Next Socceroos coach should have a broader role Waiting game: Holger Osieck is under pressure. If Holger Osieck is relieved of his Socceroos coaching duties as per growing media speculation, the opportunity would exist to make an appointment to take our game to the next level by combining several roles. With Han Berger leaving next year, having made a significant contribution in the area of coach education and the national football plan, this role could be combined with the national coaching position and filled by an outstanding candidate with the knowledge, experience and expertise to contribute to the overall understanding and direction of the game. The critical factor is to understand the precise requirements of the next coach and ensure these are matched to the cycle we are entering, where a young team will need to develop as quickly as possible, while work continues on the national youth training methodology. Such a project would be five years long, including the next two Asian Cups and World Cups up to January 2019, subject to the usual performance criteria. Articulated well, this project would be appealing to some of the world's best football minds. We would be looking for someone whose football philosophy matches our own, a record of international success with a young playing group who played above themselves, an ultra-attacking, aggressive and confident style with a demonstrated ability in World Cup qualifying and experience in high-level tournaments. This methodology would need to be consistent with our national direction, while taking our knowledge further, and be applicable to the training of youth players as part of the evolution of the national curriculum. The right candidate could be handed responsibility to mentor and oversee our youth national coaches, and to heavily influence the AIS program. An Australian head of football and technical committee would ensure the national interest is protected while we continue to draw knowledge from the world's best. In this way, the investment would be apportioned across many areas of the game and is the fastest and most effective route to Australia's emergence as a football nation. In my view, a local candidate will be ready to take over after the next World Cup cycle, providing we continue to improve the quality of the A-League year on year and create an increasingly challenging environment in which coaches can develop. Only in the past couple of years have enough coaches emerged to create a weekly, tactical competition in the top half of the table, something acknowledged by Graham Arnold when he said that until recently he had very few sleepless nights prior to matches, knowing he was competing against largely disorganised teams. Now more coaches present a tactical problem. I am less impatient than some for an Australian coach, and more focused on our continued progression so that when the time is right, the appointment will signal a lasting transition whereby we would not need to look abroad again. I also believe the theory that the past three years of tactical development in our professional competition has created such a moment should be tested. At this point in time, with the game progressing well and changing shape and direction, now is the time to increase our knowledge base and accelerate the progress. The Socceroos have an opportunity to capitalise on the fact so many other national teams with strong traditional support are either in transition or, in some cases, apparent decline, to develop into a young, vibrant and exciting group to once again capture the nation's undivided attention and affection. In the next decade the Socceroos should rise in prominence in the national consciousness with a plan to progress to the quarter-finals or beyond in 2022, and to delight the nation in the intervening period. Time should be taken to consider the appropriate candidates this time around, even to the point of assistant coach Aurelio Vidmar taking any impending matches while due consideration is given. The past two appointments were made in a hurried fashion after the 2007 Asian Cup, particularly, and also for the 2011 Asian Cup. The national sentiment towards making a transition right now to a future team is extremely positive and opens the way to appoint a master of football with the vision and experience to prepare for 2022 and beyond. The key is in knowing where we are, what we need and who can provide it. If these questions are answered correctly, we will look back at this moment as one that laid the platform for decades.