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A-League players you'd like to see return

Roar Guru
29th October, 2012
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Ivan Franjic's departure to Russia hurt the Roar's title challenge. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Guru
29th October, 2012
41
1119 Reads

The focus and attention this year in the A-League understandably has been on the likes of Alessandro Del Piero and Emile Heskey. Former Socceroos such as Richard Garcia and Vinnie Grella have come back, while star import Marcus Flores has also returned.

However, in the last few years, the A-League has lost a few influential players, and judging by the quality of some of the teams in 2012/13, they would make a welcome return.

Clubs like Central Coast Mariners, Western Sydney Wanderers, Sydney FC and Melbourne Heart need a striker, Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix need an attacking midfielder, while Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets may want a defender or two.

Here are some past A-League players which we would love to have back:

Alex Brosque
Brosque was involved in the inaugural season of the A-League with the Queensland Roar. He ended up winning the Golden Boot award jointly with Archie Thompson, Stewart Petrie and Bobby Despotovski with eight goals.

In season two he moved to Sydney FC. He spent five seasons at the Sky Blues forming various attacking partnerships with the likes of Juninho, Steve Corica and Mark Bridge.

Able to play as a striker or left winger, in 104 appearances he scored 28 goals, and also won a premiership for Sydney FC in 2009/10. Brosque left Sydney FC in 2011, and joined J-League club Shimizu S-Pulse.

This year, Brosque has gone to the UAE where he joined Al Ain. In form, he is a stylish player, who can not only score goals, but can also provide assists as well.

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A real pity that he is wasting his talent in the Middle East. I’m sure a few A-League clubs like Mariners, Heart, Wanderers, and even his old club Sydney FC could do with his services.

Joel Porter
Played for Gold Coast United from 2009 until 2012. Prior to his return to Australia, Porter, a striker, had a successful stint in the lower leagues in England playing for Hartlepool United where he notched up 46 goals in 162 appearances.

When he was at the Gold Coast he was a perfect foil up front with Shane Smeltz, and along with Jason Culina, formed a good combination, taking the Gold Coast to the finals.

Unfortunately, as has been well documented, Gold Coast United are now a defunct club, thanks to low crowds and interest, and a colourful billionaire owner. Clive Palmer was unfortunately out of touch with the football community on the Gold Coast and is a big reason why there is no football on the Coast today.

The result is that Porter is a free agent. I’m astounded that Porter’s experience hasn’t been utilised so far in season 2012/13. Then again, Porter, who was born in Adelaide could pop up with the Reds, if coach John Kosmina isn’t satisfied with strikers Sergio Van Dyke and Bruce Djite.

Nick Carle
Made his debut as a 15-year-old in the old NSL and has been described as having the flair of a South American. At times throughout his career, he has divided opinion among fans and football experts, where some have questioned his dedication and commitment.

For someone with so much talent, there is a school of thought that he hasn’t fulfilled his potential. There have been times where Carle has teased the football fraternity with his sublime skills.

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In 2007, playing for the Newcastle Jets, he won the Johnny Warren medal for player of the year in the A-League. At 25, this was Carle’s time to go to another level. He left the A-League for subsequent stints with the likes of Turkish club Gençlerbirliği SK, and English lower league clubs Crystal Palace and Bristol City. Had trouble settling in and in 2010 returned back to the A-League with Sydney FC.

He struggled with injuries and form in his two year stint in Sydney. In August this year, Sydney FC loaned out Carle to the UAE.

He is expected to return to Sydney FC to see out his contract in 2013/14, unless his UAE club, Baniyas buys him out. I wished after his terrific 2007 season that Carle made the right choice to go with a European club.

Gençlerbirliği SK’s strict training setup didn’t suit Carle’s family lifestyle, and it seems from there, Carle hasn’t been able to really settle. The A-League would love to have him back, but at the end of the day, the sad thing in all of this is we may never see the best of Nick Carle.

Luke De Vere
I thought I should balance this out from just focusing on midfielders and strikers by bringing in a centre back defender in the form of former Brisbane Roar player Luke De Vere.

When he played for the Roar, not only was he a capable defender, but he could also ball play as well. If we want Australian teams, whether its national or club level, we want our teams to have the ability to play from the back. DeVere fit that classification perfectly.

After three seasons at the Roar, Devere left for K-League club club Gyeongnam FC just before his old club were to become premiers in 2011. He has played around 50 matches for his Korean club, and should come under strong consideration for the national team. Whether the move to Korea is a step forward, or a sideways move, only time will tell.

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Joel Griffiths
Won the A-League Golden Boot, a premiership with Newcastle Jets with his twin brother Adam and also the Johnny Warren medal in season 2007/08. It is fair to say he had a big year.

Then, Griffiths left for China, and has been a star for Beijing Guoan, and now has gone to another Chinese club in Shanghai Shenhau where he is mixing it with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

Griffiths didn’t get much of an opportunity at the Socceroos level leading into South Africa 2010. This could have been due to injuries, or perhaps a communication breakdown between himself and former Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek.

He has hinted that he may return to the A-League where he could play for Sydney FC, where his twin brother Adam plys his trade, or come back to Newcastle Jets where his younger brother Ryan also is situated.

Harry Kewell
Socceroo legend who made his mark in the EPL with the likes of Leeds United and Liverpool where he won the European Champions League against Milan in 2005. He was voted by Australian fans, media and players as the greatest Australian football player ever in July 2012.

Yet, today, Kewell who appeared in two world cups, is a free agent, and his career at the present time is in limbo. He left the Victory last season to go back to England for personal reasons. Now like his former teammate Hernandez, there are rumours going around that Kewell could make a return to the A-League.

At the age of 34, Kewell, a winger or second striker, still has something to offer back at the local domestic comp. Whether he’ll return to play for the Socceroos in the future is a contentious debate in itself, as there has been a real issue with the age of various players in the national team.

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Western Sydney Wanderers would be the perfect club for Kewell to finish his career, as he is a local product. But if Kewell were to finish in the A-League with any club, it would be a fitting way to end one of the great careers of any Australian sportsman this country has produced.

Kosta Barbarouses
Played in a few seasons with the Wellington Phoenix sporadically, before he moved across to Brisbane Roar. The Kiwi international forward formed a useful combination up front with Costa Rican player Jean Carlos Solorzano.

Barbarouses scored 12 goals in 33 appearances for the Roar in the A-League where he was part of Brisbane’s title winning season in 2010/11. From there, Barbarouses went to Europe where he joined Russian club Alania Vladikavkaz.

Currently he is on loan with Greek giant Panathinaikos. A striker who is quick on his feet, and is able to have a good finish, is certainly someone clubs in the A-League would love to have. The flowing style of football Brisbane Roar played certainly suited him to a tee.

Carlos Hernandez
When Hernandez started his career with Melbourne Victory, many football pundits were questioning their decision to sign him. At the time Hernandez appeared to play overweight, and took him a fair while to get cracking in the A-League.

When he did, however, Hernandez was to become pivotal to Victory’s success in his time in the southern capital.

He scored 36 goals in 121 appearances as an attacking midfielder. Hernandez was the perfect linkman where he’d receive the ball from the back from the likes of Kevin Muscat, and then distribute good ball to the likes of Thompson and Allsopp.

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Hernandez was also good with set pieces, and would score goals from a fair distance on a regular basis. He won a premiership with Victory in 2008/09.

Hernandez announced in June this year that he would leave Victory to take up a one-year deal with Indian side Prayag United. However, there have been reports that Hernandez wants to return to the A-League.

With Victory acquiring the services of Marcos Flores, they may not be the club that Hernandez would return to. A great import player of the A-League, and at the age of 30, Hernandez, one would feel, still has something to offer to any A-League club.

Jean Carlos Solorzano
Costan Rican striker, who was on loan from Costan Rican club LD Alajuelense. Made a mark on the A-League with the Brisbane Roar where he scored 11 goals in 25 matches and was part of the Roars inaugural winning premiership team in 2010/11.

The following year, he transferred south to Melbourne Victory. With a host of attacking options such as Harry Kewell, Carlos Hernandez, Danny Allsopp and Archie Thompson, he didn’t have too many opportunities to the extent to what he had with the Roar, where in Victory colours he failed to score a goal.

He went back home to LD Alajuelense, but, like Hernandez there is a hint that Solorzano could be back in the A-League. A striker of Solorzanos ability could be handy for Wanderers, Mariners and Heart. With Kewell, Hernandez and Allsopp not at Victory anymore, ironically he might have a better opportunity in Melbourne.

Each individual mentioned above does offer something that’s required to make the competition watchable and enjoyable. If I wrote this article a few years ago, I would’ve mentioned Columbian flyer Milton Rodriguez, but he is 36 now, and hasn’t appeared in the A-League since 2006/07.

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Others players I like to see return would be Matt McKay and Matt Simon. While it may be wishful thinking, I would like to see young players like Tommy Oar and Robbie Kruse coming back, as they are currently making a mark in Europe and the Socceroos.

The other interesting thing is with some of the foreign players in the comp. Players like Marcos Flores and Fred played in the A-League, spent some time away and then both returned.

This also illustrates that for these foreign players, the A-League is a good standard competition. It also shows the other appeals of playing in Australia, with a great lifestyle and climate that many of us, who are born and raised here, take for granted.

The A-League may not be the EPL, Serie A, or La Liga, but it is a league that will go from strength to strength.

Maybe in five-years time, I’ll write an article on the Roar to see which other players you like to see return to the A-League. The way things have been going, there will probably be a lot of quality names in that list.

Roarers, who would like to see back in the A-League?

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