Markus Babbel will be remembered in the A-League for winning ten games in 20 months, but just because he was an ordinary coach doesn’t mean we should ignore his thoughts entirely.
So much for the warm send-off. After recording a feel-good farewell video for Wanderers fans, Babbel was decidedly less conciliatory about the A-League and its shortcomings in an interview with German tabloid Sport Bild.
For those who don’t read German, the gist of the interview sees Babbel label the A-League a “game of chance played outdoors,” the standard of the league “poor” with many “technical errors” and he goes on to suggest the referees “stole eight points off him this season” and says it’s “unbelievable how bad the referees act”.
He also suggests Australian players are mentally weak, says that “football is a rich sport for the elite” with parents slugged annual fees of $2500, and implies that tough kids now play sports like “rugby” and “football (sic)”, which to Babbel presumably means Aussie rules.
Even the most casual observer of the A-League might rightfully reply, “Sure, but what’s your game plan for beating Perth Glory this season?”
Because that’s really what the German had a problem with.
(Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
More than referees or high temperatures or dressing room facilities or salary caps, what Babbel most struggled with was putting a cohesive football team out onto the pitch.
And when the spotlight started to fall on his coaching methods, he resorted to age-old Eurocentric tropes about Aussies not really having a feel for the game, or his players not being fit enough, or the referees harbouring a vendetta.
It’s not the first unhappy end Babbel has endured in his coaching career.
The major investor at his previous club FC Luzern memorably called Babbel “a Birchermuesli trainer – a little bit of this and little bit of that and back to a little bit of this again”.
Babbel was eventually sacked by Luzern after announcing his decision to step down, with the same investor – who for the sake of objectivity seems like a genuine nutter – later complaining the former Bayern Munich defender “never understood what makes Central Switzerland tick”.
Maybe he never really understood what made the A-League tick either?
(Photo by Nigel Owen/Action Plus via Getty Images)
And while it’s all well and good for us to get online and lob stones at Babbel – even if some of his own comments to the German press about a certain Sydney Morning Herald journalist should have raised a few eyebrows – there’s also a chance that in writing him off for bagging the A-League, we miss the chance to discuss some of his more constructive criticisms.
Why do we, for example, still have a salary cap? If the fans don’t want it and clubs don’t want it and an ex-Bundesliga blow-in with some colourful shirts and a patchy coaching record doesn’t want it, then why have one?
And what if our refereeing standards really could improve? Not only did Babbel say VAR has done little to benefit refereeing in Australia, he went so far as to suggest it practically cost his German compatriot Marco Kurz a job.
He’s not wrong about the cost of enrolling kids in elite football programs, and although he must have missed Australia’s backs-to-the-wall 2015 Asian Cup win, he’s not wrong about our golden generation of Socceroos being a bunch of battle-hardened warriors either.
Maybe there are lessons to be learnt on all sides of this saga.
Wanderers chairman Paul Lederer and his chief executive John Tsatsimas were the ones who hired Babbel. Where’s the scrutiny on them?
And it was Babbel who rocked up on Australian shores with little more than a few Bundesliga players on speed dial and a chipper personality. We saw the results.
As for his long list of complaints about the standard of the A-League, what was it that Lisa Simpson called this sort of behaviour again?
Oh that’s right. Sour grapes.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
I think its suprising that someone would even think of comparing the two distances directly ,EPL I dont know about the figures about that. 10.5 km is a very poor number, is that actual average of players who have played the 90 minutes, or is it the average of all outfield players, because if its for those who do the full 90 its very poor. South Africa world cup was played in cooler conditions the average was about 11.5 to 12. Brazil was in a lot of heat and was around the 11 mark.A-league would be over that depending on the heat. EPl despite the cool conditions its not very tactically advanced across the majority of teams so maybe that explains it. Your AFL match its generally about 2 hours of playing time with 30 minutes of breaks in between versus about 95 minutes playing time with 15 minute break. So 12.6 translates to 9.5 over the same period.
HR
Roar Rookie
It would be great if FFA could consult with these successful coaches and see what they think needs to be done to improve the league - maybe they could do that instead of hiring, say, Richard Scudamore to figure out the problems.
HR
Roar Rookie
Damn - I'm good at accents, and I had the amusing clothes all lined up and ready to go (I was thinking of a teal checked blazer and pork-pie hat ensemble).
HR
Roar Rookie
What's your thinking on JT's movements? At 31 he's unlikely to move overseas to play again, he has a young family and his wife is from Adelaide. I don't see him going anywhere (equally, I certainly hope he stays at the club).
HR
Roar Rookie
You might want to check that first statement - the average distance travelled by an AFL player in the 2019 season across all games was 12.26 km (dividing the total number of kilometres travelled, 111,628 km, by the 44 players across both teams, and by the 207 games played during the season). The average distance travelled by an EPL outfield player is 10.5 km.
chris
Guest
Well whatever you want to call them, they have a lot more funds at their disposal to subsidise playing fees etc. In NSW not many people are playing AFL so not even those handouts are helping the player numbers.
AR
Guest
“Handouts” is your word, not mine. Private broadcasting contracts which are the subject of months/years of tough negotiations between commercial parties - simply “handouts”.
Simoc
Guest
I totally agree with this. The TV ratings aren't great playing the game in Summer so just move back to direct competition which Soccer will never win and have the best players and supporters who will watch anyway. That is what is best for the game here and its followers.
Simoc
Guest
Check out tennis. Full of loonies. Not so in any football.
chris
Guest
AR where did i say the A-League deserved handouts? I said that because of the lack of handouts and the massive amounts of juniors that want to play the game, the football associations have issues the other sports don't face. Do pay attention if you are going to respond.
Nemesis
Guest
Just read that the A-League clubs want to make the 2nd Division a Reserve A-League with some additional NPL clubs and nonsense about Conferences. Hopefully, it's just a fake news being promoted by the usual journos who look for clickbait. But, if it is true, then the mediocrity will never end. We're just repeating the same rubbish. That's it for me. Until A-League gets a proper structure with a proper National 2nd Division comprising the best NPL clubs from each region of Australia, I'm done with the A-League. With NPL season about to start, I'll focus on that competition. Real football structure. Real football venues. Watched by real football fans. Teams that perform well get promoted. Teams that fail get relegated.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
But this was the clubs as in many of the old NSL clubs of yesteryear. They had enormous representation on quite a few review committees although on this occasion sanity prevailed and the A League clubs were granted entry although there were stipulations at the time.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
Everyone lauded the Wellington Phoenix last year despite finishing sixth, because no one dreamed about the nix finishing near the six. Melbourne City on the other hand were considered by many to have had a poor season due to their missed potential, though finished a place higher on fifth. I guess you really have to look on the expectations of the team as well as their performances in previous seasons.
AR
Guest
“ They don’t get massive handouts from TV deals etc like AFL, league and cricket.” Amazing how entrenched the victim complex can be. Some people actually believe that commercial broadcasting contracts are “handouts”...akin to stadium funding. Forget commercial interest, ratings etc - it’s all just a “handout”. The “Big Blue” last week drew 17k viewers nationally. 17k. More people were at the stadium. But the ALeague deserves some kind of handout. Amazing.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
France lost to Brazil, not sure by how much 2-0 (I think ?) . But the point is that the football played by France was world class, well above us.
Paul2
Guest
Well said, Garry Jnr.
Will
Guest
France also beat Spain 6-1 maybe it was a good team. No shame losing to a powerhouse, maybe we can be humble and learn from best rather than put our heads in the sand and think we know better but really we don't?
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS: AIRPORT WORKERS THREATEN TO STRIKE OVER CORONA VIRUS FEARS “Airport staff are putting themselves at risk to make sure our airports can stay open. It’s public knowledge that a coronavirus patient has travelled on a domestic flight in Australia. “If the health and safety needs of these workers are not met, United Workers Union will direct members to cease work even if it means grounding every flight in the country.” - In addition, the Transport Workers Union is demanding that the federal government bans all flights from China while airlines are unilaterally ceasing flights for commercial reasons. https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/cancel-all-flights-calls-to-cancel-flights-between-australia-and-china/news-story/6b85bbbac4aabc05d122a16e4f9aa692 - If strikes and other actions go ahead then this could potentially bring domestic sporting competitions to a halt which makes it a relevant news story for sport. Unless of course teams are willing to travel by road that is, but it's a pretty big country. It's also worth mentioning that the WHO has now declared the virus a global emergency after cases in China increased by tenfold in just one week. Looks quite bad.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Too much political alliance with the backyard sports. Perfect example is a Sharks support who went to Hawaii while the country burned. If we had real leadership there would be recognition of the number of kids playing football and they would be giving grants to clubs to help support the demand instead of half a million going to Tony Abbott's rowing club. Naturally, rowing is a massive sport in this.country!!!
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Well now that Gallop drifted off in oblivion and we have a football man in charge, we might get somewhere. Gallop had the intestinal fortitude of a wet paperbag