A-League needs Villa fever each and every week

Two of the biggest proponents of the Melbourne City revolution needed no invitation to deliver fruit after a busy off season.

Damien Duff, two-time Premier League winner, spots David Villa, World Cup winner, with a sublime cutback. One touch, two touch, goal.

The blood of Melbourne Heart present in the away jersey, the life of Melbourne City gloriously breathed on the Allianz Stadium pitch.

Two international superstars linking up to ring in the new season and City’s new era. All the while, the club’s international marquee wasn’t even laced up, Robert Koren’s A-League debut halted by injury.

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Villa was the obvious headline grabber before he had even heard of Sydney FC. It offered one of many angles for the opening round of A-League fixtures: the burgeoning Victory-Wanderers rivalry on Friday, the F3 derby on Saturday afternoon, the stimulation of aesthetically pleasing sides Brisbane and Adelaide meeting at Suncorp.

While New York City’s director of football operations, Claudio Reyna, would have been grinning gleefully at the immediate success of his club’s significant investment, the ‘other’ star was busy putting in an impressive 90-minute shift.

Duff may only be alluring to football connoisseurs but he will likely be City’s most valuable acquisition by season’s end.

Despite being snared under the salary cap, the Irishman proved he remains a high calibre player, putting a consistent pre-season to good use with a performance that offered plenty of promise.

His movement and vision helped to bring City’s attack to life, particularly in the opening 20 minutes as the hosts were pegged back and forced to shield wave after wave.

Between Villa, Duff and Koren – in addition to Dutchman Rob Wielaert and Argentine Jonatan Germano – City have assembled arguably the most domineering arsenal of international talent in the league.

Only the signing of an Australian marquee – which was tipped to be filled by Josh Kennedy or Mark Bresciano – could have improved things.

The only disappointment of Villa’s appearance was that it brought us one game closer to what will feel like a premature exit.

Duff, and hopefully Koren, will undoubtedly do their bit to fill the void left by Villa but it remains to be seen whether City will have enough to attract neutrals sans Spaniard.

In fact, come December, the A-League will be in the unusual state of relying solely on momentum rather than recognisable stars.

The existing rivalries. The history formed over the last decade. The loyal fans.

That loyalty won’t be too difficult to call upon. The opening round dished up plenty of cause for optimism. Melbourne Victory looked near flawless as they dismantled Western Sydney, who were but a shade of the side that has stormed through the Asian Champions League.

Josep Gombau’s Adelaide sounded a stern warning with a commanding shift against Roar, while Perth’s winter overhaul yielded success in Wellington.

Everyone becomes a statistician after Round 1, but the fact there were 10,000 fewer bums on seats than last year’s opening week is worthy of a mention.

More than 25,000 at Allianz and more than 30,000 at Etihad on Friday certainly flattered the gate numbers, but it’s no more than could be expected. For a number of clubs, there hasn’t been a great deal of reason to expect a rocketing increase in crowd numbers.

Membership figures are partially up across the league, but the unconverted haven’t received the vivacious preach of previous seasons.

Adelaide, Central Coast, Newcastle and Perth have no marquee players in their ranks, while Wellington and Western Sydney started the new season with only a domestic marquee in their respective squads.

Central Coast and Newcastle proved they could do with some pulling power after playing in a derby that is more lifeless than the Socceroos versus the Kiwis.

10,433 for the opening round in what is drummed up to be one of the biggest fixtures on both sides’ calendar simply isn’t good enough.

Money remains a stiff obstacle, but one must ponder where the Mariners could be if their on-field success was backed up by a player of Alessandro Del Piero’s ilk.

So too, Brisbane. The A-League’s most successful club were linked with German Mike Hanke and Italian legend Francesco Totti earlier in the year, yet have Thomas Broich consuming the international marquee spot.

Roar have proved that superstars don’t always lead to championships, just as Broich has raised questions over what type of marquee players a club should be looking to attract. Substance over style has worked thus far for the Queenslanders, but greater ambition in the marquee stakes could lift them to an unprecedented level.

It seems a travesty for the international marquee slot to be wasted by almost half of the A-League and there will be a few interested eyes glancing at crowd numbers throughout the season.

For 10 weeks at least, Melbourne City epitomise the holy grail of the international marquee element of the game, but the competition will be sweating on the foundations being enough to support a season that is distinctly skint of stardom.

Because the fever pitch of David Villa’s debut is something we should be looking to replicate week in, week out.