Former Kerala Blasters' head coach Rene Meulensteen appointed as Australia's assistant coach

What's the story?

Kerala Blasters' former head coach Rene Meulensteen has been appointed as the assistant coach of the Australian Men's National Team, as announced by the Football Federation Australia announced it on Thursday.

In case you didn't know...

Meulensteen's highlight in his career is working as a manager for Manchester United's youth and reserves side for five years from 2001 to 2006. He has also worked in other leagues across Europe and Asia. Meulensteen has managed clubs such as Al-Sadd (Qatar), Al-Ittihad (Qatar), Brondby (Sweden), Fulham (England) and Maccabi Haifa (Israel).

Meulensteen's last managerial job before joining the Socceroos was with Indian Super League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters which ended on a rather bad note after he was sacked by the Blasters Management following disappointing results in the early phases of the league.

Very happy about my new role with the Australia FA and I’m looking forward to working with Graham Arnold. A new challenge that I am very excited about! @Socceroos 🇦🇺

— Rene Meulensteen (@rmeulensteen1) August 9, 2018

The heart of the matter

Rene Meulensteen will be replacing Dutchman Bert van Marwijk as the assistant coach of the Australian Men's National Team and will be playing a key role in helping the Australian side defend its maiden AFC Asian Cup Title which it won in 2015, in January 2019 in the UAE.

Meulensteen, under Graham Arnold, will be based in Europe and take responsibility for players plying their trade there. As scores of Australian footballers are in European clubs, Meulsentseen would have to keep a keen eye on the players and suggest new players to the national team as announced by the Australian footballing body.

Graham Arnold was quoted saying in the press conference, ''Our new management team will play a vital role in ensuring we are best prepared to defend our Asian title and develop players for the future."

“We have some excellent talent emerging in Australia and also, many young Australians, who are playing overseas, so having someone with Rene's stature based in Europe will open doors to ensure we are identifying the right talent at the right time.”

What's next?

Australia faces Jordan, Palestine and Syria in the group stage of the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

With Meulensteen's extensive experience of managing clubs in Europe and Asia, the Socceroos are bound to be benefited as he can unearth some unnoticed names for the national side who could then prove pivotal in defending Asia's most coveted title.