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Recently I wrote about five things we learnt from the 2010-11 A-League season. This week some crystal ball gazing; a look at five things hopefully in the future for football in Australia over the next 12 months.
Holger Osieck and kaizen
Improve on the performance at the 2007 Asian Cup? Check.
Win over the fans and journalists through an attractive style of football? Check.
Reignite the hope of A-League players that they can play for the national team? Check.
Avenge the loss to Germany by beating them in their own backyard? Check.
Any way you look at it, it’s an impressive list of achievements, and probably more than most fans would have hoped for in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup.
While there are concerns around the running of the A-League, things at the top of the pyramid seem to be going swimmingly.
But this does not mean Osieck and the Socceroos should rest on their laurels. The next few years are an important transition period for the national team and it requires balancing the need to get results with the need to blood the new generation.
The Japanese have a term for the process of continuous improvement – kaizen. While it has been applied mainly to business and government, it can equally be applied to what the national coach should be aiming to achieve with the Socceroos.
Recently Paul Wilson wrote about Osieck’s challenge in the Observer.
“Holger Osieck was Franz Beckenbauer’s assistant at the 1990 World Cup. The Sydney Morning Herald credits Osieck with reviving a golden generation, no less. That is quite a feat, though not as reassuring as an ability to identify the next generation.”
This is said not to put down the achievements of Osieck, but to restore a sense of perspective.
The journey to Brazil 2014 will be a long one and we need our Aussie Osieck to continue his process of kaizen.
Big managers and the A-League
In recent weeks, rumours have been circulating that former Manchester United captain Roy Keane may be seeking to continue his managerial career with a stint in the A-League.
It would be a massive coup for Melbourne to secure the services of Keane. It suits the A-League’s need that overseas managers should contribute to the tactical and technical advancement of the game in this country, and it would also provide a boost for the league’s profile.
The administrators of the game have admitted the A-League’s marketing needs to be addressed, and while high-profile managers and players won’t be the solution to all ills, it can’t hurt to have them as part of the package.
The women’s time to shine
2011 is a World Cup year for the women’s national team (as well as for the under-17 and under-20 male teams).
The Matildas, ranked 11 in the world, have been drawn with Brazil, Norway and Equatorial Guinea ranked 3, 9 and 61 in the world respectively. The campaign kicks off against the South American powerhouse in Moenchengladbach.
Quarterfinalists at the 2007 World Cup, the Matildas will be looking to build on their win at the last Asian Cup with a strong performance in Germany.
While the Matildas aren’t in the group of death (that honour probably belongs to Group C), they will face a tough test to get out of the group.
With the games due to be broadcast live on SBS, here’s hoping that Australia’s other national football team gets the support it undoubtedly deserves.
On-field standards to improve
Ange Postecoglou and the Brisbane Roar have shown the other A-League teams that it is possible to play entertaining and skilful football. If not for the exploits of the team in orange, the Central Coast Mariners would be receiving many of the plaudits being directed towards the Queensland capital.
The lesson that hopefully has been taken away by the other A-League clubs is that in order to be competitive, they will have to lift their standards, not wait for the top teams to drop theirs.
Good football played on the pitch has many benefits off it through increased media coverage, increased TV audiences, and increased attendances at grounds.
Every fan would want next season’s standard of play to take another leap forward, so that while there may be less quantity of games, the quality gets better and better.
Building bridges
There is a segment of the football family that feels it has been wronged, left out in the cold and not invited to take part in ‘new football’. And this group places the blame squarely at the feet of the FFA.
Whether these wrongs are real or merely perceived, it’s a division that needs to be addressed by both sides.
Football in Australia is going through a particularly interesting period of time at the moment. To paraphrase Philip Adams (in probably the first time he and football have been mentioned in the same sentence), we are standing on a historic hilltop with quite spectacular views.
We can see a long way into the past, how the game has developed in this country, and some distance into the future, a future which hopefully has a united community behind an ever expanding game.
The next 12 months may not be enough time for all the rifts to be mended, but it may be enough time for the process to get underway.
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The above wish list for the next 12 months is ambitious, but while the domestic competition is in recess, football should be aiming to keep growing the game in this country on field, off field, and in the international arena.
To the passing observer, it may seem that football in Australia goes into hibernation over the long winter dominated by other codes.
But football never really sleeps. That’s the beauty of the game.
No matter the time of the day, its always kick-off time somewhere.
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