New signings suggest A-League has finally matured

"Rooney came on in the 2nd half and lazily slotted a regulation goal (maybe two, can’t remember) - I remember it pretty clearly, he could have waltzed into the same position with his eyes closed." sorry - that sounds contradictory!! the one goal I can remember, I remember clearly (but he may have slotted two, can't remember that much)

Towser Very true about Gamba - they were terrific - technique and attacking intent could not be faulted - wonderful to see a minnow (relatively speaking) taking the game to a team like Man Utd - no doubt van der Sar wasn't pleased about fetching the ball out of his own net three times! What contributed to the 5-3 win? You'd have to say, as you've hinted, that it boiled down to the experience that comes from playing in a league like the EPL where you are absolutely tested week in week out, and the ability to think quickly on your feet. Plus - we probably have to refer to the ol' cliche of physicality - no denying that it's a contributing factor. Take the most obvious example - anytime there was a corner kick for Man Utd - they must have been quaking in their shoes at the sight of Vidic lumbering down!! (and who wouldn't be??!!) I think he scored two goals from corners from memory. Rooney came on in the 2nd half and lazily slotted a regulation goal (maybe two, can't remember) - I remember it pretty clearly, he could have waltzed into the same position with his eyes closed. The truth is, as good as Gamba were (and I thought they were terrific), it always looked like Manchester United were going to win it, one way or another. And I guess that's the secret ingredient - the key to success - the "one way or another".

Very true about players like Moore Muscat Carlos & yes I'd throw in Corica. Reminds me of when I watched ManU play Gamba last year in the WCC.Gamba lost little in my book regarding technique,but where the difference lay was as you said in football smarts,the speed a correct option was made & proved effective. Whether thats due to ManU playing at a club in a competition ancient compared with the J-League I dont know. A matter of debate. However I do know one thing you are absolutely correct in stating that been there done that players are invaluable to our fledgling league.

Speaking of Craig Moore, I recall after a game at the Dome, which we won 2-0 (but in which were actually quite poor), Craig Moore talked about the speed of execution of someone like Muskie (as opposed to a lot of the Roar players that night - who for the most part, actually controlled much of the play). What he meant was the quickness with which a player like Muskie decides to go a particular way, take an option, without the need to think about it too much - the instinct for the game. Of course, we're not talking about technique anymore, we're talking about football smarts, reading the game, decision making etc - I'd say all of equal value to technique (skill on the ball) - you can't have one without the other. And the blokes that have it are precisely blokes who have been there and done that: Moore, Muskie, Carlos, probably throw in someone like Corica. You can imagine the value of players like Moore and Muskie - it's not just the massive experience - but the value of their onfield leadership cannot be understated. Not only do they know where to go, with or withoug the ball, but they're going to make sure their charges are there waiting for it as well - you just can't buy that sort of onfield leadership. When I was blogging with 442, I had the opportunity to talk to Muskie after training, and he talked about a particular game where he basically decide to go forward as the central defender - almost acting like an Attacking Midfielder to help win the game (which they did - might have been that come from behind win against Adelaide). The truth is - you don't want just anyone making a call like that in the middle of the game!!

Sentence in previous post should read:- "Much easier as you say to defend against players such as this if the balls 24 inches from his foot ,rather than 12."

It's going to be interesting too see what sort of tempo the a league settles into over time on the field. I think we all expect it to be an up temp style but obviously played at summer it won't be as fast as England. Wether just that little bit slower allows a few playmakers (that dont move as much) to develop and have a place will be interesting.

Pippinu Zullo despite his speed would be far more effective if he kept the ball closer. After his debut season he became to predictable for defenders. Much easier as you say to defend against players such as this if the balls only 12 inches from his foot ,rather than 24. He either slows down & keeps the ball closer in, which case he loses the speed element or speeds up in which case he pushes the ball further in front & loses the control element. Reverse it for Robbie Kruse. What you notice with players at clubs like Celtic is that the ball is always where they want it to be. Always on the proverbial phantom string. We could go on as you know,but as we've said before its what seperates professional sport from the amateurs,deliverance. THe A-League is somwhere in between in my estimation of "professional" whereas the J-League is there. As Craig Moore said (& he should know the difference with the A-League & estabilished professional leagues) is that when the speed & intensity increases A-League football becomes mistake ridden & promising moves break down. Nothing you can do about it till we improve our technique at Junior level.

Anyone interested in listing 4 or 5 players from each (original) club with a poor first touch? I'll make a start, alphabetical order, starting with Adelaide: Barbiero Cornthwaite Spagnuolo Younnis Salley Brisbane next May as well keep going: Nicholls Packer Smits McCloughan could only think of four May as well keep going CCM: Porter Simon Clark Bojic

Towser Mitch Nicholls is in a category that includes about 40 to 50 players (4 to 5 of each club) who are pretty much on par in that area - almost indistinguishable - if people want to understand why the A-League sometimes looks a little clogged up in midfield, with the ball in amongst a mass of legs - look no further than what you are highlighting there (amongst other things). Having said that - just minor improvements mean a massive jump in quality and spectator enjoyment. As an example, just focusing on the first touch, keeping the ball within 12 inches of you, as opposed to 18 or 24 inches (probably being a little bit generous there) - is a small improvement with immediate and overwhelmingly positive outcomes for everyone, sort of like a small step for man, giant leap for mankind type of thing.

No, I would assume you wouldn't. Most jobs I know of require at least a basic grasp of the English language. Good luck finding work. Oh and I didn't run a spell check on this post. Or any other post. I can spell all on my own. I also know the multiplication tables.

Sorry Tom for not structuring my response and doing a spell check before writing my response on a football forum. I mean it's is not as if i have a job or anything to do during the day

Mahony, an interesting point. Certainly it is good to see that A-League club management is showing a healthy capacity to learn (witness the difference in Adelaide's approach to the ACL second time around).

I think we can get used to this cycle. We'll always some talented, ambitious players at the conclusion of each season but in turn they will be replaced by the up and coming youngsters and the importation of experienced professionals before the start of the following season. As long as we recognise the cycle exists and that it balances out from year to year, there's nothing to worry about.

That's okay mate, no worries.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of when WE are getting better is when we are looking at the technical ability of our youngsters coming up from the youth leagues into our A-League squads. Already I see improvement,Tommy Oar at the Roar comes to mind. But when I look at the first touch of a Brazilian like Henrique(one of thousands from Brazil) as I did last Sunday in a trial against the Jets & compare his first touch to that of Mitch Nicholls(a young Socceroo off to Egypt in September) I realise where were at. Dont get me wrong Mitch can control a ball better than I ever could is athletic & he has a sense of awareness & positioning on the pitch. When we see players like Mitch with the technique of Henrique then you know were maturing like the good wine Chook mentioned. Thats not to say though that the A-League itself cant slowly mature by the quality of import we bring in. Robbie Fowler may be made in England but our young strikers can learn from him. Same as Mitch Nicholls from Charlie Miller & Luke De Vere from Craig Moore(moulded in Scotland) at the Roar.

I don't normally 'take up the new ball' for the NSL - but on this ocassion I would sugest that Australian football (through the A-League) is re-learning how to engage with the international footbal labour market. One of the 'costs' associated with the scorched earth aproach to re-booting football in Australia fisix years ago was the loss of much competition-wide corporate knowledge about these matters (as well as club-based youth developemt). The A-League is mutch better placed than the NSL to do these things well over time, but it should be acknowledged IMO that the A-League is not the first football league to learn these leassons. Like many things in life - we just needed to re-learn it.

The A-league may still have a way to go, but thankfully the quality of the football is much better than the quality of Simone's spelling, grammar and reasoning. Sorry Kazama for the misunderstanding. My mistake.

Is it just me or am I the only one who find a team named Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals a little disturbing? Anyway onto maturing. is the maturing like a piece of mouldy cheese in the fidge or like a good wine? We have a number of fronts to mature on. The fans have to mature as to the level they expect and should expect. We only really get 3 options its either EPL, Champions League or A- League for the avereage punter. Problem is there is a vast gap and fans have to be mindful of what they are watching. The coaching talent is still growing and I would hope to see a few more European type coaches come to the A- league over the coming years. Junior coaches and player only learn and get better from having these type of guys to our shores Players well it would be nice to see a few more players from the A- League get a spot in the Socceroos run on squad in the World Cup. I think the last point would be the real level of maturity, having Fowler and other imports is great and i will enjoy watching him play and it will lift the level of the league but we need to ensure that at a club level the football get better and at the A-League it get better. I think it has but its been slow but the level is getting better which is up.

Whats your definiton of big league? The top flight in England, Spain and Italy? OMG I totally thought our 5 year old comp was better than then them, thanks for that info and assuming where idiots Simone. Theres a big differnce between being prepared to trial for your local team and being a Chinese Internationl prepared to pay his own way to trial in the Al league. I would say at least 7 of the existing 8 teams would beat the first year version of themselves and all 8 have put out squads that at one stage have been better than there first year squad. Thats maturing...of course you have some way to go Simone in that regards.

No worries mate.