I love Aaron Mooy. He looks like he works in IT, has the technical ability of Paul Scholes, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta combined, and is clearly the Socceroos lovechild of Marco Bresciano and Danny Tiatto.
He engenders patriotic feelings in Australian football fans that haven’t been sensed since the days of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka tearing it up for Leeds, Timmy Cahill smashing in headers from Merseyside to Melbourne, and Hayden Foxe literally pissing all over a London nightclub bar at West Ham’s 2001 Christmas party.
This is a bit of a ramble, but he is the great pale hope for the Socceroos, and despite his shy off-field nature, he has the on-field swagger and smarts to single-handedly drag Australia to the 2018 World Cup.
His goal for Huddersfield against Newcastle last weekend was the best goal by an Aussie in the Premier League since Mile Jedinak’s beautiful free kick for Crystal Palace against Liverpool in November 2014. Were it scored by someone from one of the traditional ‘big boy’ teams, we would never hear the end of it from such boring pundits as Alan Shearer and 15-year-old Real Madrid and Barcelona fans (or ‘fanboys’ as the simpletons refer to them).
One significant goal it can be compared to is Eden Hazard’s stunner for Chelsea versus Tottenham in 2016, which helped clinch the title for Leicester City that night. Both collect the ball in the opposition half, keep things ticking over by passing to a more advanced teammate and after a run into the box, the return ball arrives and they curl the ball into the far corner with inch-perfect precision.
His partnership with Bruno Fornaroli at Melbourne City was excellent to watch, and if he can replicate that level of telepathy with Tom Rogic at international level then we will be contractually obliged to come up with a nickname for the combination, less ‘bash brothers’ and more ‘our immense technical ability will stroke you to sleep’ brothers.
With winger Mathew Leckie scoring a brace on his debut for Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, our midfield options are well stocked, which is good news because the way our forwards and defenders are going, we might have to fully embrace Pep Guardiola’s fantasy formation of 0-10-0 with Mat Ryan and Mitch Langerak playing a half each in goal.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Mooy’s rise is also a welcome antidote to the many baffling and inevitably disappointing transfers to Europe that still plague some of our players, with Luke Brattan’s move to Manchester City, instant palming-off to Bolton and swift return to the A-League via Melbourne City being seen from a mile away, and the tragicomedy of Trent Sainsbury being shuffled off to Internazionale from his Chinese club to sit on the bench for five months frustrating all and sundry.
The fact that Mooy has already endured one of these disappointing European sojourns, with his time at St Mirren in Scotland showing no indication of the heights he was to hit, grants hope to everyone in a similar scenario, and it gives credence to the theory that consistently playing in the A-League every week is superior for development and sharpness than sitting in expensive racing car chairs on the sideline of a European club for 90 minutes.
Entering the prime of his career, it is absurdly exciting to see how much further Mooy can elevate his game, and as he bestrides West Yorkshire this season we must get on our knees and pray that Russia 2018 – if we bloody make it! – is when the rest of the world can love him as much as we do.
Footoverhand
Guest
Yep, I follow Aussies playing overseas in all kind of leagues, the A League isn't to bad. But it is annoying when a team in Europe needs a defender and Sainsbury is sitting on the bench in China, or Spiranovic in CSL2. Look at how Langerak has been treated, was the main reason his team got into the Bundesliga and they bring in a keeper to replace him.
Andrew
Roar Guru
Good point - living over here people I talk to basically scoff whenever I mention Australian football and make a joke about rugby or Aussie Rules. Of course when the media over here is clogged up with such morons as Merson and Robbie Savage it's hard to change the perceptions of this old boys club.
Footoverhand
Guest
He must have shown something at Snt Mirren, supporters from there still leave messages on his twatter. Maybe you have come to the crux of the article, that the coach there didn't have enough faith in him. It seems prevalent in Europe that Australian football is seen as a backwater and our players don't have any respect, which means they have to work and perform better than players from other countries.
jonni
Guest
Maybe one day he will play a decent game for the Socceroos, who knows?...
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
He's not there, but well on the way. A complete season like this, and it will definitely be a case of: look it Mooy, look it Mooy.
Paul
Guest
Mooy I still humble bloke but ain't no messiah.
Andrew
Roar Guru
He's had a good start but needs at least 3 seasons before you can even compare him to Kewell, Viduka or Cahill in their pomp.
Caltex TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
“touch”,’feel”,and “experimentation” Yes JB and Nemeses , the absolute foundation to what makes a genuine great footballer. Certainly Mooy can still grow and blossom into one of our best Socceroos we have produced.
albatross
Roar Pro
Someone on Guardian Football Weekly suggested Mooy was the best player from Australia ever to grace the EPL.
Ken Spacey
Guest
Mooy and to a lesser extent Sam Kerr have come along as high points in a fairly rough ride for Oz football in the wider public's perception. But do we have the intelligence and resources to make something of it? In some ways we hope Mabil's star rises and he helps deliver qualification for the same reason. Good points above about just playing about the house, this is what even Brazil lament; the decline of pick up games and street football. Tennis Coaching seems to have become an industry in the same period that Oz tennis has 'generally" declined. The more kids play a sport in any format, the better and as they get older more competitive games the better. But football is perhaps struggling to retrofit good athletes with those skills after 4-6 yrs of never playing at all.Hopefully as those be directed into 'soccer''become mums and dads themselves there will always be a round ball around and someone to teach he basics from walking age.
Hamish Hutton
Roar Rookie
It's good to see someone like Mooy doing so well, when you go to Europe as a 15 year old you'd feel as though it would all come together fairly early. Coming back to Melbourne City and then doing it all over again shows his character, and boy isn't he benefiting from it now
Nemesis
Guest
Spot on, jb about ball control at an early age. One other aspect that sets Aaron on a higher level to other footballers is what I'd call "problem solving". From my observation (not sport, but through schooling & work life), problem solving is is something that comes naturally to some people. For others, it must be learnt and, again from my observation, those who have to learn how to problem solve are not as good under pressure making a correct decision. Some people are good problem solvers: - the can see the problem before it occurs - see the solution early - pick the best solution when faced with multiple choices. - if the 1st solution doesn't work, they'll learn & not repeat the mistake the next time What I noticed about Aaron from the 1st time I saw him playing for WSW is that he always knows the pass he wants to make before he gets the ball. Of course, he still has to execute with the perfectly weighted pass but, if players can know the solution before the ball arrives, it makes ball movement so much quicker & harder for opponents to defend against. My gut-feeling is that Aaron would score very high marks with problem-solving tests.
j,binnie
Guest
A recent documentary on Mooy and his younger life was self explanatory as to where his talent had it's origins. It showed a very young Aaron,in family "home movies" playing around the house with seldom, if ever, a ball too far away. That grounding in "touch",'feel",and "experimentation" is what gives a youngster the "necessaries" to go ahead and make a career for himself at a top team somewhere in the world. Once that confidence in ball control is mastered it is then comparatively easy to move to the next stage and learn the tactical side of modern football.Let us hope that Aaron will receive good advice in that area of his development in order that he continue to "blossom". Cheers jb. ps to the author. The 0-10-0 theory is not Guardiola's it is in fact the thoughts of a man called Hugo Meisl,who first expounded the "theory'" around 1925. whilst being one of the top coaches in European football..It was nicknamed the "Viennese Whirl". because of his connection to Austrian football Cheers jb
Caltex TEN & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
Thank you for a very good article on Mooy, Andrew. I concur with all you say about Mooy. Although Mooy, had a less than impressive campaign in the recent Confederation Cup, he still has the football smarts to achieve great things in the coming WC in Russia. I see him developing and progressing into a top flight EPL footballer this season. And Mooy, will continue to improve and develop into one of our finest Socceroos we have produced.
Waz
Guest
I'm glad the bloke is doing well. I had my doubts he could make the EPL but he's trodden an excellent path and both he and his agent deserve credit for it.
Josh Barton
Roar Pro
Whenever I see Mooy, I think of that classic "conehead" banner by Melbourne City supporters. It's burned into my memory and never fails to make me laugh. He's going really well at the moment. He and Jedinak are proof that the A-league is a viable method for player development before having a meaningful crack at Europe later on.