Socceroos must stick with Maclaren: Aloisi
Nov 18, 2016 - 2:02 AM Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi is certain Jamie Maclaren will eventually become a permanent Socceroo despite an inauspicious showing on his competitive debut.Maclaren was thrown up front by coach Ange Postecoglou in Tuesday night's World Cup qualifier but like the rest of the team, was a long way from his best in a disappointing 2-2 draw with Thailand.
The 23-year-old, whose only prior experience with the national team was in a friendly match against England earlier this year, might have been starved of service but he also failed to impose himself on the match and was taken off after just 57 minutes.
But Aloisi reckons it's way too early to cast judgement on Maclaren's international future based on that display.
"Everyone was disappointed with the performance. None of the players played at their best," Aloisi said.
"We know he's going to score goals and eventually he'll score goals for the Socceroos.
"Ange is smart enough and experienced enough to know not to blame any one individual.
"The media, I think, have to understand that Macca's going to be a Socceroo and he's going to score goals for the Socceroos.
"But we don't want to put that pressure on him yet because there's other experienced players in the Socceroos that could have played better the other night as well."
It's expected Maclaren will return to Brisbane's starting line-up for Saturday night's A-League clash against Sydney FC, although Aloisi was non-committal on if he'll play the full 90 minutes.
"Obviously it wasn't a great result for them over there, but he's come back, looked confident, he's scored a few goals in training this morning," Roar captain Matt McKay said.
"It's a great honour for him to go and get a game, and have that trust of Ange to start the game, a World Cup qualifier.
"That confidence, it's hard to keep him down. He'll be right for us in the coming weeks."
The Socceroos won't return to action until their next World Cup qualifier against Iraq in March next year, to be played on neutral territory in Tehran, Iran.
Source: AAP
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