Leading up to the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan last Wednesday, a major issue began gaining traction with fans and media alike. That issue being that Australia's performances in the World Cup qualifiers showing little of much in the way of style and performance, yet everything in results achieved. This very issue was raised by this website far before that, with the game away to Japan being the game Australia must try and win to at least show they can put a performance on the board, especially as this would be the toughest game in the campaign and closest to the high intensity games that will be expected at the World Cup.
In almost complete dismay, coach Pim Verbeek went the exact opposite direction - playing no strikers and sitting back the entire game. While no one was expecting an all out attack, at least some sort of composed performance and possession game while also providing some threat up forward to keep the Japanese on edge, would have been nice to see. Or, at least attempted.
The issue debated around the Uzbekistan has leaned towards the team doing everything right - that the result is most important. Lost in this debate is the definition of style. Wrongly it's been discussed as all-out attack with goals and entertainment for the fans.
Emphasis on style is not on goals and entertainment, it's on performance. The debate was demonstrated clearly just in this game. The first half was rubbish. The second half was performance. Fans want to see games won with the second half style of game, not the first half. No doubt, too, the coach and players.
The second issue is repetition. Other than the home game against Qatar - a team that didn't really show up - all Australia's games have been dreadful to some extent. In fact, the stark reality is that there has not been one cohesive and polished performance by any Verbeek team against quality opposition. That also includes two absolutely horrible matches in Asian Cup qualifiers with A-League based teams - match situations that should allow a coach to wield his magic. While it's ok to have a "Bahrain" kind of day with abominable performance and stealing victory in the last second, it's not acceptable for every game to be achieving results with this style. Hence, had Australia won against Uzbekistan playing the entire game like the first half, it would have continued the similar vein of recent games of winning (or surviving) through circumstance, not through good performance. It's this lack of performance that is causing the recent concerns.
You can only imagine the complete contrast in the situation now had Australia returned 2 draws and a loss from the away games against Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Japan instead of the actual 2 wins and draw. These were all games that most fans admit Australia gained better results than they deserved. To then accept that results count over style is neglecting the reality that they have come from circumstance rather than performance. The concern is that not only will this good fortune soon run out, at the World Cup itself, this style of conservative and incoherent play will just not be good enough.