Socceroo boss Ange Postecoglou has announced his final 23-man squad to travel on Sunday for the team’s World Cup qualifier against Thailand in Bangkok on 15 November. Although most of the squad is as expected, there are a few surprise changes.

Postecoglou trimmed his initial squad to 23 by omitting eight players from the 30-man squad and by introducing Brisbane Roar striker Jamie MacLaren.
Among those omitted are Socceroo great Tim Cahill and fringe players Apostolou Giannou and Chris Ikonomidis, as well as full backs Ryan McGowan, Jason Geria and Aziz Behich. Luke Bratten and Tommy Oar were also left out after being named in the initial squad.

Cahill’s omission has grabbed most of the headlines during the week, with some speculation that Postecoglou’s decision may mark the beginning of the end for Cahill’s Socceroo career. However, given the veteran’s enforced absence from Melbourne City’s most recent A-League match due to Achilles soreness, the omission isn’t unexpected. With Cahill still no certainty to line up for City in its A-League fixture this weekend against Brisbane Roar, Postecoglou has opted to rest Cahill.

“Tim has been left out primarily because we have a 10-day lead in, which is very rare, and I want to be able to put the squad through a lot of work,” Postecoglou said. “He has done a lot of travel for club and country and I have decided it is better he remains in Melbourne where he is being managed well to ensure he is back on the park as soon as possible and ready for us down the track.”

The player to benefit from Cahill’s absence is the Roar’s striker MacLaren, who has leapfrogged forwards Giannou and Ikonomidis to gain a place in the 23-man squad.

“Jamie Maclaren has started the season well in Brisbane and transformed that form into a goal on the weekend, so he will come into the squad, as will (Nathan) Burnsy, which gives us options up front,” Postecoglou commented on his selection of MacLaren.

Giannou’s cause hasn’t been helped by the Chinese Super League season finishing up at the end of October. He got some game time for the Socceroos in the first half against Japan, but was unable to make an impact, although he wasn’t alone, in a half which coach Postecoglou later described as the Socceroos’ worst of the campaign. Ikonomidis’ omission comes at a time when he is getting regular starts for his Danish Super League club AGF and Postecoglou may have decided he could afford to let Ikonomidis try and cement a starting place at his club.

The other position where Postecoglou will definitely make a change from the Japan game is the right full back position. Ryan McGowan, who last filled that position, in the Japan game, has lost his place in the squad. Postecoglou has Perth Glory full back Josh Risdon and Milos Degenak available for that position in the Thai game.

“Josh has been in good early season form in the Hyundai A-League with Perth, while Milos returned from injury last weekend in Germany, so they will come back into the squad,” Postecoglou said. “They give us some good balance at right back.”

He has opted to take the opportunity, in this FIFA window where only one international is scheduled, of gathering his squad for an extended 10-day lead-in to the match against Thailand. He says he’ll use the five to six training sessions to work on developing aspects of the team’s play, particularly when facing the task of trying to break down opponents who are content to sit back, as was Japan in the last match. He’ll no doubt also look closely at the form of several players before deciding his final line-up.

SOCCEROOS SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS
Adam Federici (Bournemouth, England), Mitch Langerak (Stuttgart, Germany), Mat Ryan (Valencia, Spain)

DEFENDERS
Milos Degenek (1860 Munich, Germany), Alex Gersbach (Rosenbory, Norway), Josh Risdon (Perth Glory), Trent Sainsbury (Jiangsu, China), Brad Smith (Bournemouth, England), Matthew Spiranovic (Huangzhou Greentown, China), Bailey Wright (Preston North End, England)

MIDFIELDERS
Jackson Irvine (Burton Albion, England), Mile Jedinak (Aston Villa, England) James Jeggo (Sturm Graz, Austria), Massimo Luongo (QPR, England), Mark Milligan (Baniyas, UAE), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield, England), Tom Rogic (Celtic, Scotland)

ATTACKERS
Nathan Burns (FC Tokyo, Japan), Craig Goodwin (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Tomi Juric (Luzern, Switzerland), Robbie Kruse (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Mathew Leckie (Ingolstadt, Germany), Jamie Maclaren (Brisbane Roar)