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Melbourne Victory foward Carlos Hernandez is challenged by Adelaide United midfielder Jonas Salley and Lucas Pantelis, during their A-League round 4 match, at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Friday, Sept. 12, 2008. AAP Image/Joe Castro
Exactly a month out from the start of A-League season five and with the number of imports from Asia steadily increasing through the likes of Surat Sukha, Shin In Sup and Byun Sung-Hwan, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on the best and worst of the league’s imports over its first four seasons.
Like any start-up competition, mistakes had to be made, and it’s fair to say in terms of overseas recruitment there have been a few. In the main, there’s been more misses than hits.
First there was a wave of third-rate British imports delivered by the New Zealand Knights. Remember the names Ronnie Bull, Darren Bazeley, Sean Devine, Simon Yeo, Neil Emblen and Scot Gemmill?
The most tragic, in my opinion, was the striker Devine, all hustle and bustle but undoubtedly one of the worst technicians to hit our shores.
Not far behind the Knights were Perth Glory, who delivered the washed up Brian Deane and the son of the manager, Steve McMahon Jr, surely one of the worst midfielders you are likely to see.
Later, there was the much hyped striker Mate Dragicevic.
Finally, last season, the Glory had some success through Eugene Dadi and to a lesser extent Brazilian veteran Amaral, who impressed but ultimately broke down.
Another club that has really struggled to get its formula right is the Roar.
In the first season they delivered the Swiss left sided defender Remo Buess, followed by equally underwhelming performers in Marcus Wedau, Simon Lynch and Marcinho.
Fortunately Hyuk-Su Seo has been a mainstay, Reinaldo showed signs in the third season, while Charlie Miller and Sergio van Dijk did well last season.
Another club that has really struggled, especially in the marquee space, is the Jets, who have brought over such tragedies as Mario Jardel, Edmundo Zura, Jorge Drovandi, Denni and Mateo Corbo.
Oh for the days of Milton Rodriguez, Jets fans must be thinking.
Melbourne has been a bit of a yo-yo club, down one season, up the next, a bit like their recruitment. Remember Geoffrey Claeys and Richard Kitzbichler in season one? One average, one good.
Then the three Brazilians and Grant Brebner in season two. Fred and Brebner were obvious hits, but Claudinho and Alessandro were not.
The venture to Costa Rica proved half-successful, with Hernandez a hit, Lopez a miss, while the jury is still out on Ney Fabiano given his suspension last season. Meanwhile, Leandro Love flopped, while Joe Kennan was anything but a cracker.
Indeed, the left side of defence, a traditional development weakness in Australia, is one area clubs have targeted, without much luck it seems.
Kennan, Buess, Alessandro and Corbo have already been mentioned, but another struggler you may remember is the Knights’ Gregory Duruz.
Only Cassio has really made an impression of the left-sided imports, and given Sydney’s struggles to find a left back since Alvin Ceccoli, there will be much attention on Byun.
Ditto at Melbourne, where Sukha will be expected to deliver some balance (good defending and a contribution in attack). After Alessandro and Kennan, Victory fans will be hoping it’s third time lucky as far as left-sided imports is concerned.
Freds success in season two lead to an inevitable influx of Brazilian for season three, but not surprisingly, many couldn’t cope with the physicality of the league.
Remember Denni at Newcastle, who was smashed about in the centre of midfield, forcing Gary van Egmond to shift him out wide, before shifting him out of the country.
There have been some admirably decisions to bring in technicians like Denni, Jin-Hyung Song, Daniel, Juninho, Adrian Trinidad and Felipe, but there is still a big question mark as to whether the league, with it emphasis on the physical, is ready for such artisans.
Too often they have been smashed, and offered little protection by referees like Ben Williams who are happy to reward the ball-and-man tackles, much to the detriment of the overall spectacle.
Perhaps more of the referees should take the lead of Strebre Delovski, who calls a foul a foul, yet still manages to keep a game flowing, and rarely gets noticed.
Hopefully, as the league matures and more managers start to value the technical over the physical, there will be more room for such players.
Who knows, maybe the Brazilians at the Gold Coast will lead the way this season.
One club leading the way with Brazilians is Adelaide, who had some success with Fernando Rech, Diego and Cassio, while Cristiano and Alemao are still on the books.
Interestingly, they have shown patience with Alemao, who failed to impress last season. If he does come good, it will be a reward for their patience.
Certainly, Jonas Salley proved last season you can improve if given time to settle-in.
Another unheralded arrival who has matured with his time here and is now one of the most crucial players for his side is Sydney’s Terry McFlynn.
While Dwight Yorke and Juninho had their high moments, and Kazu Miura, Benito Carbone and Michael Bridges did well on short term stints, McFlynn has been the one Sydney import that has stood the test of time.
As we look forward to the start of the latest season, let’s hope the list of A-League import hits continues to grow.
Excluding guest players of the ilk of Carbone, Miura and Bridges, here are my top 10 imports: Fred, Yorke, McFlynn, Hernandez, Miller, Rodriguez, Cassio, Diego, Dadi and Qu.
And here, excluding guests like Romario, are my 10 worst imports; Jardel, McMahon Jr, Devine, Wedau, Bull, Buess, Lynch, Gemmill, Deane and Corbo.
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