Brad Smith is likely to be involved in some big matches for Australia in the next few days. First up is Saudi Arabia on Thursday 8 June, then Brazil on Tuesday 13th June before Germany on Monday 19 June. It's a tight schedule, but Brad must be relishing the chance to get some minutes in on the pitch, as he found it tough going in England last season with the form of Charlie Daniels to contend with.
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The difficulty he has had is getting a run of games and he knows that Charlie Daniels is always going to make a fight of it for the left back position. Eddie Howe always wants two quality players for every position, but even Howe must have thought that Brad has been unfortunate not to make more appearances for the Cherries. Ange Postecoglu, Australia's head coach, has to trust that Brad Smith is just as good as he was when playing for Liverpool, because he can't have seen him play many games in the last year.
Whether Brad is happy to stick his time out at AFCB or not, he will be needing to play well to give himself some confidence and to try and get Eddie Howe to give him more of a chance. The match against Saudi Arabia is likely to be his best chance to really shine in an offensive manner, but he'll also want to show what a good defender he is when the Brazil and Germany matches come up. He is on test for sure in these games and if he does well, it could give him a run in some of the friendlies that AFCB are starting to line up this summer.
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| Brad Smith warms up at Dean Court. |
It must have crossed Brad's mind that it should have been a good move to come to AFCB and to play more games in the Premier League than he was getting at Liverpool. All he is seen though is James Milner deputise for Liverpool's lack of a fit left back, and at Bournemouth he has seen the number 11 shirt or rather the back of it in most games, as he looks on from the sidelines. He must have done something very bad in the past you'd think and yet when he has played for the Cherries in the cup games, he has not looked out of place. As far as the Premier League goes though, it's just five appearances last season two of which were as sub.
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The difficulty he has had is getting a run of games and he knows that Charlie Daniels is always going to make a fight of it for the left back position. Eddie Howe always wants two quality players for every position, but even Howe must have thought that Brad has been unfortunate not to make more appearances for the Cherries. Ange Postecoglu, Australia's head coach, has to trust that Brad Smith is just as good as he was when playing for Liverpool, because he can't have seen him play many games in the last year.
Whether Brad is happy to stick his time out at AFCB or not, he will be needing to play well to give himself some confidence and to try and get Eddie Howe to give him more of a chance. The match against Saudi Arabia is likely to be his best chance to really shine in an offensive manner, but he'll also want to show what a good defender he is when the Brazil and Germany matches come up. He is on test for sure in these games and if he does well, it could give him a run in some of the friendlies that AFCB are starting to line up this summer.
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