Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou disappeared from the country for weeks too – but in his case his trip to cooler climes was very much work oriented as he cast an eye over the legion of Australian internationals and potential Socceroos playing in Europe.

Postecoglou and his family upped sticks and established camp for themselves in London, where he spent several weeks monitoring Australian players, meeting coaches – including spending time with Arsene Wenger, the legendary Arsenal manager – and scouting opponents.

Now back, he is the first to acknowledge that this is a critical year for himself and the Australian game.

World Cup qualification is still finely balanced, and the Socceroos, while among the favourites to take one of the top two positions in their Asian qualifying group, are no certainties.

Difficult games away to Iraq (the match to be played in Tehran) and also at home to the UAE are due in late March, with another home tie against Saudi Arabia in June before the team goes to Russia to play against world champions Germany, African champions Cameroon and South American champions Chile in the Confederations Cup.

Postecoglou is due to announce the squad for the Iraq and UAE matches in the next few weeks and he already is having to deal with the absence of key midfielder Tom Rogic, who is recovering from ankle surgery, and may have to do without skipper Mile Jedinak as well.

More A-League players might come into consideration, but at this point he is simply hoping that the remainder of his first-choice players get through the next few weeks fit and in good form.

His trip to Europe for an extended period reinforced how much has changed since the days when Australian players were starting-eleven members of big teams in big leagues.

"Unfortunately, we've lost a little bit of our standing as a developer of talent, he says. "Being over in Europe now we don't register on [the] radar as much as we used to do

"Their reference points are still Viduka, Kewell, Bresciano, Schwarzer, Grella.

"Apart from Aaron [Mooy, Melbourne City's former midfielder who is now at Huddersfield Town] making some waves, again that's in the Championship, we don't register that highly for them to say 'let's have a close look at Australian players' and potentially open some doors up that way.

"We're kind of in a difficult spot where the well is drying up on both sides; domestically and internationally. It is really about opportunities and how we can open doors up," he said, reflecting on the limited number of teams in the A-League and the lack of chances that young Australians get as a result, certainly compared to the old days in the NSL when many more clubs played in the top-level competition.

"Maybe if we can make an impact at national team level, if that's at a World Cup or a Confederations Cup, that might raise the heads of people from around the world who might start looking at us a little more closely as a league and as a nation as developers of talent but at the moment neither is happening"

He smiles ruefully when asked if he enjoyed his "holiday". Postecoglou is famously a workaholic where soccer and the Socceroos are concerned, and he shoots back straight away that his trip "wasn't a break" as he explains the complexity of being an international manager rather than a club boss who sees his players on a day-to-day basis.

"This is the biggest gap between games [the Socceroos last played in a World Cup qualifier in mid-November]. Last year I did a couple of trips over to Europe. This time I decided to go in one big block. I based myself in London for seven or eight weeks and really just got around and watched all our players, particularly the UK-based ones, watching them in their environment.

"Also from my perspective, [it was about] opening as many doors as I can and meeting people and making sure we're still – in terms of what we're doing – at the forefront of the way football's going.

"It was a useful exercise. With the year we've ahead it gave me an opportunity to firm up some things in my mind. From that point of view it worked well.

"With such a heavy calendar I won't have too many opportunities to do that in the next eight to 12 months."

An international manager needs, more than anything, his leading players to be playing regularly, preferably in good teams in competitive leagues.

So Postecoglou, more than most, had a close eye on the January transfer market, particularly when some of his important players – such as forward Robbie Kruse, who left the Bundesliga's Bayer Leverkusen for China, goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who went on loan from Valencia in La Liga to Racing Genk in Belgium, and defender Trent Sainsbury (who went from Jiangsu Suning to Inter Milan) – were on the move.

"It was good for Maty, he was very frustrated. I spoke to him a number of times when I was in Europe. Valencia weren't too keen on loaning hin out to another Spanish team, understandably so. They still rate him very, very highly.

"He needed game time, I think Belgium is a good solution for him. He knows the league well and they know him very well as well, so it does ensure that all things being equal he plays regularly which he hasn't done for quite a while. Hopefully that gives him the confidence and the ability to perform well with us.

"From our perspective it [the January window] wasn't too bad. I think the positives were definitely Maty going to Genk and Bailey Wright is pretty happy with his move to Bristol City.

"He has taken more responsibility on there, I think he is captain now, they are a big club and obviously they are struggling a bit, but at least he is settled. He was in the last year of his contract and it could have gone either way, and Milos [Degenek] going to Yokohama [from TSV Munich 1860] is I think potentially a good move for him if he plays.

"I think the J-League is a good competition for somebody like him, who is developing, and he will be playing against the type of players we will be playing in qualifiers.

"I think they were positives. I think the other positives were things like Jackson [Irvine] and Massimo [Luongo] resisting offers to go to China at this point of their careers. Both probably had really attractive offers but [are] choosing a certain path for their career at the moment. From our perspective that's a good thing because they are playing regularly where they are [Burton Albion and QPR respectively in England's Championship].

"I guess the flip side of that is guys like Robbie Kruse now ... you hope he will get regular game time [at Liaoning Whowin].

"It could be a positive, he was probably struggling for game time in the past 18 months, you hope he has got a move where he plays regularly, but with the new rules in China there are new rules for him [to deal with]. There are no guarantees any more with these new rules [which only allow Chinese Super League clubs to play three foreigners at one time].

"That's a bit of a concern, as is Spira [Matthew Spiranovic] dropping to the second division with the level of competition there.

" For Trent Sainsbury it's a great move in terms of his development, and it will be a challenge for him. If you are a defender there is no better place to learn your craft. Game time will be a challenge for him, but you need to weigh [it] up and see how he goes.

"But the way it was looking in China, with the new rule, he might have been limited for game time there as well ... so potentially going to a different kind of environment ... even in terms of his own mindset. I reckon if he wasn't playing in China he would be more disappointed and low in morale than he is right now, where at least there is a challenge there.

"They are the major ones. I said overall I think it turns out to be not a bad window in terms of the players who needed moves, mostly they got them. And hopefully the new rules in China don't stop them playing regularly."