A-League clubs ignorant of the talent in Asia
Columnist By Mike Tuckerman, 23 Feb 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
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.
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February 23rd 2009 @ 10:47am
dasilva said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Fair point Pip (although I certainly didn’t go down the racism route)
yeah the indonesian team is paid more then the A-league
However you shouldn’t bunch the thai league with that. They do get paid significantly less then the indonesian about half as much as the indonesian league. their top players is about as much as an average player for A-league ($50000 US for a high end Thai player, $125000 AU is the average wage for an A-league player. Maybe someone work out the exchange rate).
Do you know how much the Costa Rican are getting paid?
I don’t think we know the full reasons behind it and we don’t know the ins and outs. But we do have Australian contacts in Asia now the Darby as well as the ex coach of Cambodia O’Donnell who now working for the AFC. They all believe there are players good enough. I’m not saying the standards is better then A-league but surely there is a few high end players OR good youngsters that we can poach. I’m hoping that A-league clubs are regularly contacting the likes of O’donnell for potential signings.
The problem is that apart from the Perth glory trials and the recent signings from Adelaide United. You don’t hear any attempts to trial players from SEA. If there is some noise but it turns out the players not good enough etc then fair enough.
If A-league clubs are having consulting with the likes of O’donnell for advice in getting players and end up deciding it’s not worth it then fine. If it turns out that A-league clubs aren’t asking advice from the likes of O’donnell or not trying then that’s a disgrace.
I have a huge suspicion that is the case.
February 23rd 2009 @ 10:52am
dasilva said | February 23rd 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Albert Ross
That’s probably the best reason I’ve heard
We don’t have enough money to have a extensive scouting network and so we are putting all our eggs in the brazillian basket.
February 23rd 2009 @ 11:09am
Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 11:09am | Report comment
I would agree that scouting resources and also resources dedicated to player welfare is part of the issue.
February 23rd 2009 @ 11:13am
Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 11:13am | Report comment
On that last point, it took AFL clubs absolutely decades to improve the player welfare of aboriginal kids, leaving their remote communities for the first time, travelling across the country to the big smoke, etc.
So if it’s a player coming from a different background with different languages, it certainly takes resources to get them settled into their new club – it simply requires a bit more attentiveness from the clubs.
I imagine it’s something A-League clubs are still coming to grips with.
February 23rd 2009 @ 11:17am
Mike Tuckerman said | February 23rd 2009 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Tom – I’d be really interested to know your source suggesting that J. League clubs pay “substantially more than A-League teams can afford.”
Let’s take Yasuhito Endo as one example of the top-end of the J. League player market. While player salaries aren’t officially made public in Japan, Endo’s latest contract is widely reputed to be worth around $A1.4 million plus endorsements.
Isn’t $1.4 million the same that Sydney FC paid to sign John Aloisi? And Yasuhito Endo is no doubt one of the best paid players in Japan.
This idea that Japanese clubs pay small fortunes in wages is a myth. If it wasn’t, players like Magno Alves and Bare would never have left the J. League for the Middle East.
Unfortunately it’s usually the first excuse daillied out for the kind of lazy recruiting that we’ve seen for the past four seasons. I think Albert Ross is more on the money – a lack of scouting, rather than economics has contributed to the dearth of Asian players, and it’s exactly why the failure to make contact with the likes of Scott O’Donell and Steve Darby rankles.
February 23rd 2009 @ 11:18am
Towser said | February 23rd 2009 @ 11:18am | Report comment
Smart recruiting is the way to go in an ultra competitive world football market. We cannot go past Pippinus Hernandez & to a lesser extent(because of his fitness doubts) Charlie Miller in this respect.
February 23rd 2009 @ 12:01pm
Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Mike
Would I prefer to pay $1.4 mill for Endo instead of Aloisi? Of course!!
But that’s still a lot of money!!
Anything above $500,000 per annum is a lot of money for an A-League club (recalling that about 50% of clubs fail to pay the full salary cap of $2.1 million, and are making losses).
The A-League’s most successful and financially viable club pays less than $500,000 per annum for its marquee (and is likely to baulk at paying a $1 mill transfer fee for close to the best player in the comp presently). I repeat – that’s the comp’s most financially viable club presently.
The scouting resources is part of the issue – but that’s partly an economic argument as well – let’s be very clear folks – the question of money is always lurking there – it’s not necessarily the key factor, but it’s definitely there.
February 23rd 2009 @ 12:10pm
Mike Tuckerman said | February 23rd 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Pippinu – that’s precisely the reason that I mentioned guys like Mike Havenaar and Robert Cullen!
These are young blokes not earning the kind of fortunes that many seem to believe, and they’re precisely the kind of player that could be lured to our shores for these “reasons of lifestyle” that seem to be a key factor for so many A-League clubs.
Okay, they’re probably going to drop out of national team reckoning by moving to Australia – but then, they’re not in national team reckoning at the moment anyway. They’re not even in first team contention at their current clubs!
If Ryan Steele can so succinctly hit the nail on the head by pointing out that money isn’t always the key factor that drives recruitment, then why don’t we start discussing some of the Asian players that the A-League can afford… instead of worrying about the players that it can’t?
February 23rd 2009 @ 12:50pm
Pippinu said | February 23rd 2009 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
Mike
in respect of Havenaar and Cullen – are they actually Japanese? (obviously they don’t sound very Japanese)
In terms of expats plying their trade in Japan – the Victory took a punt on the Brazilian Leandro Love, straight from a J2 side – and he was an unimitigated disaster – who could ever imagined that a Brazilian forward could be so lacking in basic skills and a fundamental understanding of the game.
I’ll be honest, when talking defenders and forwards, unless you’re talking about the cream of the crop – I don’t see a lot of value for money in going to most parts of Asia. In East Asia, and even much of South-East Asia, the salaries are very good for even average players, and in West Asia (even places like Uzbekistan), petro dollars distort the market way beyond our wildest imaginings.
I would agree that there might be worthwhile affordable talent amongst the midfielders, but as for the rest, Australia already produces decent defenders (always have relatively speaking), and as for forwards, will virtually every Asian club imports their own forwards, such is their dearth of talent in the front third.
February 23rd 2009 @ 1:41pm
Tom said | February 23rd 2009 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
I think its pretty obvious that John Aloisi is an aberration. His (reported) salary is almost equal to three quarters of the a-league total salary cap.
But if you’re interested in sources I suggest you check out this 2004 article on J-league wages http://www.otemon.ac.jp/cas/pdf/30/k.shimono.pdf?bcsi_scan_4D4B183D5F388CB3=0&bcsi_scan_filename=k.shimono.pdf.
Admittedly, the stats are from a few years ago, as player salaries are no longer made available, but I think it stills gives a good indiciation.
If you look at the table on pg 41 you’ll see a list of average wages in the 2003 season.
The lowest paying club, Trinita, had an average player wage of 12, 340, 000 yen, or just over AUD$200,000 per season. The A-league has a salary cap of $1.9m, from which most clubs pay 19-22 players.
So six years ago an average player at the lowest paying J-league club could expect to earn more than twice what the average A-league player at any club earns now. For me, thats a pretty big disparity. Note that some teams had average salaries more than twice that of Trinita.
Also note that the J-league’s elaborate contract system imposes a maximum wage of 4,800,800 yen (about AUD$80,000) on players outside the top 25 at their club, so the median wage is in fact likely to be even higher than the average wage.