Leaked WhatsApp messages suggest Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally controlled the state sovereign wealth fund’s takeover of Newcastle United, according to a bombshell report from The Telegraph UK.
A Saudi-led consortium completed its $559 million takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United in October 2021 despite warnings from Amnesty International that the deal represented “sportswashing” of the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record.
According to a CIA report, the Crown Prince was responsible for ordering the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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The consortium, which now owns 80 per cent of the club, featured the Saudi Public Investment Fund, PCP Capital Partners and billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben.
The Premier League initially blocked the sale over concerns Newcastle United would be commanded by the Saudi state, but the league received “legally binding assurances” that the Saudi Arabian government would not control the club.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Source: Getty Images
However, The Telegraph UK published a series of WhatsApp messages from former Newcastle United minority co-owner Amanda Staveley, who brokered the club’s sale, that suggested the Saudi Crown Prince signed off key decisions in the controversial deal.
The messages, which implied Bin Salman heavily influenced in the deal, shed new light on the extent of political involvement in the takeover.
“The Crown Prince is losing patience – I need to assure him we will get there,” Staveley messaged the camp of former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley in March 2020.
Another message referred to attempts being made to “convince the Crown Prince not to pull out” of the deal.
According to Staveley’s lawyers, she was referring to the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, in the context of his role as chairman of the Public Investment Fund.
Staveley stepped down from Newcastle’s board in July after selling her shares.
The Newcastle United club badge. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
In response to the report, a PIF spokesman said in a statement: “In October 2021, following a lengthy investigation, the Premier League announced that the sale of Newcastle United had completed following the receipt of assurances that the government of Saudi Arabia would not control the club. The facts and circumstances that underpin those assurances, as confirmed at the time to the Premier League, remain unchanged.”
The English football landscape has become murkier than ever before as the Premier League, with many of its clubs, becomes entrenched in a civil war with mega giants Manchester City.
City believe the Premier League are raging a war on clubs with owners from Gulf nations like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, while representatives of the world’s top football league insist that they are simply trying to uphold the values of financial fair play.
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Other clubs have been dragged into the mud and made to pick a side all over a bitter legal battle regarding the Premier League’s associated party transaction (APT) rules which wrapped up earlier this week.
APT rules were introduced in 2021 – following the acquisition of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – to protect fairness by attempting to ensure that clubs do not gain an unfair financial advantage by doing inflated sponsorship deals with entities linked to club ownership.
Eight-time Premier League champions Manchester City – who have won the title in six of the last seven seasons – launched the legal dispute in June. They were aggrieved by the rules trying to limit their deals with UAE-based sponsors Etihad Airways and First Abu Dhabi Bank because they were owned by Sheik Mansour Abu Dhabi, who also owns the club.
Other clubs were quickly forced to hitch themselves to either wagon with Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Brighton all acting as witnesses for the Premier League during the case, while Everton, Newcastle, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest all were supportive of City.
Despite being seemingly outnumbered, the sky-blue half of Manchester is not backing down. In fact, they are attempting to take charge off the field as well as on it.
EPL Wrap: Liverpool remain on top! | 02:14
CITY ACCUSED OF TRYING TO RUN THE LEAGUE
The UK Telegraph reported that Manchester City sent an email to all 19 other clubs claiming that the Premier League’s APT rules were obsolete following the legal case’s conclusion on Monday, and they invited their rivals to contact them directly regarding the matter rather than the league executive.
The email saga has led to other Premier League teams accusing City of trying to run the league themselves after an arbitration panel handed down their findings on APT rules.
Like an American political debate, both sides walked away claiming victory.
The Premier League felt vindicated that the panel found the APT system to be a “carefully crafted scheme” which is crucial to competition structure as well as not finding any evidence of City’s claims that the rules discriminated against clubs with ownership from the “Gulf region”.
The Guardian’s chief sports writer Barney Ronay was scathing of City for making that argument in the first place, saying “this was an absurd claim that everyone involved should, frankly, be ashamed to have made in the first place”.
“Rational, blanket economic rules can be argued over, tweaked or abandoned. But to call them racially motivated is to demean the victims of the actual racism,” he continued.
City did not walk away with their tails between their legs, however.
In fact, it was quite the opposite as they puffed their chests out and boasted the success of the panel declaring some aspects of the regulations were unlawful and must be redrawn.
The main focus of which was shareholder loans.
The Premier League must now include the assessment of shareholder loans – which involve owners or directors putting money into the club interest-free – into APT rules despite previous belief that they are an unfair advantage because not all clubs can avoid the interest rates of commercial loans.
As a result, judgments on City’s deals with Etihad Airways and First Abu Dhabi Bank have been put on hold and will be reassessed as to whether they meet fair market value at a later date.
That outcome led football law expert Christopher Allen to tell ESPN that “up to nine Premier League teams” receive shareholder loans and City were the true winners of the case with a can of worms potentially opened for the Premier League.
“In footballing terms, it feels very much like a Manchester City win, with the Premier League scoring a consolation goal,” Allen said.
“I say ‘consolation goal’ as the Tribunal did not appear to find that the principle of having rules around associated party transactions (APT) in and of itself to be unlawful.
“The unlawful nature of the current APT rules represents two problems. First, with Manchester City having now taken the seismic step of being the first club to bring a claim against the Premier League, it could open the door for other clubs who might have had transactions vetoed by the Premier League as part of the old APT rules to seek redress.
“Second, and a point that is being widely reported from the Tribunal judgement, is that interest free shareholder loans perhaps ought to be part of any new APT rules that the Premier League now brings in.”
Ange suffers “worst loss” as Spurs coach | 01:18
DOES THIS VERDICT MAKE THE RICH RICHER?
The ruling on shareholder loans theoretically could unleash another a wave of the mega-wealthy turning the Premier League clubs into their favourite toy.
Russian oligarchs, Emirati sheiks and Saudi princes have all made their presence felt in the Premier League this century.
Football is not the only sport where they have exerted the influence as golf, Formula One and, most recently, tennis has all been impacted by a seemingly bottomless pit of oil money.
Their ‘sportswashing’ programs – where individuals, governments, groups or corporations fund sport to improve their reputation which has been damaged by wrongdoing – have copped widespread criticism but the APT case findings have essentially green lit the ongoing use of the practice.
Clubs like Manchester City will be able to bring in more money through sponsorship connected with their owners, and football’s financial arms race will continue.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea – whose majority owners are all American – have spent astronomical amounts of money to try break City’s stranglehold on the Premier League trophy, but limitations exist on private equity in comparison to oil wealth.
Eventually, everyone else gets left behind at it has been exhibited most notably by the Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain who have won ten of the last 12 Ligue 1 titles in France.
That prospect prompted UK Telegraph’s chief sports writer Oliver Brown to write that “the very essence of the game, rooted in the notion that clubs are inseparable from their communities, is warped by City’s latest victory”.
“Just as City have traditionally been seen as the choice of the true Mancunian, Newcastle United describe themselves as ‘having proudly stood at the heart of an iconic city – and in the hearts of a unique community – for generations’,” Brown continued.
“Such depictions are increasingly unrealistic. City and Newcastle are not so much grand civic enterprises any longer as gaudy global brands, perfect conduits for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to wield their influence over the widest possible audience.”
On the pitch, the main takeaway from not restricting the impact of the wealthy is diminishing the likelihood of an underdog champion like Leicester City in the 2015/16 season.
After the Foxes miracle, many key players from their title-winning side like Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) and Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea) were snapped up by their wealthier rivals.
That would surely be replicated if another team unexpectedly climbed the table in the seasons to come, but the richer clubs having even more money to build deeper squads will make it harder than before to do so.
Aston Villa finished fourth last season to earn their way into the Champions League this season after playing in the Championship as recently as five years ago, but they have done so with considerable backing from American investment.
Essentially, there is likely to be less shrewd squad-building in the future and more splashing cash to create super teams.
Ange ‘shell shocked’ after ‘worst loss’ | 01:11
DOES THIS IMPACT CITY’S OTHER LEGAL ISSUES?
No, Manchester City still face 115 charges for financial breaches.
The dispute over APT rules does not relate to City’s allegedly not correctly accounting for their finances from the 2009/10 season through to 2017/18.
City deny the charges, and independent hearings began last month with an outcome expected to be handed down before the year’s end.
The fact they have walked away from the APT dispute claiming victory has also saved them a PR nightmare as a loss of the case would have discredited their position and turned public perception even further against them – opposing fans are already baying for blood as City’s manager Pep Guardiola recently said their rivals want them “wiped off the face of the Earth”.
But apart from PR spin, the APT case will not influence their other legal battles as the 115 charges remain a whole different beast all together.
The breakdown of which is 54 charges relate to failure to provide accurate financial information, 14 charges focus on failure to provide accurate details of player and manager payments, seven charges of breaching profit and sustainability rules, five charges of failing to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play regulations and 35 charges of failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations.
It is quite the rap sheet that presents a whole different battle for City.
In footballing terms, the APT case was the first leg of a knockout tie that sets up a fascinating second leg to decide the club’s fate.
An executive summit chaired by Manchester United part owner Jim Ratcliffe is set to determine the future of Erik Ten Hag, which presently sits on a knife’s edge.
And while the meeting is regularly scheduled in the diaries of the clubs hierarchy and no different to one held last month in Barcelona, it will be attended by many prominent figures at the club, including Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox, as United are amidst their worst-ever Premier League start.
According to the Guardian there is no indication from within Old Trafford that Ten Hag will be sacked, United’s poor start to the season means the Dutchman’s job is under immense pressure.
Eight points in seven games, including two wins over Fulham and Southampton, and just five goals scored, means 2024-25 is the worst start United have made in three decades.
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Vale Johan Neeskens, ex-Socceroo coach | 02:31
Their next worst start? Last season, when they were one point better off than they currently are.
However, it’s just their abysmal league form that has Ten Hag teetering on the brink of unemployment, with the club’s two Europa League games this season creating cause for immense concern.
Against Ten Hag’s former side, FC Twente of the Eredivisie, United drew 1-1. A week later they let an early 2-0 lead slip against Porto to draw 3-3, with a late Harry Maguire header salvaging a point in Portugal.
After that draw Ratcliffe was quizzed about his manager’s future but insisted his opinion mattered very little when it came to ensuring the Dutchman remained at the helm after the upcoming international break.
“I don’t want to answer that question. I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call,” he said.
A draw away at high-flying Aston Villa, who took three points from German giants Bayern Munich midweek, may have, for now, saved United’s powerbrokers from making a call on Ten Hag, according to club great Gary Neville.
Speaking on Sky Sports following the Villa game, Neville described the point as “ a small step forward.”
“Before the game if you’d offered any Manchester United fan, player and coach a draw they would have snapped your hand off.
“I think that’s where at the end (in) Erik Ten Hag’s interview there was probably a bit of relief because it keeps the wolves at bay for a couple of weeks, gives him a little more time.”
The season’s second international break means United don’t play until hosting Brentford on October 20 (AEST). Five days later it’s a trip to Turkey to clash with Fenerbahce, managed by former United top dog Jose Mourinho.
Neville feels United will afford Ten Hag more time to turn his side around and push for Champions League football come season’s end.
“No club wants to sack a manager during the season because it’s not only a reflection upon the manager, it’s a reflection upon them,” he said.
Ashworth made the notable caveat during his public backing of Ten Hag last month that the contract extension the 54-year-old signed during the European summer was “taken prior to both our arrivals.”
Despite this, Neville doubled down on his belief Ten Hag will remain United manager beyond the conclusion of this week’s meeting.
“The club did make the decision to keep Ten Hag in the summer and they don’t want to have to basically reverse that decision (after) six, seven games,” he said, adding how the international break may prove beneficial to the club’s situation.
Coaching change won’t effect Socceroos | 01:11
“They’ve just got to hope in these next couple of weeks through maybe a reset, some thinking time, some planning,” he said.
“Manchester United fans, coaches and players have talked about this new structure that surrounds Erik Ten Hag, it needs to go to work quite quickly in these next few weeks.
“If the next international break (in mid-November) comes around and Manchester United are still 13th, 14th, there’s going to be pressure building.
“They can’t stay 14th without repercussions.”
Speaking following the Villa draw, Ten Hag showed minimal concern about his job, revealing he is in constant contact with those above him in the club’s structure.
“We communicate very openly and transparently. I speak continuously with them. Every week, I would say every day, we talk, so I expect I will speak with them,” he said.
United’s manager also feels his side’s form is largely due to their poor goalscoring abilities, which has seen them find the back of the net just five times this season, less than any other side in the English top flight.
In many ways, Ten Hag is correct with the club’s 17 big chances missed this season the second most of any side in the division.
“We know in this moment we have a lack of goals, in that perspective it’s not a good start, we have to step up,” Ten Hag said after the Villa game.
“That’s an area we have to improve. But we have four clean sheets. That’s good because we have to defend proper.”
However, several prominent football clubs believe a lack of goal threat is just one of the issues at United, with the likes of Jamie Carragher and Les Ferdinand believing the club have stagnated under Ten Hag.
“No we’re not (seeing any signs of improvement.) For him, he needs results right now,” Carragher told Sky Sports ahead of the weekend’s Villa draw.
Former Spurs and Newcastle striker Ferdinand agreed, telling that same broadcaster’s post-game coverage that United’s performances are flatlining.
“(Ten Hag) keeps talking about improvement, improvement, improvement (and) we’re struggling to see that improvement,” Ferdinand said.
Ange ‘shell shocked’ after ‘worst loss’ | 01:11
“It’s easy to stand here and hammer Manchester United because during my playing career they were the benchmark. At the moment, they’re not the benchmark.”
Gary Lineker told the Rest Is Football podcast that he feels Ten Hag’s lack of consistent tactical approach has hindered United’s ability to maximise their output in the transfer market.
Over the summer window, United brought in six players for more than $328 million AUD, none of whom have set the world alight since moving to Old Trafford. Lineker believes Ten Hag is to blame for this reality.
“I think it’s very difficult to buy a player for Erik ten Hag because he plays a different system all the time. Sometimes they’re counter-attacking, sometimes they’ll play a little bit of a high press. Sometimes they won’t,” he said.
“We’ve said it many times on here. What is their style of football? What is their identity?”
The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell also questioned United’s transfer strategy following Ten Hag’s selection of Maguire and Jonny Evans as his centre backs against Villa.
Whitwell stated those decisions “somewhat undermines the club’s recruitment policy.”
Ange watches in horror as Spurs choke | 01:09
United’s bench against Villa, which contained seven Ten Hag-era signings, acquiried for around £400 million, was described as “striking” by Whitwell, who commented how strange it was to see “several recruits brought in by Ten Hag considered only necessary for cameo appearances when the pressure dial is turned up.”
All these factors will likely be considered and assessed by the United hierarchy at their upcoming executive summit, with current assistant coach and legendary Manchester United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy is reportedly the club’s preferred caretaker should they opt to sack Ten Hag.
But, one potential barrier to United parting with the Dutchman is the £17.5m ($34m) payout the club would need to fork out should they opt to venture down that path, which has been reported in several outlets including the Mirror.
Johan Neeskens, part of the Ajax and Netherlands teams that created “total football” in the 1970s and a key team-mate of Johan Cruyff, has died aged 73, the Dutch football federation said Monday.
“With Johan Neeskens, the Dutch and international football world loses a legend,” the KNVB federation said in a statement, adding that the midfielder had died on Sunday from an unspecified illness.
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Neeskens was part of the Ajax team that won three straight European Cups in the early 1970s and was also a member of the ‘Clockwork Oranje’ Dutch team that reached consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978.
He won 49 caps for the Netherlands.
“With his characteristic tackles, sublime insight and iconic penalties, (he) will forever remain one of the leading players that Dutch football has ever produced,” said the KNVB.
After his playing career, Neeskens took part in coaching programmes around the world including as an assistant to Australian national team manager Guus Hiddink for the 2006 World Cup where the Socceroos progressed from the group stage to the Round of 16.
Known on the pitch for his uncompromising tackling, he also had a softer side, the KNVB said in its statement.
He was “a world citizen and a gentle family man who was proud of his children and grandchildren and who, until the very end, knew how to touch others with his love for football.” The KNVB said it would hold a minute’s silence at the next two international matches against Hungary and Germany.
Ajax wrote on X: “We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Johan Neeskens. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.” “Rest in peace, Ajax legend.” Barcelona, where he was known as “Johan The Second” (after Crujff), according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS, also tweeted condolences.
“A blaugrana legend who will forever be in our memory.” Current Dutch coach Ronald Koeman described Neeskens as his “great idol”. Playing football in the street as a boy, Koeman said his friends either wanted to be Crujff or Dutch star Willem van Hanegem.
“But I wanted to be Neeskens,” said Koeman, cited by local news agency ANP. “His style really appealed to me. His fight, for example. And he was also a great penalty specialist.”
Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff’s Ajax and Dutch teams
Johan Neeskens, who has died aged 73, was the powerful but smooth engine of the Ajax and Netherlands teams that created “total football” with Johan Cruyff at their heart.
Neeskens was part of the Ajax team that won three straight European Cups and a key component of the “Clockwork Oranje” Dutch team that reached consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, losing both.
“He was worth two men in midfield,” Ajax team-mate Sjaak Swart once told FIFA.com.
Neeskens was a relentless runner and tough tackler, but he was also skilful. He finished the 1974 World Cup with five goals, second to only to Grzegorz Lato of Poland and top scorer in a Dutch team that also contained Cruyff and the flamboyant Johnny Rep.
“I always liked to play with style — and to win,” Neeskens said. Johannes Jacobus Neeskens was born in Heemstede, west of Amsterdam, on September 15, 1951. He was signed from his home-town club by Ajax coach Rinus Michels in 1970.
Neeskens was right-back when the club beat Greek side Panathinaikos 2-0 for their first European Cup win in 1971. He then switched to central midfield, playing there as Ajax won two more titles in 1972, against Inter Milan, and 1973, against Juventus.
The Ajax team led by Cruyff and Neeskens formed the spine of the Dutch side that dazzled on the way to the 1974 World Cup final in West Germany.
After just two minutes in Munich, Neeskens set two World Cup final records, scoring the quickest goal in as he converted the first penalty, awarded before any West German and most Dutch players had touched the ball.
“As a player it is a little bit strange because sometimes you need the feeling,” he later told FIFA.
“I’d hardly touched the ball and wasn’t even warm. Then you have to make that penalty in front of 80,000 who are against you and of course the whole world is watching it.
“That was the first time that I was a little bit nervous in taking a penalty,” he said.
“When I started running, I was thinking: ‘which side am I going to shoot?’ It was more or less always in the right side of the goal. At the last step, I thought ‘no, I’m going to shoot the other way’. It was not my meaning to kick the ball straight through the middle.” But he also said: “If you’re not sure, just hit it as hard as possible. If you don’t know where it’s going, nor will the keeper.” The West Germans fought back, equalising with the second ever World Cup final penalty, converted by Paul Breitner, and winning with a goal by Gerd Mueller.
Despite the loss, “that tournament was a dream,” Neeskens told FIFA. “I was 22 and a key player.” The Dutch had caught the eye, but West Germany took the trophy. “We lost that game but everybody was talking about our team and our football,” Neeskens recalled. “We deserved to win that final.”
– ‘Kamikaze pilot’ –
Four years later in Argentina, as Cruyff opted to stay at home, Neeskens was again a key part of the Dutch team that reached the final.
He was injured early in a group loss to Scotland and missed the revenge victory over West Germany. He returned for the last two matches, including the 3-1 defeat in extra time as the Dutch again lost the final to the host nation.
By then Neeskens had followed Cruyff to Catalonia, where Barcelona fans dubbed the midfielder “Johan the Second”.
In five years at Barca, he won a Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup before heading to the United States for five seasons with the star-studded New York Cosmos.
Bobby Haarms, Michels’ assistant at Ajax, was quoted in “Brilliant Orange”, a book on Dutch football by David Winner, as saying Neeskens was “like a kamikaze pilot.” He coached in the Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland and South Africa and spent more than four years as Netherlands assistant coach under first Guus Hiddink and then Frank Rijkaard.
He was also Rijkaard’s assistant at Barcelona and Hiddink’s assistant with Australia.
Massimo Luongo is in doubt for the Socceroos’ crucial World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan after missing Ipswich’s latest premier league match against West Ham due to injury.
Sources in the UK told Fox Sports Australia, Luongo’s absence was most likely due to fitness rather than form. It comes just days after ending his retirement from international football.
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FC St. Pauli midfielder Connor Metcalfe could also be unavailable. He failed a fitness test and was ruled out of their 3-0 defeat to Mainz in the Bundesliga.
Metcalfe has been a mainstay in the Socceroos midfield during this qualifying campaign.
Football Australia wouldn’t comment when contacted.
Luongo picked up an injury soon after being named in Tony Popovic’s first squad in charge of the national side; a squad that was only revealed on Friday.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna revealed in the build up to their match against West Ham that he had several injury concerns on his hands, but didn’t name the players specifically.
“We’ve got a few other little issues that we’re monitoring at the moment, but in general we have good availability,” McKenna said.
Palace question non-penalty on VVD | 00:37
Luongo’s name was then missing from Ipswich’s team sheet. The nature and severity of the injury is still unknown.
The 32-year-old retired from international football in January this year, right before the Asian Cup.
At the time, the midfielder was intent on pouring his energy into Ipswich’s push for promotion to the Premier League and earning a new contract with the club.
With both of those goals achieved, Luongo backflipped on his decision to end his time as a Socceroo last week.
His absence would be a sizeable blow. Australia sits fifth in a six team group after two-games of the third round of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In what turned out to be Graham Arnold’s last two matches in charge of the Socceroos, they failed to score in a defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast and a draw with Indonesia in Jakarta, and the side is crying out for Luongo’s creative spark.
The top two-teams in the group will seal automatic qualification for the tournament, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Further opportunities to qualify will be available in the fourth and fifth rounds if required.
EPL Wrap: Liverpool remain on top! | 02:14
The Sydney born playmaker is the only Socceroo currently getting minutes in England’s top-flight. He started Ipswich’s first two-games of the season against Liverpool and Manchester City, but only got six-minutes in the following four-games, with the arrival of England international Kalvin Phillips, on loan from Manchester City, limiting his opportunities.
Socceroos defender Cameron Burgess also plays for Ipswich, but has only featured once on the pitch for McKenna this season, and that was in a second-round League Cup defeat to AFC Wimbledon on penalties.
Players will start arriving in camp in Adelaide in waves, right up until Wednesday morning; just a day before the game against China.
Luongo could be forced to watch on from England and hope for better luck ahead of two more big qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in November.
Tony Popovic will pick his first squad as Socceroos manager this week after being thrown headfirst into the complicated world of international football management.
The former Socceroos defender, unveiled as national team boss last week, has built an impressive resume as a head coach over the last 12-years, but is unlikely to have encountered a situation before where the weight of expectation is so high, and the preparation time to meet that moment is so short.
Come kick-off in their next World Cup qualifier, against China in Adelaide on October 10, Popovic would’ve been in charge of the Socceroos for just 17 days. But in that period, he’ll only get one or two training sessions with the players, at most, before his first match at the helm starts.
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The 51-year-old seems at peace with that prospect; he’s had little choice but to embrace the chaos of the last fortnight.
Popovic decided to move his family to Croatia, after not renewing his contract with Melbourne Victory at the end of the last A-League men’s season.
He also admitted he’d only watched the Socceroos last two qualifiers, against Bahrain and Indonesia, just days before walking into Football Australia’s headquarters in Sydney.
Now, the fate of that side rests in his hands.
The Socceroos don’t do World Cup qualifying campaigns devoid of tension; so in a way, the situation Popovic has walked into has almost become an expected mode of operating when it comes to booking a spot at football’s showpiece event.
Long-term, as investment in national team programs across Asia outpaces what Football Australia is currently capable of, continually finding a way to jump out of the fire is unsustainable.
That might be Popovic’s problem in the future if he does manage to turn things around.
In the short term, however, these are the four biggest issues facing the new boss ahead of this looming international window.
Popovic confirmed as new Socceroos coach | 02:27
HOW QUICKLY CAN POPOVIC GET HIS MESSAGE ACROSS?
Popovic is a self-confessed, meticulous planner with training sessions delivered in great detail, but how much he can convey to his new players in such a short amount of time is one of the biggest unknowns ahead of the clash with China.
A lack of time on the training pitch was the part of the job that former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold found the most challenging – even six-years into his tenure.
Players don’t arrive in camp until completing commitments with their club sides around the world.
It means the full squad isn’t likely to assemble in Adelaide until 48 hours prior to kick-off against China.
That would be less consequential at the start of a qualifying campaign. During the third phase, and with automatic qualification spots up for grabs, it becomes a huge factor.
It leaves Popovic with one or two sessions, at most, to get his message – a new message for the players – across.
How quickly that message not only sinks in, but turns into performance on the pitch, will be crucial.
Popovic has promised Socceroos fans, unhappy with the style of play under his predecessor, a change.
“There are obviously some areas there that I believe we can improve,” Popovic said at his unveiling last week.
“We can be a little bit more dynamic, we can move the ball quicker, we can get more players in the box.”
Translating that onto the pitch, with limited preparation time, against an opponent they’ll be expected to beat, is the first hurdle for Popovic to jump.
Tony Popovic, the newly-appointed head coach for Australia’s national football team. Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFPSource: AFP
WHERE IS THE CREATIVE SPARK?
Arnold named an abundance of wingers in his squad to face Bahrain and Indonesia at the expense of more creative players in behind the strikers.
The plan was to dominate one-on-one situations out wide before delivering a decisive ball into the box.
It made the side one-dimensional in a 1-nil defeat to Bahrain on the Gold Coast, but tactical tweaks were evident against Indonesia just five-days later with largely the same personnel.
The Socceroos were incredibly unlucky not to come away from Jakarta with more than a draw but, largely, the responsibility for creating chances during those two fixtures fell to the wide-men.
The conundrum when it comes to the Socceroos is that they often play better against higher ranked opponents than their usual foes in Asia.
At a World Cup, Australia enters matches as the underdog, and higher ranked teams aren’t shy when it comes to attacking.
The Socceroos’ game-plan at the last World Cup in Qatar, for example, was built around an ability to soak up pressure and then rapidly counter-attack opponents who had left space in behind.
In Asia, that isn’t the case for most matches during the qualifying phase. Australia is one of the powerhouses of the region, and as a result, expected to be the aggressor against teams who prefer to sit back with men behind the ball.
Breaking down opponents, who defend in large numbers in and around their own box, is the next step in Australia’s progression as a national side.
A different type of player; one who can pull the strings in-behind the strikers and unlock defences with clever passes is needed, to compliment the pace out wide.
Tony Popovic. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for Football AustraliaSource: Getty Images
Three players, all of whom missed selection for the last international window, currently fit that profile: Cardiff City’s Alexander Robertson, Salernitana’s Ajdin Hrustic and Middlesbrough’s Riley McGree.
Hrustic spent part of last season on loan at Heracles in the Eredivisie, before sealing a permanent move from Serie A outfit Hellas Verona to Serie B side Salernitana in the off-season.
Riley McGree suffered a foot injury against Lebanon in Sydney in March that required surgery, ruling him out for the rest of Middlesbrough’s campaign in the second-tier Championship in the UK.
A knock picked up in pre-season halted his comeback, but he got 76-minutes under his belt in a 2-0 win over Stoke at the weekend.
Under Arnold, McGree has mainly been used on the left of a front three, but like Hrustic, possesses the required tactical nous to play in a more central role.
Arnold preferred to let 21-year-old Robertson settle into life at Cardiff, who also play in the Championship, after a move from Manchester City.
The decision was understandable. The young Aussie was sent on-loan several times while at City, eventually landing at Portsmouth in 2023, as they secured promotion from League One. After establishing himself as a regular starter at Pompey, he suffered a season-ending hamstring tear at training in January.
A round-trip from the UK, that included stops on the Gold Coast and Jakarta wouldn’t have been ideal for a player who is trying to establish himself after a nomadic existence at club level. But he hasn’t been seen in green and gold since the Socceroos’ friendly against Argentina in Beijing in June of 2023, and with the stakes this high, the national side is in desperate need of a player with his unique abilities.
Tony Popovic speaks to media. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for Football AustraliaSource: Getty Images
WHERE DO THE GOALS COME FROM?
The Socceroos stormed through the second round of qualifying, scoring 22 times without conceding, but the goals have dried up in the third round.
They failed to score against Bahrain and Indonesia and finding the back of the net was made even harder, after striker Kusini Yengi was sent off against Bahrain, meaning he missed the game in Jakarta through suspension.
He has one-game of that red card ban left to serve and is also battling a groin injury, so his participation in the October window, where he’d only be available for the showdown against Japan, is in doubt.
It’s a huge setback. Yengi has scored four goals in nine international appearances so far and looks the man most likely to lead the line for the Socceroos moving forward.
In his absence, Arnold turned to 33-year-old Mitch Duke and 18-year-old Nestory Irankunda, who is on the books of German giants Bayern Munich, against Indonesia.
Popovic has options, but none that have shown themselves to be prolific. Aside from Mathew Leckie, who has struggled with injury since the World Cup in 2022, Duke has the most goals of any current Socceroo. But his return of 12 goals from 42 appearances sees him hit the back of the net every 195 minutes on average.
Former Melbourne City striker Jamie Maclaren is the next best with 11 goals from 31 games.
The A-League Men all-time top scorer departed for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giant in July, and is yet to open his account for his new club after two substitute appearances from their three games.
Maclaren was also left out of the Socceroos Asian Cup squad earlier this year by Arnold, and contemplated international retirement as a result. While a re-call would be a risk on current form, the 31-year-old is a proven goal scorer.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is also an option after playing the last two games for Motherwell in Scotland. The former Newcastle Jet missed the last set of internationals after injuring his quad against Rangers in mid-August.
Denmark based John Iredale has been used sporadically this year as well.
Popovic set to be NEW Socceroos coach | 00:54
CAN HE MAKE UP FOR MISSED EASY POINTS?
It was put to Popovic at his first press conference, that perhaps there were easier times to take over as Socceroos coach.
He met that query with: “Why wouldn’t it be a good time?”
The Aussies sit fifth in a six team group after two games, and although there’s eight games remaining in this phase of qualifying, four of those fixtures are against group heavyweights Japan and Saudi Arabia.
A chance for bankable points against Bahrain and Indonesia also went begging, but as Popovic would go on to say “that’s football.”
While that’s true, it hardly makes the road ahead smooth sailing – especially when a top-two finish in the group will seal automatic qualification for the next World Cup in two years’ time.
The Socceroos were ticking along like a marathoner comfortably churning out the kilometres until the most recent window. Now, the pack has kicked and increased the pace as they head for the finish line.
Popovic will need to get his side back-up to speed quickly, or another wild ride; filled with play-off jeopardy potentially awaits.
New Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is prepared to “win ugly” if it means Australia qualifies for the next FIFA World Cup, but has also promised more “dynamic” performances from the national team under his tenure.
Popovic’s appointment was confirmed just four days after Graham Arnold made the shock decision to quit in the wake of two poor World Cup qualifying results.
Having won two A-League premierships, Popovic also guided the Western Sydney Wanderers to becoming the first Australian team to win the prestigious AFC Champions League.
“This is the ultimate challenge and I’m excited by it,” Popovic said on Monday ahead of Australia’s matches next month against China and Japan.
“Five years ago I wasn’t ready for this role. Three years ago or two years ago, I wouldn’t have looked at this role.
“(Now) I’m ready. I want this job. I’m here because I want to be here.”
Popovic, 51, said the Socceroos looked a “bit flat” in this month’s 1-0 home loss to Bahrain and 0-0 away draw with Indonesia.
“That can happen … (but) there are some areas I believe we can improve. That’s talking from the back to the front,” he said.
“Maybe we can be a little bit more dynamic, we can move the ball quicker, we can get more players in then box … I’m sure we can get that back and do it even better moving forward.
“We need to be a lot more connected as a team with and without the ball … (play) with the energy and desire, and with the speed and the dynamic type of play that I believe the players will enjoy.”
However, the ultimate goal is qualification for the 2026 World Cup, with Popovic – who departed Melbourne Victory after guiding them to last season’s A-League grand final – suggesting he would do whatever was required to achieve that.
“We need to win. We should always look to improve, but qualifying is not easy,” he said.
“It’s always OK to win ugly. That’s not to say you’re planning to play that way.
“I’ll never be satisfied when we win and we don’t play well. We’ll be satisfied with the win but we need to make sure the style gets better. We should always aim to be the best.”
A member of the Socceroos’ famed “Golden Generation” that included the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Lucas Neill, John Aloisi, Mark Bresciano, Craig Moore and Mark Schwarzer, Popovic vowed his players would “honour” the Socceroos’ jersey.
“We always wore that shirt with integrity, and we wore it as privilege, as a badge of honour – we never took it for granted,” he said.
“We need those values. Honour is number one to wear the shirt and wear it with pride, and represent your country and your family.
“Looking ahead, I have great faith and confidence in our ability to grow as a team. Together, we will work tirelessly to improve, evolve, and continue Australia’s success on the international stage.”
Football Australia chief executive officer James Johnson said Popovic was the “ideal choice” to guide the Socceroos moving forward.
“We have moved quickly to secure the best possible candidate for this crucial role,” Johnson said.
“Tony’s proven leadership and strategic football acumen, combined with his deep understanding of Australian football, our players, and what it means to be a Socceroo makes him the ideal choice to lead out national team moving forward.”
TONY POPOVIC’S COACHING RECORD
– A-League Success: He has won two A-League Premierships, first with Western Sydney Wanderers FC in 2012/13 and then with Perth Glory FC in 2018/19. During the 2023/24 season, Popovic led Melbourne Victory FC to the grand final.
– AFC Champions League Victory: In 2014, Popovic led Western Sydney Wanderers FC to become the first Australian team to win the prestigious AFC Champions League
– AFC Coach of the Year: His success in Asia was recognised when he was named AFC Coach of the Year in 2014.
A full-time replacement for departed Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is set to be made before next month’s must-win World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan — but top candidate Kevin Muscat is reportedly already out of the running.
The former A-League winning coach and player was mooted among a trio of contenders to take the helm, but according to The Age, he isn’t interested.
The Age reports that Muscat rather holds ambitions of following the coaching trail blazed by Ange Postecoglou and leaping to Europe from his post in Asia.
Graham Arnold was said to be out of gas after a 0-0 draw with Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Muscat’s named was mentioned as a possible target but he would have to be lured away from those ambitions, and his lucrative job as coach of Shanghai Port, who he has guided to the top of the Chinese Super League in his first season in charge.
Other names being floated included former Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers boss Tony Popovic, Frenchman Herve Renard, who coached Saudi Arabia at the FIFA 2022 World Cup, Western United coach John Aloisi and former Central Coach boss Nick Montgomery, who is now Postecoglou’s assistant at Tottenham.
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson on Friday said he was confident of making an appointment in the “next week or two” to succeed 61-year-old Arnold, who, after six years in charge shocked the football fraternity by resigning on Friday.
It came in the aftermath of a poor start to the latest round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers and before the Socceroos go into camp for next month’s international window.
Johnson said FA had been prepared for a “tired” and “out of gas” Arnold’s decision and had already started the process of finding his replacement, with Australian and foreign candidates being considered.
“We are already in the market for a new coach,” Johnson said.
“We know the market, we know who’s available and I want to confirm that we will move quickly to appointing a permanent coach before the next window.”
Johnson said the Socceroos – who host China in Adelaide on October 10 before travelling to Saitama to meet Japan five days later – were in a different situation to the Matildas, who this week were given an interim replacement for previous coach Tony Gustavsson in Tom Sermanni.
“The Matildas are at the start of a cycle. We have time with the Matildas. We don’t have another competitive match until the women’s Asian Cup in 2026, so we want to make sure that we get the right person in at the right time,” he said.
Kevin Muscat won the J-League title in Japan in 2022. (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP)Source: AFP
“The Socceroos are mid-calendar. They are two games into 10 round three (qualifying) matches. We need to move quickly. We need to get into fifth gear.
“(The Socceroos) have a match in less than three weeks time (against China in Adelaide), so our plan is not to appoint an interim coach.
“Our plan is to go into the market and appoint a permanent coach, a coach that we believe shares our vision and will get the best out of this team going into the World Cup in 2026.
“We want a coach that’s tactically astute. We want a coach that understands the Australian mentality and understands our players. We want a coach that we have confidence in that can guide us through a complicated Asian qualifying process (for the World Cup).
“We’re very confident that we will go through. We’ve just got to get this appointment right.”
The Socceroos’ chances of a top two finish and automatic qualification into the 2026 World Cup copped another surprise blow after they were held 0-0 by a gutsy Indonesia outfit in Jakarta.
The Socceroos dominated in front of almost 80,000 fans at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, but couldn’t find a single goal. They now sit in fifth in Group C, with Indonesia remaining ahead of the Aussies.
It’s the second disappointing result for the Socceroos after being upset by Bahrain 1-0 on the Gold Coast. It was Indonesia’s second draw after a 1-1 in Saudi Arabia last week.
The Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold made five changes to his line-up with highly rated Bayern Munich teenager Nestory Irankunda given a chance to shine from the start.
Kusini Yengi was suspended after his red card against Bahrain while central defender Alessandro Circati was again employed as a makeshift right-back.
Australia were by far the better side, forcing a succession of corners with big centre-back Harry Souttar creating havoc in the Indonesia defence.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA – SEPTEMBER 10: Harry Souttar of Australia heads the ball during the FIFA World Cup Asian 3rd Qualifier Group C match between Indonesia and Australia at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on September 10, 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The 18-year-old Irankunda was at the heart of all Australia’s best attacking play.
In the 34th minute, he came within a whisker of putting his side ahead when his right-foot thunderbolt rattled the post from 25 yards before rebounding off the back of the diving goalkeeper and away to safety.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with Australia on top but failing to find any cutting edge in front of goal.
The loss heaps further pressure on Graham Arnold, who will need to get his side to right the ship and beat China in their next game to be any hope of finishing in the top two of Group C and earn automatic qualification.
“Extremely disappointed, because how many chances do we create? How many chances do we get?” said Arnold.
“The boys put in the effort, and they all admitted their performance wasn’t good enough in the first game.
“There’s eight games to go. It’s not like it’s a disaster, but I’ve got to go home and do a lot of thinking.”
Irankunda believes the Socceroos wasted many opportunities throughout a game they let slip through their fingers.
“It was our game all along. We should have won it,” Irankunda said.
“We had our chances in the first half and second half, but we should have put them away in the first half.”
After their next fixture against China in Adelaide, the Socceroos will travel to take on Group C leaders Japan.
As it stands, Australia are fifth and facing elimination from World Cup qualifying.
If they don’t finish in the top two of their group, they will get another chance if they finish third or fourth.
Socceroos captain Mat Ryan says his “naive” team had to work “smarter” rather than harder against Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday night after a shock 1-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Bahrain at Robina Stadium.
Reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute on Thursday night when striker Kusini Yengi was sent off, the Socceroos suffered an even more crushing blow in the dying stages when an own goal from Harry Souttar secured the Bahrainis three points on the road to the 2026 World Cup.
“Defensively, the goal we conceded after the red card is not good enough but those things happen if you’re not doing the other things well enough and you put yourself in that scenario,” Ryan said.
“We were too naive in the way we played the game.
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“I don’t think it’s a case of needing to work harder but needing to work smarter. We didn’t ask enough of the right questions in the right areas, and we gave the goalkeeper a pretty quiet night and didn’t test him and didn’t test the defence well enough in the final third.
“When you come up against this (type of) opposition, if you don’t get that first goal and they stay compact, they’ve got strengths and they’re hard to break down.
“We’ve got to show personality and character now to respond in the strongest possible way. It’s down to us now.”
Apart from a frustrating night in attack, the Socceroos also let the Bahrainis’ attempts to milk free kicks with theatrical reactions to tackles get the better of them.
“We’ve spoken many times about the challenges that this (type) of opposition brings us,” Ryan said.
“If you don’t get that early goal, the time wasting comes into it, the so-called acting, going to ground and the referee’s then put in a position where he needs to determine whether it’s diving or whether it’s a legitimate foul.
“We’ve got to deal with those situations better and more maturely as a team. We’ve got to not put ourselves in a situation where that becomes a factor.”
Mathew Ryan was exasperated during the loss to Bahrain. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold was quick to give “full credit” to Bahrain despite his frustration with the visitors’ “play-acting”.
“That was the lowest amount of minutes of football that I’ve seen, 46 minutes total the ball was in the park and getting played, but overall we’ve just got to pick ourselves up quickly,” Arnold said.
“We’ve got a quick turnaround to Indonesia, and we’ve got to make sure we learn from that and move on.
“There’s nine (Group C) games to go. We need to get over it quickly, bounce back quickly and show that good Aussie DNA way of backs to the wall and off we go.”
