It was a record breaking weekend for Australian football in more ways then one, with Adelaide United defeating North Queensland Fury by a league first 8-1 scoreline; more goals being scored in a single A-League round then ever before; the Socceroos qualifying for the Asian Cup semi finals for the first time; and Kevin Muscat becoming the first player to be called up to face the Match Review Panel in person.
However, through all that, three massive issues that will help shape the landscape of Australian football over the next few years stand out.
That tackle
I can’t remember the last time I was left with such a feeling of sadness after watching a game of football, as I was following the Melbourne derby and Kevin Muscat’s “tackle” on Adrian Zahra last Saturday.
Quite a part from the usual emotions of joy or disappointment a game brings, there was this immovable lump in the pit of my stomach brought on by concern for an innocent player’s well being and the regrettable sight of an icon of the game tarring his image.
Possibly for good.
As glad as I am that the injury to Adrian Zahra isn’t as serious as first feared, I’m also disappointed by the opportunism some have taken in not just criticising Kevin Muscat’s behaviour, but the character of a man many have never met.
In that inexcusable moment of madness Muscat crossed the line and will be duly punished. He’ll also struggle for a long time to live that moment down.
As angry as I am after watching a player be assaulted on a football pitch, mostly I’m just saddened by the whole affair.
Questionable player selections
Because of Muscat’s tackle, the biggest issue of the weekend has mostly gone unreported, and it’s one that could have longterm implications for the game.
If we look beyond Adelaide’s 8-1 victory of the Fury from Hindmarsh stadium on Friday night we can see two concerning trends.
First of all, Fury manager Franz Straka has made it clear he will be selecting youth team players in attempt to give his more younger players “valuable” experience.
However, Lawrie McKinna did the same thing at the end of last season with his Central Coast Mariner’s team and we saw the same outcome, a mauling.
The problem is, if you throw a group of unprepared young players into a starting eleven solely for the purpose of giving them experience you risk damaging their development. In such a case, the intended value of this approach is lost.
More concerning though is a trend highlighted in a press release from the Australian Players Football Association last week in which the PFA stated it was concerned by clubs that refuse to select a player who:
• in the last 6 months of his contract, has exercised his right under FIFA and FFA regulations to sign a contract with another club to take effect when his current contract has expired; or
• if selected, will meet an appearance quota in his contract that would trigger a contract
If these concerns are found to have merit, then the whole integrity of the A-League would come into question.
It’s the kind of problem you see regularly in the lower leagues of Italian football and quite simply it would be a travesty if they were to be repeated here.
Socceroos do us proud
After all that, though, let’s end on a positive as Australia’s historic success at the Asian Cup punctuated a dark few days for the game.
Going in to this tournament, all I wanted was to witness a Socceroos team behave in a way that represented Australia and its football community with pride.
I’d much rather have seen Holger Osieck’s men go out at the group stage in a respectful manner then a repeat of the debacle that was Australia’s 2007 campaign.
In the end we got the best of both worlds and in the process those 23 Socceroos have once again made us proud.
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