Gold Coast United's marquee man's form has mirrored that of the team as the A-League side has slipped out of the top two over the last month during a troubled spell for the club on and off the park.

After naming his squad for the 2011 Asian Cup qualifier in Oman on November 14, Verbeek conceded Culina was in scratchy form but nonetheless was still an important part of his squad.  

"I think Jason has played better games in his life," he said of the former PSV midfielder's recent form.

"But I'm not looking at the results in their last games and blame Jason for that. But I know he gave away a ball that cost them a goal. Things like that can happen in football. Personal mistakes.

"Jason has been better in his life than the last six weeks. But he knows that too."

Elsewhere in the Socceroo squad, Culina's midfield partner Vince Grella is still injured and wasn't named while striker Josh Kennedy has a back complaint. Verbeek named the Nagoya Grampus star but will wait until the weekend for an update on his fitness.

One replacement could be Celtic's Scott McDonald, although Verbeek didn't state he would be the replacement if that scenario presented itself.

"Scott is a different type [of player] than Josh, so I have to make up my mind what I'm going to do," he said. "Archie [Thompson] is doing well and also Alex Brosque and I'm happy to hear about Mark Bridge also.

"And [Nikita] Rukavytsya is doing well in the Netherlands so we have options."

And Verbeek dismissed talk of "an interesting" return match in Muscat by Oman coach Claude LeRoy after last month's 1-0 loss to Australia in Melbourne. Verbeek said the Frenchman was "emotional" after the loss.

The game was marred by allegations made by the French coach about Socceroo team manager Gary Moretti, who allegedly claimed the Omani players were feigning injury to eat up the clock.

It's not clear whether Moretti will be on the bench when the two sides meet in Muscat.