If FA decides the time is right for a new coach of the Socceroos,Arnold will probably look abroad,with the aim of either emulating the success of Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat at club level,or even taking charge of another national team.
“I haven’t decided anything,” Arnold told theHerald andThe Age. ”I’ll be honest - after the World Cup,I’m going to have a bit of a break for the first time in 4.5 years. I don’t have to think about anything. My future is in my own hands ... I can decide what I want to do.
“People have said to me,‘How do you feel? Do you feel unwanted because the organisation haven’t come to you and said,Arnie,we want you to stay?’ I don’t feel that way. At the end of the day,it is what it is. Contract’s over,and I then have a choice for once. You’re not getting tapped on the shoulder.”
Loading
Arnold,59,a two-time A-League championship winner with Sydney FC and the Central Coast Mariners,has unfinished business overseas. His one and only job outside Australian football ended in ignominious circumstances when,in 2014,he was sacked as coach of J.League side Vegalta Sendai after eight winless games in charge.
Since then,Postecoglou has won trophies in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos and in Scotland with Celtic,while Muscat - who succeeded Postecoglou at Yokohama last year - is on track to also claim the J.League title this weekend if his side avoids defeat in their final match of the season against Vissel Kobe.
Sources familiar with Arnold’s thinking said he had been encouraged to apply for several jobs recently,including by one intermediary working on behalf of a Major League Soccer club,as well as another national team position,and a club gig in Asia.