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Since the inaugural season of the A-League in 2005-2006, we have seen some outstanding marquees and brilliant local talents grace the competition.
Below are my choices for the best XI to have ever played in the A-League. Who would be in yours?
Goalkeeper: Michael Theo
Michael Theo is the custodian of my A-League XI. The five-time championship winning shot-stopper (Brisbane Roar 2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2013– 2014, Melbourne Victory 2006-2007/2008-2009) has won the A-League goalkeeper of the year award three times, one behind Eugene Galekovic.
Theo commanded the 18-yard box like no other. He was very reliable in the air and was a master at setting up defensive structures in front of him. After a shocking time at Norwich City, Theo returned to the A-League and won the coveted best glovesman award immediately.
This displays his character and attitude to achieve goal-keeping excellence. The two penalty saves he made in the 2011 grand final against Central Coast will go down in the annals of A-League competition.
Defenders: Alex Wilkinson, Kevin Muscat, Ivan Franjic, Patrick Zwaanswijk
A major reason for Sydney FC’s success over the last couple of years is due to the impressive leadership and brilliant defensive attributes of Alex Wilkinson. The 33-year-old central defender can slot into any position in the backline and in any team in the A-League.
Wilkinson has played over 170 games for the Central Coast Mariners making three grand-final appearances in 2006, 2008 and 2011 before winning his first champions ring in 2017 with Sydney FC. Amongst this, Wilkinson has played for Melbourne City during the 2015-2016 season.
He has also represented the Socceroos 16 times and featured in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold has openly admired Wilkinson underlining the value of experience, work ethic and leadership that Wilkinson brings to a club.
Kevin Muscat could be defined as the “Roy Keane” of Australian soccer. Fierce, competitive, passionate and aggressive are a few words that come to mind when describing his footballing career.
Having played in the English Premier League with numerous clubs, Muscat returned to Australia to captain the Melbourne Victory in the inaugural season of the A-League in 2005 playing over 120 A-League matches for them in process. Predominantly a defender, Muscat has scored 28 goals for the Victory and had a dead-eye when it came to penalties.
He went on to win two A-League championships as a player during the seasons of 2006-2007 and 2008-2009. Muscat also won a championship with the Victory in the 2014-2015 season as a coach. Muscat went on to represent the Socceroos a respectable 46 times. Muscat will equally be remembered however for his hot-tempered nature and poor discipline.
Ivan Franjic was unanimously named in the PFA A-League team of the decade, and rightly so. Franjic was an integral member of the record-breaking Brisbane Roar outfit coached by the former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
The attacking right-back played over 100 games for the Roar including lifting the A-League championship trophy three times in his five-year stint at the club. Franjic is blessed with supreme technical quality, power and limitless commitment to whichever club he has been a part of.
Franjic returned to Australia to play for Melbourne City after playing in Russian Premier League for a couple of years. However, during that season, injuries limited his impact. He also went on to make 20 appearances for the Socceroos.
Zwaanswijk joined the A-League team Central Coast Mariners in 2010 at the ripe old age of 35. During his time at the Mariners, Zwaanswijk became very popular with the fans and a mentor for players like Trent Sainsbury, Alex Wilkinson, and Matt Ryan. He was awarded the prestigious Alex Tobin Award in 2011.
The following year, the Dutch footballer scored in the grand final against the Western Sydney Wanderers to give the Mariners their first ever title. Zwaanswijk had everything required in a classy defender – composure, physical presence and positioning.
Furthermore, Zwaanswijk had a lethal boot and was known to score some brilliant long-range goals.
Midfielders: Thomas Broich, Shinji Ono, Carlos Hernandez, Mark Milligan
The former Bundesliga player Broich will probably go down as the best player to grace the A-League. The silky velvet-footed German has provided abundant unforgettable and special moments during his playing career with the Brisbane Roar.
For the A-League to acquire his talents at 27 years of age, when he was at his supreme footballing maturity, was extremely fortunate. Very few players had such footballing acumen, tactical and technical excellence.
The mercurial attacking mid-fielder has won two Johnny Warren medals, one Joe Marston Medal, two premierships and three A-League championships. Need I say more? Ange Postecoglou said in his previous interviews that the A-League would not see a player like him ever again.
You might say that Ono was only in the league for two years, how can he make the XI? The Japanese midfielder was just that good. Ono oozed class since joining the Western Sydney Wanderers in 2013. He became a hero for the Wanderers fans and football spectators across the country.
His astute playmaking, peerless vision and sublime creativity fit perfectly into the Wanderers under the tutelage of Tony Popovic. There were numerous moments of individual brilliance and outstanding goals.
How can one forget one of the greatest goals in A-League history when Ono audaciously chipped the invulnerable Michael Theo to the 2013 semi-final against the Brisbane Roar?
The 2009-2010 Johnny Warren medallist Hernandez made 122 appearances for Melbourne Victory spanning five years where he played a crucial role in Victory winning the premiership and championship double in 2008. He scored 36 goals and was awarded the club’s Golden Boot award in 2009 and 2011.
The Costa Rican international also made 21 appearances for Wellington Phoenix. El Zorro, as he was known, was an attacking midfielder with great touch, vision and an ability to score goals from almost anywhere. Hernandez was deadly with set-pieces scoring some magical long-range goals.
Such was Hernandez’s excellence that he featured in regular highlight reel performances for the Victory. He will leave behind a legacy of being one of the best-attacking midfielders ever to play in the league.
With the attacking midfielders in this side, it is essential to have a defensive mid-fielder with presence, fitness and toughness. Milligan is a perfect foil for Broich, Ono and Hernandez.
(AAP Image/David Crosling)
Milligan was one of the few players taken from the competition to play for the Socceroos. The holding centre mid has been part of two successful campaigns, firstly with Sydney FC in the inaugural season and then with Melbourne Victory in 2014-2015 against his old club.
He won the Joe Marston medal for being the best player on the pitch. Milligan’s physical intensity and his willingness to do the hard yards are the key ingredients that made him a successful footballer.
Forwards: Besart Berisha, Archie Thompson
Love him or hate him, Besart Berisha has been the premier talisman in the A-League. The Albanian international has played for the Brisbane Roar (2011-2013) and Melbourne Victory (2014-current), scoring a mammoth 111 goals in 177 matches collectively.
Cometh the big games, cometh Besart Berisha.
His passion and will to win have led him to three grand-final successes in four appearances. If you ask most A-League defenders who the best striker they have faced in the A-League is, his name will feature predominantly.
However, as was with Kevin Muscat, Berisha had frequent instances where he had lost his cool and in the process, accumulated 28 yellow and four red cards in his six-year A-League career.
There was a time where A-League defenders would have been going through severe anxiety because the Melbourne Victory had both Besart Berisha and Archie Thompson in their line-up. Thompson is the third highest scorer in A-League history with 90 goals from 224 appearances.
Like Berisha, Thompson had an insatiable hunger for scoring goals. But where Berisha relies on power and aggression, Thompson possessed speed, agility and a sense of poaching a goal.
The incessantly smiling striker will be best known for his five goals against Adelaide in the 2007 title decider. Thompson’s A-League career was cut short in 2016, due to his unfortunate run of injuries.
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