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We're still learning, says Australia's Neill [Thu Sep 1st, 2005]
Australian stalwart Lucas Neill revealed new coach Guus Hiddink was experimenting with all sections of the national team, not just the much-maligned defence, in the lead-up to the World Cup qualifiers.
Dutchman Hiddink, who recently took over the job from Frank Farina, got to work with the players in a four-day training camp in Holland earlier this month.
Hiddink, who has now arrived in Australia, has selected a near full-strength squad for the two-legged Oceania World Cup playoff against the Solomon Islands in Sydney on Saturday and Honiara next Wednesday.
Australia conceded ten goals in losing their three Confederations Cup matches in Germany in June, and Blackburn right back Neill said Hiddink had tried different defensive combinations at the camp, one with him in a central defensive role.
"When we were in the Confederations Cup, we never came up against the same system and teams seemed to adjust against us and we need to have the flexibility to do that, if were to go forward as the national team," Neill said.
"So being a little bit versatile, I managed to fill in at a couple of those spots, but everything is still a little bit up in the air.
"We're still getting to know Guus and he's still obviously getting to know us, so nothing is formal at the moment."
While he said he preferred right back and had only limited experience as a central defender, Neill was prepared to fill whatever role Hiddink earmarked him for.
He said the new mentor had also made changes to the midfield and attacking formations.
"We're still learning, the different ideas that Guus wants to put to the team, and he wants us to be versatile as a team and obviously to learn from the mistakes that we made in the Confederations Cup," Neill said.
Neill described the camp as rewarding and challenging and said there had been a completely different attitude in Holland.
"Not in a bad way, just a fresh change. I think not much was changed, as far as the day-to-day agenda, but a few tiny little adjustments and a little bit of tweaking of the rules and the training was a little bit different," Neill said.
Neill said Farina and Hiddink's training camps each had a similar schedule and were very relaxed.
"At the moment I think training is just that little bit more intense, because of the intensity of what's at stake at the moment, Neill said.
"There's a lot of off the field activity at the moment, with iron testing, blood testing, oxygen testing, to make sure that, down the line, if we're needed to go to altitude that we're not going in there in the dark, were all educated on it," Neill said.
Neill played in both OFC Nations Cup matches against the Solomon Islands last year.
"It's not a case of studying all their players and going out and saying right, here's the main man, it's just a case of us playing to our strengths and exposing their weaknesses," Neill said.
AAP
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