The Socceroos did just enough to get past Uzbekistan in the Asian Cup Round of 16 in a drab 0-0 draw that ended in penalties, with Mat Ryan proving to be the hero after 2 excellent saves in the shootout.

Next comes a face-off with the hosts UAE, as the defending champions look to continue their unimpressive run in the tournament. What did this match versus Uzbekistan tell us about Arnold’s tactics for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup? Let’s break it down, first looking at what were the issues in last night’s match.

Where can the Socceroos improve?

Risk-averse in possession

Socceroos manager Graham Arnold set his team up in a way that looked like they were afraid to lose rather than daring to win. Especially in the first half, the Australians were overran by the pressing of the energetic Uzbeks, led by their in-form striker Eldor Shomurodov as the Australians dare not to make a mistake.

Unlike previous games where the defenders had lots of time on the ball, Uzbekistan manager Héctor Cúper had clearly instructed his players to not offer them the chance to put in balls from deep.

It resulted in a lot of safe passes to retain possession instead of forward thinking balls that might be able to pressure the runner-ups of Group F. Sainsbury especially, who has the capacity to launch a long ball that penetrates a defence, was particularly disappointing in his ball distribution.

Further up the pitch, there was once again a lack of movement, reminiscent of the opening game against Jordan. It meant that the players in possession had to constantly go backwards as there was no one up front offering to take the ball of their teammates.

This was best seen when Awer Mabil makes a darting run on the right side of the pitch, only to go backwards. Although this did end up leading to a shot later on in the play, it symbolised how the Socceroos were more keen to not lose possession rather than risk a 50/50 pass.

Suspensions and changes to the team

Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic was unfairly given a yellow card in the first half, and it will see him suspended for the quarter-final meeting with the UAE, following another harsh yellow card he received against Palestine.

In his place, Arnold will likely be choosing between Massimo Luongo, who has been in and out of the starting lineup during the tournament and Denmark based midfielder Mustafa Amini.

Amini is versatile for his club, playing a whole range of positions from defensive midfielder to winger. However, since he hasn’t played in the tournament so far, it is hard to see whether Arnold will trust him for a big match like this.

Luongo then, is the natural replacement as Rogic has been playing a deeper midfield role rather than his natural number 10 position. The 2015 Asian Cup MVP would definitely be suited to this and should be able to comfortably slot in just ahead of captain Mark Milligan and Jackson Irvine to bolster the midfield.

High line of defence exploited

This is something that I brought up in a previous blog, where I noted that Palestine did try to attack the high line of defence that the Socceroos play with and why this will be something other nations will exploit as well.

Possession based football usually requires a high-line of defence as you try to compact the midfield space to offer your players more options when passing. It’s best used with players good with the ball at their feet, which Degenek and Sainsbury are, but also pacy enough to track back, which they are not.

It was no surprise then, that the first-half game-plan for Cúper was to attack the right-side of the defence where Rhyan Grant pushes very far up and leave Shomorudov to take on Sainsbury in the 1 on 1.

This was a common form of attack and resulted in Ryan having to make one excellent save in particular when the PSV Eindhoven defender got wrong-footed by Uzbekistan’s leading goalscorer.

The only solution to this would be to drop the defensive line deeper so that there is less space in between the keeper and the defence, but I don’t envisage Arnold changing that anytime soon as that would symbolise a move away from the possession-based football the Australian fans enjoy.

What worked for the Socceroos?

Individuals stepping up

After a poor first half that Australia were lucky not to have conceded in, the Socceroos came back in the second with a newly discovered drive to make things happen themselves.

They were far better in possession, controlling the ball with calmness, although this is partially due to Uzbekistan also falling deeper than they were in the opening half.

There was still not much movement without the ball from the Australian attackers, but they themselves decided to make the most of their time with the ball. They consistently ran at the defence and tried to take out Uzbekistan defenders with their technical skill rather than through moving the ball.

It resulted in the best chances, with Matthew Leckie, coming off the bench for his first appearance in the tournament after an injury, looking especially dangerous in possession. Rogic, Mabil and Chris Ikonomidis all created shots and threats in the box by trusting their dribbling skills.

Whether they can continue in this fashion against technically better defenders remains to be seen, so Arnold should look to get his players passing the ball in the final third far better than they have been so far.

Rhyan Grant should attack the goals more

There is no doubt that since coming in for the second-half of the opening match of the tournament, Grant has consistently been able to provide an attacking threat for the Socceroos from his wide positions.

He covers the whole side of the pitch and offers the width on the right hand side for the team. His crosses have been a constant threat, no matter the opposition.

However, one run he made in the second half, which you can see in the GIF below, made me wonder why he doesn’t do this more often.

Grant always provides an option out wide, rarely coming into the box – but if he can imitate these types of runs more often, he offers another attacking threat for the Australians that can often look toothless in attack.

In the end, the Socceroos were lucky that they could count on such a dependable force in between the sticks in Mat Ryan to see them past in the penalty shootout. But there is still a lot of work to be done if the Asian Cup champions want to demonstrate themselves as serious contenders for the trophy.

Follow me on Twitter @ShababHossain13