The Asian Champions League, the premier football tournament for world’s biggest continent. It’s simple enough, to qualify out of the group stage ten points should do it.
Then win four matches over two legs and you’re the champion, simple.
However nothing is ever simple in the Champions League. The gruelling travel schedule to countries like China, Japan and South Korea coupled with another arduous travel schedule domestically leaves A-League teams at a disadvantage.
No other teams in Asia have to balance such a massive travel load coupled with games three times a week. No other teams in Asia have to manage a salary cap of $2.5 million per season and no other teams in teams in Asia have balance all this with a squad size of 23 players.
These disadvantages didn’t stop Western Sydney Wanderers from winning the tournament in 2014, this was won on the back of great organisation and discipline by head coach Tony Popovic.
The Wanderers shocked more fancied teams on their way to the title. The sight of Italian legend Marcello Lippi of Guangzhou Evergrande storming onto the pitch berating the referee as Western Sydney upset the odds was one to behold. The meltdown of the Al-Hilal players as Western Sydney held firm to win an two legged final on aggregate 1-0 will live long in the memory.
This was the first time in nine years of entering the tournament that an A-League team had won Asian club football’s biggest prize.
Yet if we look at the 2015 edition of the tournament, Central Coast lost in the qualifying rounds and Brisbane and Western Sydney sit on four points each after three games. Its hardly record-breaking form.The problem Australian teams have in Asia is that they play by a different set of rules to the rest of the continent.
The salary cap is one hurdle Australia teams have to overcome to be able to compete in Asia. In Australia salary caps are the norm for most sports that are played. The AFL has one, so does the NRL. They are often said to be the great equaliser in team sports, to stop the richest clubs stashing away all the best players in the code.
However in the world of football salary caps are a strange alien concept to most countries. They just simply does not exist. Football is the world’s free market game, the market will pay what it feels a player is worth.
Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande who play in the Asian Champions League, recently paid $22 million for Brazilian Serie A top scorer Riccardo Goulart. Goulart showed recently against Western Sydney why he cost so much.
Scoring a hat-trick in an impressive display, Goulart’s movement off the ball and his ability to finish, showed why he was recently called up to the Brazilian national team.
Australian clubs could only dream of having a foreign import like Riccardo Goulart, even if his wages could fit under the marquee player system, the transfer alone would bankrupt any A-League side.
How can A-League sides compete in Asia when their counterparts are spending so much on players? The simple answer could be to abolish the salary cap altogether and allow the free market to rule. As mentioned this would lead to the big A-League teams stockpiling the best talent, leaving the smaller teams to feed on the scraps.
This however would not be best for business or talent development. The A-League in its current guise does not allow its teams to transfer players between each other. Which is why the salary cap must stay. Australia’s main strength over other leagues in Asia is that it has a good swathe of homegrown talent.
Seven players in the Asian Cup-winning squad were based in Australia, while a further nine players in the squad were developed in the A-League before being sold elsewhere.
This shows what Australia’s great strength is over the other Asian teams and why buying mega stars from overseas is not that important for A-League clubs. The important thing is that in Australia players have time to develop with out the pressure of a Brazilian to usurp them.
Granted there are marquee players and they bring a great deal to the A-League, but it is Australia’s ability to produce talent which will set it above any free-spending sugar daddy.
Jeff Williamson
Roar Pro
Salary cap has generally been a good thing for football. This helps the competition. It also helps clubs be financially stable.
Waz
Guest
That's good news - I recon if they put a roof on Heindmarsh they'd increase average attendances by 2-3,000
Waz
Guest
Again, I'm not sure what facts you are basing your arguements on LordB: 5 out of 10 HAL Sides are expected to be profitable this season - the remaining 5 are expected to lose money NOT because of their HAL operations but because of their licence commitments to maintain a youth and women's team in a national tournament which costs $500k per year in travel costs. Remove that burden and I suspect the majority if not all 10 would be profitable.
Waz
Guest
That is my understanding UJ - MLS pays twice the HAL on average and we can can expect that gap to increase as MLS continues to grow commercially even if the HAL doubles its tv revenue - MLS will be able to compete with all but the top 4 European leagues very soon
Waz
Guest
Must be my day for stats: "The claims that association Football is incredibly popular in Australia is grossly exaggerated, especially outside of Sydney and Melbourne" see participation rates: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6123-australian-sports-participation-rates-among-children-and-adults-december-2014-201503182151 And there are now MORE people playing soccer in Victoria than playing AFL - go figure.
Uncle Junior
Guest
LordBrucie you argue like Homer Simpson, which is always amusing but not to be taken seriously.
LordBrucie
Guest
That table is in fact not accurate. I have seen numerous reports to the contrary. The fact remains a league players are hugely overpaid for their skill level and these inflated wages are sending the non state capital teams broke. Mariners and jets cannot afford to pay their players so much because the income they generate from fans, sponsorship and mechandise sales is very low. The claims that association Football is incredibly popular in Australia is grossly exaggerated, especially outside of Sydney and Melbourne.
Punter
Guest
With Perth going south on the table & Phoenix not allowed in the ACL, the odds are shortening that the ACL reps for next week will be MV, SFC & AU.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Best of luck. Would like to see Adelaide for the sake of having an even tighter battle for the premiership. I'm sure Adelaide would love another crack at the ACL and Gombau would love to test his wits against the best in Asia.
Franko
Guest
Adelaide United just about sold out BTW. Should be a cracking game.
Uncle Junior
Guest
Thanks, Waz. That table indicates the average MLS wage is nearly double the average wage in ALeague so it seems LordBrucie is talking rubbish.
Franko
Guest
Yep, am unusually nervous about the MV encounter. AU just haven't been themselves lately, and when they are on it only lasts 10-15 minutes (though often results in a goal). A few players coming back, so hopefully we can nick the points. SFC to pummel City (Janko with a couple more) WSW easy over Newcastle Perth will beat CCM Nix to turn it on again. Really critical round for those top 4-5 teams as they jostle for spots ahead of finals. The difference between a home final and travelling to Perth or Wellington is enormous.
Thom Davies
Roar Rookie
I totally agree with you about the fact that clubs lose players as soon as they do well in the A-League. The problem A-Leauge teams have compared to the other Asian teams is that our league runs Oct-May, while the other Asian league and the ACL all run from March-Oct. This means that when the group stage is on, A-League teams are at the end of their season and fighting it out for finals. When the knockout stages start A-Leauge clubs are just starting their pre-season. This puts A-League teams at a disadvantage, but it is important that Australian teams take the ACL seriously as the the European teams do the UCL, or we may as well go back to Oceania.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Decent weekend of A-League ahead. SFC should take of City with no issues. Just hope there is a decent crowd on hand to witness it. A club of SFC's size with its recent success should be able to pull 20k. No big NRL games tonight either. WSW v Newcastle should be good fun on Saturday. We picked up another of their recent sackings. Will go a long way in determining this season's wooden spooners. Hope a decent number of WSW fans turn up. Adelaide v MVFC. Comfortably the game of the round. This is a seriously high stakes game that could be season defining in many ways. Expecting a full house and I've heard around 1500 MVFC fans are making the trip. Perth need to get it together vs CCM or else their highly anticipated fall down the ladder will come very soon. Brisbane v Wellington might throw up some surprises. I actually think Brisbane might surprise the table toppers from across the dutch.
Waz
Guest
UJ see: http://screamer.deadspin.com/chart-the-average-player-salaries-in-soccer-leagues-ar-1658856283
Waz
Guest
Not sure where you got your stats from Lord - my understanding is HAL average salaries are about half of those in the MLS There is a website: http://screamer.deadspin.com/chart-the-average-player-salaries-in-soccer-leagues-ar-1658856283 Which gives some good comparisons (HAL ranks 29th in the world according to this which feels about right) and if you divide the full cap by 24 players (assuming two on marquee status) then you get $100k - Berisha for example was on $375k when he left Roar so he was on 3-4x the "average" and I'd say many players in the HAL earn $50-$80k at best. Not a lot really so I dont see an arguement for players being overpaid - that's a title you could apply to the EPL but not I feel the HAL
Waz
Guest
AZ - I acutely disagree with a cap in principle but in practice its a necessary evil. But as you say it can be tweeked and people with the smarts should be able to give us something that increases the cap without destroying everything; some ideas I've heard bandied around are: - allowing all visa players to be excluded from the cap - giving credits for things like home grown players in the squad eg Donachie, Borrello at Roar could count as a $250k credit on top of the cap - similarly give a negative incentive for "poaching" of other clubs young kids eg Victory sign Donachie and their cap goes down $100k say - create a mechanism similar to UEFAs financial fair play model which enables clubs to increase their cap based on the revenues they generate thereby rewarding success off field (Not my ideas just repeating a couple of ideas previously posted by others). The next TV deal should see a significant lift in the salary cap, let's just hope we can build some flexibility in that rewards both the rich clubs (a victory say) and the innovative clubs (a Mariners say) without giving a blank check to those with access to someone else's money (City).
Liongeart
Guest
As much as I hate MVFC, it really bothers me that they recruited Berisha because they’re allowed to pay him a little more.
melbourneterrace
Guest
The AFC CL must become a priority or we are wasting our time in Asia.We cannot put in regular performances and test our attacking games whilst our strong clubs are held back. Saying that WSW winning last year is proof that a salary cap doesn't hold us back in Asia is garbage. Wanderers got through by playing dour defensive football and riding their luck, no other team could have pulled that of. The problem with the cap is that teams are struggling to keep their teams together between qualifying for Asia and actually starting the tournament. The fact that MV is about to qualify for the AFC CL in 2016 and yet the vultures are already circling for it's players is ridiculous.
Michael Wisom
Guest
The salary cap is there because salaries come from the TV Deal. This is to guarantee clubs don't go broke badly due to an insane salary offer and if they do go broke there is not too much for the FFA to pick up if they take back the licence. So basically in the future when we get more TV money you can decide-- do you want more teams or a higher salary cap. Not a lot of difference to everything in life really especially politics- we all want better things but it has to be paid for from somewhere.