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When the Australia media asked Pim Verbeek what was wrong with our A–League his answer was “do you have an hour?”
Since the origin of the A-League, it has been heavily criticized by some, often unjustly. Many are quick to dismiss our top football competition.
However, I feel it’s time to take a look at where we’ve come from, where we are going, and perhaps some of the potential problems of the A-League.
What the A-League has done.
I’ve watched many A-League games, and although I do believe the league still has development to do, I think considering it’s only in its fifth season, the league needs to be given credit.
It has given Australians a professional league to play and develop football talent and has given fans a chance to build a real football culture, as well as a chance to watch and support some of our local talent.
The A-League needs to be given credit and support as it continues to support Australian football.
It’s fair to say the football is still in its infancy. In terms of skill and development, Verbeek has pointed out a number of criticisms of our league.
Our national team coach has mention the fact there is too much space and that the tempo of the league has got a way to go, which I guess is fair enough.
However, the recently appointed coach of Melbourne Heart, John van’t Schip, has been quoted as saying that the A-League is “on par with the Dutch second division.”
So perhaps were not as far behind as once thought. Since then, Alex Brosque has been chosen in a 23 man Socceroos squad when our first team European players were available.
So where do we go from here?
It’s safe to say football in this country has came leaps and bounds from where it was at the start of the century.
As for the, A-League it must aim to do three things to keep improving:
first, it must continue to build support for football across the nation, keeping ticket prices cheap, and keeping a football atmosphere in every game building a culture of football.
On the field, teams need to get quicker, with a greater reliance of skill not strength, as well as more complex tactics followed with an exciting brand of football.
Lastly, the A-League need to continue to produce players of international standard to play overseas. Dario Vidosic and Mile Jedinak are two A-League success stories.
Every exciting player the A-League produces lifts the standard and expectations.
We must take constructive criticism and continue to build a league that will one day be the best in Asia.
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January 15th 2010 @ 10:48pm
Midfielder said | January 15th 2010 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
Dave
Good article will comment more latter…
January 19th 2010 @ 1:42pm
Ghost said | January 19th 2010 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
Good article mate.
I’m going to leave the ‘off the pitch’ stuff alone for once and make a player-based comment.
On the positive I think our league has improved bit by bit each season – not each and every club in an even way, but certainly overall.
However I think we let some potential quality go begging because of the gap between the training and fitness regimes of other leagues and that of our A-League. This has not only been acknowledged by various journalists over time, but also recently by Sydney FCs club doctor himself in his regular piece in the member newsletter.
In a competition where we are currently salary-capped (and more generally where clubs are not swimming in riches) it is always important to find or develop those players that are great value for their price. But it is also important to have a training regime that lets them reach their maximum potential so that the club and the fans get the most that is possible out of the squad. And for the players, reaching their full potential makes them more valuable both to their current and to prospective future clubs (s well as, possibly, to the Socceroos) so they have an interest in doing the hard yards in an intelligent world-class training system.
I greatly enjoy the A-League but I think this is one area where, with a couple of seasons of consistent hard work, we could add maybe 20% ‘extra’ to the competition without fundamentally changing squads, salary caps or other structural things.