The improvement of the Socceroos under Ange Postecoglou has been something all football fans should be proud of. Playing exciting high-octane football, with a steel and craft away from home that has our national team moving nicely towards qualifying for Russia in 2018.
With the likes of Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy destined for big moves in the next 18 months, and an average age closer to 25 than 30, a new optimism ahead of Russia may see our national team match the wonderful 2006 side.
A majority of this group of players cut their teeth in the A-League before moving overseas. These are good times to be a Socceroos fan.
All strong football nations in every confederation have a strong pool of young players and teams at the youth level that also perform and succeed in the under 20 and under 17 level.
In Europe the top teams in the seniors generally are the strongest countries in the youth championships. Each year Germany, Spain, Portugal, France will have their under age national teams reaching semi-finals of their respective UEFA tournaments. Strong national youth teams lead to strong senior teams on most occasions.
In Asia we see the same. Japan and South Korea are either in the final or last four a majority of the time in AFC championships across all age groups.
For Australia there is no doubt we have a strong group of senior players, all of whom are moving closer to reaching their peak for the senior team. The concern now is what is happening below.
Players used to be selected for under 17 squads from a range of different pathways. If a kid was playing senior football at NPL or equivalent they were called into the camps and competed for selection with boys from State programs and the AIS. I believe this is no longer the case. If a player doesn’t come through the FFA Centre of Entitlement, sorry Excellence, then the door is shut.
I have no doubt across the country there are talented young players, giving everything week in, week out in the NPL system. Playing on difficult pitches, against demanding opposition, learning their craft in a rewarding environment. They are cherished by their clubs, communities and coaches, and many working across the board to help them play semi-professional football and reach their potential.
These young players are taking the rocky road in the NPL. They are grateful, humble and know there are no favours or entitlement when competing with an adult for a berth in the starting line-up.
We also have parents and players putting all their hope of their kid making the Skillaroos, or NTC or AIS, as the only pathway to stardom, and creating entitlement and elitism which is breeding a generation of players expecting to rock up, train, play for the national team at 16 then get an A-League contract sent to you in the post.
Football isn’t like that. What a player is like at Under 12 is no indication of what he will be at 18.
A young player from Vietnam or Thailand surely doesn’t have the pandering and entitlement that our young players have in Australia. They train in terrible conditions, maybe with less qualified or experienced coaches, yet have that drive and will to improve and compete in ‘horrendous” conditions. That’s what helps these nations advance ahead of us.
The class of 2006, had a number of players that went through the AIS. Viduka, Moore, Grella, Emerton, Aloisi. Once they finished their school at the AIS they walked straight into starting line-ups for the big clubs of the time.
Stepping straight into the hotbed of the NSL, for their next years of schooling, playing with seasoned players locally and from abroad.
Now as the age of the players into the AIS has dropped to 15-16, these players now come out and continue to only play against kids their own age. Even if they move the A-League youth Team, which is mostly Under 18/19 players, they are left with a gap of 2-3 years waiting for the golden ticket to professional football.
The FFA may scoff at “Old soccer”, “New football” tag lines and tweet furiously when we stun Laos, beating their chest at the pathway’s success, yet when the group of players of 2006 were receiving their “street” education at the NSL clubs, the resilience and mental strength is what drove them to successful careers in big leagues with big clubs.
Today, a player goes overseas and when they have to work hard, put in the tough yards, overcome setbacks, the player is on the phone to head back to the A-League for a nice soft landing.
We want better technical players, and I see the individual technical ability is far stronger than years gone by. But the question is, has this era of entitlement and protection, by closing the door to only a select few, diluted one of our football’s strongest and most admired traits?
The NPL needs to be acknowledged and supported as an alternative pathway, with FFA working with them in developing into strong footballing schools, with Technical Directors who are specialists in Program Development, Methodology and long term player development. The scouting system locally is all based on convenance. Put them all in one place, all together so I don’t have to go visit clubs and listen to what is happening.
I heard recently a Skillaroos team played games against a token NPL select of the same age.
They played four times, with the non-selected players beating the Skillaroos on each and every occasion.
Of the group of non-Skillaroos boys who briefly trained together and played together only one boy was asked to come into the program.
FFA and Member Federations has created a bubble, which has been floating along while the rest keep working and training and dreaming, and sailing past them, with the attitude of I will show you, not what will you show me.
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