3 minute read
Socceroos midfield star Aaron Mooy is confident his move to English Premier League side Brighton will be a bonus for him and Australia.
After two years of toil in England's Premier League at Huddersfield Town, Aaron Mooy is relishing a change of style at new club Brighton.
The Socceroos midfielder joined the Seagulls on a season-long loan in the off-season and has quickly forced his way into the starting XI alongside international teammate Mat Ryan.
Mooy signed off before Australia's World Cup qualifiers against Nepal and Taiwan by helping Brighton to a convincing 3-0 win over Tottenham and says the move to England's south coast has been a good one so far.
"It's a different style of football. The manager at Brighton is wanting us to play out from the back all the time and play through the lines," Mooy said from Kaohsiung ahead of Tuesday's qualifier against Taiwan.
"That's enjoyable for me because that's the way I like to play and I feel like it suits me.
"Hopefully I can keep improving and help the team more."
Mooy's move has already paid dividends for the Socceroos with the 29-year-old setting up two goals and scoring another in a 3-0 win over Kuwait last month to begin the World Cup qualifying campaign.
He then played 62 minutes of last Thursday's 5-0 win over Nepal, pulling the strings in the centre of midfield in a sign of his increased importance to Australia's attacking plans.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold couldn't be happier with how things have worked out for Mooy.
"I do know Aaron's personality and character that when he loses, he's miserable and Huddersfield had a lot of losses last year so it probably wasn't Aaron's happiest year of his life," Arnold told AAP.
"You've just got to get him on the ball as much as you can and the rest will happen. He's in the Premier League for a reason.
"Working with him is giving him the belief, giving him the confidence but also giving him the freedom to express himself. If you put handcuffs on him ... then you can shackle a great part about what he does."
