Harry Kewell reckons Tom Rogic made a post Celtic mistake by not finding a new club sooner after his exit.
The former Hoops star left Ange Postecoglou's side in the summer after a trophy-laden spell in Glasgow. He was an instrumental figure in the huge success that came to the club in that period and scored a number of key goals during his time at Parkhead. After his departure he spent the summer without a club before putting pen to paper at English Championship side West Brom. His lack of minutes this season has went against him as he failed to land a spot on the plane to the World Cup with Australia.
Despite his lack of action, the Celtic coach would like to have seen him named in the squad as he can be the difference maker in an instant. The Socceroos come up against France, Denmark and Tunisia in Qatar. Kewell reckons the national team boss has NOT picked the strongest team describing his decision as a 'shame'.
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Speaking about Arnold on SBS, he said: "Do I believe he’s picked the strongest squad? No. I think he’s missed one or two key players, which is a shame. But he's on the ground and is there 24/7. He knows exactly what he needs in his team to make this a successful World Cup attempt.
“I hope he’s got it right. I just would have liked to have seen the likes of Tommy Rogic in there. I know Tom hasn’t done the right thing by his career by getting a club earlier, just kind of waiting and drifting it out before last minute he’s got a club. I still would’ve liked to have seen him go because he could have been the difference.
“It’s going to be huge because we’ll be using a lot of our energy in the defensive part of the game. You need fresh legs and someone to hold the ball up, drive the ball, drop the shoulder and get past someone one, allow the back line to get up and give Matty Ryan that little bit of space. He [Rogic] is the player that can do that.
“Don’t get me wrong, there are other players in the squad like Boyle, Mabil and Duke who can all hold it up. But when you have a class player like Tommy Rogic, he could have been the difference in maybe the last 15 minutes in a game.”
He continued: “We won’t be weak, but it’s one of the areas I don’t feel the players have played long enough together or been around each other long enough,” he explained. “Even if I go back to my time, we had one centre half leaving and one was coming in.
“Craig Moore and Lucas Neill were a pairing and had a connection. They read each other and work together well. This is what I need to see from these centre halves. Souttar being back is fantastic. He’s a big threat on set pieces and they are going to be very important for us at this World Cup.”
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