A-League clubs ignorant of the talent in Asia

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By Mike Tuckerman, 23 Feb 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: Adelaide United, Asian Champions League, Aurelio Vidmar, football

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It’s a shame that Aurelio Vidmar’s infamous outburst has cast such a shadow over Adelaide United of late, because the Reds could otherwise be making more positive headlines. The club are reportedly on the verge of signing some Asian players, and given the fact that we’re at the tail-end of Season Four – it’s about time.

Some A-League clubs have already dabbled with bringing out players from Asia.

Sydney FC enticed J. League dinosaur Kazu Miura down for a brief stint during the club’s 2005 FIFA Club World Cup campaign and despite his age, “King Kazu” provided some much-needed colour and flair.

Occasionally I dine at an izakaya run by Kazu’s sister, and she tells me that the J. League legend remembers his time in Australia with genuine fondness.

Melbourne Victory nabbed Brazilian striker Ney Fabiano from Asian Champions League rivals Chonburi FC, while Koreans Hyuk Seo-So and Song Jin-Hyung have thrilled supporters with their combination of gritty toughness and technical wizardry.

But on the whole, A-League clubs remain frustratingly ignorant of the talent scattered throughout the region.

When Graham Arnold admits during a Football Federation Australia coaching conference that “we didn’t know what we were going into” in defence of Australia’s failed 2007 Asian Cup campaign, is it any wonder?

If someone at FFA headquarters had picked up the phone and called former NSL player Scott O’Donell, they’d have gleaned some helpful hints.

O’Donell is a former coach of the Cambodian national team – he was named Coach Of The Year as head of Singapore’s Geylang United in 2003 – and most recently was employed by the Asian Football Confederation as their Director of Coach Education.

And he is just one of a handful of Australians with working knowledge of Asian football.

The failure to tap into this network of knowledge has doomed A-League fans to some decidedly mediocre recruits, so it’s nice to see Adelaide United buck the trend in their pursuit of Japanese striker Yutaka Tahara and Thai international Datsakorn Thonglao.

As yet neither are done deals – Tahara was rumoured to have lobbed up in South Korea for recent trials with Daejeon Citizen – but with United seemingly set to land their man, it’s a step in the right direction.

I have been outspoken as anyone on the difficulties Japanese players face in acclimatising to life in Australia, yet I can think of two former Japan under-20 internationals that are perfectly suited to the A-League.

They are Mike Havenaar and Robert Cullen.

At almost two metres tall, the rangy Havenaar is a centre-forward in the mould of Josh Kennedy.

A product of Japanese training, Havenaar’s technical skills are second to none, but he also offers the kind of physical presence that many A-League clubs prefer.

Ex-Sydney FC coach Pierre Littbarski certainly liked the look of Havenaar. He signed the young striker on loan while in charge of J2 outfit Avispa Fukuoka.

Havenaar didn’t quite fire Fukuoka to promotion – to the detriment of Littbarski’s coaching career – but the youngster did enough to impress Fukuoka fans with his all-action style.

I chatted with Havenaar in 2007, and he told me he was enduring a personal nightmare at Yokohama F. Marinos under coach Hiroshi Hayano.

Hayano barely played the tall striker, and while he has since been sacked, there’s no guarantee that Havenaar will see much action under new coach Takashi Kuwahara.

Bobby Cullen is another who will struggle to earn game time at current side Jubilo Iwata.

The pacy front man has fallen down the pecking order since the arrival of Brazilian striker Gilsinho, and a raft of injuries haven’t helped.

Yet Cullen is no slouch in front of goal, and in 2005 he was named the J. League’s Young Player Of The Year.

He’s exactly the kind of exciting talent that A-League clubs should be looking to import – and like Havenaar – he could be looking for a fresh start. Both men speak English.

When Perth Glory had the chance to sign Thai internationals Suree Sukha, Kiatprawut Saiwaeo and Teerasil Dangda, they declined.

It’s a shame, because some lateral thinking wouldn’t kill A-League coaches.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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The Crowd Says (27) | Page 1 of Comments

StiflersMom said | February 23rd 2009 @ 8:17am | Report comment

I don’t get the continued dabbling in Brazillians, seems 2 out of 3 have been less than ordinary yet with the exception of Chu and Seo no other Asian has been signed longer than a guest stint but of the Asians that have been here everyone has performed very well.

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Tom said | February 23rd 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment

I’m getting really sick of all these articles criticising A-league teams for not bringing in enough Asian players. Isn’t it obvious that its a simple case of economics? Asian teams, in particular the K-league, S-league and Chinese Superleague, pay far higher salaries to players of generally lesser quality than those in the A-league. The J-league is of a higher standard, but again pays substantially more than Australian teams could afford.

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Ryan Steele said | February 23rd 2009 @ 9:14am | Report comment

The mentality to sign Brazilians is seen worldwide, even – or particularly – in Japan. I am definitely excited by the likes of Tahara and Thonglao. This excitement isn’t felt by your average “soccer” fan, however, who will expect a South American to bring more flair and excitement to a game than a player from any other nation. Problem is, once teams buy most of the star talent from those countries, you’re left with slim pickings. Australia and the A-League almost entirely reflects that, as well.

When it comes to the likes of the J-League, where team rosters are essentially double that of any A-League club, you will find that although they can provide huge salaries, not every player will be earning mansion-buying pay packets. This doesn’t mean they aren’t extremely talented, it just means they could be overlooked by a coach, or there is someone who gels better into the style of play. In most of the countries, there are even youth teams that are excellent for spying upcoming talent to whip up for a short stint on a trial basis. If a player isn’t playing regular first team football, they will look to find a team where they have that chance. Money isn’t always everything in the world of a football player.

To become a strong league, we will need to start shopping in our own backyard. We’ve already seen some great Asian purchases to date, but until we have some more, the league won’t fully recognise their potential. Adelaide could be the true pioneers of this, and if anything comes out of these talks, it could look to shoot the reputation – and more importantly, the viewing numbers – of the A-League into the stratosphere.

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Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 9:36am | Report comment

I’m with Tom here – bringing in Asian players is not as easy as it sounds – the better ones are already on a good wicket – as for the rest, well, why bother?

Melbourne has shown the way with lateral thinking – a little country like Costa Rica (and many like it throughout the world), are more likely to deliver surprises than the whole of Asia (when you combine both the talent and economic imperatives).

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dasilva said | February 23rd 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment

Pippinu

I’m not too sure

There are Thai players who were rejected by A-league and yet good enough to be trialing for chelsea and man city etc. Suree Sukra was deemed not good enough by PErth Glory but he look damn impressive at the Asian Cup

“It’s a question of the A-League clubs being more open-minded,” Darby said. “I know what the perception is in Australia, that the players in South-East Asia aren’t good enough. That’s rubbish. There’s plenty of players around here who are easily good enough for the A-League. We’ve got a player in our [Thailand] team, Sutee Suksomkit, who Chelsea had a look at four years ago, they wanted to sign him and loan him out to Brentford, but they couldn’t get a work permit. That’s got to tell you something.”

Good enough for Chelsea but not good enough for A-league?

I think it’s more to do with impression that SEA players aren’t physical enough for the A-league and the style of football we play isn’t conducive rather then them not being good enough.

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Albert Ross said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:04am | Report comment

Da Silva

There is also the question of the “R” word being applicable

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dasilva said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:16am | Report comment

I rather not go there Albert

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Midfielder said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:17am | Report comment

Everything sounds easy until you have do actually do it and ……………FUND IT ………. given the board spread of Asian and the varing standards of the various leagues and countries …. finding that player capable of playing in the A-League and able to fit in to the culture is not easy.

GVE two years ago made a suggestion that to this day I cannot see why it is not untaken by the FFA to assist the clubs. GVE suggestion was the FFA appoint a person in South Amercia and in time Asia who would create a list of players in all positions that would suit the league. Arnold Out IMO would be good at this and say have a list of five or six players in each position for A_leagues coaches to trial … this would save the expense and of clubs looking and give them a number of options as well.

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Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:23am | Report comment

Das

two years ago, when Sydney lost to the Indonesian club, Kediri, it was mentioned then that they had a salary budget two or three times larger than Sydney’s.

Now honestly – if you have a choice between a Tico who has played in the WC, and someone who is part of the Indonesian or Thai national team, and the latter cost you double the Tico – why on Earth woudl you go for the Indonesian or Thai when the records of their national teams is nothing short of atrocious.

It’s got nothing to do with racism – it’s got everything to do with driving your dollar further (and in Australia, we don’t have that many dollars to drive).

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Albert Ross said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:41am | Report comment

Pip

Perhaps Das and I have been a bit harsh oh the HAL club’ attitudes. It does have a lot to do with underestimating (for whatever the reason) the skills and talent available in Asia outside of J and K.

I suspect that part of the problem is that the HAL clubs have quite small non-playing staffs and therefore don’t have the time to properly scout, assess and frankly baby-sit trialists. Neither do they have the language skills to really make them feel at home.

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