‘Scared to ask questions’: Bosnich drops Socceroos truth bomb
Updated . First published at
Two Australian football greats have called on Football Australia (FA) to take greater accountability for its actions in developing the country’s national teams amid the fallout of the Socceroos′ World Cup elimination.
A number of issues in the Australian football scene have been raised since the Socceroos bowed out of the World Cup in the round of 32, with coach Tony Popovic copping the brunt of the heat due to his selection choices.
Tony Popovic has come under fire over decisions during Australia’s loss to Egypt. AP Photo/Julio Cortez
From switching goalkeepers for the penalty shootout against Egypt to calling on an 18-year-old to take a penalty kick, or even benching the nation’s first two goalscorers in a group stage game against the US, the list of criticism is lengthy.
Popovic’s explanations for those switches have not been well received either.
Mark Bonsich and Robbie Slater are among those who have flamed Popovic’s choices, but they fear a collective cheerleader approach is often overshadowing the constructive criticism that could benefit the Socceroos in the long term.
“This lack of accountability that has occurred in Australian football over the past five years has really started to hurt the game. You’re seeing it now,” Bosnich said on Stan Sport’s Added Time.
“Unless people are going to have these tough conversations, we are going to continue to have nights like ‘oh, we got to the knockout stage, isn’t it great? We got to the round of 16, that is so brave’ over the next 20 years.
“The next step is to say we are a real chance. We are a real chance of getting to the semi-finals or the quarter-finals, or perhaps even winning it.
“I know from experience that losing the last five kilograms of weight is the hardest, but so is the last stages of actually fulfilling your potential. If you want to do that, you need to have constant accountability.”
Popovic fielded a relatively youthful team on the world stage and showed Australia has the talent to achieve big things. But the current highly pragmatic approach seems like it may not be ambitious enough to take the next step.
Bosnich feels “people are scared to ask questions or say something” when it comes to solidifying a football philosophy to guide the national teams.
Australian great Robbie Slater called on Popovic to join the FA in taking accountability for the state of the national team and clearly explain to the general public why they should have faith that he is the man to lead the nation forward.
“Popa doesn’t show accountability,” Slater said.
The Socceroos react after being knocked out. Getty Images
“Popa in any other country - imagine if that was the England manager who had done that. He’d be front page on the newspapers (with people asking) would he even survive?
“I’m not saying that Popa wouldn’t survive - the Asian Cup is very close so I think he should continue, but show a bit of humility, put your hand up when you are wrong and explain to us properly (these decisions).”
Slater called for the FA to consider who it put in key positions in the organisation and “stop giving jobs to their mates”.
“They can’t (hold Popovic accountable) because they (the key figures who should be) don’t have the experience, the knowledge or the personality to do that,” Slater said.
Bosnich also raised issues with FA’s performance regarding a lack of investment in international teams, the development of youth football and the ability to sell the world’s most-watched sport to an Australian audience.
“I think it is time for some of the senior people who have not been involved as much in the game over the last five years – myself included – stop sitting back and actually start saying, ‘listen, these things need to be sorted out’,” he said.
“A lot of the people in positions of power in Australian football want all the praise when it goes well, but don’t want anyone to say anything when it doesn’t. You can’t sell a game to the public like that because people will see right through it.”
