He has a habit of speaking quietly, looking down at the table in front of him rather than at the audience and generally giving non-committal answers.

The reasons for this approach aren’t clear.  It could be shyness but this is unlikely as he has faced many over the years and should have become accustomed to them by now.  

PIC SPECIAL: Socceroos train in Sochi

It may be that he just doesn’t want to talk to the media which could be at least partially true.  The main reason may well be that he feels that he has better ways of spending his time.

There is always an official press conference for the national team’s coach the day before a match and Postecoglou handled it in his usual manner, one which Australia’s media has grown used to.  

It seemed to surprise at least one journalist who suggested that Postecoglou seemed rather “irritated and prickly” and wanted to know if it was a sign of uneasiness and pressure.

This drew a sharp response from Australia’s coach.

“You must know me really well," Postecoglou said.  

"How many times have you met me before? First off? Maybe that is just my demeanour. There’s my answer.”

During this interchange Tim Cahill, sitting next to his coach, was grinning and clearly amused by it all.  Australia’s captain handles these occasions well and gave full answers including on his preparation for the tournament.

“My one thing that I’ve done my whole life is (to have) been professional," Cahill said.  

"Every year that I play, I play a minimum of 70% of the games in a season. That’s my aim, to be at this competition, to be available for five minutes or 95 minutes.

“I think that when you play at this level you have to be ready and you have to be professional and if not you have no place here.”

Such preparedness is exactly what Postecoglou is looking for from his players and is happy with the fitness of the squad.

“The good thing for us is that everyone’s fit and available," Postecoglou said.  

"We kind of know that this tournament is going to be a bit of a war of attrition in terms of the squad.  

"The one thing that I’ve emphasised with the squad is that everyone needs to be ready.”

At 37 years of age, Cahill is as keen as ever to make an impression whether it’s in the original starting line-up or off the bench.

“I’ve been watching a lot of video of the players of Germany and will be looking for ways as individuals and collectively to find weaknesses," he said.

“For me, if I start on the bench and come on I’ll be looking for one moment, just like every other moment that’s happened in my career, to do some damage to the German defence."

Postecoglou has always put the style and method of play as his prime concern believing that positive results will follow but he declared, with a touch of humour, that the result will always matter.

“We saw the last World Cup as a missed opportunity," Postecoglou said.

"We performed fairly well but we lost three games. We certainly don’t want to be in that boat again where we just play well or compete well but not win.

“Having said that, it won’t be more satisfying for me if we win and we don’t play well. If we get a victory that’s just backs to the wall and just scramble through that’s not going to be very satisfying either.

“I’m a coach (and) as has already been pointed out, I’m pretty grumpy and hard to please. We want to perform well. We won’t shy away from that.  

"We want to play well against the best. That’s the measure of how you’re going but we want to win as well.”

At the end of the press conference, Postecoglou hurried away to his team to lead their final training session and the only one at the Fisht Stadium where the match takes place tomorrow night.  

Before he left the room he gave a quick grin and a wink to the journalist who had borne the sharp retort just to show that there is a softer side to his personality.

PIC SPECIAL: Socceroos train in Sochi