Australian football is still 'too British' and must be improved from the bottom up to compete with the world's best, according to the man charged with lifting playing standards across the country.
Dutchman Han Berger has taken over the role of FFA's national technical director from compatriot Rob Baan and, on his first official day in the job, gave a blunt assessment of where Australian players sit skill-wise.
"I think the game still has some British characteristics … strong players, a high speed in the game, physical strength," Berger said on Wednesday.
"Technically and tactically I think there are some things to improve and that's also what I understood from (Socceroos coach) Pim (Verbeek) and Rob Baan."
"Starting at the basics, the skills and techniques need to be looked after in the young player development."
"That's the process Rob Baan started and that's the pathway FFA wants to go."
"If a carpenter doesn't have a hammer and nails he cannot build anything."
"If a player does not have the skills, no system and no tactics can be successful."
"It's all about technique under the highest pressure on the highest speed of the game."
"That's why you have to start at the bottom by developing players who have those qualities."
Asked what he hopes to achieve during his four-year term, Berger replied: "The goal is to be competitive at the world's top level."
"You have to keep the strong characteristics that each country has - your own identity - but you can never be successful at the top level when you don't have the qualities that are requested."
"You need skill in the highest speed under the biggest resistance. That's where the players have to make decisions, see the solutions and be able to also do it with the ball in that moment."
Berger has seen 'four or five' Hyundai A-League matches and came away with a healthy impression of Australia's domestic competition.
Those views will be included in an extensive dossier on the state of the game in Australia, which will be delivered to FFA early in the new year.
"We've asked Han within a three to four month period to do a fairly comprehensive review of what has been initiated in the last few years," FFA boss Ben Buckley said.
"What's working? What can be improved? What are the outstanding items that need to be added to the list of programs?"
"(He will) come back to us to say 'here's my insights, here's my review, here's the resources I'm going to need to complete that process'."
"I think it's worth mentioning that we wanted someone who was prepared to commit to a four year period so we could start something and finish it."
Berger, 58, has a distinguished coaching background in Dutch football, spending time at Utrecht, Groningen, Fortuna Sittard and Sparta Rotterdam.
He is also a former Dutch under-21 coach.