- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Allessandro Del Piero delivered some magical moments in his first season in the A-League, but his first season as a Sydney FC player was a failure from a team perspective, with Sydney FC missing a finals spot.
Del Piero had moments where he looked like a world champion. His left foot strike against Perth was one of some great moments. He weaved past defenders and scored his fair share of quality goals.
But where he let himself and his club down, was a perception that he saw himself as being above, not part of, the team.
Although the accusation that he isn’t a team player is from someone looking in from the outside, there is evidence to back it up.
Del Piero took all of the free kicks and corners. There wasn’t a time when he took a back seat to allow for a bit of variation or for someone else to step up. It wouldn’t surprise whatsoever to learn that this would have been a condition agreed to by the club.
It was his way and only his way. When Sydney had an attacking free kick, nobody ever approached the ball but the Italian.
He did score from the dead ball. But when you take every single free kick you should score at least a couple of goals in the season. He missed an important penalty against Melbourne a few weeks back.
There were times where he clearly shot when taking a corner. Of course there will be those who will claim that this is nonsense, but if you’ve seen enough football, you get a feel for these things.
It wasn’t a surprise that his backpass lead to Brisbane’s first goal in the final round, a result that would ultimately sink Sydney FC’s hopes. A player who wanted too much to revolve around him made the error that turned the match in the opposition’s favour.
Having del Piero in the league was great for the profile of Australian football. But to have him in a team with former and current Australian players Jason Culina, Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton, along with other talented players, yet not make the finals in a competition where 60 percent of teams will, can only count as one major fail.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.