Do people’s A-League Men allegiances change when watching the Asian Football Confederation Champions League?
With the group stages nearly complete, I somehow find myself barracking for Melbourne City, checking their statistics and feeling a sense of pride.
Generally I’ll go for the underdog, but the rules feel different on an international stage.
Happily, I’ll wear the sell-out tag, wanting dearly for an Australian team to succeed, understanding that wealthy clubs have a better chance at lifting the silverware.
Before you counteract the argument by using Western Sydney Wanderers’ previous AFC win, this isn’t 2014 anymore, and football within Asia has improved dramatically. It’s a game of dollars.
Hence, I see City as a credible opponent to other AFC clubs, and one that could go all the way.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
Having said that, had Central Coast won the FFA Cup, could the Mariners have survived the frantic six-game competition, once they qualified?
It’s a question of player depth, budgets, and the validity of Jason Cummings being allowed to play.
Only Melbourne Victory can really answer that, since history shows Tony Popovic’s hands lovingly lifting the knock-out trophy.
Coincidently, their brave 4-3 qualifying loss to Japan’s Vissel Kobe equated to an unbeaten A-League Men run back in Australia.
That means missing out on the AFC may have been a blessing in disguise.
The same could be said about the Mariners and their charge into the A-League Men top six.
Conversely, Sydney FC have briefly dropped out of the finals race, and their AFC days have also fizzled.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
To date, over half a million people have viewed clips featuring A-League Men teams on YouTube, via the official AFC hub. The figure is well over 600,000 downloads of the highlights package.
Although these clips only average around three minutes in length, their broader universal appeal shouldn’t be dismissed.
In a world where mainstream newspapers tend to print tinny articles on football, our online football community is thriving instead.
Having played their first match against BG Pathum United, Melbourne City’s efforts were viewed over 200,000 times.
These are excellent numbers, considering the modest size of the smaller Thai team, and its boutique 10,000-capacity home ground.
If the competition was held down under, I have no doubt Central Coast could compete with little financial restraint. The same goes for other clubs on a tight budget.
However for now, my heart yearns for Melbourne City, especially when combatting the biggest and richest teams in Asia.
Garry
Roar Rookie
not true this year but both still failed
Garry
Roar Rookie
down to 1 now
Full Time NSD
Guest
"As things stand, Australia will only be given one place in the 2022-23 competition due to the country's poor performances in recent years. " https://www.sportingnews.com/au/soccer/news/australian-clubs-continue-afc-champions-league-struggles-melbourne-city-and-sydney-fc-fail-progress/xxcbv4x4lyrf7j9ke7yp28dt
Brendan
Roar Pro
Sadly, it appears the planets did not align for City.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Nowhere else on The Roar to comment, so congratulations to Melbourne City last night. They had a convincing 3-0 victory and now have to wait to see if they're one of the best 2nd placed teams to go through. Let's hope so.
Saffi
Roar Rookie
Nice article. I also love the AFC. Some of the best games I have ever watched locally have been AFC championship games. The Victory v Gamba Osaka 3-4 game was an incredibly brilliant game. While I’m a Victory member, I’m always supporting the Aussie teams in the AFC. The current hub system has been excellent and I hope that it continues. It gives the comp a period of focus and increases the interest level.
Will
Guest
Coaching is a big problem here, I wonder its to do with the environment that its a closed shop with little incentive to play attractive football and allow the creative players to do their thing? Job security is a big problem also given how little opportunities there are here. Maybe we need some foreign coaches here to spice it up and test the local coaches more. Your thoughts why and how it can improve?
josh
Guest
I'll support any Aussie club in the ACL, even clubs I normally hate. They're representing our League after all. As for WSW, I went to every group match and the first leg of the final - we just had this attitude that we didn't care who you are or how big your budget is, you were in our city and we weren't going to let you have a good time.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
SS - not true for me. I just Australian sides to do well in the competition. I want them to be competitive with Japanese and Korean sides and be able to mix it with whatever is thrown at them from the Middle East if they get that far. I think of the team as representing the country. I don’t care about their finances or the fact that on the following weekend they will be the enemy again. That’s the difficulty of the ACL and similar competitions. We are so parochial we want anyone to win but our own!
Grem
Roar Rookie
Great story - Adjun Hrustic, Matt Ryan and Denis Genreau in top level European competitions and possibly Riley McGree and Harry Soutter (when fit) to join them. Players being developed and new investors in teams. We're due for some good news stories on The Roar.
Full Time NSD
Guest
https://amp.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/how-a-socceroo-s-triumph-in-france-was-born-out-of-cash-strapped-a-league-20220428-p5agwl.html Speaking of comparing to the rest of Asia
Brendan
Roar Pro
With Sydney FC, their preliminary game against Kaya FC was a wet occasion. A few punters probably stayed away, which is a shame. I think the Sky Blues convincingly winning the match was to be expected. Many folk simply have high expectations of the Moore Park lads, once dubbed Bling FC (not my favourite nickname). Dare I say, Sydney are possibly a victim of their own success. Hence, anything less than a double digit thrashing won’t get a mention in the media.
Brendan
Roar Pro
It makes this Saturday’s match crucial for Western United then. Win, & first place is theirs. Lose, & Central Coast are likely to cement a top six spot.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
cant remove the salary cap, until domestic transfers fees for the a league come into play mariners, adelaide, brisbane, wellington, newcastle wont be able to complete with the 'big boys' otherwise when the cap goes (which it will at some points) the a league will turn into a 1 team monopoly every season, with city winning it
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
I don't think we would, the issue is the time between our leagues completion and the ACL commencement. Its way to long.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
You got anything to back that up, because Police Tero F.C. from Thailand is currently running at 3 MIllion and was there in 02/03
Grem
Roar Rookie
If our salary cap was removed we would have more chance of success. The Asian teams are better because they can retain their better players and buy higher quality imports. Having said that we still should be doing better than what we presently are and have been doing over the last few years. And, yes I will support any Aussie team representing us. I loved the attitude and results of both Adelaide and WSW in their successful years.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The prize money has increased , US 4m winner Us2m runner up . Thats before the CWC money for winning it. Thats in addition to prize money for each match,50k winner, 10k draw. Making 16 100k,quarter 150k, semi final 250k the travel allowance are paid in addition to that. City get the easy beat Phillipine team win 3 matches 3 draws plus makes round of 16 thats already 280k US.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Sydney had their chance to win against Yokohama when they played the B team in the first match against them and against Jeonbuk in the last match with also a poor starting line up. They had the better of both matches by far till the opposition put the subs on. Narsingh has show nothing he has been put through on goal multiple times, one on one against defenders heaps of occasions, Wood got put on 85th minute and got a goal. There is something totally weird about narsingh play gives up after being in a good position, or puts in a weak shot or cross does stepovers then just lets the ball run to a defender like he has just run 80 meters.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
You seem to be spent more minutes writing rubbish than watching the games. Total load of bunk , Melbourne City have't been passing backwards all the time, Nabbout has always been taking players on, Bos has been trying all sorts of things, City have lost a lot of their players Berenguer, Aiden ONeill and then Leckie picked up an injury. Bos moved to right wing has been a big feature, and has tried a lot of things, his energy has been a big feature. Tilio has been great when he has got involved but needs to show a lot more energy. Colakovski good as well. The worst has been MacLaren seems lifeless he did pick up a winner setup by Bos but he also blew big chances against the Thai team that would see them top of the group. .