James Troisi is right to be disappointed by Socceroos treatment after Asian Cup squad snub

James Troisi's comments about his non-selection in Graham Arnold's Socceroos squad were emotional, aggressive and revealing.

The 30-year-old suggested Arnold didn't select his 23-man list based on performance or merit, while also saying he and Melbourne Victory teammates Terry Antonis and Thomas Deng should have been picked to represent their nation at the Asian Cup in the UAE.

While Troisi didn't mention Arnold by name, you can read between the lines to assess there appears to be a fair amount of contempt between he and the Australian coaching set up.

"Everyone has their agendas, their favourites and their ideas. You just have to move on in football," Troisi said in a veiled attack on the selection process.

What Troisi is referring to isn't 100 percent clear but it's likely at least part of it is a reference to the selection of Arnold pupils Mustafa Amini and Rhyan Grant ahead of Antonis and Deng.

However the revelation that he has had no contact with the national team since the World Cup is damning on leaders within the Socceroos non-playing staff.

While Troisi has been a polarising figure throughout much of his career, the fact he hasn't received a phone call about his Socceroos situation is truly stunning.

This is a player who scored the winning goal at the Asian Cup to help his nation achieve arguably their greatest moment.

Surely a veteran of 37 caps deserves at least a phone call from the nation he has served over the past 10 years?

Whether that contact is to explain why he hasn't been picked, or what he needs to do put himself back in Socceroos selection frame.

For the record, it's completely understandable why Troisi was overlooked for the World Cup and by Arnold for the Asian Cup.

His A-League form in the months leading up to the World Cup was quite poor, and when he turned it on during Victory's finals surge to the championship, it was too little, too late.

This season Troisi has been outstanding as Victory have started the A-League campaign on fire, but it makes complete sense for Arnold to stick to the squad that have gelled together in the previous national team camps, with Chris Ikonomidis the only player to come in from the outside.

But why has there been no communication with the Victory playmaker since the World Cup?

Arnold mentioned Troisi briefly in his press conference, claiming to be a coach who speaks regularly with his national team contenders.

"I spoke to Kevin Muscat yesterday for a good 15 minutes about Terry, as well as James Troisi and Thomas Deng. It’s no secret Victory are doing very well but I can only look at what we have," he said.

"I am a manager that communicates a lot with his players  I explain the situation.

"The key ingredient is communication, because I spoke to probably 30 players yesterday. Some I had to disappoint and some I made extremely happy."

Intriguingly, this suggests Troisi wasn't even close to selection at any stage and isn't one of the 12 players on standby to come in to the squad if injury strikes.

The lack of communication makes Troisi's resentment and disappointment completely understandable - and this is hopefully the last time we see an ugly scenario played out in public with the new Socceroos regime.