Mark Milligan has joined a host of Socceroo teammates in the past 12 months to to return to Australia to play in the A-League and resurrect his international career.
The former Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets player has joined the under-fire Melbourne Victory on a loan deal until the end of the A-League season.
Millgan has had a difficult stint in Asia after joining Chinese club Shanhai Shenhua in January 2009. He then moved to second division Japan side JEF United Chiba in 2010 and contended with the tsnami and its fallout last year.
Now the 26-year has joined a whole an array of past and present Socceroos, young and old, back on their home turf. Fellow Australian national team players Nathan Burns and James Troisi are tipped to join him back in the A-League before the end of the transfer window.
Milligan has returned home at an interesting time, both for himself and for Melbourne Victory. The A-League’s biggest club are doing it tough, with new coach Jim Magilton publicly slamming his players after their dismal performance on the weekend with a 4-1 pummeling at the hands of Perth Glory. Magilton hinted at new blood and he’s wasted ittle time in signing Milligan. Expect the versatile defender and midfielder to get some game time straight away.
Milligan will also be expected to stake a stronger claim for his place in the Socceroos line-up.
The 26-year old has played 12 games for the senior national team but recently has usupred by the likes of Rhys Williams, Saša Ognenovski and Neil Killkenny. Holger Osieck has revitalised the Socceroos of late but Milligan, largely, has been off the radar.
Playing in Japan’s second division may do that, though Holger more than most will know the value of Japanese football. But Milligan’s arrival down under can only be seen positively – we have one of our top 30 players plying their trade back on our shores.
Undoubtedly Milligan has the seen A-League players recently making the mark with the Socceroos, something he did himself earlier in his career, and playing in Australia and for the national team at the same time now don’t have to be poles part. With H and Emmo back in town, being an A-League player is no longer a deathknell for Socceroo ambitions.
Where Milligan fits into the current Australian team is hard to say. He is vying with Matt Spiranovic, the Ogmonster and Williams to partner Lucas Neill at the back, and with Luke Wilkshire and Williams to fill in right back. In central midfield he is contending with Carl Valeri, Mile Jedinak and Kilkenny, not to mention Matt McKay. Sometimes versatility is a curse.
Milligan burst onto the international scene back in 2006 when Guus Hiddink named him as a bolter for the 2006 World Cup squad. He may not have got on the park in Germany but is arrival as a promising Aussie footballer was confirmed.
Since then he has experienced the highs and lows of football – trials with European clubs, some highlights at home and with the Socceroos, then success in China and disagreements over his departure from Shenhua.
Considering the stability and the growing profile the A-League currently enjoys, Milligan is making a smart move by coming back. Regular game time in a successful team, which Victory have the potential to be considering the talent they possess, is an enviable shop front for the national team.
Victory’s defence has been brittle all year and its central midfield often ineffective. Milligan should inject some steel into the side, and the man who made his debut back with Northern Spirit in the old NSL is a proven A-League performer who makes a good signing for Victory.
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