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The complete contrast of the two exhibition games played in the last week may say more about the advantages of an established team playing a touring giant rather than an All Stars team that have never played together.
The NRL have shown how an All Stars concept can be successfully achieved with the annual State of Origin series, where both the Queensland and New South Wale’s squads train with their respective Origin coaches for a significant time in the lead-up to the first game.
I believe the A-League All Stars only trained together for only a couple of weeks. That amount of time that did not allow for any gelling to occur or the brilliance of a manager with the calibre of Ange Postecoglou to shine through.
The Melbourne Victory on the other hand have had the last couple of months to get back into the swing of regular football, training alongside the teammates that they will be playing with for at least the next 12 months.
The end results couldn’t have been more evident on-field.
On Saturday night, we witnessed an All Stars team who could not maintain the ball for more than a couple of passes and were constantly pressed back and forced into mistakes, unable to show the watching world the quality that the A-League has to offer (despite being minus a few notable stars). In the end they were smacked 5-1
On Wednesday night, it was quite the opposite. We witnessed an A-League team matching it for the best part of 90 minutes with an EPL team. A team minus five players that will most likely be in their starting 11 next season (Thompson, Milligan, Traore, Finkler, Nichols).
The spirited performance of the Victory emphasized that the A-League is now a very competitive league on a global scale, which will hopefully become more evident with success from Australian teams in the Asian Champions League in the near future. It also shows that a team of champions is not necessarily better than a team with familiar combinations.
While obviously enjoying the benefits, mostly financial, that a sold out game against Manchester United has to offer, Football Federation Australia has missed a great chance to show the world what football in Australia has to offer.
Had Manchester United played against the Central Coast Mariners or Western Sydney Wanderers, for example, I guarantee you the performance of the Australian representative team would have been more spirited than that of the All-Stars. The result may not have been much different but at least we, as a country, would have shown that we actually have an idea about the game.
I couldn’t commend the FFA more highly for bringing both Manchester United and Liverpool down under, but the opportunity presented by Manchester United is one that has gone begging.
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