed vast periods of largely unchallenged possession in the middle of the field as the Irish seemed happy to be outnumbered there and yet all too often Mile surrendered possession too easily and failed to find any killer balls in spite of the time on the ball he got. Compare this with a couple of exquisite through balls Harry Kewell conjured up when stepping inside during the second half. I’d persevere with Mile but he needs to step up his distribution to put pressure on the likes of Grella, Culina or even Valeri.

I was surprised given the half time scoreline that Pim did not give Mark Schwarzer the second half off. We all know Mark is the undisputed number 1....we need to make sure we have a back up option should he pick up an injury (god forbid) towards the end of the EPL season or during the tournament.

Pim’s apparent lack of a Plan B formation concerns me...I couldn’t believe Trappatoni didn’t push Kilbane further into midfield given Ireland could have comfortably moved to a back three with O’Shea more of a centre back than full back anyway. Instead he left his midfield consistently out-numbered  leaving them short of the foundation to supply Keane and McGeady in advanced positions.

I’d like to have confidence that, come World Cup time, if we’re playing a team who matches us with five in midfield or we need to chase a goal, we can do this via a tactical change rather than just start pumping longer balls forward to Josh Kennedy and playing for the second ball.

Pim will argue his 4-5-1 is a 4-3-3 and of course it can be, but that may end up leaving us exposed in midfield and caught with a sucker punch. I'd like to see us trial a 4-4-2 formation with only one defensive midfield player and Cahill at the front of the midfield diamond with two out and out strikers in front of him.

But all in all a great performance with much to be encouraged by...bring on the Dutch!