Has Craig Foster gone soft!

Come back Craig we loved you as a critic:)

SBS Commentator Craig Foster has written a piece in the SMH, see full article below, on the Dutchification of Aussie football.

In general it's fine but there are a few glaring mis-placed passes.

While the Socceroos' performances against Iraq raise concerns about their ability against stronger opposition, Verbeek has answered every question put to him, and his management of the logistical challenges of Asia has been perfect.

Oh yeah Fozzie, Pim answered every questions put to him. Really? China away, Iraq at home, Iraq away. Very convincing answers...I think not. He got the results, but as you ALWAYS say it's about style not results, and these performancs had no style.

The Dutch blueprint is a dominant, tactically flexible, attacking style of football. For now, it suits us perfectly.

Tactically, flexible and attacking.

Well against China, the poorest international side playing at home in years, our Dutch master had no tactical flexibility against China. And excuse me, but where was the attacking flexible style away to Iraq.

And the new Dutch guy at the AIS might be fantastic, but Fozzie, have you ever heard of him? Or is it good enough just to take any old Dutch guy these days. And I mean old!

Come on Fozzie we're delighted we're through, we're happy to see improved methodology and coaching strategies from the FFA. But cart blanche approval of Verbeek and some unknown Dutch coach, surely we want a more critical football culture than that!

And the Dutch lost overnight..to Hiddink admittedly, is it time to employ Turks?


Fozzie writes:

It was a stellar week for Australia. Events in the Middle East and at Euro 2008 in the last seven days have reinforced the wisdom of applying the Dutch model to the development of the game here.

In Austria and Switzerland, the quality and verve of the Netherlands under Marco van Basten has been matched only by the speed and precision of Guus Hiddink's young Russians. In Qatar, the Socceroos progressed to the next stage of World Cup qualifying under the tutelage of Pim Verbeek.

If you add Zenit St Petersburg's recent UEFA Cup win under "dirty Dick" Advocaat, you have three examples - from very different footballing cultures - of teams being well managed by Dutch coaches.

While the Socceroos' performances against Iraq raise concerns about their ability against stronger opposition, Verbeek has answered every question put to him, and his management of the logistical challenges of Asia has been perfect.

The trick is to now leverage this progress into future development, and here it can get tricky. The natives will get restless if the trickle of Dutch coaches making their way to Oz turns into a flood. Just last week Jan Versleijen was flagged as the likely head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport's football program. But I hope the gates are opened even further.

The next step is to replace Rob Baan as national technical director when his contract expires at the end of the year. We must import a highly qualified Dutch technician with an even stronger CV in youth development. His job will be to expedite change at junior and elite levels, and to tie up a deal with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) to import their coaching licence system - clearly among the world's finest.

But for all the progress at national level, the states' football appointments are as political as ever. So I say quicken the pace of Dutch imports - temporarily. During a five-year window, we must absorb as much knowledge as we can from these coaches. For every Dutch appointment, there must be national - not state - appointments of at least one, preferably two, Australian assistants. Then we adapt and improve.

There is a feeling that we have replaced a British footballing "mafia" with a Dutch one. But unlike the British influence, which set us back decades, the Dutch infiltration is strategic, short-term and based on specific gaps in our football education.

We need a clear direction for a limited period of time. After that, we can adapt those Dutch methods to our own circumstances and culture, and create an attractive, attacking - and winning - Australian style of football.It was a stellar week for Australia. Events in the Middle East and at Euro 2008 in the last seven days have reinforced the wisdom of applying the Dutch model to the development of the game here.

In Austria and Switzerland, the quality and verve of the Netherlands under Marco van Basten has been matched only by the speed and precision of Guus Hiddink's young Russians. In Qatar, the Socceroos progressed to the next stage of World Cup qualifying under the tutelage of Pim Verbeek.

If you add Zenit St Petersburg's recent UEFA Cup win under "dirty Dick" Advocaat, you have three examples - from very different footballing cultures - of teams being well managed by Dutch coaches.

While the Socceroos' performances against Iraq raise concerns about their ability against stronger opposition, Verbeek has answered every question put to him, and his management of the logistical challenges of Asia has been perfect.

The trick is to now leverage this progress into future development, and here it can get tricky. The natives will get restless if the trickle of Dutch coaches making their way to Oz turns into a flood. Just last week Jan Versleijen was flagged as the likely head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport's football program. But I hope the gates are opened even further.

The next step is to replace Rob Baan as national technical director when his contract expires at the end of the year. We must import a highly qualified Dutch technician with an even stronger CV in youth development. His job will be to expedite change at junior and elite levels, and to tie up a deal with the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) to import their coaching licence system - clearly among the world's finest.

But for all the progress at national level, the states' football appointments are as political as ever. So I say quicken the pace of Dutch imports - temporarily. During a five-year window, we must absorb as much knowledge as we can from these coaches. For every Dutch appointment, there must be national - not state - appointments of at least one, preferably two, Australian assistants. Then we adapt and improve.

There is a feeling that we have replaced a British footballing "mafia" with a Dutch one. But unlike the British influence, which set us back decades, the Dutch infiltration is strategic, short-term and based on specific gaps in our football education.

We need a clear direction for a limited period of time. After that, we can adapt those Dutch methods to our own circumstances and culture, and create an attractive, attacking - and winning - Australian style of football.

To understand how crucial the uniformity of approach is, witness Qatar's ill-fated approach to their development program. Qatar appointed a French coach in every academy at the under-13s level, a Dutchman at the under-15s level and an Italian at the under-17s. But they discovered that each coach preached a method suited to his individual culture. Of course, they failed to divine a cohesive method from the chaos.

The Dutch blueprint is a dominant, tactically flexible, attacking style of football. For now, it suits us perfectly.



The Dutch blueprint is a dominant, tactically flexible, attacking style of football. For now, it suits us perfectly.