Whilst ridiculous prices, a long time bugbear of mine, and fairly poor promotion have resulted in fewer fans than expected at a couple of the events, what has been refreshing so far has been the serious nature of the contests.
Teams like Everton, Boca Juniors, AEK Athens, Rangers and Blackburn have come here with full squads and an attitude to work.
These are s no Mickey-mouse end of the season tours. In the main, they have been very serious preparations for the upcoming season, with emerging players likes Seamus Coleman, Magaye Gueye, Victor Anichebe and Marcelo Canete impressing not only their own technical staff, but the Australian football public.
For the A-League clubs involved, they’ve had valuable hit-outs. While both Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar were unlucky not to get a draw against Everton, and the Wellington Phoenix knocked off Boca, the two Melbourne sides didn’t fair so well.
In a feisty game against the Victory, Boca dominated, while the Heart were also second best against Everton. But neither side were embarrassed.
Yesterday, at the SFS, we witnessed the best performance yet from a visiting side. This was a super effort from Greece’s third club, AEK Athens, which left a disappointing host in Sydney FC flattered by the closeness of the scoreline.
It might have finished 5-3, but in truth the Greeks were at least a three or four goal better side.
Controlling the midfield through the experience of Pantelis Kafes and the energy of his youthful sidekick Savvas Gentzoglou, a future Hellas international if ever there was one, Sydney couldn’t get a touch until the final 10 minutes, by which time the damage was done.
Playing in a flat line as part of Sydney’s 4-4-2, central midfield duo Terry McFlynn and Sydney’s new signing Hirofumi Moriyasu were powerless to stop the onslaught, especially with the creative types, Nikos Liberopoulos and Ignacio Scocco, dropping back to crowd out the midfield.
This is a very well drilled 4-2-3-1, managed by the excellent Serbian Dusan Bajevic, a former AEK player now in his third stint at the club.
What was so impressive about the performance was its intensity and how sharp they looked in tight areas. Clearly a couple of early warm-up games in Europe have helped.
Club legend Liberopoulos is back after a couple of seasons in the Bundesliga and it’s as if he never left. You only had to see the amount of number 33 AEK shirts around the SFS to know how revered he is by the fans.
While he and Kafes set the tone by getting on the ball with their astute touch and poise, they had able support from central defenders Daniel Majstorivic and Kostas Manolas, who suffocated Alex Brosque and Mark Bridge.
Brosque may have bagged a brace, mainly due to the generosity of Kafes and Ioannis Arampatzis, but I don’t recall him being this anonymous since Vitezslav Lavicka arrived just over 12 months ago.
While many of the experienced AEK players stood up, equally impressive were the younger brigade.
During the week I heard from a long time The Round Ball Analyst reader ‘Sir Alex’, now based in Athens. He suggested I keep an eye out on Argentine playmaker Scocco. It was astute judgement as ever.
Whether out on the right, or left, or through the middle, Scocco was a mixture of pace and skill, jinking and twisting the Sydney defence one way, then the other. Some player.
Sir Alex was also high in opinion of Scocco’s compatriot, Ismael Blanco, AEK’s main goal getter, and his mobility and technique was another feature here.
There is something about these Argentine diminutive types in the front third. As if there weren’t enough in South Africa a few weeks ago, they’re all over the place.
A week or so ago we saw Marcelo Canete of Boca turn on a virtuoso display against the Melbourne Victory at Docklands, toying with the likes of Grant Brebner, Rody Vargas and Adrian Leijer. Reports suggest he was equally impressive against the ‘Nix.
Graham Arnold, at the Central Coast Mariners, certainly looks to have brought in one of his own in Patricio Perez. If the playmaker is anywhere near the level of Scocco or Canete, he will be the player to watch this upcoming season.
It wasn’t all Argentinean though yesterday, with two Brazilians, in Leonardo and Eder, also catching the eye. There was even a young Aussie, in Nathan Burns, making a cameo.
In years to come, as the likes of Gentzoglou, Manolas, Scocco, Leonardo and Eder make their mark across Europe, many downunder will remember the afternoon they first laid eyes on them.
What a privilege it was.
Midfielder
Guest
Vinay Australia has a long way to go in Football terms... there are many challengers .... there are many problems... But if we could encapsulate it into one theme it would be quality... On the plus side ...we have heaps of players... Australia's best sporting brand in the Socceroos... a small but growing media .... and slowly a better understanding of football by the non hard core rusted on... and I think a greater acceptance by the hard core rusted on to the WC bandwagoners... On the negative side ... we have soooooooooo few quality coaches at park level ... until we are free to air this will never improve ... an example I coached a cricket team U 15 & 16 two two grand final wins and undefeated in the second year by simply listening to Richie say where to ball and how to hold your bat... Our structure is still all over the shop... in RL, RU & AFL they have a district side who have reps who go and play for the local side... in football we have park sides with rep teams ... then we have two different levels of state teams of which many played in the NSL... then the A-League where aside from the Mariners the teams have not been able to connect to the various associations... Carrying nine national teams is great but it cost heaps and we have over 200 players overseas... HHHHHMmmmmm ... Very small budget our TV deal is one tenth of the current AFL deal.... Having said all that we are developing a following for the A-League and have had a youth league running for two years now and there are heaps of young players in the A-League squads this year... U 13 internationals to keep our best young players and individual coaching at top level for our best 60 young players aged 6 yo 16... meaning that quality thing is being addressed at least at the top level.. I do worry about the late developer if they will ever be picked up .... Looking forward if we can make it to the next media deal Football will be much stronger.... Until then on existing budgets and players I think we punch a little above our weight and that is a good Aussie thing...
Tony Tannous
Expert
On the subject of the crowd at yesterday’s double-header, which a few here have braced, at first I thought the price of $29 for the cheapest seats was a pretty decent one. But then I checked to see what the cheapest child tickets were, and they are the same $29 Category 4 tickets. What’s worse, there is no Cat 4 family ticket. The cheapest family tix are the Cat 3 ones at $120.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Tony, thanks for that. I am a great believer in Australian sport and I want no part of the sniping that goes on among the codes. I think it is childish and belittling. Every sport has its place in the sun and how it presents is up to the stakeholders. We ultimately get the sport we desrve. I know Australia has the athletes to excel at football. Is the pathway sufficienly defined for football? How can more facilities and money be available? Unfortunately sponsors only get on the bandwagon once success is there. What is the A-League slogan? Qantas had UNLEASH and FIFA have COME PLAY..AFL have Auskick.. My questions are geared towards finding a better way and I hope they are seen as such.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Tony - Everton were not even going at half pace. It was their first game back from holidays. This is why Sydney were competitive against Everton. Some perspective please. AEK had 4 warm up games already before turning up here. They started the game with what is basically their best XI minus Diop and Djebbour. Burns said before the game that the manager is looking to cut the squad from 30 to 26 and he wants to make sure he makes the cut. The fringe players like Burns will be trying to impress. AEK have a huge Europa qualifying game on August 18. They have to make sure they qualify. This is whyAEK they looked quite slick on Sunday. Sydney did not expect this and had no idea how to counter.
OneJayBee
Roar Rookie
I saw the Everton game and agree totally with Tony - Sydney were competitive back & middle, a bit behind at the 'sharp end' - mind you they seemed to get a valid penalty appeal ignored.... People shouldn't forget Sydney aren't full strength at present either and are trialling a few people like that young tall striker who scored yesterday. But yes, ALeague clubs get one 'marquee' player if they are lucky, the Euro clubs (especially the bigger ones) have them on their bench!! Looking forward to seeing the weds games in the flesh to get another look at how things are shaping up. Hope the crowd picks up big time, it needs to be an annual event...
Tony Tannous
Expert
Vinay, Your question re how the A-League stacks up is pertinent one. Having seen much of the pre-season, I’ve been tossing this one up myself. Sydney were very very competitive against Everton. It was a good quality game, very good tactical organisation from both. The major difference, for me, is that Everton had a little more quality inside the box. Sydney had their chances, but Brosque and Petratos fluffed ‘em, while Anichebe nailed one. Otherwise, fairly even. The biggest difference is the depth of quality in the front thirds, that’s where the money is, after all. Melbourne Victory, for example, looked absolutely toothless without Thompson and Hernandez against Boca. Others have made the point, but our cap and the need to grow the league responsibly is the main reason. While our clubs might be able to afford ONE Scocco, Leonardo, Blanco, Eder or Liberopoulos, AEK have five or six, and they are not even close to being one of the big European clubs. Where we can get better (and it has finally been happening the past 15 months in my mind) is in the technical aspects around manager and player identification (who to bring in). Some horrible mistakes have been made over the past few years, and at many place, continue to be.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
It is good to hear the reports and I wish I could have seen the game to watch Nathan Burns in action. Hopefully he does enough this year to earn a call up for some of the upcoming friendlies and, hopefully, the Asian Cup.
Art Sapphire
Guest
I hope so too. This is the sort of tournament that needs support. I'm in Melbourne, but if I was up in Sydney, I would definitely be attending.
OneJayBee
Roar Rookie
thanks Art - I hadn't had a chance to go through all the posts. That crowd seems very disappointing, I thought any of the four teams could have pulled that on their own... maybe wednesday will be better.. cheers
Art Sapphire
Guest
I had already posted the figure in the post above you - Here's the official figure - Crowd: 14,153 went thru the turnstiles to watch during the whole day.
OneJayBee
Roar Rookie
Hi, I couldn't attend but will be there Wednesday night - I can't see a crowd figure anywhere - can someone who was there advise what was announced please?? Thanks!!
Art Sapphire
Guest
Vinay - the best will always go overseas. The object is to produce more accomplished youngsters. We are beginning to see that with the current batch of under 19's. The new TV deal will also help. At the moment A-league clubs do not receive a dividend. The next deal should be big enough for the A-League clubs to receive a few million each and ensure their viability. The clubs then will then be able to focus more on their football departments and less on how to make ends meet.
Axel V
Guest
and AEK are a small fry, overall in the European landscape! ;)
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Art,your post further down on the young Socceroos is indeed encouraging and talks about a structured build up and close passing game. How then do we keep these youngsters in the A-League. How do we stop our best going overseas. it is hard and the obvious solution is to have more money in the A-League. The eternal chicken and egg.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Sorry Vinay, I wasn't trying to imply that was your opinion as I always enjoy your comments. That comment was more my own thinking as the first gut reaction to a 5-3 loss. It definitely shows the areas that need improvement and the deficiencies shown against AEK we see quite frequently when A league clubs play against the Korean and Japanese teams in the Asian Champion league (ACL) . At first I thought we are going to have to wait for a whole new generation of young players to come through small sided games and other technique based programs but Adelaide (in the ACL) showed you can close the gap quite a bit with good coaching and tactics. Coaching quality at both A league and Youth development level seem the key, and I will be really interested to see how Sydney go in the ACL in 2011 with more time with their Czech Coach under their belt. Hopefully they have a settled roster at that time because I think given the smaller budget of our clubs the drop of between an A leagues best 11 and their reserves is much greater than for the bigger European clubs at this festival.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Vinay - the AEK squad is valued at 50 million Euro on the transfer market. The Sydney squad is worth around 7 million Euro and their best player Carle did not even play yesterday. What we saw on the pitch was a fair reflection on how money translates to quality. AEK's wage bill would be also be about 4- 5 times Sydney's.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
AndyRoo,I had no intention of damning the A-League but at the same time I believe it is pertinent to compare the standard. It is improving but surely we want it to improve more.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Excellent display of entertaining football by AEK yesterday. I am amazed how the Everton got 40k for their kickabout and this double header where the football was always going to be of a higher standard only got 14k. The participating clubs are much closer season start and they are taking these games much more seriously. Just as the Sydney public can't tell the difference between quality football and non-event football. The local bookies ignorance also got it wrong. Much to my annoyance I found out too late that AEK was paying $2.45 for the win yesterday. Money for jam. On a positive note - Check out the match report - great result. Good signs for the future. Qantas Young Socceroos down Korea Republic http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/2009InsideFFA/default.aspx?s=insideffa_newsfeatures_newsitem_new&id=34348
Farqwar
Guest
I was at the game and thorougly enjoyed it. It was a great international atmosphere and it was a pleasure to watch the quality of football that was on offer. As for Sydney it just seemed they were a level below, it's not that the players aren't good enough it's just that the professionalism isn't quite there yet. The other teams knocked it around like they were doing their job, and it was great to watch. Sydney tried really hard but there were too many poor first touches, passes not finding the man and giving away posession, and the thinking was too slow and off the ball movement was poor and chaotic. I think this area of the game will take time to grow, in fact, I think if Sydney were playing teams of this quality regularly they would gradually rise to that level, but it's important the fans support it now so we can one day get it to where we want to be.
Con Stamocostas
Roar Pro
Hey Tony, Great article mate. I was at the game and was very impressed with AEK. Also I thought Nathan Burns was impressive. He should have been at the World Cup. He looks like he is improving. Unlike other youngsters ho have gone Overseas you can see that he is developing Also why play at 12:45 pm?. .