Under fire from some A-League coaches for picking their young guns for a week-long camp in Malaysia ahead of the AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers, which kick off next Friday, Arnold warned of the pitfalls facing those who dare to be complacent.
Australia is unseeded after qualifying for just five of the last 14 junior tournaments in Asia, and are in the same group as the formidable Korea Republic, the host nation and Chinese Tapei, needing to finish at least second to have a chance of staying alive on the road to Japan.
The best four second-placed teams from 11 groups also jet to Thailand in January for the final stage of qualifying.
The Olyroos play all three games on a controversial synthetic pitch in 35 degree plus heat, and as Arnold points out, are on “crash course” he anticipates will deliver the continuity needed to progress.
“There are people back at home who aren’t happy with us coming early,” acknowledged the Socceroos coach who has taken on the Olyroos mantle to try and simultaneously fast-track the international futures of Australia’s next generation.
“But you can’t turn up to these places and these tournaments with no games, no preparation and no acclimatization.
“If you just turn up cold you’re dead. The improvement In these nations over the last 10 years or so is ridiculous. It’s actually quite scary.
“A decade ago you beat the Vietnam junior national team by 10 goals ... three years ago they beat us 5-0 in the Under-20s. We’ve got to wake up.
“We are not facing teams like Korea because of the luck of the draw. We are in this position for a reason.”
While understanding the misgivings of A-League clubs in losing players at a key period, the former Sydney FC coach insists that despite claims that such camps and tournaments will hinder youth development, the opposite is the case.
“I’m apologetic to the club coaches back in Australia and I understand their frustrations but I don’t know what the option is until the A-League is in line with the Asian football calendar,” he added.
“I understand the clubs don’t want to release their players but you can’t afford to take a second rate team to Asia.”
Australia open their campaign against a Cambodia team he watched twice in person against Malaysia and Indonesia during an invitational tournament in that nation last month. Australia was invited but didn’t accept.
“Going there showed how seriously I take such opposition. I was there a week and I went home and I said to myself ‘wow’,” he cautioned.
“These nations are so technically gifted, so quick and so agile.
“This week we have spent together in Malaysia is not just about the players getting to know each other, it’s players getting to know the coaching staff and what we want tactically and structurally.
“And it’s also about us as coaches getting to know the players and their mentality.
“That’s the whole reason I took the Olympic job. It’s not part of my contract and wasn’t part of the agreement but it was something I wanted to do to try and help the players come through quicker.”
Australia, who play a final warm-up against Malaysia’s Under-23s in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night, haven’t qualified for an Olympics since 2008.
“Since 2000 we’ve only had 56 Olympian footballers ... going to the Games is a special honour for any individual,” added Arnold.
“Denis Genreau is a bench player at PEC Zwolle (in the Netherlands) and he missed a game against Ajax to be here (in Malaysia).
“We spoke to his coach (ex-Holland and Manchester United defender) Jaap Stam and he understands how important international football is and how important the Olympics are for the development of that age group, and he released him early.”
