The unravelling of Spider’s web
Roar Guru By Jesse Fink, 14 Aug 2009 Jesse Fink is a Roar Guru
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- football, Jason Culina, Socceroos, World Football, Zeljko Kalac
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AC Milan Australian goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac grabs the ball as Inter Milan Argentine forward Julio Cruz falls down, during their Italian major league soccer match, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Sunday,May 4 , 2008. AP Photo/Luca Bruno
It wasn’t so long ago, November last year, in fact, that Zeljko Kalac was talking about returning to Australia to coach in the A-League. Coaching, not playing.
“I’ve had a lot of critics in my career, and if I went back and tried to play in the A-League, my motivation would only be about 30 per cent and when it’s that low you are bound to make mistakes,” he told SBS. “That would just give fuel to people who would want to knock me. No thanks.”
Funny that a guy who puts so much store in motivation can turn his back on his representative career because he’s lost the will to fight for the No. 1 jersey and decides he’s happy being a permanent back-up keeper at AC Milan.
Who could blame him though?
What goalkeeper coming to the end of his career would turn down that opportunity? Italian digs. Nice fat pay cheques. Hanging out with Ronaldinho, Clarence Seedorf and, until recently, Kaka.
Get a few jerseys signed for the lads back home. Spend a few bob down the betting shop. A bloody doddle.
But ten months on, Kalac’s charmed life has come to an end.
New Rossoneri coach Leonardo has decided the Australian is surplus to requirements at the San Siro and terminated his contract by “mutual consent.”
Kalac’s replacement is AS Monaco’s Flavio Roma.
It really was too good to last, especially for a player who is a model of inconsistency. Kalac should be thankful he managed to stay there nearly four years and made a motsa in the process.
Some regard him as an inspiration. An Australian at AC Milan? Respect.
Others, such as Mark Schwarzer, take another view: that Kalac took the easy option. Didn’t challenge himself.
Certainly Schwarzer makes great hay out of the fact he is playing regular first-team football for a European club and his old adversary is not. Equally, though, it could be said Schwarzer never challenged himself by taking up offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus when they were on the table.
He didn’t take them up because he wasn’t guaranteed first-team football.
The pressing question now, though, is does Kalac have the humility to come back to Australia and find that motivation he says he would lack playing in the A-League?
I hope he does.
He has made all sorts of noise about wanting to put something back into the Australian game and I don’t think there would be a better way to do that than still be playing. He’s 36, hardly a senior citizen for a goalkeeper, and would have two or three seasons left in him.
There’s talk of a Parma move but that in my view would not a fitting end to Spider’s career: it should be in Australia, in the A-League, when he’s still got something left to give.
If Jason Culina can come back at the age of 28 (he just turned 29), then there’s no good reason why Kalac can’t come back now.
There wasn’t a whole lot to be proved by being a benchwarmer at Milan, but there’s plenty in swallowing his pride and coming home.
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- football, Jason Culina, Socceroos, World Football, Zeljko Kalac
August 14th 2009 @ 11:03am
David V. said | August 14th 2009 @ 11:03am | Report comment
Kalac is regarded as a joke by Leicester fans, who even voted him in an all-time worst XI.
August 14th 2009 @ 11:53am
whiskeymac said | August 14th 2009 @ 11:53am | Report comment
hard to reconcile the fact he was at ACMilan with comments he isnt good enough for the HAL – especially when at 36 he isnt too old for a goalie (albeit at the end). but like anyone coming back, who wld he replace? NQ’s or Jets maybe? wldnt think MV, SFC, CCM, Adelaide, Perth etc wld be interested.
If he comes back at a coach that seems to me to still be a good iput into the local game, especially if he can impart some of the stuff he learned in the “top flight” to kids etc. and to those who poit to his alleged blunders – good coaches arent necessarily good players =)
August 14th 2009 @ 12:02pm
AGO74 said | August 14th 2009 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
Spider is a weird one. How on earth he ended up at Milan even as a benchwarmer is beyond me. Those saying that it was a great achievment usurping Dida obviously don’t realise that Dida for a long time was more calamitous than Kalac! His constant sniping at Schwarzer alienated a lot of Aussie fans towards him. Schwarzer didn’t join Bayern or Juve, only because he would have become another Kalac and as Socceroos fans we should all be grateful that he went to Fulham. Ok, you get good cash and train with some fantastic players but when your time is up nobody is going to pay too much respect about your time spent there. If anyone’s interested I’ve attached a good (though not very flattering article) on Spider here from WSC which as a magazine provides a pretty good barometer of football opinion: http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/1456/29/
August 14th 2009 @ 12:23pm
Greg Russell said | August 14th 2009 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
One would imagine that Kalac would have to be contracted as a marquee player in the A-League. That would be a brave and unusual move by a club, because goalkeepers don’t usually put bums on seats or generate gigabytes of media attention.
(As a reminder, Culina is a marquee player, and I don’t imagine there are many non-marquee players, if any, on $200k pa. That is chicken feed compared to what Kalac could get almost anywhere else in the world, as evidenced by the case of Adam Griffiths this week.)
August 14th 2009 @ 12:36pm
whiskeymac said | August 14th 2009 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Greg you are right. money is better spent elsewhere for a HAL team, and as marquees go he would potentially underwhelm. no direspect to him or his career but you’d think a club wld rather spend marquee (marketing) dollars on a fowler/ dwight yorke type than on a 36yo goalie who isnt even a current socceroo.
August 14th 2009 @ 12:58pm
DiCanio said | August 14th 2009 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
He’s well spoken and had plenty of time to pick up trade secrets while at AC. Would make a great goalkeeping coach or even contribute to some sort of technical cirriculum for goalie training.
I say this because when I was a junior and unatheltic I was relegated to goalie. Was lucky enought to have an ex-australian keeper run 3 or 4 training nights at our club. That year the goalie and runner up of the year were myself and the other goalie from my team.
Those 4 sessions amde a world of difference.
August 14th 2009 @ 4:16pm
Mattyg said | August 14th 2009 @ 4:16pm | Report comment
It would be great for him to take up a development position to ensure future Australian goalkeepers know what is needed to succeed at the highest level.
August 14th 2009 @ 2:57pm
Rorschach said | August 14th 2009 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
First saw Spider as a 17-year-old with Sydney United. Raw, but full of promise. Always felt sympathy that he was destined to be a perennial Socceroo second choice. Sympathy diminished by his childish remarks at Schwarzer. Inane to critiicise the latter for turning down Juve and Bayern. Made abundantly clear that he was to be nothing more than back-up. How does that amount to ducking a challenge? Schwarzer was Fulham’s player of 08-09. Australia’s player of the qualifiers. Convincing second choice needed.
August 15th 2009 @ 10:06am
Koala Bear said | August 15th 2009 @ 10:06am | Report comment
I did hear Zeljko Kalac say on TWG that, when his career was over at Milan he would be heading home to take a coaching position of sorts in Australia with his mate Poppa… I hope he does with SFC … He’s always great value with his one liner comments and dry sense of humour… This is what we need in Australian Football now … Football characters with opinions and things to say to feed the Australian Football media… Come home Spider…
~~~~~~~
KB
August 15th 2009 @ 10:09am
Ben of Phnom Penh said | August 15th 2009 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Whether it is financially prudent for Spider to come back is moot. One would imagine that the bank account isn’t in the worse of situations unless he’s really made some interesting investments over the years and everyone is aware that a stint amongst the dust and camels in Doha will do wonders for the personal finances.
The question may more relate to what does he have to do to work towards a successful coaching career. Australia may be able him the chance to do his licence and perhaps undertake some assistant coaching whilst playing for an A-League club. If he is offered something similar elsewhere then good luck to him however he does need to start thinking about the next step. 36 isn’t too old for the A-League however it is certainly far too young to retire.
August 15th 2009 @ 10:24am
pothale said | August 15th 2009 @ 10:24am | Report comment
Interesting Jesse. You certainly raise a number of questions in peopel’s minds.