Given the rivalry that the legendary Sydney FC boss has had with its inhabitants over the years, it's funny that possibly Graham Arnold's most enduring moment as Australia coach arrived in Melbourne. Also that he wasn't even there in person for it but, instead, 12,000km away, on the touchline of the Al Janoub Stadium, watching on as Mathew Leckie burst forward and scored the goal that would secure a miraculous upset of Denmark and the Socceroos a place in the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup. Half a world away, at 3:30 in the morning, Federation Square, the avatar of the late night support back home, erupted with the sound of unrestrained jubilation and flailing limbs as it was engulfed by the smoke and light of pyro. Smiles on faces became a mantra of Arnold as his tenure extended and, at the moment, Australia was smiling as one.
His tenure now ended by his Friday resignation, it's moments like this, like Andrew Redmayne's penalty shootout heroics against Peru or Mitch Duke's goal against Tunisia, that will probably become defining images of the 61-year-old's reign. The passage of time tends to smooth the rough edges of most legacies, after all, and few coaches in Australian history have been fortunate enough to helm such highs. So easily, the defining moment of Arnold's international life could have been, as they were for so many others of his generation, tears and heartache of dreams denied, his final game in a Socceroo shirt that infamous night at the MCG back in 1997. Instead, he'll always have Doha.
And while an examination of his six-year tenure with the Socceroos and what comes next inevitably requires a sombre, sceptical mindset, there is also space to acknowledge emotions and what they mean, especially to those watching on that are too young to be jaded by cynicism. There's an entire generation of Australian football fans that can point to John Aloisi's penalty to send Australia to the 2006 World Cup as the defining moment in their relationship with the game -- Leckie included -- but decidedly less who would recall that Guus Hiddink struggled to bring out the best in Mark Viduka in Germany the next year or that, until Brett Emerton's extra-time injury, he was moving towards subbing Željko Kalac for Mark Schwarzer before that historic qualifying shootout. Perhaps it's to our detriment in the long run, but we remember the moments, not minutia.
Hiddink's departure following 2006, of course, opened the door for Arnold to begin his first stint in charge of the Socceroos, a tenure whose interim nature was sealed after overseeing a chastening quarterfinal exit at the 2007 Asian Cup. He would later reflect that he simply wasn't ready for the role back then, subsequently serving a further apprenticeship in the national setup before becoming one of the most successful domestic coaches in Australian history via championship-winning stints with Central Coast and Sydney before returning. But there's a line from back in 2007 from before the tournament that bears revisiting.
"I want favouritism to be a positive, not a negative," he told reporters at the time. "I want people to give us the favouritism tag because we deserve it. A pass is reaching the semifinals, but I'll put pressure on myself by saying a failure is not making the final."
With hindsight, it's almost like something out of an ancient Greek tragedy. Arnold, attempting to emulate Hiddink and mask his insecurity in a role he felt unprepared for, setting a target that he would not only fail to meet in 2007 but also over a decade on, when he returned in 2019 and 2024. And for all the bombasticity and oft-repeated mantras that have come to define his rise in the A-Leagues and public face throughout his second stint with the national team, uneasy has been the Socceroo head that wears a crown of favouritism under his charge.
The Graham Arnold era is over... so what comes next?! ⚽@joeylynchy breaks down the possible moves to make for a Socceroos side in the middle of a tumultuousness world cup qualification campaign. pic.twitter.com/eBDGT7SmQy
Because if Arnold's greatest moment came in a game he was never supposed to win, his nadirs have come from an inability to prevail in those his side was *ahem* expected to win. While it's easy to point to the 2022 World Cup qualifying loss to Japan as the low point -- what with it condemning the side to intercontinental playoffs and seeing the federation leaking against Arnold as it, unsuccessfully, attempted to source a replacement -- it would be more accurate to see it as the culmination of an annus horribilis, wherein maddeningly blunt draws against China and Oman exposed the fragile foundations that had underpinned a previous winning run. The grinding nature of the 2024 Asian Cup and this month's defeat against Bahrain -- Australia's men's worst result on home soil since a 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss to New Zealand back in 1981 -- and subsequent draw away to Indonesia carried all these hallmarks too; a continuation, not an aberration.
When confronted with the continent's better sides, with a tier of opposition who have developed to the point wherein they have the organisational, physical, and tactical nouse to make themselves too difficult to beat, the song has remained essentially the same. A lot of possession but not a lot in the way of goals or even clear-cut chances to show for it by a team that looks like it's operating as less than the sum of its parts. And of the relatively few chances that do come, more often than not coming from set pieces or the sheer weight of territory.
If Arnold could coach exclusively at the World Cup he'd be amongst the best in the world. But he's got to qualify first.
And this, in the end, is what has seemingly ground him down; a coach who had made siege mentality art form able to hold out no longer, with the "lot of thinking" he earmarked following the draw with Indonesia giving him a sense of clarity his time was up. On Friday, Football Australia chief executive James Johnson remarked that the coach had simply "run out of gas" and that there was nothing the federation could have done to make him stay.
To pretend that the Socceroos under Arnold didn't have strengths is disingenuous. Their comradery is fierce and their effort unquestionable. They raise their voices and lead and remain one of the strongest defensive sides in Asia, with only three opponents putting the ball into their net across their last 15 games. There's been a concerted focus on squad rejuvenation, with a highly talented group of young, exciting players such as Jordy Bos, Nestory Irankunda, and Alessandro Circati establishing themselves. The core is there.
But as the dust settles, it's difficult to argue the best time for Arnold to step aside wasn't following that remarkable World Cup run or failing that, after the Asian Cup, where the mainstream narrative could have easily centred on it requiring moments of magic from Son Heung-min to unravel his side. Tellingly, the latter was something he told the Socceroos website he'd considered: "I've got to be honest, and I always am, I have struggled a little bit since the Asian Cup loss... Probably over the last six months, I've tried to convince myself to keep going, to keep going, to keep going. And as I said, in my gut, this just hasn't felt right."
It's lamentable in a way that such a loyal servant to Australian football will instead end his tenure as the subject of such scorn, given how easily it was to all of this coming and how much cleaner the separation may have been. But what's done is done. it now falls upon Football Australia to find a replacement: "it's a good time to freshen up the team."
But what does that mean?
Given his four decades of service across senior and junior national sides, as well as the influence of his Mariner and Sydney units, Arnold is simultaneously one of the most influential figures in Australian football's history and one of its most reflective. Just like the Socceroos, the Olryoos have struggled to fashion chances and consistently score against packed defences, as have the Young Socceroos, Matildas, Young Matildas and more. Aussie DNA, one might say.
Additionally, he has never operated in a vacuum and for all the criticism, he's never deviated from doing what he's thought was in the best interest of the Socceroos - Arnieball does what is says on the tin. With the obvious post-Japan qualifier exception, Football Australia has been a willing partner every step of the way; further entrenching his vision with an expanded post-World Cup extension, an extension Johnson said had come without any other candidate being spoken to.
Just a week ago, with all the above challenges just as apparent, Johnson backed Arnold to turn things around. But now, the time is seemingly right for a 'fresh approach'.
One wonders what exactly the federation has in mind, especially given they're simultaneously looking for a Matildas boss at the same time. Arnold, meanwhile, isn't there to be a lightning rod any more and, generally, time looks more favourably on coaches than executives.