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Massimo Maccarone is enjoying life in the A-League but says it’s difficult to play in stadiums that are ‘always empty’.
The Brisbane Roar marquee striker has scored three goals in his first four games, including a brace in last weekend’s 3-3 comeback draw against Wellington Phoenix.
But the 38-year-old Italian import said he’d perform even better if he was playing in front of bigger crowds.
Maccarone volunteered the opinion himself after he was asked by reporters on Wednesday for his view on the playing standard of the competition.
“It’s different from Italy, where I played. But I think it’s good,” he said.
“Every time you go and we play home or away, we play in a good stadium.
“I think it’s not good that it’s always empty – there’s no people coming to see the game.
“When you go to these stadiums and it’s full, it’s very good… I think you play better.”
Having played most of his career in Italy’s Serie A, Maccarone would be accustomed to big, boisterous crowds.
An average of 14,207 supporters have attended the first four rounds of the new A-League season.
At the same point last season, the average was 15,864.
The crowd for Maccarone’s last match at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium was 7,018 — the second-lowest figure so far this season.
Those numbers are exacerbated by the fact that most teams play in large stadiums with big capacities, rather than smaller, more intimate boutique venues.
It comes after criticism directed at Football Federation Australia for a lack of promotion for the new season and their low-key launch event at a suburban soccer club in Melbourne.
The A-League has also been overshadowed by the ongoing FFA congress saga, with clubs openly at war with the governing body over who should wield the power to select board members.
A-League chief Greg O’Rourke said last month FFA had “optimised” its marketing spend to ensure sustained promotion throughout the whole campaign, instead of a “big, flashy thing” at the start of the season.
Maccarone will be hoping for a strong home crowd for the Roar’s clash against the Central Coast Mariners at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
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