“What I said to the boys when I got them in the circle after the game was,I’m very proud,but we’ve achieved nothing,” Arnold said. “We’re here to go as far as we can go.
“That one game is done,and I don’t want any emotion from the players,I don’t want them sitting up all night watching social media and all that stuff. It’s about sleeping well,recovering well and getting the mindset ready for Denmark.”
Arnold’s natural state looks to be permanently embattled,but when asked about a phalanx of critics at home,he replied:“Give me five minutes to enjoy this!“
His elaboration was curt. He said he hadn’t seen who had come for him,but clearly he had heard. “I think some of them have never been in the World Cup,” he said. “They have no effect on my life.“
Arnold spoke of the need to suppress emotion,but it is more accurate to say that a coach’s job is to channel it. This is doubly true for a national football coach at a World Cup,because emotions run so high and sometimes spike even further.
It’s all about the vibe. Enter injured Socceroo Martin Boyle. “We’ve moved onto the staff now,as OVM - official vibe manager,” Arnold said. “He’s one of the most fantastic blokes you’ll ever meet in your life. There was no way he wanted to go home,no way I wanted to send him home. He wants to stay,and be part of it,and he deserves it more than anyone for what he did during qualifying.”