Postecoglou 'over the moon' with criticism
Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has welcomed increased scrutiny over his tactical approach at the Confederations Cup.
The Socceroos face African champion Cameroon in St Petersburg on Friday (AEST), when they will aim to bounce back from an opening 3-2 loss against Germany.
The attacking benefits of Postecoglou's expansive 3-4-3 system were in evidence as his side twice breached the world champion but they were left defensively exposed during the opening stages, when Joachim Low's experimental side should have run up a stronger advantage than the one given to it by Lars Stindl's fifth-minute opener.
The 51 year-old came in for his share of criticism in the aftermath and the Asian Cup holders have polarised opinion back home with their displays for a number of months.
However, Postecoglou is happy to be under the microscope.
"I'm absolutely over the moon that there's debate," he told a pre-match news conference. "It's exactly what I want. And it's good to see the debate's not just the usual empty vessels, there's some new voices that have strong opinions, both for and against what I'm doing. But that's exactly what we need.
"If we're going to grow as a nation and really find our identity it's going to come with vigorous debate and if that's happening, and it looks like it is happening, that's a massive positive for our game."
Australia has the opportunity to get its campaign up and running in a fixture that appears eminently more winnable on paper, but Postecoglou rejected the notion of the Indomitable Lions proving a soft touch.
"I don't see any game as more winnable than any other," he said. "If you start thinking in those terms you may miss an opportunity along the way.
"I don't think the Cameroon game is going to be any easier [than Germany] and we're certainly not going to approach it as an any easier game than the first one or the third one."