It'll be interesting to see who is involved in those September games vs Australia, given that the game has changed its context since the loss to Costa Rica. It would have been the last step before Qatar 2022, now its the first step towards the United 2026 tournament, and how much will that change affect the thinking? I'd imagine not much, but it possibly should. I don't expect a few of those who were in the squad will be there in four years time, for example Reid and Boxall will be 38, Smith and Barbarouses 36, Rojas will be 35, Gould will be 33, even Payne, De Vries and (dare I say) Thomas, with his injury record, at 32 could be questionable. As it was, of those, only Reid started vs Costa Rica and he is unfortunately broken now, let alone in four years time.
Looking at the previous two playoff losses there has been considerable change between the loss and the next coach's first squad. Only eight of the 23 who played Mexico were in Hudson's first squad he picked, and only ten of those who played Peru were in Schmid's first 24-man squad. The median squad age of the current 'young' squad isn't even revolutionarily different (26 in 2013, 26 in 2017 and 25.5 in 2022) to those previously, whereas the first subsequent squads were markedly younger (21.5 in 2014 and 23.5 in 2018).
The reality is, we operate on a different schedule to almost every other country, as they all have meaningful mid-cycle confederation competition whereas we don't. As a result you have to be a bit ruthless with the older generation, and integrate younger players (who might not yet be at the same level) who will grow into the international game. There's more benefit in bringing in a young guy in the Northern/Central League/NCAA who could be key in 2026 than calling up ageing Boxalls and Barbarouses, the worst that can happen is you are an underdog for the Aus games, which we already were.
There's guys like Sutton, Jelacic, Strong, Ebbinge, Surman, Old, Whyte, Otto Ingham, Stanger, Sinclair etc etc that could all be there in four years time. Some might not make it, others will, no real stakes until OFC qualifying, and even they should be pretty much givens.
Looking at the previous two playoff losses there has been considerable change between the loss and the next coach's first squad. Only eight of the 23 who played Mexico were in Hudson's first squad he picked, and only ten of those who played Peru were in Schmid's first 24-man squad. The median squad age of the current 'young' squad isn't even revolutionarily different (26 in 2013, 26 in 2017 and 25.5 in 2022) to those previously, whereas the first subsequent squads were markedly younger (21.5 in 2014 and 23.5 in 2018).
The reality is, we operate on a different schedule to almost every other country, as they all have meaningful mid-cycle confederation competition whereas we don't. As a result you have to be a bit ruthless with the older generation, and integrate younger players (who might not yet be at the same level) who will grow into the international game. There's more benefit in bringing in a young guy in the Northern/Central League/NCAA who could be key in 2026 than calling up ageing Boxalls and Barbarouses, the worst that can happen is you are an underdog for the Aus games, which we already were.
There's guys like Sutton, Jelacic, Strong, Ebbinge, Surman, Old, Whyte, Otto Ingham, Stanger, Sinclair etc etc that could all be there in four years time. Some might not make it, others will, no real stakes until OFC qualifying, and even they should be pretty much givens.
In my view you go all out for the win against Socceroos. So Reid plays if fit. Smith, M Boxall & Kosta all in the squad if available. Sort of an international farewell for some if not all of them. A game at Eden Park against the old enemy is basically a once in career opportunity/highlight, and something they deserve. A win in front of a big crowd, nice way to end their international careers, if they do call it quits. The crowd will rightly want to see a closest as possible full strength AWs team
Plenty of time over next 4 years to start bringing in new players to the AWs. But not a lot of change needed in the short term. Nikko Boxall is obviously the next CB in the queue. Then maybe Kyle Adams, Musa, Deklan Wynne, Surman, Stanger. Plenty of forward candidates like Collier, de Jong, Old etc to replace Kosta. Don't see a big number of new caps in the short term, if most of the existing squad are available.
Note those big squad changes after 2013 & 2017 Playoff games, are very tempered by many players making themselves unavailable for the following new coach's first game. Schmid had a low key sans crowd friendly against Canada first time up. From Peru playoffs prior - no Marinovic, no Wood, no Reid, no Smith, no Thomas, no Kosta, no Tuiloma - but obviously none of those 7 had retired. They just missed that Canada game.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2018/03/24/world/friendlies/canada/new-zealand/2727913/
From memory Moss, Durante, Falloon & Smeltz all retired from AWs post Peru. Colvey gave up football full stop. At a guess only Patterson & Wynne were dropped from subsequent AWs squads never to feature again. Though likes of Brockie, WeeMac & Themi were on their way out.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2017/11/16/world/wc-qualifying-intercontinental-play-offs/peru/new-zealand/2629836/