The blame game from the Socceroos’ winless World Cup campaign has kicked off, with perceived villains from the coach to the referees to fan culture emerging.

In a scathing attack, former star Craig Foster slammed the Australian game as “gutless” after the team’s exit on Wednesday morning (AEST.)

“There is no question we could have done more,” said SBS soccer analyst Foster, firing shots after full-time.

He savaged the Socceroos’ playing style in Russia as not the “Australian way”, claiming “we haven’t learned” anything since the disastrous 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil.

“That wasn’t what we’re capable of in terms of a football country.”

As critics in Twitter’s cheap seats howled for blood, Lucy Zelic, host of SBS’s World Cup coverage, was also critical of the team’s showing.

“I would find it very difficult to believe that people watching this and the fashion in which we’ve crashed out of this tournament, not registering a single win, how can anybody be happy with that?” she said.

Now the @Socceroos have finished last in their World Cup group, will Bert Van Marwijk hold a legitimate press conference open to all media? Or wash his hands and head home ready for a new freelance gig? https://t.co/HPXLFgrTx2

— James Glenday (@jamesglenday) June 26, 2018

And just like that the Bert Van Marwijk era ends ! @FIFAWorldCup Denmark was the game ! Regret ls there !

— Robbie Slater (@RobbieSlater17) June 26, 2018

I get that we performed very well overall at this World Cup but at the end of the day we leave with 1 point from a possible 9. Time for Aus football to stop taking the underdog status and start building towards success. No longer good enough to just be “brave” #socceroos

— Mark Moffat (@Mark_Moffat11) June 26, 2018

Failure of management. Call it for what it is. Shouldn't be hard to start your two most exciting players but managers always find a way to make fans think they're deeper thinkers than they really are. It's all a big con. #AUSPER #socceroos

— Jesse Fink (@JesseFink) June 26, 2018

https://twitter.com/danwat67/status/1011644963946237953

Coach Bert van Marwijk was firmly in the gun for former US soccer star turned ESPN commentator pundit, Janusz Michallik.

“Bert van Marwijk lost this,” Michallik said, claiming the coach’s player selections and lack of aggression failed the Socceroos.

“His in-game management wasn’t good. I can understand why he had certain starting XIs, but the manager of Australia was afraid of his own shadow.”

Ex-Socceroos defender turned SBS commentator Craig Moore had  different targets: the Socceroos themselves and the game’s administrators.

“Clearly, we weren’t good enough in the areas where we needed to be,” said Moore, pleading for more investment in Australian junior teams.

After forward Robbie Kruse copped social media flak after the first two games, it was captain Mile Jedinak’s turn to be the bad hat against Peru.

Australia’s lone scorer at the World Cup, Jedinak had a poor third game, being booked early on for a quasi kung-fu kick and at fault for the second goal via a howler of a deflection.

“The reality is that we’re still not the team that we would like to be,” said Moore.

Foster claimed the best outcome would have been for France to beat Denmark – they drew – so the Socceroos’ loss against Peru actually cost them a place in the next round “so that we can feel more pain” right now.

“Otherwise it is just another moment where everyone feels we almost got there.

“We walk away. We dust ourselves off and learn very little, if anything, and then move on to the next campaign.”

Straight after the loss, the team put their feelings simply: “Not our night.”

Not our night.

Australia, thank you for being with us on every step of the journey. #GoSocceroos #AUSPER pic.twitter.com/nmsGFvhWeW

— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 26, 2018

The Socceroos build up wasn’t ideal, with then-coach Ange Postecoglou announcing in late 2017 he was quitting his post after leading the team through World Cup qualifying.

In January, van Marwijk took over. The Dutchman, who appointed his son-in-law Mark van Bommell as assistant coach, said unlike his predecessor he was focused on winning rather than style.

Van Marwijk only made one change to his starting team across three games, but said post-loss he didn’t regret it.

Aziz Behich is consoled by Bert van Marwijk on the final whistle. Photo: Getty

The campaign was “not a success but also not a failure”, he said.

“Everybody saw the way we performed and played we got a lot of compliments. Only compliments don’t win games.

While Foster said the Socceroos “threw out a plan of four years and went with a completely different strategy”, he refused to blame the coach.

He was less sparing of the referees, claiming one of Peru’s goals should have been looked at for offside.

“It is not about van Marwijk – it is about us,” he said, adding our “gutless approach” would only change once soccer fans stopped settling for “gallant” losses.

Tim Cahill, who came on in the second half, absorbs the loss to Peru. Photo: Getty

Joining Twitter critics, ESPN’s Michallik hinted the coach’s sparing use of veteran star Tim Cahill during the group stage was the wrong one.

“You have to trust your players, you have to let them be, you have to let them play,” he said.

But players had van Marijk’s back. “We’re lucky to have him,” said fullback Aziz Behich. Added defender Mark Milligan, “Bert has been fantastic.”

Milligan said the team had to cop the blame, outlining what it needed: “A little bit more belief and a little bit more killer instinct and a little bit more mongrel.”