Ange Postecoglou is urging coach Graham Arnold to have faith in the heat-affected Vinnie Grella ahead of the Socceroos' vital Asian Cup match against Iraq.
“Vinnie's an integral part of the squad because he's such a quality player. If we do win the Asian Cup, he's the sort of player who will be absolutely key, Postecoglou told au.fourfourtwo.com today.
Grella was hauled off looking exhausted early in the second half of the Socceroos' first group match against Oman last Sunday. Some have speculated the new Torino signing needs more time to acclimatise to the Bangkok humidity.
Photos of the player at training this week have also shown a player clearly still coming to terms with the intense humidity of Bangkok. The much younger, but inexperienced, Carl Valeri would be the natural replacement for Grella.
“Only if he's really seriously affected by the heat should Arnie think about replacing him in the starting XI.”
However, Postecoglou says we shouldn't panic ahead of the Iraqi battle. “The players have been stung from a pride point of view and it'll fire them up.
“At least now, the players have experienced those conditions,” added the former national youth coach and current Fox Sports pundit.
He also urged Arnold to keep faith with the team and not make wholesale changes. “To do that would be too disruptive at this stage. Arnie needs to emphasise our strengths, go for it and play an up-tempo game and take the game to them.
“At least if we get a lead early we can defend that later in the game.
“Can we win it? There's no reason why we can't win it but I think some people have got a little carried away. None of the big four have been that convincing. It's going to be difficult.”
Postecoglou added that China could be an outside chance for the tournament after their confidence building 5-1 demolition of Malaysia.
“I'd really like to see one of the host nations qualify too. A Thailand or a Vietnam. That would be great and particularly with Vietnam's performance, it just shows some of the so-called developing nations are making the biggest progress.”
Stay right here and for those with no access to Fox Sports, we'll bring you a minute by minute description of the match this Friday night. Start logging on from 8pm for all the latest news from Bangkok. And we'll have as special guest Joe Keenan of Melbourne Victory who'll give us his thoughts on the game at halftime.
Grella was hauled off looking exhausted early in the second half of the Socceroos' first group match against Oman last Sunday. Some have speculated the new Torino signing needs more time to acclimatise to the Bangkok humidity.
Photos of the player at training this week have also shown a player clearly still coming to terms with the intense humidity of Bangkok. The much younger, but inexperienced, Carl Valeri would be the natural replacement for Grella.
“Only if he's really seriously affected by the heat should Arnie think about replacing him in the starting XI.”
However, Postecoglou says we shouldn't panic ahead of the Iraqi battle. “The players have been stung from a pride point of view and it'll fire them up.
“At least now, the players have experienced those conditions,” added the former national youth coach and current Fox Sports pundit.
He also urged Arnold to keep faith with the team and not make wholesale changes. “To do that would be too disruptive at this stage. Arnie needs to emphasise our strengths, go for it and play an up-tempo game and take the game to them.
“At least if we get a lead early we can defend that later in the game.
“Can we win it? There's no reason why we can't win it but I think some people have got a little carried away. None of the big four have been that convincing. It's going to be difficult.”
Postecoglou added that China could be an outside chance for the tournament after their confidence building 5-1 demolition of Malaysia.
“I'd really like to see one of the host nations qualify too. A Thailand or a Vietnam. That would be great and particularly with Vietnam's performance, it just shows some of the so-called developing nations are making the biggest progress.”
Stay right here and for those with no access to Fox Sports, we'll bring you a minute by minute description of the match this Friday night. Start logging on from 8pm for all the latest news from Bangkok. And we'll have as special guest Joe Keenan of Melbourne Victory who'll give us his thoughts on the game at halftime.
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