Jordy Bos back in the Roos and keen to make up for lost time

TOKYO, Japan — If the first game of the Socceroos’ new Tony Popovic era was any guide, opportunities to play to his strengths and excel will be afforded to Jordy Bos in the years and months ahead. Now, all he needs to do is grab them.  

Picking up a hamstring injury just 30 minutes into K.V.C. Westerlo’s 2024-25 Belgian Pro League campaign, Bos was absent from the opening games of the third phase of Asian qualification, watching on with frustration as the Socceroos were downed 1-0 by Bahrain and then held to a 0-0 draw with Indonesia in Jakarta. 

Weeks later, he awoke in Antwerp the unexpected shock that Graham Arnold had decided to resign from his position at the helm of the side and, in the days that followed, the news that Popovic was set to take over the side. 

Called back into the squad after making back-to-back starts at the Het Kuipje – grabbing an assist against Aiden O’Neill’s Standard Liege – the  21-year-old returned to the national side as a 75th-minute substitute against China, introduced as the left wingback in the coach’s new 3-4-2-1 system and playing a role in Nishan Velupillay’s goal to make it 3-1. 

Popovic has been clear ahead of Tuesday evening’s World Cup qualifier against Japan that he wasn’t wedded to formations as much as what he wanted to accomplish with the players at his disposal, with his opposite number Hajime Moriyasu anticipating variation, too. But if that formation remains, it’s one Bos is familiar and confident in.

“Recently at  Westerlo, we've been playing with wingbacks,” he told JDL Media. “So.the last couple games I've been playing wingback and I think it suits me well; getting up and get back. I just have that line to myself, which is really good.”

Forced off after less than a half against Cercle Brugge and subsequently missing five league games for Westerlo in addition to the Socceroos’ September window – including a 4-1 loss to Gent it’s been a frustrating time for Bos.

But while he’s been able to earn back a place in Timmy Simons’s XI in Belgium, Aziz Behich started on the flank against China, the Melbourne City skipper still playing at a high level and remaining a model of the professionalism that coaches such as Popovic value highly. 

“I did it a few years ago in Scotland and I enjoy it,” Behich told JDL Media. “I'm an attacking fullback, so it's nice to get up the park a bit more, but at the same time, I've got my defensive duties as well in that system. 

“I really enjoyed it. I think the way we spread out on the pitch and where the other players have to be within the team, I think that also helped me get into good positions moving forward.”

Bos, thus, knows he’s going to have to be injury-free and at his best, and probably find a new level to the latter, if he’s to supplant the well-regarded veteran. 

“[The injury] was really frustrating,” he said. “But that's all part of being a footballer and being an athlete. You get injuries and you just have to keep mentally strong and look to the future. 

“Throughout my rehab, I was [thinking], push for the next international window, get back to club land, play some minutes, and help the nation as much as I can.

“Being injured and losing a couple of games, it really means having to fight for my way back. I came on the pitch [against China] with some motivation to hopefully push for the starting role.”

Bos, of course, has never known an Australian national setup without Arnold, the now former mentor of Australia’s men giving him his debut against Ecuador in a post-2022 World Cup friendly and subsequently taking him to the Asian Cup. 

Now, he is having to adjust to the new dynamics and demands associated with disciplinarian Popovic, whose approach swings away from the relaxed, jovial one that Arnold used with success towards a more regimented, detail-focused environment, where there is a dictate that players must maintain an “elite” approach in and out of camp if they want any hope of returning.

“It's a lot more... we're here to work,” Bos reflected, speaking in the Socceroos’ team hotel in Tokyo. “We're here to get a job done. You can see it in the food as well. We have a nutritionist now and the food selection is a lot more healthier. 

“It’s not too different. Obviously, it's an international window, so you can't change too much. But the vibe is much more work, work, work.

“[Elite] should be the standard regardless. We're representing our country and we need to meet those standards. And being an elite athlete, you just have to do it. When I go back to the club, I'll definitely take that on board and work as much as I can at the club as well.

“You can feel it as well. Everyone is here to prove themselves. And you know, it's a new era. Everyone needs to [fight for] their spot and work as hard as they can.”