Senior Socceroos on notice: Slater

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EVERY senior Socceroos player should do one thing this morning: look in the mirror and ask is the Australian shirt about them or what's best for the country?

Everyone has been blaming coach Holger Osieck for the debacle against Brazil, but fingers need to be pointed at the veteran players holding back the development of the Australian game. The same players who tell us the Australian shirt means so much to them.

We were embarrassed by Brazil and are facing more of the same at next year's World Cup. Osieck's career is on the line against France on October 11. He shouldn't be the only one on notice.

The game in Paris is massively important and could prove to be a watershed moment for Australian football. Or it should be.

Attitudes have to change or Australian football will fall into a massive hole and it could take years to dig ourselves out of it. The first step is removing the "me" culture that has pervaded the team.

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It's a privilege to wear the Australian shirt. However, there is a responsibility that comes with it — and that is passing it on.

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I can hear the (g)olden generation saying it's up to the young blokes to step up and take their spot. And this where Osieck is culpable because he hasn't given them much of a chance.

Instead, we keep hearing how we don't have the depth of young talent.

The reality is we know what Mark Bresciano can do, we know what Mark Schwarzer can do, we know what Lucas Neill can do. Friendlies are designed to blood new talent, create progression pathway to ensure you team is strong five years from now.

I'm not saying the veteran guys don't have a role to play at the World Cup next year, I simply don't see what is gained by letting them all play every match along the way.

In a football sense, we have a coach who never lifts his eyes to have a look around the field. There is no vision and no legacy.

This is the team I would pick to play France next month.

The first player I would leave out is Schwarzer and give Mitch Langerak and Mat Ryan 45 minutes each to stake a claim as the country's No.2 keeper.

Luke Wilkshire would be right back and I'd give Millwall's Shane Lowry a crack at left back. Ryan McGowan and Rhys Williams would be the central defence, with Jason Davidson, who plays in the Dutch league for Heracles Almelo, getting half a game.

Mark Milligan and Mile Jedinak would be the holding midfielders to provide some stability and experience, with Matt McKay getting half a game. That ensures the young guys aren't left totally exposed.

Tommy Rogic would play behind Tim Cahill up front, with Tommy Oar and Robbie Kruse out wide.

Guys like Mathew Leckie, Josh Brillante, Connor Chapman, Connor Pain, Trent Sainsbury, Oli Bozanjic and Aston Villa's Chris Herd would also be looked at in an extended squad.

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If the old guard don't like it, bad luck.

Crucially, Rogic, as the Australian team's next playmaker, should play every minute of every game in the lead up to Brazil next year.

These guys can't do any worse than we did against Brazil. We were devoid of ideas, slow, predictable, there was no structure, we lacked organisation at the back; the only positive was we only conceded six goals.

Look, I can accept losing 6-0 to Brazil with a young team looking to the future but not with a team going nowhere.

Two games against the same opponent show how we have lost our way.

When Australia lost 2-0 to Brazil at the 2006 World Cup, Neill, Cahill, Schwarzer and Mark Bresciano all played. Wilkshere and Josh Kennedy were in the squad. Then take a look at the Brazil team from 2006 and compare it the team that flogged us in Brasilia. It's full of new blood.

Is it any wonder we're struggling?

Pim Verbeek created this situation and now Osieck is carrying it on, where sneaking through Asia is the yardstick for our game. That should never be enough.

We have the Asian Cup on home soil in 2015 and if we're not careful we'll be a laughing stock in our own backyard. Football operates in such a competitive environment here with other codes that David Gallop and his team at FFA headquarters can't let that happen.

Then we launch back into World Cup qualifying for 2018. International football is an unforgiving arena and if you don't move with the times you get left behind.

That's what we are seeing now.

One of the problems I see is the incentive contracts offered to Verbeek and Osieck, where getting through World Cup qualifying is enough. That's why I advocate a return to Australian coaches and appointing someone strong enough to tap the senior players on the shoulder.

Our game is ready for an Australian coach to lead the Australian team.

It's ready to let go of the golden generation and not live on the glory of 2006.

These players need to understand that legacies can be tarnished.

Perhaps, that's another question the old Socceroos can ask when they look in the mirror this morning: How do I want to be remembered?

Robbie Slater's Socceroos team to play France:

Mitch Langerak (Mat Ryan)*, Shane Lowry (Jason Davidson)*, Ryan McGowan, Rhys Williams, Luke Wilkshire, Mark Milligan, Mile Jedinak (Matt McKay)*, Tommy Rogic, Tommy Oar, Robbie Kruse, Tim Cahill

Substitutes: Mathew Leckie, Mitchell Duke, Josh Brillante, Chris Herd, Trent Sainsbury, Oli Bozanjic

* Players to get 45 minutes each

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