Postecoglou ´over the moon´ with Australia criticism

Australia head coach Ange Postecoglou has welcomed increased scrutiny over his tactical approach at the Confederations Cup.

The Socceroos face African champions Cameroon in St Petersburg on Thursday, when they will aim to bounce back from an opening 3-2 loss against Germany.

The attacking benefits of Postecoglou’s expansive 3-4-3 system were in evidence as his side twice breached the world champions but they were left defensively exposed during the opening stages, when Joachim Low’s experimental side should have run up a stronger advantage than the one given to them by Lars Stindl’s fifth-minute opener.

The 51-year-old came in for his share of criticism in the aftermath and the Asian Cup holders have polarised opinion back home with their displays for a number of months.

However, Postecoglou is happy to be under the microscope.

“I’m absolutely over the moon that there’s debate,” he told a pre-match news conference.

“It’s exactly what I want. And it’s good to see the debate’s not just the usual empty vessels, there’s some new voices that have strong opinions, both for and against what I’m doing. But that’s exactly what we need.

“If we’re going to grow as a nation and really find our identity it’s going to come with vigorous debate and if that’s happening, and it looks like it is happening, that’s a massive positive for our game.”

Ange Postecoglou and Mark Milligan are speaking to media ahead of our match against Cameroon. #CMRAUS #GoSocceroos #ConfedCup pic.twitter.com/br9zGaIKFU

— Caltex Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 21, 2017

Australia have the opportunity to get their campaign up and running in a fixture that appears eminently more winnable on paper, but Postecoglou rejected the notion of the Indomitable Lions proving a soft touch.

“I don’t see any game as more winnable than any other,” he added.

“If you start thinking in those terms you may miss an opportunity along the way.

“I don’t think the Cameroon game is going to be any easier [than Germany] and we’re certainly not going to approach it as an any easier game than the first one or the third one.”