Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou believes he wouldn't be scrutinised over his tactics if he was a foreign coach after putting Australia's hopes of reaching a fourth consecutive World Cup on track with an uninspiring win over the UAE. It was a match where the result mattered more than the performance, but nevertheless the 2-0 win in Sydney did little to silence critics of Australia's recent form.
The Socceroos have a strong chance of qualifying for Russia directly from their group following Tuesday night's win, but their inability to score from open play in a fourth consecutive match didn't provide any reassurances over their switch to an overly attacking formation.
Australia rarely threatened in possession against the UAE, looked disjointed going forward and vulnerable to elementary attacks. Had it not been for their strength from set-pieces, they may not have staved-off the spirited performance of the visitors. Following the brave, gutsy yet disrupted performance, Postecoglou hit back at critics, suggesting Australian coaches are disrespected.
"I expect to be held accountable for what I say and the kind of football I want to play but It seems I've been held accountable for doing what I said I'd do this week. Maybe if I was a foreign coach we'd all sit back and say what a genius he is, he's coming up with new ways to challenge these guys. But what I've said since day one is that I will not talk down to our players, I will not speak to our players if they're not as good as somebody else just because they're Australian and I'm certainly not going to sell short our coaching staff."
Three points is all that mattered after their group lead from the first two games slipped from their grasp but Australia showed character to clinch three points in a high-pressure fixture for the first time since September last year. It kept them within pace of the group leaders Saudi Arabia and Japan, but the win suggested there's still some way to go before Postecoglou's new system delivers the brand of football it's promised.
"If people want the perfect system, it's probably the hot water system at home but it ain't a football system," Postecoglou said. "You know what, it's a game of football, we're going to try and score goals which we did. We created a number of opportunities which we probably should have scored from and the opposition are going to create some opportunities."
Questions will continue to linger over their potency in attack, their dead-ball work continued to deliver. A Brad Smith corner six minutes into the contest set the platform for Jackson Irvine to continue their set-piece dominance, firing a powerful header into the net via a deflection off UAE fullback Adelaziz Sanqour.
It was more relief than celebration for a team that entered the match under the unfamiliar cloud of doubt, but that early goal was their only memorable moment of an otherwise disappointing first half.
The controversial new 3-2-4-1 formation was more organised in its second deployment but it still wasn't without its flaws.
Wide players Smith and Matt Leckie didn't show a strong comprehension of their roles as Australia still looked vulnerable down the flanks. More worrying was the lack of confidence dealing with long balls as UAE probed forward with ease and simplicity. Their forgiving finishing and hesitancy in attack is all that prevented them from drawing level when they got in behind the Socceroos' backline.
Ahmed Khalil's decision making spurned chances while Omar Abdulrahman tested Mat Ryan with a superb free-kick thwarted by the Socceroos returning goalkeeper.
Whatever was said by Ange Postecoglou during the break failed to snap Australia out of their routine-like play. Yet another corner gave them a chance to look lethal as Mile Jedinak tested goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, but there was no improvement to their insipid defence or toothless attack. They had plenty of wake-up calls but failed to adjust for UAE's pace out wide and on the break and should have been punished in the 55th minute by Mohamed Al-Raqi, whose one-on-one couldn't beat Ryan in goals.
Australia's answer was similarly predictable, looking to the proven and trusted head of Tim Cahill to provide some much needed direction. His injection coincided with a more spirited performance and Irvine should have had his double in the 77th minute only for Khaseif to deny him with an impressive save.
It was Australia's best chance from open play, despite a new system tailored to an attacking style, though its failure was forgotten in the 79th minute. Australia sealed a crucial win when Matthew Leckie slotted a James Troisi corner to put the Socceroos hopes of reaching Russia back on course.
