Asia: Now Australia's biggest problem?
The fledgling A-League has had some wonderful games, wonderful goals, wonderful crowds and great hope. Of course it has it knockers..and mostly from within the football fraternity it has to be said.
Season 5 is looking at being something special with North Queensland and Gold Coast entering the fray....or it was...
Just as Robbie Fowler touches down in Townsville today and Jason Culina flies in later in the year......news comes through to rock the a-league ship further...
Queensland Roars Matt Mckay has signed for Chinese side Changchun Yatai.
Okay you didn't blink..but maybe you should.
As yet the details are unclear. Is it a transfer or loan deal..and if it's a transfer are we doomed?
We all ready have the Aussie kids dream pathway to Europe where players like former A-League stars Adrian Leijer, Ruben Zadkovich, Nikita Rukavystya, Nathan Burns, Simon Storey, David Carney to name a few, wallow in the lower leagues or on a European bench often unable to get a game, now the unheard of and definitely undreamt Asian pathway is challenging our game even further.
Sas Ognenovski, Jade North, Joel Griffiths, Eddie Bosnar, Mark Milligan and now Matt MacKay are just a few Aussies unable to get a gig in Europe...but chasing more games and more money....they are now heading north. How many more will go in the coming weeks?
And where does this leave the A-League?
In short....lacking in talent.
We all know the Griffiths, Milligans and Mackays are not the greatest in the world but they have all contributed wonderful moments to our Australian league, and they are more than good enough for our League just now.
What can be done?
Well the FFA may have already taken steps.
Not one Asian player was recalled for the recent Socceroos game v Kuwait. If this is the policy, not dis-similar to the Wallabies policy..stay in Australia or in our case stay in Australia or go to Europe...any division, and you're welcome in the Socceroos team...go to Asia and you can forget the Green and Gold.
Time will tell but the message seems loud enough to me.
And also if the guys continue to go to Europe, most are misguided...just ask Adrian Leijer..who hasn't played a first team game in two seasons, and a similar number head to Asia where does that leave the Aussie game?
Most Aussie clubs have enough money to pay our young players more, maybe they should and keep them here a little longer.
Would the million spent on John Aloisi be better spent on the best three young Sydney players?
Whatever the outcome, the FFA and it's clubs must be truly worried. With so many of our clubs struggling financially and Asia pouncing for the best players from each club then where is the quality going to come to replace them?
Not from our youth. We just don't have the depth, not yet. It takes years for a 16 or 17 year old to match a Milligan or Griffiths, not to mention an Ognenovski.
We have a million juniors or so we are told but not all of them are desperate to play at the top level and of those there are not enough coming through of sufficient quality...yet!
This may change as more money is on offer but in the mean time, the next 5 or more fragile A-League years, we have a problem.
5 comments:
Rather than a negative, i see the current issue of players leaving as a huge incentive for young players. As a development coach there are more and more opportunities to advance through the ranks and play A-League.
In the end, the more that do will swell the ranks of players eligible to play for our national team.
It just needs a different mind set from our clubs and the FFA. Imagine in five years time players returning from Asia to finish their careers in the A-League. Their experience of Asian football will be invaluable for our qualification battles and our champions league campaigns.
Today there are more opportunities for Aussie boys to play professional football than ever before... bring it on!!!
was adelaide`s success in asia last year too much too soon? the league has to be run within its means ... and players have to maximise their incomes in short careers.
the full picture won`t be available until after these guys have a season in asia. will their play have teams grabbing more aussies, or will teams be shaking their heads, wondering what they thought grabbing these awful aussies and going back to signing brazillians? god knows what china will think after a season of mark milligan ... will he get his act together or will we see him in state league in a year or two?
i think this could be a painful, but positive growing of our player base. having a player base in asia`s rich leagues could be very useful in the future. guys who play week in week out against our asian opponents and understand their style of play ...
clayton
What the players really want is better coaches. They want to reach their potential. They can earn good money here but they want to push themselves, playing the same 7 teams and same recycled players doesnt do much for you.
The A-League ensures all clubs have better facilities than most 1st division clubs in europe and the players recieve more marketing than many other professional leagues. The PFA ensures players are getting good money but I can assure you any Australian player would rather live on the gold coast or in coogee than shanghai or tokyo.
Players are always going to get poached we cant stop it. Look at the russian, dutch, ukraine and scandinavian leagues what we need to do ensure that national team caps are not a lottery and given to whoever is in Australia and has a pair of boots.
i'm inclined to agree with anthony hatton, in that the result will take a few years to be clear (like mao said about the importance of the french revolution - 'it is too soon to tell'), and be closer to understanding what it means when we get a stronger, internationally experienced crop of players coming in and pushing the up-coming lads harder for spots in a league growing in importance. hopefully, the effect of this will be a stronger coaching base for developing young players with skills and knowledge to compete with these returnees; which makes the players abroad work harder, etc... from here it is hopefully circles to the top.
Guess in the short-term my fear is fro the A-League.
There is a growing band of media football and others who are looking hard to drive a nail into "soccer". The AFL and NRL are keen to push their barrows at the expense of football.
And hwile Anthony Hatton may be right long-term..the nedd is the next three or four years when the A-League and ALL the clubs need to keep an increasingly fragile league movng forward.
This can only be ahrder if the best of the A-League are nicked to Europe..as expected...but the next best are sent to Asia....
short-term and perceptions of the A-League by Australians is important.
Can it survive at a level that is sustainable?
Big Willie:
Not sure the facilities are better than UK. Mariners, Newcastle and Perth may have reasonable stadia but I wouldn't look too closely beyond that...
as for national team being a lottery...agree with that...why didn't Pim bring back Milligan, North or Griffith for our recent game...that devalued the cap in my view.
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