A professional footballer’s life is one of near-constant upheaval; the physical trauma of the craft is paired with the gruelling gauntlet of travel, and is seasoned with an oppressive atmosphere of expectation and scrutiny.
While the heavenly peak of victory is a high like no other, there is no lonelier place than the pitch ravine of defeat, of failure, or worse – of injury. It’s no surprise then, that footballers can be twitchy types, at least professionally; theirs is a career with a terribly short lifespan, and making good on the swells of momentum that come and go is an important thing indeed.
As far as Australian footballers go, having to begin in a country where the sport is not the dominant code, maligned socially and under-exposed, the situation is exacerbated. As much as the A-League has progressed over the last ten years, it still can’t hold a candle to the luminous bounty that the European leagues offer, both financially and in terms of professional progress.
That’s, of course, assuming you can make it there.
The national team is currently wading through a low ebb. A lot of our stars are either sliding down the wrong side of 30 – Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak – or only just creeping up into their professional primes, think Aaron Mooy, Jackson Irvine, Mass Luongo and Tom Rogic. Some are fighting through some particularly difficult periods of career instability – Robbie Kruse, Matthew Leckie and, until only recently, Mat Ryan.
Ange Postecoglou is currently suffering under a particularly intense period of criticism, where needling over team selection is piling further unwanted pressure as some crunch World Cup qualifiers loom. He is trying to negotiate picking from a small pool of in-form players who are getting game time, the best of the best from the A-League, and his old favourites, and he’s doing a relatively good job.
The Socceroos squad that was announced last week, however, certainly implies Postecoglou is more and more comfortable picking from the A-League; five squad members play at A-League clubs, ranging from aged City marquee Cahill, to Adelaide youngster Riley McGree. Veteran Danny Vukovic has forced his way into the national set-up, as has Rhyan Grant, a player who has only ever played in the A-League as a senior professional. It is, it seems, as viable a league as any when it comes to national team prospects.
(Instagram: Tim Cahill)
Robbie Kruse spoke this week about turning his focus to the upcoming Roos qualifier against Saudi Arabia, a change of subject that must come as some relief considering his disappointing 2016-17 season at club level. He is without an employer at the moment.
Similarly, James Troisi – although having enjoyed a hugely successful 16-17 season in the A-League- is also embroiled in no small amount of discussion as to his future, with multiple clubs rumoured as being his destination, one of them being Brighton, and none of them being the Melbourne Victory.
Remembering back to the scene of the Socceroos’ last great triumph, the Asian Cup victory in 2015, Kruse was substituted just after the hour mark of that breathless final, with Troisi replacing him. Troisi scored the winner in added time, a thrilling moment for him. As Troisi celebrated, enraptured, Kruse was hobbled by an injury that would leave him sidelined for months.
It was a stark contrast, and the same divergence has lingered into this season just finished. Troisi, having spent the best part of a year out of national team thinking, has been picked for the last two qualifiers, and was one of Australia’s best players in the win over the UAE in March.
His brand of dynamic, bull-rushing forward play is hitting its straps, and he is, apparently, pushing for another crack at Europe. Kruse, on the other hand, managed seven club appearances throughout the torturous entirety of last season, and is at a critical crossroads in his career, despite having enjoyed largely uninterrupted involvement in the national team over the last year.
So, one player teetering on the edge of what he hopes will be a successful soar into higher echelons, and another teetering on the edge of what he hopes is not a deathly tumble into the darkness. Is it just me, or does anyone else think both of them would be better off at home?
(Photo: AFP)
Troisi signed his first professional contract with Newcastle United in England, but made no appearances for them. He moved the Turkey, and had enough success there to earn what ended up being a fairly bizarre spell in Italy, partially – then fully – owned by Juventus but playing for Atalanta.
A loan to the Victory was followed by a brief sojourn in Belgium, and a strange trip around Asia, playing in Saudi Arabia and then China. Eventually he returned to the Victory, and has had his best season in a while there.
His career has been, basically, a demonstration of how restlessness can hurt a player. He is 28, and his most compelling football has – with the exception of his four years in Turkey – come while playing in Australia. Certainly his recent revival has been as a direct result of his homecoming.
Has he learned the lessons from the past? Would a move to Brighton really be the best option for him, at this point? Or would another great season with the Victory be the better choice, both for him, for them, and for the national team. His demands have, reportedly, been too high for the Victory to entertain.
Kruse, too, must consider the A-League as his best option right now. The wage dispute that led to his contract being terminated in China must have soured his view of playing there again next season, for another club.
His six years in Germany trailed off horribly, and it’s doubtful many teams in Europe would be willing to to gamble on his health and his form. He would, though, improve almost every A-League club, and a great number of them would be extremely pleased to sign him. He’s the same age as Troisi, and a similarly rapid career resurgence in the A-League is entirely possible, probable even.
Postecoglu said Kruse was lucky to be in the squad last week. Troisi is flirting with the idea of repeating the mistakes of the past, trying too eagerly to cash in on one good season.
The best short-term path, for both of these players still firmly placed in their primes, is one that rambles through the warm Australian sunshine, and leads them back into the restorative surrounds of home.
Midfielder
Guest
You totally missed my point this article could be written anytime over the next two to three weeks. On the day a hugely important match IMO if the writer had written an article on the match ... heaps of posts... Its called timing ... and its got 18 posts...
The Doc
Roar Guru
I take the view that we shouldnt hate the creator/writer. Evan produces an article with a creative idea and as an 'expert' writer, he needs to produce 1-2 articles per week covering areas that no one else has talked about. This is not as easy as it sounds. If you dont like the slightly negative slant of article or werent interested in the topic, you are always welcome to read something else. As for the topic, i think its an interesting one. most of the stuff covered already but from a playing perspective Troisi and Kruse are better off playing in the HAL. Certainly Troisi's career has flourished in Oz and then gone into relative hibernation overseas. but money is king and when playing well, players have to cash in on what is likely to be a last 'big' contract to secure their financial futures. I would love to see Troisi run around for the MV but i would not begurdge him if he looked for greater money overseas even if it meant he saw less playing time. the other caveat is the challenge of entering a 'tougher league'. One could stay a big fish in a small pool so to speak but as JB alluded to, the challenge of also improving or trying their hand in a different environment can also be alluring.
northerner
Guest
I wasn't try to say it's the FFA's fault, just that it simply isn't the job of a journalist to promote a sport or any particular view of a sport. That's what PR guys are for. If Evan chooses to write about something peripheral to the match, and doesn't get the clicks, so be it. But surely, reporting about sports has to be more than just publicizing the next match, even if it is a WCQ?
Midfielder
Guest
So everything is the fault of FFA ... nobody else does anything wrong... I am so over no one else has any part to play or no one else makes mistakes... Mate its simple we are playing a major match ... if the journalist had discussed who should be in goals and if we would play 3-4-3 ... and who should be up front this article would have today over 150 posts... IMO the journalist has made an error of cosmic proportions by writing an article that could have been written next week. The journalist has let himself down.
northerner
Guest
He's a journalist, not a salesman. It's not up to him to support the game. That's up to the FFA, the A League, the fans. It's his job to evaluate the game.
Nemesis
Guest
Totally agree, Middy. 90% of the articles from Evan are negative. I wonder if there's anything about the game (or life) to make his smile?
Midfielder
Guest
On the day of arguably the most important match in four years you don't write about the match you put up an article slightly negative about two players well done. And posters sometimes question me when I argue journalist also need to grow up and support the game.
Realfootball
Guest
Agree. I excluded Leckie from these observations on that basis, and because he has such pace that, if combined with effective scorers, he can be a very useful part of an attacking three. In the NT, we simply don't have the caliber of players to make use of Leckie's very specific skillset. I have never seen this as Leckie's problem - it's the team's problem.
Fadida
Guest
His final proof is absolutely abysmal, which means he offers very very little. Leckie is similar, but he has phenomenal workrate
Realfootball
Guest
Kruse at his best was really something. But, like Troisi, he has never scored enough goals. And his crossing is ordinary. Which makes him a difficult player to fit into a team at elite level.
Realfootball
Guest
Fad, I would venture that Troisi's main problem is that he doesn't score nearly enough goals for his position. His finishing is abysmal. A 10 who doesn't score goals is never going to make the grade at elite level. He won't learn to shoot at 29. He is what he is.
Swanny
Guest
Troisi should come and play for the Newcastle jets
Ken Spacey
Guest
Troisi should play for the Reds, Kruse should play for Bupa. The FFA have had to take out insurance against Gombau doing a knee slide at the oval when we score the winner. 24 hours is not enough time to repair that!
League table speaks
Guest
What's better is what's best for each individual. A good chance they both enjoy playing in a do or die environment like in europe. You should hope australia has players that thrive in that system over the sheltered workshop of the hal.
Brendo
Guest
It would very much depend on what is the most important to them. Every decision like this is one of compromise, rarely does the professional footballer have the luxury of having their cake and eat it to. Playing in a great league, at a top club, for top dollar, being a week in week out starter and surrounded by supportive culture and friends would be every players nirvana. Of course from a football point of view I have no doubt that both Kruse and Troisi would be better off in Australia. The question is how much will the other factors (especially money influence the decision). For Troisi he is now 28 and will turn 29 in a month. His next contract will almost certainly be his last big paycheck. It is a question of how much is enough. How much less is he willing to accept to play in Australia. Victory have tabled a offer but he wants more, I have no doubt he has interest in China for a lot more than what is on the table. It is a question of how close do Victory have to get to keep him. Kruse also turns 29 this year so again the money will play a big part of his decision where he goes. I think for Kruse though the lure of coming home may have a bigger pull.
Waz
Guest
There is a long list of players that would be better off in the HAL rather than warming pine overseas. Imagine the impact on the standard of the competition if 15-20 overseas players were to return? Financially it often makes sense for these players to go, and you can't argue with that even though some of the wages on offer are only marginally better than HAL salaries; players need to make money in a short career and very often it's just about that, Matt Smith and Fierrirae aren't playing overseas because it's a better comp, or better for their careers, they're doing it for the money. So over time, continued and meaningful improvement in player salaries will help slow the drain of players significantly but as jb points out, there will always be some who are in it for the adventure or the ambition. And that's okay. Providing we continue to create a League where you don't have to go overseas to get better money and font have to play overseas to develop as a player then we'll win far more than we lose, at the moment the cap forces way too many offshore though and the quality if our jeague is not quite there
Fadida
Guest
Troisi is an interesting case. Clearly an outstanding A-League player but also clearly not good enough for the top European leagues. As a result he is a man in perpetual motion, dropping into the A-league for game time before heading off to a better pay packet/bigger challenge elsewhere. Belgium or Turkey seem to be a perfect fit but both I suspect lack the pay packet attraction? He's good enough to be an Australian marquee, but the big city clubs have one of those and you just can't see smaller cities suiting his image of himself. The result is a man going up and down on the same spot. One step forward, one step back. From a NT perspective it means he plays regularly in the A-league,gets picked for the NT then moves off the back of this. He then fails to get game time, loses his NT spot and then comes home to repeat the cycle. So frustrating as he is clearly a better player than some of the NT regulars. Which leads us on to Kruse. Going for some reverse psychology here, but he is a busted flush. Prior to injuries he was a key NT player. Now he's just a shadow and I'd argue if he returned home would barely standout in the A-league. I'd love to be proven wrong.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
At this point in their careers both Troisi and Kruse need to be looking at good, reliable earnings. That means being in sides that pay well but need them in their starting XI. Whether that is in Australia or elsewhere is moot as at their age they have probably another 4 years of top earnings to go, assuming injuries don't curtail their careers. In the final 2 years they need to be giving much more consideration to their post-playing careers. If that means establishing careers in the Australian football industry then a move to the A-League may have merit.
j binnie
Guest
Evan - You have to be very careful in airing these views concerning Kruse and Troisi. If we go back 35 years a rather revolutionary thinker, (for the time), Frank Arok, was given the national coaching job.He started by stating what he needed if the team was to be successful and he proceeded to build a team that had a reasonably successful 7 years under his tutelage and during that time ,it would be correct to say his successes on the field probably started the trickle that was to become a river of players moving overseas. That situation has been in existence now for 27 years with our better players tempted overseas for one reason or another be it financial,curiosity,or plain adventure. Now we find that trail is not so lucrative,o.k, the money is still there but the status of playing with a top side appears to have waned somewhat and one has to assume that our players are no longer good enough to force their way into the elite teams of the "top" countries. So what of the future? I think Rugby fans would point out that the "banning" of overseas players from playing with their national side is fraught with danger so should be ignored in the football fraternity ,but there is little doubt that what you say re. these two players has a ring of common sense about it. A look at HAL teams around the country now sees more and more ex Socceroos plying their trades in the local comp and doing it with some distinction. What you are getting close to is, should that thinking be expanded to cover more and more of our current Socceroo squad.Such a move would allow the national team to come under local conditions, train together more, play more friendly games ,all at a much reduced cost, in fact turning the clock back to the days when Arok's teams took on the word's best and on occasion gave them the frights of their collective lives. Maybe not such a bad idea. Cheers jb.