The former boy wonder of Australian football, Daniel Arzani, has copped strong criticism from Tony Popovic as the Socceroos coach demands more from young players in order to raise the national team's standards.
Popovic said the lift in standards is necessary in order to take the Socceroos from a perennial World Cup play-off team and back to being automatic qualifiers.
The 51-year-old stressed his point when asked how Arzani, who is a regular starter for the Melbourne Victory, might fit into the plans of the Socceroos, who sit second in their 2026 qualifying group by just a point with four games remaining.
"I had him (Arzani) in camp in October, he knows what I think of him. It wasn't good enough. His level was really poor in training. Maybe for him it's OK but it's not enough," Popovic said.
"I know Daniel well, he's got potential. We've been talking about that since he was 18. He's now 26. When he doesn't play everyone questions why, but he needs to raise his level.
"We need goals, we need assists. Doing one good dribble or trick or setting up one goal shouldn't be enough to play for the Socceroos, it needs to be more."
Arzani burst onto the world football scene with his superb showings off the bench at the 2018 World Cup for Australia, which led to a contract with Manchester City.
While injury cruelled his early progress, it is a similar path that is being followed by the latest rising star of Australian football, Nestory Irankunda who has signed with Bayern Munich.
Like Arzani, he is a player that Australian football has craved. One who has the ability to create opportunities in attacking areas and one-on-one situations like few other countrymen in recent times.
Now on loan at Grasshoppers in Switzerland as he looks to get first team minutes in Europe, Popovic is already demanding the Adelaide United product isn't simply satisfied with just playing games.
"He has the potential to be a key player for the Socceroos for many years but just playing minutes isn't enough," Popovic said.
"Just because he went to Bayern Munich doesn't mean that we put him in a separate bracket. He's 18, if he fulfils his potential, he will be a Socceroo for many years but it needs to be more than just playing minutes.
"Every player needs to raise their level. We want to be competing with Japan, that's our goal. Our last two World Cups we went through the play-off system but we keep expecting to make top two.
"That's good but we need to raise the level and raise the bar. Our expectations should be higher because history shows we don't go automatically to World Cups.
"It's something we should aspire to but just getting minutes at Grasshoppers for example isn't enough. They need to be elite minutes at Grasshoppers and then they're elite for Socceroos and that will help us get into the top two."
The national team future of another talented young Aussie still remains unclear though, with Alex Robertson — now with Cardiff in the English Championship — still refusing to commit to Australia.
That's despite wearing the green and gold in friendlies in 2023 and being the son and grandchild of former Socceroos players.
A player is not tied to a country until they represent them in a competitive fixture meaning Robertson remains eligible for Scotland, England and Peru.
"From our end, if he was available to play for Australia, he'd certainly be on a potential list of players to come in March but nothing's changed," Popovic said.
Those March fixtures will be critical for the Socceroos, who remain undefeated since Popovic took charge and are desperate to avoid a third straight play-off path to the World Cup.
He has trawled the globe analysing Australian players abroad and spending time inside big clubs like Barcelona and with former national team boss Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.
"I'm loving it, definitely. The challenging part is this period, the four-month gap. The October-November games happened so quickly; it was a bit of a blur. I thought I would struggle in this period, I'm used to coaching every day and seeing the players," he said.
"The first two to three days after a camp it was quite difficult, it's so intense. Your day feels like 24 hours are filled and then everyone disappears and you look around the hotel and no-one's around. So, my wife tells me to maybe stay away for the first couple of days.
"But I enjoy it, you monitor players but you also spend your time looking for players outside the square and that's exciting, you open your lens a bit further as to what's possible. It's very enjoyable."
Australia's next World Cup Qualifier will be against Indonesia on March 20 in Sydney and will be followed by an away clash against China five days later.
The 2026 qualifying campaign for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico concludes with a monster clash against top of the table Japan in Perth on June 5 followed by a trip to Saudi Arabia.
AAP
