This week’s incident involving Sydney FC youngster Terry Antonis has proven once and for all that the A-League needs to break for international dates.
For those unaware, Antonis was made unavailable for the Socceroos clash with Japan next Tuesday after being involved in a car accident. He had hoped to be available for this Saturday’s clash with the Melbourne Victory.
The FFA have ruled him out of the clash, as if he is unable to represent his country on Tuesday then surely he cannot represent his club on Saturday, but Sydney FC have stated they will name him regardless.
The battle between club and country has been waging for as long as I have been watching the game.
The fact FIFA create international dates is meant to ensure the best players are available to play for their national sides without worry of being penalised by their club.
The A-League continues to shoot itself in the foot by insisting it play on despite the official international dates.
I understand why the league did not break during its early existence – the impact was minimal as most playing in the A-League at the time were not worthy of international selection.
But with the improvement in the league’s standard, as well as the increased number of international names plying their trade in our local competition, the impact on squads is increasing.
This weekend’s feature fixture is the clash between traditional rivals Sydney FC and the Melbourne Victory. Technically Antonis is unavailable, while Socceroo Mark Milligan will also miss the clash. Although he is injured and unavailable regardless, he would have featured for the Roos against Japan.
Others unavailable for this weekend’s fixtures include Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Matt McKay, and Aaron Moy.
Whenever the Socceroos play, the A-League should break. Or at least spread fixtures out to minimise disruptions. Obviously the lack of fixtures would leave a hole in programming for Fox Sports and SBS for the weekend, but the major European leagues manage.
Missing the internationals is not going to destroy this weekend’s fixtures. Most fans probably won’t even notice that players are missing, but I bet the coaches do.
jamesb
Guest
Why not just have split rounds?
JK
Guest
The problem with having a break is that the A-League loses the spotlight and any momentum gained so far in terms of media presence. Whereas in Europe, when a break is on, there are a tonne of games to watch (over 20) during prime time TV as they are all within roughly the same timezone Hopefully with more teams that enter the competition in the future, it will lessen the impact by dispersing player losses to more teams
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Steve There is no logic to what you said. FACTS 1.There are 9 opponents for MVFC. 2. Sydney FC is MVFC's 6th opponent. 3. We played Wellington & Newcastle BEFORE we play SydFC. If your hypothesis is correct & SydFC v MVFC in R6 is an example of 'front loading', then .... .. logically, it means you also think MVFCvNIX and NEWvMVFC are examples of the FFA's obsession with 'front loading' - which is simply ridiculous! In your fixation to criticise everything about AUS football, you are making statements that give you ZERO credibility.
Steve
Guest
You have no idea mate. They admit they purposely do this. Carry on though.
Knightblues
Guest
rubbish, we cant just stop the comp every time we have an international, how stupid
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Hardly "front loading" - there are 9 possible opponents for each team & this is the 5th opponent. Prior to this match against Sydney, MVFC has played WEL & NEW .. if they wanted to 'front load', I'd expect SydFC & Brisbane to be fixtured before those 2 teams.
Steve
Guest
They absolutely shouldn't be playing the big blue Derbyshire during an international weekend. Way to take the gloss of such a big game for the local league. The obsession with front loading the draw is strange to say the least.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
Antonis is out due to concussion rules being enforced by the FFA.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Of all the sides it is the Phoenix who face squad decimation every international fixture. The fact they have no NYL to draw upon doesn't help matters.
Adrian none
Roar Rookie
1st round needs to move 1 week later maybe they can play FFA cup on the internationals weekend
melbourneterrace
Guest
No doubt, this is an utter farce that we let huge games like this get compromised by international duty. It's not just senior international duty, but youth squad call ups as well that gut squads. Start the season in August/September again like we used to and we can use the extra few weeks to spread the season out.