I'm an unabashed Archie Thompson fan, for the simple reason that he was goal-hungry, and could finish off a goal-scoring attempt. This was something that Australia has consistently lacked, Tim Cahill being an exception (and Tim's record stands up very well amongst the best players).
I still believe he would have had more on an impact than Bresciano did at the last World Cup, with the same amount of field time.
Plenty of people would say that Archie had it easy in scoring 13 goals, and the opposition was woeful -- but there's not many people who have actually scored 13 goals in a match in any level of football.
If you asked an Australian coach at any period if they had room for a player who scored about once every five games, I think they would say, "Yes!".
Regarding Archie thompson. Of the "golden generation" namely the team that got to the second round of the 2006 world cup, he was the least heralded because of his European career which was to be fair, shorter than it might have being because he chose to come back and play in the new A league.
But of the golden generation to come back and play in the a league, he was by far the best performed of the returning socceroos. And despite the annual improvement in the quality if the a league he was able to maintain his output up until last season. This season he was still a valuable member of the squad.
Re the national team. He is known for his haul against American Samoa. In my opinion his best contribution was during the dark days of osieck s reign with a key goal against Iraq which kept us in the campaign. It would have being a thankless task as he didn't get a place on the 2014 world cup, but he stepped up when asked and served the cause to the best of his ability.
@ brainstrust. I would label Spain Italy France or Argentina as the equivalent of the Pakistan cricket team. Talented skillful, possessing individual ideal brilliance. Can be the best team in the world but also capable of ignominious first round exits. Look at history of the aforementioned football teams and you will see many first round exits just as you do with Pakistan in cricket. Greece are more like new zealand. Limited but capable with the odd great player. Of course football is on a far different scale to cricket so you could literally compare heaps of different international football teams to one cricket team.
There was a documentary film released on American Samoa finally winning a match.
Even more remarkable they did it with a transgender person in their male team.
Usually its the transgender players sneaking into the female teams illegally.
American Samoa only has about 50K populationt and Faroe islands has about 40k.
Faroe islands beat Greece though Greece is the football equivalent of the Pakistan cricket team.
Mark
I agree with everything you have said. No true soccer fan cares about the number of goals Arch scored against various island states. However, he is one of the very few to have played the whole of the first 11 seasons of the A-League for the one club, helping the Victory earn 3 doubles, and that is definitely worth celebrating.
An unsettling feature of the A-League is that you can find players who have played for 3, 4, maybe even 5 different clubs in the space of 7 or 8 seasons. Personally, I don't really like that amount of movement.
So Arch definitely deserves plaudits for what he has achieved in the A-League.
Thats what I was thinking, the adulation was for his domestic career at Melbourne Victory.
His A League goal scoring record isn't an anomaly like his international record is either
This article is a great example of the straw man approach to debate.
"Over recent days he has been lauded almost to the point of deification, a giant of the game that has bestowed his genius upon us salivating mortals. But the reality is he was a good footballer that happened to be in the right place at the right time, a fortuitous recipient of a remarkable set of circumstances."
He is lauded as such primarily because he has been the heart and soul of the Melbourne Victory for over a decade. I don't think anyone genuinely regards his international record as anything other than a statistical anomaly.
That said, his 5 goals in an A-League Grand Final is another record that will probably last forever and cannot be so easily explained away.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
I'm an unabashed Archie Thompson fan, for the simple reason that he was goal-hungry, and could finish off a goal-scoring attempt. This was something that Australia has consistently lacked, Tim Cahill being an exception (and Tim's record stands up very well amongst the best players). I still believe he would have had more on an impact than Bresciano did at the last World Cup, with the same amount of field time. Plenty of people would say that Archie had it easy in scoring 13 goals, and the opposition was woeful -- but there's not many people who have actually scored 13 goals in a match in any level of football. If you asked an Australian coach at any period if they had room for a player who scored about once every five games, I think they would say, "Yes!".
Evan askew
Guest
Regarding Archie thompson. Of the "golden generation" namely the team that got to the second round of the 2006 world cup, he was the least heralded because of his European career which was to be fair, shorter than it might have being because he chose to come back and play in the new A league. But of the golden generation to come back and play in the a league, he was by far the best performed of the returning socceroos. And despite the annual improvement in the quality if the a league he was able to maintain his output up until last season. This season he was still a valuable member of the squad. Re the national team. He is known for his haul against American Samoa. In my opinion his best contribution was during the dark days of osieck s reign with a key goal against Iraq which kept us in the campaign. It would have being a thankless task as he didn't get a place on the 2014 world cup, but he stepped up when asked and served the cause to the best of his ability.
Evan askew
Guest
@ brainstrust. I would label Spain Italy France or Argentina as the equivalent of the Pakistan cricket team. Talented skillful, possessing individual ideal brilliance. Can be the best team in the world but also capable of ignominious first round exits. Look at history of the aforementioned football teams and you will see many first round exits just as you do with Pakistan in cricket. Greece are more like new zealand. Limited but capable with the odd great player. Of course football is on a far different scale to cricket so you could literally compare heaps of different international football teams to one cricket team.
BrainsTrust
Guest
There was a documentary film released on American Samoa finally winning a match. Even more remarkable they did it with a transgender person in their male team. Usually its the transgender players sneaking into the female teams illegally. American Samoa only has about 50K populationt and Faroe islands has about 40k. Faroe islands beat Greece though Greece is the football equivalent of the Pakistan cricket team.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Mark I agree with everything you have said. No true soccer fan cares about the number of goals Arch scored against various island states. However, he is one of the very few to have played the whole of the first 11 seasons of the A-League for the one club, helping the Victory earn 3 doubles, and that is definitely worth celebrating. An unsettling feature of the A-League is that you can find players who have played for 3, 4, maybe even 5 different clubs in the space of 7 or 8 seasons. Personally, I don't really like that amount of movement. So Arch definitely deserves plaudits for what he has achieved in the A-League.
At work
Roar Rookie
Thats what I was thinking, the adulation was for his domestic career at Melbourne Victory. His A League goal scoring record isn't an anomaly like his international record is either
Mark
Guest
This article is a great example of the straw man approach to debate. "Over recent days he has been lauded almost to the point of deification, a giant of the game that has bestowed his genius upon us salivating mortals. But the reality is he was a good footballer that happened to be in the right place at the right time, a fortuitous recipient of a remarkable set of circumstances." He is lauded as such primarily because he has been the heart and soul of the Melbourne Victory for over a decade. I don't think anyone genuinely regards his international record as anything other than a statistical anomaly. That said, his 5 goals in an A-League Grand Final is another record that will probably last forever and cannot be so easily explained away.