Goals were all that mattered for Graham Arnold but after Australia put four past Kuwait in his first game in charge, the new Socceroos coach says there is still a lot more to come.
Arnold’s return to international soccer began brightly, with the Socceroos cruising to a 4-0 win away to Kuwait in a friendly match that showed plenty of promise for a successful transition towards a more attacking philosophy.
On the attack: Graham Arnold was pleased with his side’s performance but says there is more work to do.Credit:EPA
With Arnold's two training camps having been held overseas and far from view of the media and public, there was significant anticipation to discover how this Socceroos side would play.
Speaking after Tuesday morning’s win, Arnold revealed he ignored defensive drills during both those camps and focused solely on Australia’s attacking play to address their recent woes in front of goal. Seeing his side execute a far more aggressive style of play with a high press and fluid movement was pleasing, but Arnold tapered celebrations after their rout of Kuwait, suggesting there is still a long road ahead for his team in transition.
“There were a lot of positives. In the short time we've been together I think you can see they've worked hard on the rotations and on the penetration and pressing. Still, we've got to get the icing on the cake and that's the finishing and the goals. It's all about getting the ball in those areas and getting the men in there. The execution will come. At the end of the day the performance was promising,” Arnold said.
One of the most notable differences in the Socceroos' style under Arnold was their aggressive high press, penchant for playing through the middle and overloading of attacking players inside the box. At any given attack, no less than four players would be inside the box in dangerous areas and while combinations still need to come to fruition, sharpening those rotations will remain the priority in coming games.
“I didn't do any work on defence in the last two camps. It's all been about rotations and the new style. We're playing with three nines and the fullbacks giving us width, and it's about getting more men in the box,” Arnold.
“The work we've been doing has been all about the rotations, I've ignored the defence. I can only judge the players' performance by what we practised at training and if I do that I give the boys a good mark.”
The players battled through difficult conditions in the Kuwaiti capital, with the temperature still hovering above 30 degrees throughout the game played at night and on a heavy, poor quality playing surface.
“They were wrestling a bit with the pitch. It was slow, and you'd go to cross and the ball would stop. The most important thing is they're getting in those positions. As a coach the most difficult thing is to get the ball into goalscoring positions to score. We did that very well tonight. We have a lot of work to do and I can't wait for the next camp,” Arnold said.
The Socceroos face South Korea in Brisbane and Lebanon in Sydney in November in their next two friendly games where Arnold is expecting good pitches that will aid his style of play.
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