In another and hopefully not forlorn attempt to embrace positivity and celebrate football in Australia, I was thinking about some of the language, phrases and words used on the pitch and in general football dialogue.
When one strolls past a busy park where numerous matches are underway, various words are bellowed repeatedly by players, managers and supporters. They are part of the beautiful lexicon of football and sport more widely.
1. Out
The professional, clinical and methodical effectiveness of the Sydney FC defence has perhaps been the standout feature of the A-League so far this season and the word ‘out’ has no doubt played a key part.
While they have scored a substantial amount of goals, it is the Sky Blues’ stinginess in defence that has built the remarkable for and against record they currently boast (36-7). Their success is based on the consistent shape and coordination of the back four that works as a unit like few others in the league.
The word ‘out’ still gives me nightmares, where an angry keeper urges me to push forward after a speedy left winger has driven me deep into the corner near the byline. Somehow I manage to stick a foot in and repel the attack, only to be abused and screamed at as the ball is cleared.
Ultimately, it is still one of the most crucial and fundamental parts of defending.
And it’s something Sydney are capitalising on frequently with their high press.
2. Width
To me, this is the key to football. The more narrow an attack gets, the more compact a defence can become, increasing the skill required to thread the needle.
While Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and other geniuses might possess the freakish skill in traffic to overcome any defence, mere mortals are far better served creating width and aggressively attacking the byline.
The Asian cup winning goal by James Troisi came from this simple yet effective tactic.
Coaching my teams, I make it a mantra by which I will stand until proven otherwise.
3. Qualify
Whether we like it or not, this word is one of the key elements to the continued growth of football in this country. To state the obvious, being a competing nation in the last three World Cups has undoubtedly been a factor in the continued growth of the game.
The Socceroos will always play a pivotal role in achieving a crossover between the more traditional football supporter base and the more expectant mainstream fans who want the nation to be a footballing success, yet will jump ship if not given the success they demand.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Some sense of ruthlessness and cut throat expectation can be healthy.
In fact, it’s the essence of the qualifiers themselves.
The Socceroos’ current campaign hangs on a knife’s edge and a trip to Russia in 2018 will be the FFA’s dream for the team, who remain the jewel in the crown.
4. Tim
After a storied career, Tim Cahill returned to our shores, with some reserved about his ability to produce.
No one would ever question his talent, yet there was much discussion about his age (37) and ability to continue to produce goals.
Once again, Cahill has shown everyone, with seven goals in 14 games, that he is indeed as effective as ever in terms of goal production. We are lucky to have witnessed his career and should never underestimate the contribution he has made and will make, to football in this country.
The way fellow players talk about his commitment to training, as well as the lessons he is able to pass on from his years of top-flight experience in England, we need to realise that we might not see another of his kind for quite a while.
5. Sir
Something that would serve the A-League well would be to set a model example for all football nations by reigniting a sense of respect and courtesy for the man (and soon to be woman) with the whistle.
I know it’s a little corny and altruistic to suggest, yet we all know that the number of young people keen to pursue careers as officials is negatively affected by the treatment they receive in the line of duty.
Recent A-League events, suspensions and ejections have highlighted the need to encourage respect and courtesy within the treatment of referees.
There is no doubt that the sins of the pros are emulated by the youth who wish to be just like their heroes.
A few years ago my left back, slow of foot and completely outplayed by a talented attacking right winger, managed to shepherd a ball over the sideline under immense pressure.
His reaction, despite being on the losing side of the ledger was to turn to the opposition parents, who felt his actions might have warranted a free, and hold his first finger to his lips and ‘hush’ them all.
I benched him immediately, out of disgust that a 14-year-old could have the arrogance to address adults in such a manner.
Standing in as a referee during matches has also shown me how young footballers address the official in the same manner as their heroes.
I, for one, would like to see far more respect for the referees. Watching A-League players run screaming at officials, with f-bombs launched at the rate of scud missiles during the gulf war, is a bad look.
Coaches letting rip at fourth officials and spitting abuse at each other does nothing for the game either.
It would be nice if the FFA decided to take a stand and set an example for modern football, by becoming a league that discourages and punishes players and coaches for disrespecting the hard working officials, who try their darnedest to get decisions correct yet are hampered by normal human failings.
Something tells me this is a pipe dream, yet stranger things have happened. Australia has had a history of doing things a little better than many other countries when it comes to big events and setting world standards.
We produced the best Olympic games and pioneered equal prize money for women in tennis.
6. Derby
Through crowd figures, it’s obvious how successful these matches have been over the course of the relatively young A-League’s history.
The Sydney version has taken things to a new level, yet the Melbourne encounter still has a level of spice that is special.
The Adelaide United versus Victory ‘original’ derby still produces, while the M1/F3 match still has a distinct feel.
Building these rivalries over a long period of time is key to developing passion in the A-League.
Watching the Celtic v Rangers clash a few weeks back at Ibrox, I was trying to explain to my two girls what it meant.
Floundering for words to articulate the long history and rivalry, I resorted to something with which they would be more familiar.
“It’s like Sydney FC versus the Wanderers but it’s been going on a lot longer.”
This is undoubtedly a candidate for the biggest understatement and most appalling piece of parenting of all time.
However, who knows where we stand in ten, fifteen or twenty years. Are we playing matches in from of fifteen to twenty thousand each week?
Are the Socceroos consistently a top thirty nation in the rankings? Is Tim Cahill managing the team and producing the same miracles he did as a player?
Is Mark Bosnich the doyen of Australian football commentary, adored and respected by a bunch of cheeky young co-commentators such as Jamie Maclaren, Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic?
Who really knows where we will be.
The journey will be fun, but right now there are some pretty important words in football. Some old, some new, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
See, this is why you make me chuckle you genius.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
"Qualify" still sends my soul to the metaphysical corner to curl and suck its thumb whilst gently rocking backwards and forwards.
punter
Guest
Whoa!!! You are the one who disagreed with Stuart adding Tim to the list, then when I questioned you, you attack my ability to acknowledge or accept failings. You then added that Cahill has done everything to justify the wage paid to him. he scored a wonder goal, has scored his fair share of goals, he has scored the winner of the FFA cup, he has been a great ambassador for the game in this country. So yes the failure in getting the crowds in, especially in Melbourne, but I see both Sydney & Brisbane crowds up, the big drops have been Adelaide, expected & Wellington. But you are correct in we didn't see the jump in crowds or ratings as expected. So in your eyes the FFA failed because they snared Cahill to play in his home country by putting in $1M of marquee money, convinced Melb City to pay $3M for Cahill, but because MC already had 2 marquees in mind had to create a 3rd marquee especially for them. Terrible terrible idea. Like I said, many things wrong in football in this country, never doubted that, but Timmy playing in Australia is not one of them. Maybe the North -Fornaroli incident still strong in your mind.
TK
Guest
How bout ' 1' - '2'!!?? Often followed by the anguish of the running player who doesn't get the return pass.
Nemesis
Guest
And, the brand of the professional league will incorporate the colours of clubs competing as part of the league. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C27M9pcVEAIi2bk.jpg:large
Nemesis
Guest
Three more words to add to the AUS football lexicon: Atmosphere Unity Diversity The new branding for AUS football launched has just been revealed: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C27MXl2VIAArWj6.jpg
j binnie
Guest
stuart - Without knowing the depth of your experience in coaching kids you have asked a difficult question. Take dribbling. Do you either teach a kid to dribble with one foot or do you encourage him to tap the ball from one foot to the other?. The first exercise tends to make "balance" difficult to maintain where the latter is a perfectly normal way for the body to maintain natural balance. As you are no doubt aware there are numerous exercises based on game situations to which youngsters can be introduced to ball control that encourages such "two footed"practice. For example I once watched 3 kids and a goalkeeper practice "shooting".Their method was to set the ball up ,take a run at the ball ,and blast it as hard as they could (usually over the bar) with their preferred "foot".. I approached them and asked them how often they got to address a "dead" ball during a game. They all agreed,not often. I then pointed out that if they began the exercise as a trio,starting with the central individual they could practice with a pass to the left sided player ,who had to cut the ball back in front of the central man, who had to have a shot at the moving ball. They then repeated the exercise using the other wide player to do the same. They took to the exercise like ducks to water. What was being achieved?. The initial pass by the central player using both feet to the wide player,the return pass to the central man who took turns at hitting the shot with his right or left foot. What was being practiced with a moving ball.? Passing, control, more passing and shooting ,all with both feet. A change in position kept the 3 players on a learning curve with all of these these skills.That is what good coaching is all about .Putting ideas into young heads that allows them to use faculties they would not normally use unless the exercise called for use of the obvious "foot". Cheers jb. ps Golf is, and remains, an individual sport with no allegence to ever progressing into a team environment. Football skills have to be developed before the introduction of team play and all that that entails. Cheers jb.
DH
Guest
Spot on about 'Sir'. I know it's a real consideration for parents who want their kids to learn life lessons from sport rather than just football skills. Most local juniors are pretty good, but every club has the odd blow-hard who needs to be put in their place and the example needs to be set at the highest level. Tim feeds into this, you couldn't find a better example of a grassroots supporter of football in Australia. There will be 15 years of juniors playing now who grew up with Tim and are trying to emulate him every weekend on the local park. That's how you grow the A-League, dedicated young footballers who grow up watching A-League and become members, not trying to convert people who don't like A-League or football. The benefits of Cahill's stint at City will be felt in Melbourne football in the long term even if the short term results aren't there (which I'm not convinced of). City crowds are pretty good, considering this time last year they were flying.
Post_hoc
Guest
I too have lung busting nightmares with the word up. Playing over 35's as a left/right back and midfielder, i despise the word, very closely with long runs up the line with the inevitable turn over in the attacking half and having to track right the way back to help our backs. It felt like i could spend half the game just running up and back along the line
Kaks
Roar Guru
Bang on the money Waz. One thing the FFA can take from this is that alienating the rest of the league to grow a single club and market a single player is not the way to go about business. I know this is left of field, and may seem minute in the grand scheme of things, but this season was set-up to be like this as soon as the FFA's marketing campaign where Yoshi was looking for a club to support ended with Yoshi publicly declaring his love for City (there was no need for the marketing campaign to go this far). Ever since then, we have had referee's publicly apologise to City - but no other club. We have had guys like Kilkenny escape punishment after blasting the referee's in his post match comments. We have seen City get every advantage possible to win the FFA cup. We have seen everything pointing to the FFA trying desperately to make their (financial?) decision work in their favour to no avail.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Followed by 'boooooooo' when it was disallowed...
Griffo
Roar Guru
That probably wasn't what you said to their face after they spurred another goal scoring pass into space for the upteenth time in that game :lol: And Chris go easy: in an over 35's match, it's probably more to do with the old legs not obeying the signals from the brain to pass due to fatigue than that desire to 'Maradonna' it past one more player to score...
Chris
Guest
Yes definitely still exists! I play in an over 35's and I can tell you the older some players get the more of a hog they become haha.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Or. And the answer was inevitably. "Who me?" :)
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
*not changed today
SVB
Guest
What about the term 'hog'? Is that still used? You know the guy in the team who never used to pass the ball to anyone. He used to try to take on the opposition all on his own. Usually they would cop it from the rest of the team lol.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Yes, SVB, "MINE" was an offence. "Man on" I head and used that term often.. "KEEPERS" the keeper would use that term. I wouldn't think any of these terms have changed today, or in the last 40 yrs when "I hung up my boots".. :)
Griffo
Roar Guru
Waz, agree completely that there is nothing wrong with talking about a subject, even if difficult. It's obvious a lot of actions have been around those metrics that would boost negotiating power for the media deal and it wasn't completely opaque what Cahill's job was for. Whether there was too much 'water under the bridge' with Cahill's previous comments or that he's not in the same echelon as ADP, he's not had as noticeable impact as it would be hoped imo. I am just glad that he's contributed more positively than some of his predecessors on the field, but equally he's been surprised a little at getting negative reactions from crowds - but that is a whole other discussion. What FFA need to be careful of is changing the rules again when they have different goals and needs in mind, or opening themselves up to criticism when they reject one teams bid to access these new funds they've created, but allow another. Clarity of criteria isn't a strong suit either. And if funds are tight, is this the best use of money to attract one or two big names when there may be other areas of the game that could use an injection of $millions/season? Anyway, back to regular transmission...
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Lots of players would scream 'leave it' in my direction all the time. What were they trying to tell me?
Stuart Thomas
Expert
yep, I subbed for the keeper when he was out one week and we lost 7-0. What a career I had.