Football Federation Australia may be in danger of losing the dressing room, but the fact is the game itself is still more important than the problems off the pitch.
It’s been a sobering week for football in Australia.
The tension had been brewing long before Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers were humiliated in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday night.
Their 6-0 and 5-1 defeats to Ulsan Hyundai and Shanghai SIPG respectively saw Fox Sports analysts Mark Rudan and Mark Bosnich categorically unleash on the A-League’s shortcomings, prompting a groundswell of opinion from just about everyone connected to the game.
As depressing as the midweek results were – and credit should go to Adelaide United for their battling display away at Jiangsu Suning – they have been, in a roundabout way, good for the Australian game.
Dom Bossi has already revealed in the Sydney Morning Herald that FFA will prioritise clubs playing in the ACL next season by making the A-League fixture list more flexible.
That’s something that should have been happening from day one – but better late than never.
The embarrassing defeats also focused the spotlight on youth development. Or more to the point, the fact that for all intents and purposes, ours no longer seems to work.
Our youngsters are going backwards at a time when Asian nations from China to Qatar are pumping millions of dollars into youth development, and one day soon they’ll reap the rewards.
To borrow a concept from Paul Keating, perhaps Tuesday night’s twin thrashings were the hammerings Australian football had to have, and both the FFA and the clubs themselves should revisit the curriculum and assess whether it measures up to our Asian counterparts.
Yet for all the soul-searching after what has been an undeniably difficult week, there’s one place where the game can make up for its many missteps – on the pitch.
It may have escaped the attention of many critics, but tonight’s showdown between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory is one of the biggest games of the season.
Not only should it prove the eventual destination of the Premiers’ Plate, but it will also be broadcast live on free-to-air TV, albeit on SBS Viceland.
That means thousands of football fans who might otherwise have missed out on watching the likes of Milos Ninkovic and Marco Rojas do battle will get to tune in to witness a Friday night clash that actually has some meaning.
It’s a pity that Sydney’s weather looks like it’s going to pose its own problems – it wouldn’t be a vital Sydney FC game without a torrential downpour – but at least it will allow the players to showcase their skills in more comfortable temperatures than we’re used to seeing in the A-League.
And it’s the fact that the players can showcase their skills at all that suggests that for all the A-League’s faults, there’s still plenty to be grateful for.
It was no surprise to see plenty of pundits pile on FFA during the week, and the reality is that much of the criticism is deserved.
But we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact we have a fully professional football league to call our own, in what is undoubtedly one of the most hostile media markets anywhere in the world.
What success the competition has enjoyed is largely in spite of the game’s administrators rather than because of them, but it’s worth remembering there was once no A-League to speak of at all.
And on a weekend in which our teams once again have plenty to prove, perhaps the most sensible option is to simply pipe down and enjoy the action.
It’s natural enough to want the best for football in Australia, but as Stuart Randall wrote for The World Game yesterday, it’s also “nice to dream”.
My dream is that tonight gives us one of the best games of the season, and reminds us why we fell in love with the beautiful game in the first place.
Nemesis
Guest
If FoxSports is the only network who wants the ALeague it means they'll be paying the least possible amount. If you are the only buyer it's totally irrational to pay full value for anything. In fact, if you're the only buyer you should make an offer for $1 or the least amount you need to make.
Freddie
Guest
So Fox, who are the only TV network who actually provide any cash for the league, are the ones to blame for not paying enough for a product no-one else wanted? Are you for real Last Straw?
Freddie
Guest
What did Kenny Lowe do wrong?
j binnie
Guest
Nemesis - For some reason or other ,I know not why , Les refers to the National Curriculum and how it introduced .post 2009, small side games and how they help young kids improve their ball skills. This is blatant mis-information, I have in my possession an article written in 1975 by a Queensland State Director of Coaching, pontificating on the idea and how it will help kids. I also have a photograph of myself with a six a side team I coached in a 12 team league in 2003.long before the much lauded National Curriculum had even been thought of, by, a non existent at that time, FFA. In actual fact the idea did not originate in Holland at all but was the outcome of a psychological examination of how kids should be taught in how to play in team sports in general. The examination was undertaken by a university sports psychology department, in England of all places.Perhaps that is what Les has omitted to investigate. Cheers jb.
Midfielder
Guest
Real A rose by any other name is still a rose.. My point was on the Drive By forum he got a mention for his twitter account... and some praise ... go fig ...
Midfielder
Guest
Paul Are you seeking help for your condition .... I don't know anyone who says we don't have issues ... second you belief that no one else has made or is making mistakes and all errors mistakes are purely down to Gallop and the Lowy's has passed a level ineptitude ... In fact the constant calling of Gallop and Lowy actually masks the errors they are making because it gets caught up in the big moan. Let me ask you a two very simple question Q1 ... Whats more important. a] Tomorrow firing Gallop and Lowy b} All stakeholder coming together to determine the best way forward. Q2 Over the past 12 years has there ever been a single year one of the following bodies did not make a mistake. a] SBS b] Fox c] The clubs d] The associations e] The PFA f] The NPP
punter
Guest
I think kids aged 6- 12 year olds are.
Nemesis
Guest
What's wrong with that crowd? Pretty horrendous weather in Sydney tonight. I heard NRL got 8,712 to a game between Melb & Sydney tonight. And AFLW got 2,000 - which you can tell is just a number pulled out of thin air, not from barcodes scanned at the turnstile - for Sydney vs Melb.
Paul
Guest
13,310 1v2 But everything is fine Not.
Realfootball
Guest
Mid, do you really think the delusionally named Nemesis and Fussball are not one and the same? There can't be two individuals out there with so much time on their hands as well as clincally diagnosable levels of misanthropic narcissism. Wait... is he really Donald Trump? Is the Twitter fixation a clue?
Lionheart
Guest
Glory? What, and fiddle the books?
Lionheart
Guest
ACL limits foreigners more than HAL, so you need Ausys to play in ACL
TK
Guest
Oils here later in the year Fadida hope you got your tix.
Swanny
Guest
Maybe the doom and gloom should be saved for the NRL. Abt only 2000 fans at a game in Sydney tonight . Be interested what crowd Sydney fc pull in comparison . Where's that mr football dude with all the crowd stats now ?? Fake news
stu
Guest
I don't understand the argument of large numbers playing the game therefore the nation is in tune with the game, and the nation needs to be in tune with the game to fulfill the cultural element of the discussion. Australians view participation largely as a non contact means to stay fit. In past years when playing the game the after game discussion was always guaranteed to revolve around the nrl scores, fixtures and attending nrl games. In Brisbane people live and breath the broncs not the roar. What is in our culture is vastly different to how many lace up soccer boots at the weekend.
Onside
Guest
Accepted Waz. The curse of assumption.
Waz
Guest
I'd actually disagree with the tv comment - kids aren't watching tv with their parents as the older generation did. If the ffa want to concentrate on something I'd suggest streaming - that's how you reach kids.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss If you are out there... Maybe you were not always appreciated on this site but you seem to have created a bit of a following... Just for you Fuss its a post on the Drive By forum... its on their AFL bashing thread ... The post reads... """ There's a few people on Twitter who are fighting the good fight, specifically Fuss (@FN343) - brutal when it comes to standing up for football. If you follow him you won't miss anything. """
punter
Guest
Good points Onside, especially the one on that kids don't get to see football on tele.
punter
Guest
Uruguay only has 1 sport & they have certainly punched way above their weight for a very long time. Would love to tap into this. Wales have one of the best players in the world, but has not made a world cup since 1958.