Six weeks on from Ange Postecoglou’s resignation and a month since the announcement of a many-handed recruitment process to find his replacement, the Socceroos still don’t have a head coach. Australia open their World Cup campaign against France on 16 June. They are the only nation heading to Russia currently without a manager.



Appointing Graham Arnold needn’t have taken long at all. The Sydney FC boss has been the standout candidate since rumours first surfaced of Postecoglou’s likely exit in October. The coach of Australia should be Australian and Arnold is by far the most qualified Australian available.

The coach of every national team should be of the nationality of the players. It’s an inconsistency of international sport that it is comfortable with citizenship beginning and ending with the players on the field. Competition between nation states should incorporate the tactical nous of a population’s coaching staff and all other back office functions. Allowing a free market to operate outside the field of play is contrary to the idea of country v country.

Football can be decided on the selection table, the training ground and the magnet board. The smooth course of a match can be diverted at a stroke by a substitution or massaged in a different direction by a rousing half-time team talk. It is counterintuitive that such an influence could be outsourced to an individual travelling on a different passport to the group they are instructing.

Even if it’s not a Fifa requirement it should be seen as a matter of pride for a national association to want to champion its country’s top managerial know-how against the world as part of the sporting exercise. There’s a strong argument to be made for allowing some developing nations to import expertise to pump prime their growth, but the Socceroos are the reigning champions of Asia and en route to their fourth consecutive World Cup. Australia has no excuse to seek outside help, which makes FFA chief executive David Gallop’s comment that his organisation is “open minded about whether the coach is Australian or someone from overseas” all the more disappointing.

Inevitably moments such as this contain the whiff of cultural cringe. It’s seductive to be associated with a household name such as Marcelo Bielsa or Jurgen Klinsmann, but by flirting with an overseas coach the governing body betrays a lack of faith in the system it oversees and should be advocating for. This is a golden opportunity to talk up the capabilities of local coaches and their international readiness, in so doing celebrating the strength of Australian football and nurturing optimism for the future. Instead we have a panel of former players and an “international search and consulting firm” advising the FFA on a decision that need not be as complicated as they’re making it out to be.

It’s hard to imagine how much more he could be expected to accomplish before being offered the top job

The domestic pyramid (if it’s operating efficiently) should point in the direction of the national side – not just the funnelling of elite players but also coaches and support staff too. What message would it send to the local game if this appropriately qualified candidate was overlooked in favour of a Fifo mercenary?

Arnold boasts the highest win percentage of any full-time A-League coach. He’s a premiership and championship winner with two clubs in the last seven years (the latter arguably the best to ever grace the A-League, indicating he is continuing to improve as a manager). He is a former Socceroo with experience in the international coaching set-up. It’s hard to imagine how much more he – or any other Australian coach – could be expected to accomplish before being offered the top job.

Arnold’s candidacy is also supported by pertinent short and long term arguments.

The World Cup is just five months away, giving a newcomer little time to appraise the situation and effect change. It is difficult to construct a case for an overseas coach to have anywhere close to a comparable grasp of the task in hand than Arnold, especially considering his relationships with a host of squad members, not least first-XI regulars Mat Ryan, Trent Sainsbury and Tom Rogic, players he helped bring through the ranks at Central Coast Mariners.

Looking further ahead, the new coach has the opportunity (responsibility even) to build on the course of self-determination admirably set in motion by Postecoglou. Ange spent his tenure convincing Australia’s football community to believe in itself and expect success. This dovetailed with the ascent of the Matildas and feeds into the burgeoning conversation around the restructuring of the game in Australia to ensure it is forward-looking and optimistic. These are shoes Arnold slips into comfortably. He is confident, forthright and does not shy away from his win-first mentality. His tactical approach may not mirror his predecessor’s but the message will remain one of never taking a backward step.

What would Sven-Goran Eriksson or Bert van Marwijk provide? A sugar hit to offer a veneer of sophistication through a World Cup campaign (one that Fifa rankings suggest will last only three matches)? Then what? They have no reason to invest in the long-term future of Australian football.

Postecoglou has started a program that should be embraced, not ignored. For Arnold, this will be the pinnacle of his career, not just another job. He will be a custodian, not an employee. He should be trusted with the game’s most precious asset, not see that handed over to a babysitter because we lack the trust in our own to do the job properly. The last Australian to dominate the A-League and be elevated to the national setup did all right, why are we so scared it won’t happen again?

Graham Arnold is the best available Australian coach. That’s a simple as this decision needs to be. Just give him the job already.