Aaron Mooy’s retirement has left a void within the Socceroos midfield that former Melbourne City star Aiden O’Neill is determined to fill.
For the primary time since stalwart Mooy introduced his retirement in late June, the Socceroos shall be in motion on Sunday after they meet Mexico in Dallas.
For O’Neill, who made his Socceroos debut in March, it’s one other probability to show to nationwide coach Graham Arnold that he’s deserving of a everlasting spot in a Socceroos engine room whose occupants not embrace ex-Celtic star Mooy.
“With Aaron Mooy leaving, there’s a bit of a replacement phase to happen, and I think the quality of the players that we have coming through is really exciting,” Queenslander O’Neill stated on Tuesday.
“(Mooy) was a very special player for Australia, and the career he had overseas as well, all of us in the squad now strive to be the player that he was.
“If we can be as good as him one day you know, that’s what we all aim to do.”
Helping O’Neill’s choice trigger is his good begin to his profession at Belgian membership Standard Liege.
Despite Liege struggling in second final spot on the ladder with simply three factors – all gathered through attracts – O’Neill has began in all of his facet’s six video games and has solely been changed as soon as.
“My fitness is really good. I’ve been playing a lot of minutes,” he stated.
“We’ve been unlucky in quite a few games. The expectation at a big club like Standard Liege is winning games.
“We’re working on that. It’ll come. There’s a lot of work to be done with the team, but it will happen and we will get results.”
O’Neill, who performed within the English Premier League as a young person for Burnley, stated shifting to Belgium was the “challenge” he needed after 5 seasons within the A-League with Central Coast, Brisbane Roar and heavyweights City.
“It’s all part of football – you’re not always going to be in a dominant team,” he stated.
“It’s a challenge and a challenge that I wanted as a person and as a performer as well to grow and improve as a player.
“Making this step back over to Europe, and a really good league in Belgium, is something that I’m really enjoying and trying to take in my stride … you’ve got to improve as a player.
“What I’ve found in the international games, as well as the league in Belgium, is the (increased) speed of play and the time on the ball – you definitely don’t get that time.
“You’ve just got to make sure that you’re on it because they’ve got some very good players in the league there.”
Originally revealed as Aiden O’Neill intent on cementing spot in Socceroos’ engine room following Aaron Mooy retirement
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
