Antalya: Socceroos' coach Bert van Marwijk has admitted he may have made a mistake in not initially selected Jamie Maclaren for his World Cup squad, saying the Hibernian striker is a player he now "needs" and was one of the first players he selected for the final 23-man squad.
Maclaren is on his way to Russia despite being cut from the Socceroos' preliminary squad that first formed camp in Turkey on May 20, only to be brought back into at the 11th hour as an injury replacement and then selected for the World Cup team.
Sweating it out: Jamie Maclaren after a tough Socceroos training session in Turkey.
Photo: FFA
Van Marwijk admits the situation was not fair for Maclaren and was impressed with the former Brisbane Roar man's attitude and application in training. Maclaren was already on holidays when he received a call to rejoin the national team. He was immediately thrust into double training sessions in the gruelling heat of the Turkish summer with the difficult task of impressing against those who had been there since day one.
"It was not really fair to him but he made a good impression. I think I need him," van Marwijk said. "For me it was the first nomination because I got him because of the injury of Juric. He came and I am satisfied about him."
No Australian forward outside the A-League scored more goals than Maclaren in 2018. His keen eye for goal and composed finishing won over van Marwijk, who believes the 24-year-old offers a different style to the other forwards.
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"He is a typical player who always gets a chance [on goal]. It was difficult for him because he was already on vacation for I think eight or nine days then he came," van Marwijk said. "I wanted to give him a real chance, a week. He had to train from the first moment, its very hard, we train very intensive and two times a day."
Maclaren is one of four centre-forward options as part of the finalised 23-man squad, alongside Tim Cahill, Tomi Juric and Andrew Nabbout in what is a more attack-heavy side. Van Marwijk defended his choice to go to Russia with more attacking options, suggesting there is enough depth provided by versatility in the backline.
"Of course I look at those problems. Defending I think we have enough players. Very positive is the development of Joshua Risdon and I have another two players in the squad who can play in that position [right back]. We have enough centre defenders and the defending midfield players, the same," van Marwijk said.
"Now I have more options in front with several types of centre-forwards – number nines. Andrew Nabbout can play on the side and also in the number 10 position. So I have more players who can play in more positions."
Midfielder Jackson Irvine did not train on Sunday [in Antalya] due to a hamstring injury but van Marwijk says it is only a minor set back.
"Not really a problem but he has a little bit of problem with his hamstring, but not really, so he will train tomorrow," he said.
Dominic Bossi is a football reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.
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