There's only one thing the Socceroos coach can really control, and he believes he's pretty good at it

Mentality is key for Socceroos coach Graham Arnold. Picture by Madeline Begley

It's not easy wrangling the best Australian players together to perform on the world stage, but it's a job Graham Arnold would not give up.

The Socceroos coach said the highs are ecstatic though admitted the lows, or the lulls, can be difficult.

Hailing players back to Australia from across the globe for national team duties, often with little lead in time, Arnold said the role of a national team manager is unique.

It's not about shaping players to what he needs, he said, it's about using what they have in the best way.

"I've been in charge for now for five years," Arnold said.

"I did the two teams, the Olympic team and the Socceroos and they know exactly what I want.

"I spend every Tuesday and half of Wednesday watching the boys play at their clubs and what their roles are with the ball and without the ball, and I just try to blend it all together.

"It's not really my way, it's their way, we play them to their strengths individually.

"When they come into camp, I might sit down with an individual and say, at your club, what do you do with the ball, what's your role, he'll tell me and and then I say, okay, without the ball what's your role, and he'll tell me, then I might say can you add this.

"Just enough so it doesn't confuse him, otherwise if the player walks on the pitch and he's confused, he gets frustrated, and once he's frustrated his performance is gone.

"So it's more about me understanding their roles rather than me telling them what to do because I can't change them in two days."

Building the squad to where it is now over the past five years, Arnold said the biggest impact he can have, and hopes to have, on his players is mentally.

Ensuring they've had the right mental preparation, he said, is the only thing he can control from afar.

Explaining himself as half coach, half psychologist, Arnold attributed on-field success to the right head space.

It's not just the player's head space he needs to keep in check, but his own.

"It's difficult in between campaigns mentally because you get that adrenaline rush for ten days, you've got two games you're way up high and then you're down and then you're dealing with all different things outside of football," he said.

"Even when you select a squad, you're sitting there waiting for that last weekend, hoping that they don't get injured, in out last campaign, everything was good, we were going to play Japan and then I lost seven players with COVID, so there's always that stuff that keeps you on edge.

"If there's one thing I've learnt is with club coaching, you have so much more control.

"With a national team, you've got no control over their fitness levels, you've got no control over their technical, tactically you've got a little bit you can give, but it's all mental.

"I think one of my strengths is the mental aspect, I'm half psychologist and getting into their brains and making sure their brains are clear.

"When they get on the aeroplane to fly to 24 hours to come back to play for the Socceroos, when they get off the flight, they're buzzing, they're back with their family in the Socceroos, and they're buzzing to play for their nation.

"Te most important thing is they believe they belong there."

With the Socceroos set to return to Australia next month for their World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh, Arnold said he'll be watching closely.

Originally published in The Daily Advertiser. Thumbnail image by Madeline Begley for The Daily Advertiser.