If ever there was a player destined for cult status, Massimo Maccarone fits that bill.
A man fondly remembered in Middlesbrough for that diving header to power the club into the 2006 UEFA Cup final. A man who Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink proclaimed he “loved” and who Boro chairman Steve Gibson branded “a fool” following his free transfer to Siena. A man who made international headlines for celebrating scoring by swigging a fan’s pint while playing for Empoli.
A man who, at the age of 37, is aiming for one last shot at cult glory this season as the Brisbane Roar’s marquee signing.
Yet the word cult can also be a byword for masking a number of failings. For every Besart Berisha, there’s a Mario Jardel. Maccarone may be a cult figure on Teeside, but so is Alfonso Alves, who barely scraped into double figures during his spell at the Riverside.
Maccarone fared a little better, netting 18 league goals, albeit across five years, plus a couple of memorable cup tie winners, but to this day you’d have a hard job finding any Boro fan who could definitively tell you if the Italian was any good or not.
As the living embodiment of an internet forum debate lands in Queensland, Brisbane Roar fans have picked up where Italy and England left off. Maccarone may not have started a competitive game yet but he’s alternatively a vastly experienced former international who brings Italian know how in beating tight defences to the Suncorp Stadium or he’s a shot shy ageing pro looking for one last paycheck before calling it a day, and everything in between.
What is certain is Maccarone’s signing represents something of a risk for the Roar. While he undoubtedly knows how to score in Serie A, his most prolific seasons have both come at Empoli, which have bookended numerous seasons of bench warming and blanks.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Big Mac is certainly loved by Azzurri fans for his role in firing them to Serie A and keeping them up – a moderately sized carp in a reasonably volumed pond, if you will – but he’s undoubtedly not Jamie Maclaren, whose goals at Brisbane earned him a move to Germany.
Maclaren’s 20 goals will be hard to replace and while Maccarone undoubtedly brings experience, there’s little in his CV to suggest he will fill the void left by the younger Australian.
The Roar’s risk extends beyond the pitch though. Ever since its creation, it’s been hard to escape the tag of a retirement league for ageing pros and Maccarone’s signing does little to dispel this.
Experienced as he is, he’s unlikely to draw in crowds like his countryman Alessandro del Piero, and if he underperforms in his opening games he has the potential to be a stick with which to beat Australian football as a whole.
For a league still maturing, older or foreign marquees are still important in enticing casual fans into the stadium. The likes of Del Piero, David Villa and Tim Cahill have been qualified successes (and Villa’s success was probably to earn the Melbourne City sales department a nice bonus) but have the star power that can push rival sporting codes off the back pages.
Maccarone’s name will resonate with football fans but unless he repeats his UEFA Cup goalscoring feats, he’s unlikely to elicit much of a response from the casual fan.
For all that, Big Mac may yet prove doubters wrong. Maccarone in 2017 is a different proposition from the young striker who struggled with the physicality of the Premier League, and Australian football isn’t played at quite the same pace as the English top flight. But if it all goes wrong, at least there’s no shortage of pints for the Italian to swig from around the Suncorp Stadium.
Whether Roar fans will want to offer their drinks up to him is another matter.
Chopper
Guest
Roar are looking at the Spanish forward Torres. Alas it is not Fernando but Guillermo who is a hell of a lot younger than Torres and all of our recent signings.
Gary Andrews
Roar Rookie
It's a really good point Waz, and definitely one I considered. I know Maclaren is a little maligned for the number of chances he fails to covert versus those he puts away, but 20 goals is no bad return in any league - imagine if he could actually finish! I think you're spot on when you say Maclaren would have benefitted from Maccarone in the squad, and if anything this signing is a season to late. As it is, you have a striker who has never exactly prolific away from Empoli and a 19-year-old with a lot of promise but still learning the ropes. As you say, goals were a problem for Brisbane last season, and that could continue into 2017/18. I don't think Maccarone's risk is necessarily based on age - although that has to be factored in - but more from his history of starting well and then fading. Or simply never getting started at all. Plus he's never been entirely comfortable when up against more physical teams. I'm not entirely sure he's the right signings for The Roar at this stage, although would love to be proved wrong. I also thought John Aloisi would struggle at Brisbane but he's started to build quite an interesting team, so shows what I know! I'd be surprised if Brisbane were title challenges this season though. Solidly into the finals, yes, and probably the best of the rest.
Waz
Guest
Gary, To draw the conclusions you have (e.g. "Replacing Maclaren with Maccarone") you really need to do a fuller analysis of Roars squad. Maccarone doesn't actually replace anyone; the replacement for Maclaren is 19 year old D'Aggestino who for most of last season was locked into a two-horse race with Katebian as possible replacement for the out-going Maccers. Maccarone therefore becomes an addition to the squad and someone even Maccers would have benefited training and playing alongside. Then you have the limitations in Maccers play, 20 goals last season is a good return but subtract the penalties to leave only goals from open play and consider the low number of assists and it's less impressive. Despite Maccers 20 Roar as a team struggled with goals last season which needs to change if Roar are to win the title. So Maccarone is a risk based on age but it's the same risk they took with Bowles (aged 24) who did his ACL last season. And who's the greater risk, the 38 year old Maccarone or the 24 year old Gameiro? One of them hasn't been injured for 9 years and it's not Gameiro so who's the greater risk??
Gary Andrews
Roar Rookie
While I'd agree Maccarone will be very different to Maclaren, it's still a huge risk to replace a 20 goal striker with one that's hardly prolific and occasionally struggles with physical sides. He'll definitely add a lot of experience and help for younger players, but whether he's worth a marquee slot is another question.
Nemesis
Guest
Thank heavens you are not, and you never will be, involved with the administration of football at any level. Some of the u15 squad are playing for ALeague clubs in the NPL.
LuckyEddie
Guest
How about waiting until he plays a few games? The bloke has not even played yet and geniuses have decided he is no good. Amazing.
LuckyEddie
Guest
How much money do we waste on these spoilt kids and the overseas junkets? If these kids are any good they would be in Europe or on HAL books. I cannot believe that we have an article complaining about about Roar signing an older player yet we waste millions on the u13,u14.u15 3/4, u17 1/2, u18. u19 etc.etc etc. teams travelling world. Let's be crystal clear all of these players and their managers have one goal only and that is to get a big overseas contract. They are not doing it for the mug in the crowd, they are in it 100% for themselves. Cut these rackets to the bone and get the millions over to the A-League clubs. At best these players might play a few games for us in the future but their first priority is to themselves and their future clubs. Then of course you have the cleans who after sucking dollars out of the Aussie taxpayer decide to play for another country. Put them all on a HECS contract.
Johnny J-Dog
Guest
Well at least they're writing articles about him.
Waz
Guest
Agreed. I think the life expectancy of a good young player and a veteran is about the same these days. 2 years possibly 3? Rojas going is a bit of a shock though - especially as Victory are playing a slow game with recruiting and it's going to be interesting to see Muscat at work. 13 contracted players for next season?
Waz
Guest
Good summation. I watched the games on the dodgy internet feeds too (all but the one TSF couldn't find a feed for) and you've pretty much nailed it. There's an implied racism in the original post that we shouldn't be losing to the likes of Vietnam and Thailand despite the reality their respective governments invest heavily in football as part of the Olympic program in a way that our government doesn't, as a result they're not bad sides either. Worse still is any assumption that this one tournament should the judge of the NC, that would be folly. The NC has to be judged over a period of time but the early indications are good - it needs fine tuning and it needs more/better coaches but overall we're way better than we were ten years ago. It shouldn't be lost on anyone though that all the other countries are way better too and investing more than we are.
Lionheart
Guest
I'm looking forward to watching Maccarone. Sure there's a risk, but that can be said of any player who earns more than the average. Risk of injury alone, even for a player at his peak. It's not as if we are endowed with good strikers in the A League. Jamie MacLaren's 20 goals is an impressive count, but geez he missed a bucket load, especially early on in the season. I'd expect Maccaroni to be involved in general play a lot more than Jamie was, and have a higher assist rate with goals. From what the club says, he'll add a lot to the off-field development of the younger players too.
Chopper
Guest
They do but only to collect their pensions LoL
Nemesis
Guest
I watched a few of these matches. I missed the Semi-Final loss. The technical quality of the u15 lads was of an extremely high level. And, it is the gap in the technical qualities of Aussie footballers that the National Curriculum was designed to address. The move from "Fight Ball" to Football. I also watched the u23 team playing their qualifiers & it's becoming apparent the Australian National Teams now have a structure, ball movement & overall philosophy that is consistent from u15 to the Senior Team. The 2 major weaknesses I noticed were: a) defensive tactics & structure need lots of work when the ball is lost when Australia is attacking b) final decision pass is too often delayed, over-hit, or just a bad decision. I think we've all noticed both these deficiencies with the senior team, too. When we get this right, Australia will be the finished product. But, for now, like most of the world Australia is not the finished product. Lots of thinks to work on now. The technical aspect has to be mastered before the age of 15 & this is now occurring.
Bob
Guest
the good thing about old players is they dont leave you unlike MacLaren, Borrello and now ROJAS LoL
Caltex Ten & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Welcome to Dad's army!
TwoThreeFour
Roar Rookie
In other news it was disappointing to see the U15s Joeys finish in third place at the AFF championships in Thailand. Lost to Thailand and Vietnam. I know a lot of posters here believed this tournament would be an indicator of the value of our national curriculum and development programs?
Bob
Guest
it may confuse the RBB as well. And I cant wait to see him pinch their Capo's beer :)
Bob
Guest
Well he's certainly making headlines from England to Italy to Australia. BRFC should have pushed for a guest marquee position LoL
Waz
Guest
Great article. Risk is all there is.
pauli
Guest
If those tatts don't bring in hordes of people from Ipswich, Logan and Caboolture, nothing will!