Cam Burgess: Everyone's excited to be here
Prior to friendlies against Canada and the USA, CommBank Socceroos defender Cameron Burgess spoke about the culture of the side, his move to Swansea and competition for places ahead of the FIFA World Cup 26™.
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Burgess' form at new club Swansea City has earned him a spot in yet another Socceroos squad, as he continues to put forward his case for a place in the World Cup squad next year.
Read on for a summary of his recent press conference.
The culture of the Socceroos
We’ve built a culture here that everyone fits in immediately. Everyone’s excited to be here. There are obviously some guys that I haven’t seen for a while, and we have that sort of brotherhood, where you’re always keeping an eye on each other’s results and how they’re getting on. It’s always good to see the guys that you haven’t seen for a while, and good to see them doing well for their clubs as well.
Competition for places in defence
I think the main thing is to come into camp and stick to the principles as a team, so it doesn’t change too much who’s playing. Obviously, it’s great to play alongside those guys that I’ve played with the last few games, they’re great players, which always helps.
But other guys are champing at the bit to play as well, so there’s competition for places. There’s no guarantee you’re going to be starting, and every time you get the chance to play, it’s a real honour, and something none of us take for granted.
The lessons he’s learnt from Tony Popovic
With the boss’s contributions (Popovic) and Foxey (Hayden Foxe) as well, from an out of possession point of view, we do a lot of work on our principles and a lot of reviews on previous games and how we can improve things. There’s a lot of detail from the coaches and a lot of experience to draw back on as well, from their own careers playing as defenders. We’ve got some great coaches and mentors in my position.
The consistent long-haul flights to play for the Socceroos
The environment that’s been created here is something everyone loves to be part of. The smile’s there as soon as you come in, whether you’re jet-lagged or not. At the same time, I think we’re probably some of the lucky players in that we get looked after a lot by the staff and the organisation and what they look to do to help us. As much as we have to travel the furthest, I think we also get looked after up there with the best as well.
Why he moved to Swansea
I think the ambition of the club, the direction they wanted to go in and where they want to be over the length of my contract. There’s big ambition there. Knowing the players they wanted to sign and the players they have got in the building helped; there were a lot of conversations had.
I felt like it was the perfect fit for me in terms of how the club plays, how they see football and what it means to the people in the city. It aligned with how I think football should be, and it’s a perfect fit for both parties.