Ange confident big guns able to fire together
TOM Rogic and Aaron Mooy are capable of bringing their best club form to the Socceroos at the same time – but coach Ange Postecoglou has warned it’s easier said than done.
The midfield pair have made cracking starts to the new season with Celtic and Huddersfield Town respectively and are by far Australia’s two most creative attacking outlets. But they have struggled to hit the same heights at international level and have never torn a game apart together – a mouth-watering prospect for supporters.
Postecoglou is confident it can happen but said club football was a “different beast” and long travel and differing conditions make it difficult to replicate on the international stage.
“Even some of our greatest players sometimes haven’t always performed at the optimum levels in internationals because to be a Socceroo is a tough gig if you’re playing in Europe,” Postecoglou said ahead of today’s World Cup qualifier against Japan.
“It’s not an easy thing to fly halfway around the world and then perform at optimum levels all the time.”
Rogic and Mooy were coming off gruelling club campaigns heading into last month’s Confederations Cup, and neither was involved in Australia’s best performance in that tournament against Chile.
But both are fresh, free of fatigue and ready to fire in the clash against the Samurai Blue at Saitama Stadium.
Postecoglou rejected suggestions he may have a similar dilemma on his hands to the one England had when Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were in the prime of their careers but failed to click.