Australia has seen its World Cup end in a resounding roar, cheer and a few tears. Our squads average age is 31.5 years old and it’s time for a new coach to start a new era for the Socceroos.
The A-League is Australia’s professional competition and is the future for producing future Socceroos, however overseas players have been far more preferred over our domestic boys and I think fans need to understand why.
There are a number of arguments for and against and many precedents that have been set to argue both ways in regards to the quality of the A-League. New Zealand has shown that A-League boys are more than capable of holding their own in a World Cup. However losses to Kuwait and an unconvincing display against Indonesia for the Socceroos with local based players showed that the A-League has a long way to go.
The reason why the A–League players are stubbed for their European friends is very simple.
People forget the days Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic, etc graced our league and were considered our ‘best’ players. People would cry and complain that these players should be on the national team, and now they are and are better than before and just because they aren’t playing in the A-League anymore doesn’t mean they don’t represent the A-League.
Just because Tommy Ora is in Holland now doesn’t mean he isn’t a product of the A-League. The best of the A-League go overseas for more money and to further their career which ultimately makes them better players. Why would the national team coach select players in the A-League when the best A-League players are now in Europe? This is a proactive approach to player selection, however it seems to be working for us and I personally don’t want it to change.
These players were the best of the A-League, and just because they are not technically in the A-League any more doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be selected ahead of domestic based players when FIFA allows them to be of course.
However, I do believe there needs to be a shift in the type of player selected that is based overseas. It is unfair for one player to be expected to be get game time in the Bundesliga or J-League were someone who gets time in the J2-league is selected over them.
That is why European based players should be selected, which players should be selected is a different story and will be discussed in a future article.
Dan
Guest
Exactly... I'm a believer of the idea that unless you're at one of the top 25 clubs in world football, with the best coaches teaching you and the best players training with you, ACTUALLY playing is far better than sitting on the bench. the standard of the a-league is miles behind the big boys, we know this. but the sooner that players like Burns, Carle et al. realise that sitting on the bench (if they're lucky) surely isn't as good as actually playing. these guys must be super competitive, and not playing and being happy with that fact surely brings into question their mentality? (yes that is a bit of a pop at carle). if we get a bit of a mentality shift, the euro-benchwarmers will realise that playing is better than watching and that the a-league is the better option (see Carle, Leijer, Theoklitos). having these players in the a-league will make the standard better, thus improving the quality of the players that come through the system (seeing a cycle here?) the very best players will always go to europe, heck, even the big south american clubs struggle to hang onto their very best talent, and again, it is good for us to have the schwarzers kewells cahills neils vidukas moores grellas brecianios all playing at the big clubs in the big leagues... but they need to be actually playing.
whiskeymac
Guest
There is also this too consider (plucked from a good Kevin Airs article on 442 ) : we need to "up the fitness levels of the A-League (Sydney's Dr Craig Duncan recently revealed A-League Roos were 15 to 20 percent poorer in fitness tests than the Euroroos)" That's a massive difference, espec when our game plans tend to equate (or did anyway) with high fitness levels and athleticism ie note how many goals the NT get in the last 15 minutes.....
whiskeymac
Guest
who cares where they play or for what league or division for that matter. its a moot pooint as generally the best players play in the better leagues/ teams but the selection for the NT shldnt be done because its not fair someone in J1 is overlooked for some in J2. so what? doesnt matter where they play, its how good they are and in some cases being ina higher division doesnt always equate to a better team set up either (Ok this is a tenuous argument but... for example is playin' for Hull or Grimsby better than playing for Newcastle) or for their development - game time in a lower league when they are young is better than being on the bench. Nathan Burns in Greece hopefully will prove me right here. Valeri how done well in Serie B (and maybe now needs to step up) and was rightfuly chosen in games over a misfiring Grella, an EPL player.
drew777
Roar Pro
Overseas players are better, that is why they are playing overseas. With the exception of Cullina I guess. Then the likes of Carle, Aloisi and Brosque are little more than fringe players.
Dan
Guest
I agree players should continue to prove them selves in top leagues to become better players before they become Socceroos
moo cow
Guest
Collectively the domestic Socceroos team may be questionable but it also doesn't mean individually a player is bad. Let me give you an example, if Tim Cahill was leading a team full of A-league players and goes to play a international match but the players around him play like crap, then Cahill won't get any chances to show his qualities because he isn't getting any service. I definitely believe that there are exceptions like Alex Brosque and Simon Colosimo who can contribute a full strength Socceroos squad, I just think that if the team is playing horribly it can easily make the individual player seem mediocre.