Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou is a risk taker.

His absolute insistence on a creative, passing brand of football at both Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory has greatly benefited the A-League. It also saw him win the top job in Australian football.

He did not shift his philosophy one iota at this year’s World Cup, despite Australia drawing then-world champions Spain, Netherlands and Chile in the group stage.

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And while it yielded little in terms of results, the general consensus – not just in Australia, but the footballing world – was that the Socceroos looked promising.

But chopping and changing his team on a consistent basis may be Postecoglou’s biggest risk yet.

The 49-year-old has fielded 42 different players in his 12 matches in charge of Australia and his tinkering has had several consequences.

The day this bloke retires … doesn’t bear thinking about. Photo: Getty

A chance for players to build regular partnerships has been missed, those brought in and dumped just as quickly have probably suffered a dip in confidence, and, perhaps most crucially, it seems to have cost Postecoglou some of that vital ingredient all coaches ask for – time.

Postecoglou has consistently said that he wants to be judged on the Asian Cup, and that he would use matches prior to the tournament to experiment before settling on a best side.

But there comes a point when results need to come – and that just might be now after Tuesday’s 2-1 friendly defeat in Japan.

Anything less than a semi-final appearance at the Asian showpiece in January will be a big disappointment to Australia fans, and even that might not be enough.

Bill Shankly – the legendary Liverpool manager who transformed the Anfield club from a second-tier outfit to an English powerhouse – said it best: “If you are first, you are first. If you are second, you are nothing.”

Football is a results business. And they don’t make good reading for Postecoglou.

In his 12 matches in charge, Australia have won twice, drawn twice and lost eight, scoring 12 times and conceding 22 in the process. Of those 12 goals, eight have been scored by Tim Cahill, who turns 35 next month. Where would the Socceroos be without him?

Australia sits 94th in the FIFA rankings – below Haiti, Sierra Leone, Dominican Republic, Panama, Gabon, Cape Verde Islands and Antigua and Barbuda – and may even tumble out of the top 100 when they are next updated on November 27.

Only five years ago the Socceroos were ranked 14th under Pim Verbeek.

That is not to say that Australia have failed to improve under Postecoglou.

They regularly enjoy good spells in games, none more evident than the first half against Japan where the Socceroos dominated possession and took the game on. That was exciting to watch and Postecoglou’s faith in young players endears him to many.

But for all their attacking endeavour in that first 45 minutes against Japan, they created only one chance of note – a Mathew Leckie header.

In stark contrast, when turning the screw in the 25 minutes after half-time, Japan scored twice, forced two good saves from Mat Ryan and had a host of other opportunities.

Is 23-year-old Tomi Juric the future? Photo: Getty

Asking New York Red Bulls forward Cahill to start every game at the Asian Cup might be a stretch – particularly given the MLS season finishes more than a month before the Asian Cup – and is why Postecoglou should look to include another focal point.

Playing speedy and creative forwards across a front three – like they did against Japan – might give the Socceroos versatility but it denies them a genuine striker, something they will surely require against the likes of Kuwait and Oman, who are likely to sit back and soak up pressure when meeting Australia in the group stages.

Western Sydney forward Tomi Juric may be inexperienced at national team level, with only five caps, but has shown in both the A-League and AFC Champions League that he is excellent at holding the ball up, is strong and imposing, and a goal scorer.

He also might be the future – something that, sadly, Cahill is not.

Australia’s sloppy concession of Japan’s first goal – a corner which fell to the far post and was headed in by the completely unmarked Yasuyuki Konno – angered Postecoglou and attacker Robbie Kruse, with the latter particularly forthright.

“It [Japan’s first goal] was a terrible goal to concede. A team with our height should never concede a goal like that … it bounced in the six-yard box, it’s just not good enough,” he was quoted as saying in The Age.

That goal meant the positives of Australia’s display – namely the performances from Mile Jedinak and Aziz Behich – were overshadowed, and if similarly slack marking follows at the Asian Cup, the Socceroos are in trouble.

The post-World Cup period was supposed to give fans an idea about Australia’s realistic aims at the Asian Cup. Instead, they are left with more questions than answers.

Is it 4-3-3? 4-2-3-1? What’s the point of natural width without a target man? Can Australia’s high-tempo game survive in the January heat? Who partners Matthew Spiranovic at the back? Can Kruse last the tournament without regular club football behind him? Will Cahill be match-ready? Do the Socceroos have the quality in the final third to break down a stubborn defence?

Only time will tell. A nation hopes that Postecoglou has the answers.