Listen to Pim, make A-League training tougher
Roar Pro By Con Stamocostas, 24 Feb 2009 Con Stamocostas is a Roar Pro
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- football, Pim Verbeek, Socceroos
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While some see Pim Verbeek’s comments about the A-League as damaging, I like them and want more of them. Australian football seems to have taken the comments personally. But this reflects Australia’s insecurity about their place in the football world.
Verbeek is playing the character of the hard and uncompromising boss who uses the management technique of criticism and never showing approval.
These are what Pim’s messages are:
Australian training standards compared globally are so low that …
a) Training in Europe is actually better than playing a full A-league game
b) Any player, whether they are a returning or potential Socceroo, will not be able to maintain a fitness level that is required for International football.
The first comment is what a lot football people got upset about, and if you dig a little, those same people disagreed with Pim Verbeek’s initial appointment as national coach.
The second statement has caught the wrath of some A-league coaches.
The clubs in question, Perth Glory and North Queensland Fury, are trying to lure current Socceroos Mile Sterjovski, Chris Coyne and Scott Chipperfield to come home. And in their eyes, comments made at the FFA annual Coach’s Conference, like that by Pim Verbeek, are turning players off coming home:
Verbeek said: “If you play as open as some games I’ve seen here, you do it against a European or South American team, you would get slaughtered.”
So the 64 thousand dollar question is, why can’t you just make the training like Europe, then?
The reasons why it isn’t at the moment:
1. The A-League can never match the intensity of a European League. The scrutiny by fans and media does not place the pressure on player’s shoulders the same way it does overseas. We are still infants in world football terms.
2. At this moment in time players have to go to Europe to learn the tactical side of the game as well as learning how to be a true professional.
So, how we can make training more like Europe:
1. Lifting the intensity is the most obvious. The A-league is getting there. Eventually we should see fourteen teams, with a regular home and away season of 39 games
2. Your team will play thirteen teams three times in the regular season. Add cup games and Asian Champion Leagues games and you may have some teams playing 40-50 games a year, just like most of the top Leagues around the world.
3. After the TV deal is up, fotball could get 100 million a year. That means a higher salary cap, and clubs, if they are smart, will invest in better coaches more physios and more support staff.
Perhaps we have to find out ourselves and teach ourselves these training methods that adapt to our culture and climate. Over time, with the help of the best coaches at the beginning, Australian football can then use that knowledge to better our football education.
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February 24th 2009 @ 10:50pm
dasilva said | February 24th 2009 @ 10:50pm | Report comment
Jimbo
Yep they were all from europe
However Guus notice that the few A-league players who were selected found the training session more difficult and found it harder to keep up.
February 25th 2009 @ 1:14am
Con Stamocostas said | February 25th 2009 @ 1:14am | Report comment
Fitness is never an issue; it’s the intensity of training and how they train. That is the core of the problem. Each player should be fighting for his position, you always hear “the training was like a match” when players go overseas. It’s a shock to all of them. The smaller squads and the salary cap forces training in the A-League not to be as intense as a match. The youth league has definitely helped solved that problem in parts. However most A-league squads only seem to have 11 to13 good quality players, and then you have the kids and the rest.
Other leagues have strong 22 man squads, the reserves, then youth.
February 25th 2009 @ 12:19pm
Pippinu said | February 25th 2009 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
I too would like to hear from others about what the usual training regime is in the A-League – I doubt there are two three hour sessions per day (but I could be wrong).
To follow up on Con’s last point, which is similar to the point I made about not having sufficient quality players around you to take it to the next level – a Victory session I saw last year had, maybe 14 players utilising half the pitch (sort of attackers vs defenders scenario, which is fairly common) – now that can still be as intense as you want it to be, and it’s a lot of players in a small area, so it serves other purposes as well – but in other ways you are going to miss out on being able to match 11 quality players against 11 any time you want to – in most A-League clubs, your quality starts to drop considerably by the time you get to your 14th best player – so I’m sure the A-League clubs miss out on a bit in that respect – but it really is hard to judge whether, for example, a 28 yo Culina is going to lose it overnight.
Interesting interjection from Jimbo re making commissions – we know it happens – but is it truly that prevalent?
February 26th 2009 @ 1:42pm
Rellum said | February 26th 2009 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
To answer Pippinu
While not A-league training, I managed to watch Australia and Argentina train a before they played. Both sessions were a couple of days before the game, and both were a day or two after the teams arrived and assembled. The Australian session consisted of a couple of sprint exercises, some piggy in the middle and then some stretches, lots of laughing and smiles. The Bargies had a full technical workout, lots of serious faces and intense discussion, and then a long set piece practice session. I have no idea about the respective coaches ideas behind each session, but what I do remember in comparing both sessions was the huge difference in intensity.
Then again I have watched AFL teams train and they always seemed low on intensity as well. I would have loved to watch Shane Webkee train as he always said “Train as hard as you play”.
Surely the quickest way to improve A-league training sessions is to bring in foreign managers, ala Sydney FC. There is no way to quickly improve the depth of each squad with the current salary cap in place. But intense training sessions involving the youth players will do wonders to improve the game of those youth players.
February 26th 2009 @ 4:20pm
Con Stamocostas said | February 26th 2009 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
And during that game Argentina scored off a free kick.
The Argentinian team is not tall but the runs and shepparding that goes on during defending and atacking free kicks is possibly the best in world football.
February 26th 2009 @ 4:26pm
Pippinu said | February 26th 2009 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
That’s something that should definitely be a major component of our NT training regime in the modern game – and these are things that can be learned at relatively short notice (for teams that get together only every now and then).
February 26th 2009 @ 4:28pm
Pippinu said | February 26th 2009 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
By the way, re that free kick, it was Thwaite that was caught out of position when the free was taken quickly (by Recoba? or did he receive it and put the ball into the box?) – this is the same former socceroo who will probably not be part of the grand final match day squad.
February 26th 2009 @ 6:42pm
Terry said | February 26th 2009 @ 6:42pm | Report comment
All good points Con, and soemthing the League can surely improve.
However, WHO is going to pay 100miilion a year for the A-League? Or is that Rupeah?