This wasn't a overachievement. It was an underachievement
We did better at Qatar 2022 with a weaker squad. That's a fact.
Ridiculous decisions by Poppa, he looked like he didn't know what to do with this squad which is a red flag, he was constantly changing the starters for no understandable reason!
I'll give Poppa credit for the win against Turkey, but even then he was bailed out by Beach. Yes, Poppa deserves credit for picking him. It was probably his best decision of the entire tournament. But we all saw afterwards that Turkey weren't actually that strong, which definitely takes away from the "unbelievable result" narrative.
Against the USA, I think the loss was largely on Poppa. Starting both Leckie and Velupillay didn't work, and why didn't Herrington start?? I'm convinced he doesn't score the own goal that Burgess did. With a different lineup and better game management, I genuinely think we could've come away with a draw!
Against Paraguay, it was a pretty standard result. Paraguay was happy with a draw and quality-wise the two sides are pretty evenly matched, I would say. A draw was the expected outcome. Nothing about it was an overachievement.
Then came Egypt. Beach was full of confidence after an outstanding tournament, and Poppa takes him off for Ryan before the shootout... Ryan has had a good career, but if he was our penalty specialist then why did we bring on Redmayne against Peru? If Poppa was going to make that risky change, why not Izzo? We've all seen Izzo save penalties in the A-League, right?
Then there was the penalty order. Two centre backs? Why? What about Hrustic? What about Toure? Why Souttar and Herrington ahead of those two? Is there any footballing reason for it? Do they really strike a ball better than Hrustic and Toure? Or was it just trying to create a big moment? Aura farming ? Because, honestly, it felt like Poppa was chasing that all tournament.
Look, this is a good squad. The best we've had in years.
Beach proved he's a very good goalkeeper, and Mat Ryan is still a solid second option. Circati, Herrington and Souttar are three very good centre backs. Aiden O'Neill has developed into an excellent defensive midfielder. Irvine and Metcalfe bring experience, Bundesliga-level football, leadership, work rate and tactical intelligence. Volpato has outstanding technique. Nestory is an absolute gun. Toure was tearing it up at Norwich only a few months ago! And I could go on but point made.
So let's stop pretending this was some incredible achievement.
Getting out of this group and then losing to Egypt is just around what should be expected from this squad, if not a bit disappointing! Poppa was the one telling everyone to have high expectations, and I did. I believed in this squad.
I just didn't believe in the coach. Time to move on.