What to buy? How much to spend? Will it be useful? These are questions many of us are wrestling with at this time of year as the Christmas present transfer window edges closer to being closed.
But while it’s too early to tell whether we’re successful in that endeavour, those of us who are A-League fans have already had time to unwrap our new season presents and had a couple of months to try them out.
Now ’tis the season to run the rule over the gifts that have been giving our season a lift.
For the purposes of this exercise I’m leaving out the recruitment that happened within the A-League, like Besart Berisha going from Brisbane to Melbourne Victory and Youssouf Hersi from the Wanderers to Perth.
Having your club buy a player like that is great, but it’s sort of like getting a present that you’ve already been to the store and checked out and know it’s going to be under the tree on Christmas morning. It’s lovely, but doesn’t quite have the excitement of getting something new, unexpected and exciting.
For me, these are the standout buys based on the first 10 rounds of the season.
Andy Keogh
The club that seems to have got the gift of the season so far is Perth. (Let’s hope they didn’t blow their FFA Kris Kringle spending limit in sealing the deal).
At 28 years old the Republic of Ireland striker has been a tearaway success in all respects. He’s appeared in all 10 league games, scored six goals and boasts the very healthy stat of 28 shots, 14 of them on target. He seems to be the classic example a player who, due to injury and poor timing, barely made it past the fringes at the top level overseas but has come into his own since arriving in the A-League.
He’s certainly been key to Perth going from eighth in 2013-14 to league leaders. The full sleeve tattoo and brush back blonde locks just add to the fan-pleasing package.
Marc Janko
Plenty of players have been delivered to Sydney FC over the years with much more hype than this Austrian striker, but a lot haven’t had such an on-field impact so quickly.
When he arrived Sky Blues fans could’ve been forgiven for thinking the 31-year-old was Mike Cockerill’s long-lost brother rather than the captain of a European national team but he’s won over the fans. He’s started in all seven of his appearances and scored four goals, including a double against Melbourne City – and that’s despite him admitting he started the season a little lacking in the fitness department.
Roy Krishna
Wellington Phoenix are the equivalent of the canny shopper who goes to the humble local market rather than to one of the big brand stores and yet comes away with a the perfect gift. Roy Krishna, like Albert Riera before him, was picked up by the Phoenix while plying his trade with Auckland City in the New Zealand domestic league.
The 27-year-old product of Fiji had been knocking around the local league for six seasons but, given the chance to step up into Ernie Merrick’s side, has blossomed. He’s appeared in eight games, scored four goals and delivered the final pass for another two.
Pacific Islanders have become firm favourites in the other football codes across the ditch but the pocket rocket striker is opening up new possibilities in the round ball game.
Damien Duff
If Melbourne City’s recruitment headlines hadn’t been stolen by a certain Spanish international striker, the arrival of Damien Duff at the newly-named club would’ve attracted more attention. The former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland winger was a very good get for City given they signed him for a year under the salary cap, without having to blow their overseas marquee spot.
In nine appearances in the A-League ‘Duffer’ has proven himself a workaholic. He’s only been subbed off once. That was with injury against Brisbane earlier this month and, sadly, he’s been ruled out until the New Year with a calf injury. Sure, that’s the down side of bringing in a 35-year-old, but he’s hardly taken his foot off the pedal since arriving, racking up more minutes than any of his teammates, setting up four goals and drawing 21 fouls from opponents.
And if Emile Heskey was ideal for Australia because his name rhymed with ‘esky’, a guy who’s surname is the same as Homer Simpson’s favourite brand of beer has also got something extra working for him.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah
The French born Tunisian international arrived at Melbourne Victory with so little fanfare that it seems commentators are still trying to decide how to pronounce his name. Whether it’s ‘Khalfallah’, the Robbie Slater way: rhyming with ‘lah-de-dah’; or Khalfallah as it’s more commonly said. sounding something like a mangled version of ‘cool fella’, he’s certainly attracted some attention with his on-field exploits.
He’s played a part in all 10 games, during which Victory have remained undefeated, scored two goals, is credited with assists on another two and he’s only been topped in the goals on target department by Golden Boot Besart Berisha.
Sure, he’s pulling the trigger more than any other Victory player with 21 shots compared to Berisha’s 19 but he’s also the main provider of crosses into the box for the competition high flyers. He might’ve been low profile when he arrived in the league, but you can bet the attacking midfielder is a high profile consideration for defences around the country, who probably don’t really care how his name is pronounced.
Romeo Castelen
Speaking of pronunciation, if you want to be on first name basis with the Western Sydney Wanderers winger Castelen, bear in mind it’s Romeo as in ‘Alfa’ not Romeo as in ‘wherefore art thou?’
While some of the Wanderers’ other new recruits might’ve in some games attracted the ‘wherefore art thou?’ question, the right winger who was born in Surinam and represented the Netherlands at international level has made his presence felt in his seven A-League appearances. Even so, you get the feeling that his pace down the right side is still yet to be fully exploited as he and his teammates strive to develop better combinations.
Although he’s yet to score in the A-League he got on the board in Morocco this week in the fifth place playoff against ES Setif. The positive was perhaps cancelled out by some not-so-bright news later in the game: he had to be replaced after sustaining an abdominal injury. In a season where not much has gone right for the Wanderers so far, it’s to be hoped Castelen recovers quickly and gets a chance to sparkle more in attack.
So, there you have the players I rate as top six gifts to A-League fans from the wonderful wide world of football.
The fantastic thing about the game of football is the planet is like one big department store full of players. That means there’s almost an endless choice, which can sometimes make the shopping harder but that’s the excitement of it too.
Quite often players we’ve heard almost nothing about turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread and sometimes those we hold great hopes for turn out to be something like the toy you got as a kid on Christmas morning that didn’t include the batteries so you couldn’t try it out; or like the whiz bang appliance Uncle Mike brought back from overseas that doesn’t have the right power adaptor to actually plug in and use.
Like a Mensur Kurtishi. And that didn’t work out well for Uncle Mike. But that’s another story for another day. Hope you don’t find one of them under your tree on Christmas morning! Merry Christmas.
albatross
Roar Pro
He managed to pick up 12 bookings, giving him 3rd highest bookings-to-minutes-played ratio in the history of the competition and 10 cautions making him the most yellow carded player of the season. Now that's a stat. Franko (or should that be Statto) where on earth did you get that data?
adam
Roar Rookie
What about Roly Bonevacia, been the best player in the season IMO but I am a jets fan so anything looks good to me
Bondy
Guest
Fuss Heavy losses incurred by Abramovich this week also Deb Usmanov owns half of Arsenal ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2879043/Alisher-Usmanov-loses-518m-Roman-Abramovich-loses-288m-week-result-Russia-s-financial-crisis.html) ....
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Ha! I've never ventured onto that MV fan forum but, from what I gather, the IQ level rarely reaches double figures ... .. not sure if that is for any 1 individual, or the whole forum. :-D
Franko
Guest
"But journalists are no more experts on football quality than any fan." Perhaps not, but the MV fans certainly spoke when they re-named the "Welcome Pablo Contreras" thread to the "Un-welcome Pablo Contreras" thread after months of mis-timed tackles, unnecessary fouling and conceding of penalties. http://www.melbournevictory.net/showthread.php?61073-Unwelcome-Pablo-Contreras!/page17&s=ec385018f821c965614e34aeadf12349 To bring it back to Mids point however, (which has not been missed) is that the FFA handing advice to clubs about potential signings is a poor idea. Yes the clubs are not forced to take the advice, but nor are punters forced to take the advice of a financial planner, but they do and they get upset when it goes wrong.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Franko C'mon. You're quoting Seb Hassett's analysis of the technical ability of a player? Give me a break. Hassett is a fine football journalist. But journalists are no more experts on football quality than any fan.
Franko
Guest
Really, amongst their best..? He managed to pick up 12 bookings, giving him 3rd highest bookings-to-minutes-played ratio in the history of the competition and 10 cautions making him the most yellow carded player of the season. Here’s a summary from this very website from November 2013: “In the seven weeks since making his regular season debut, the ex-PAOK FC stalwart has missed two games due to suspension and given away two clumsy penalties, the first of which cost his side three points against a Sydney FC side reduced to 10 men.” Seb Hasset summarised his season as “While impressing at times with his skill, his decision-making and positioning have been questioned, with some believing young Nick Ansell should take the veteran's place at centre-half.” Back to the original point, had an FFA Scout written a glowing report of (say) Contreras, their advice may be now looking somewhat wretched. It’s best that clubs live and die by their own decisions and in this instance, MV have made a great improvement with the signing of Delpierre (when fit).
Midfielder
Guest
Franko You have totally missed the point or are arguing for arguments sake... A Scout would write reports on a number of players and what they may costs ... the clubs can use these reports as a starting point ... Say a team wanted a left back ... the scout may have written reports about 6 left backs and the other scouts may have also written reports ... meaning the club has a starting point ... Issue is what scouts does MV, Jerks, Mariners, PG, have in place this gives the coaches at least a starting point ...
Ian
Guest
Enjoyed the article. Saba has potential at WSW, has looked promising, maybe lacking some finishing from what I have seen. Janko has looked good for SFC and Keogh for Perth. Khalfallah for MV I think has combined good passing and as the article states, is a good shot at goal. I think he has been taking some set pieces too - so he has been an astute buy. Hoping the end of year import list will feature some quality players that Brisbane gets in January. If the Bakries allow money to be spent of course.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Franko Pablo Contreras was amongst the best MV players last season. So, using him as your example shows you didn't watch much MV last season. When Contreras was not in the team, MV conceded more goals & lost more matches than when he was in the team.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Saba did a great free kick/goal at the CWC Ms Spillane -Popa has got a good eye for Castelen and Saba I'm not so sure about Adeleke anyways have a Happy Christmas Everyone seeya soon in the Cornucopia of Male Sporting Delight called 2015 ;-)
Franko
Guest
Yes but the point is that imagine the FFA scout had written a report saying Pablo Contreras is an outstanding prospect for any side wishing to firm up its central defence. The guy has played at international level, champions league, is in good physical nick and is keen on a move to Australia. Club X go out and sign the bloke only to find later he is a dud. Sure everybody says they'll "swim between the flags" but every transaction involves risk and it's best clubs manage their own risk so they've only themselves to blame (or congratulate :) )
Midfielder
Guest
The way it was put was an agent would identify a number of players in each position and their background ... the club could then look further ... the agents would not sign anyone simply write reports on players they think would both move and suit the A-League ...
Franko
Guest
Jeeze, that'd open a can of worms. Be like taking financial advice from the Macquarie private wealth team only to find out later your nest egg was leaking. At least Adelaide United could only blame themselves in their attempt to sign "Dexter Rosales". Imagine the FFA were responsible for the signings of Pablo Contreras, Steve McMahon jnr, Mario Jardel and a host of other duds. It's really best the clubs live and die by their own recruiting (even if it is via youtube or paying agents)
Midfielder
Guest
Deb Best for the season and have enjoyed your articles as well as the Hens who seem to have gone now cricket is on... Love you to do an article on the kids developing ... he is a Mariner but Niel at left back at the Mariners has been very impressive as have many of the kids ... SFC, MV, Jerks, AU & the Mariners seem to have some excellent talent being developed... On your topic today I think you got the best imports this year...
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Yonks ago maybe Hal 2 or 3 ... It was Lawrie McKinna from memory and Arnold who was with the Socceroos agreed as did some others... anyway the suggestion was FFA appoint 3 or 4 overseas scouts in South America, Africa, and Asia to look for talent and write reports on various players and send this to all clubs... I always through it was a good idea...
Debbie Spillane
Expert
Fussball ist unser leben. I haven’t given up on Saba yet either! There’s plenty to like about his skill. Haven’t seen a heap of Montano, but, to be fair, there are other problems at the Jets that are restricting his ability to impress. You’re absolutely right about the thousands of potential football gems out there who’ve fallen through the cracks for one reason or another. Thomas Broich is probably the classic example. The top leagues are so ruthless and political that not making it, doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
There must be thousands of undervalued football gems out there for A-League clubs. But, unlike the other major pro sports in Australia where the talent pool is geographically constrained, scouting for pro-footballers involves having eyes in every continent on earth. Slowly, A-League clubs are getting better - as is evidenced by all the names Debbie has identified. I'm also confident by the end of the season we'll be singing the praises of: Saba (WSW) & Montaño (NEW).
Bondy
Guest
Hi Deb Merry Xmas. Theres been some great buys this season I didn't think Keogh would've been as enthusiastic as he's been its good for Perth Glory supporters he may help take them all the way . Khalfallah's been a great pickup for the Victory surging through the midfield also Slater can't pronounce his own name let alone somebody else's . D Duff's been disappointing for mine or maybe its the whole Mlb Cty team that have been lackluster so far. Roy Krishna its great to see a Fijian plying his trade in the HAL the south pacific islanders inc PNG have been playing football for decades we just dont here about it over here . Romeo Castelen creates a great deal of service for the Drive By's their strikers need to finish what he creates . Cant wait for the W League GF should be a cracker hope theres a decent crowd for them, maybe Canberra late .
The Bear
Guest
Yes Debbie you can be assured Uncle Mike won't be offered any Christmas pudding since making his way onto the naughty list this year. As on the Orange side I'm looking forward to when the shops reopen for the post Chrissy "Boxing Day" sales. I hope I won't be needing to keep the box either. I have a rather wealthy father based in Indonesia. He's a bit of a dag though so I'm not expecting overly much. Enjoyed your contributions Debbie, hope to see you back in the 6. Merry Christmas!