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Opinion
Rene Meulensteen is the Socceroos’ assistant coach and one of his main tasks is keeping in contact with the regular 40 or so current European-based players.
Players outside of this core batch, he has no contact with.
Football Australia’s international scouting system is a figment of one’s imagination. There is no system in place by the governing body to identify and monitor potential players who can represent the green and gold – and players are being missed.
Many Australia-born players will likely be lost to major European football nations, where competition for places and qualifying for international tournaments is a lot harder than if they were to represent the nation of their birth.
Football Australia has been advised about scouting setups in Europe by previous coaches.
Guus Hiddink was shocked this was not already set up when he was in charge of the Socceroos in 2006, Holger Osieck four years later also recommended this get put into place as soon as possible.
Yet the organisation has been doing the bare minimum when it comes to international scouting of eligible players for decades, relying heavily on the analysis and views of ex-players and others on the continent.
It’s the equivalent of getting a recommendation from a friend of a friend for a TV series – and not everyone liked Squid Game.
Having recently returned to Australia from several weeks in Eastern Europe, it’s concerning how many players have yet to receive even the most basic of feedback from the county of their birth.
There are close to 100 players across all age groups who would qualify for Australia currently playing club football in the Balkans and its surrounding countries.
It is a part of Europe where there should already be a full-time scout employed – that is fluent in the languages, understands the political minefield, as well as the lay of the land of a part of Europe where so many of the Socceroos’ greatest players have heritage.
In an ideal world there should be at least one full-time scout in east, west, south, north and central Europe, who is able to constantly observe, advise and communicate directly with the player, as well as the relevant Australian national team coach for the corresponding age group.
It is a costly exercise to employ people in various parts of the continent, especially when you factor in flights, accommodation and phone bills – but it needs to be undertaken.
Football Australia’s coffers were topped up to the tune of $12 million with the Socceroos’ qualification for Qatar 2022 – the time is right to start spending it wisely on youth football and international scouting
The governing body has already shown this year they can be proactive rather than reactive, arranging and taking part in underage international tournaments.
A follow-on investment should be the implementation of a long overdue full-time scouting network across Europe.
But that requires Football Australia to spend more money in the hope of making money, something that has always been an issue – as seen by the repeated failures of the youth system, national curriculum, coaching and communication with eligible players.
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