'What did you think?' my friends asked after we watched Australia in Ange Postecoglou's first game in charge, a 1:0 home win over Costa Rica in October 2013. 'I like what Ange is trying to do,' I replied.
And that's basically how I felt throughout Ange's reign. Until now. Now, it appears, the trying phase is over. The fruits of the coach's labours are now hanging from the tree and are beginning to ripen.
The jury might still be out but it is knocking on the door, ready to come in. Following Australia's performances over its opening two Asian Cup games, two wins and a for and against goal tally of eight to one, it is now clear for all to see what Postecoglou has been working on since he has been in charge.
His objectives were primarily three-fold:
1. To regenerate the squad and drastically lower its average age, laying down a platform for the long journey to the 2018 World Cup.
2. To instill in the players a mentality and attitude of positive, attacking football against all opponents, something he believes is a good fit with Australian sporting culture.
3. To build not a team but a squad with a wide pool of players ready to perform on any day, to cushion his efforts against the likelihood of injuries and other causes of absenteeism.
The two games showed that all of the three have already been accomplished. Next, obviously, must be the task to win trophies, to qualify for Russia 2018 and to perform well there.
All this took time, a lot of lost games and the embarrassment of seeing Australia's FIFA ranking slide to all-time lows. But the costs have been worth it.
What we now have is apparently a well-drilled team, or at least squad, ready not just for the challenge of the Asian Cup but the World Cup qualifiers beyond. And it's a young squad, precisely what the doctor ordered when Holger Osieck's squad manifestly grew to be ageing in the legs.
Some of us, me included, were a little concerned by how willing Postecoglou had been to rotate players in the lead-up to the Asian Cup, fearing he may have missed the opportunity to build cohesion. But, again, what he was building was a squad not a team. This was proven by his selections for the two opening games of the Asian Cup and how seamlessly it went from one game to the next with three changes to the starting lineup. The team was not impacted, if anything it got better.
Expect more changes for the next game and do not fear it.
Australia's way of playing now resembles 'the whirl' style of play straight out of the Ajax and Barcelona songbook, where players with an attacking mindset rotate through positional changes, creating space and opportunities for each other. That is mainly why eight different players scored Australia's eight goals.
Tactically, after flirting with 4-2-3-1 in the World Cup, Postecoglou has settled on a 4-3-3 with one controlling midfielder (Jedinak or Milligan) and five attacking players ahead of him. That five is then readily joined by two attacking wingbacks when Australia has the ball, making seven players in attack at any one time. When the controlling midfielder joins the attack, which is often, that's an eight-man attacking group. Only the goalkeeper and the two centre backs are left as defensive specialists.
And they press, meaning ball recovery is as crucial as ball retention. That is why Australia commanded 70 per cent of ball possession against Oman and made 700 completed passes compared to Oman's 308.
It was all so wonderful to watch. Most endearing to see was how confident the players now are, something that must have been under challenge after a run of seven defeats in nine matches leading into the Asian Cup.
This young confident team, playing with a swagger Australians like to see in their teams, will surely endear them to the Australian public once again. And with their support, who knows where this journey that has begun so brightly will end.
Bigger challenges in the Asian Cup are still to come, but the Australians are up for it.
