I’m disappointed that the A-League hasn’t seen enough of Alemao. He’s a very versatile player – being able to play as a full back, midfielder, and even centre back – and has fantastic attacking flair. He’s been showing a lot of promise in the recent off-season, so I’m hoping he can break into a more regular position.

I’m hoping for a lot from the new imports – Shin, Owusu, Sukha, and the Gold Coast Gang – this season. The more successful we are with our imports, the better our league can become.

In terms of resources, you do have a point, Mike. And for that, they were also very fortunate to have a home fixture for the round of 16.

I do doubt, however, that Pohang will be the most successful club, despite my lack of surprise in their success to this date – FC Seoul are more likely to progress to the semi-finals, than the Steelers. I can’t see them beating a Scolari-led on aggregate. Same goes against FC Seoul, for the semis.

It’s looking like a Nagoya – Bunyodkor final, to me. That would be an exciting fixture.

It’s all been said before, numerous times. Even on The Roar.

It also boils down to youth coaching. Finishing is not exactly high on the list of crtieria to teach the nation’s youngsters – neither is goalkeeping. Japan’s teams have always been stronger in the midfield than anywhere else, and that’s even reflected by the names that are playing overseas.

In the past, players were much better strikers, and it was due to a different kind of coaching. Now, a lot of younger talents, like Urawa’s Genki Haraguchi, are growing up with futsal, and are once again becoming a lot more proficient at finding the net, and with the precision footwork required to navigate the penalty box.

I think it’s been a developmental and transitional process, more than anything.

Also, just a tip: Tulio is only quarter-Japanese, the rest of him being Brazilian – where he was born and lived for half of his life – and Italian. That explains his height, really. Yuji Nakazawa would be better as an example.

I don’t know why so many people consider Pohang’s progression as a “shock.” They’ve been in excellent form, lately, and the league table is never something to use as that team’s yard stick. Domestically, they’ve always focused on the FA Cup more than anything else.

Newcastle haven’t exactly been extraordinary, either, so I would have expected people to have forseen that result a long time ago. I had actually predicted 5-0, so Pohang even exceeded my expectations.

Pip, let’s not forget that Melbourne weren’t playing game after game, at that point. And you should keep in mind Adelaide’s rematch at the Club World Cup, if you want to criticise.

I was disappointed to see Kashima knocked out of the tournament – there must be something about Ogasawara – but I’ll be putting all my attention into Pohang and Nagoya, from this point onwards. Dragan’s return as Nagoya’s coach has been amazing for the team, and their game against Kawasaki should be fantastic. Pohang’s a bit unlucky to be playing Bunyodkor, though. Hopefully they can continue their form, into the semi-finals.

“But Adelaide have hardly added much to the team that last year couldn’t get on top of Melbourne.”

Bit harsh, and not to be offensive, but a little uneducated, too. A huge amount of the team has been changed, and added to, meaning the starting XI and formation will no doubt look different to last year’s Adelaide United.

The one thing that worries me about this year’s signings, though, is that although the media should be happy that Adelaide United are focusing on developing their squad, and have even bought an Asian player that hasn’t even proven himself in a professional league (straight from Kunkuk University, in Korea) – an idea that many pro-Asian media have been trying to promote – there will be a lot of criticism over the lack of big-name signings, causing United’s off-season to be overshadowed by the likes of Gold Coast, North Queensland, and Perth.

“Worry” is probably not the best word, really. It’s something that frustrates me about “the media.”

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, really.

Adelaide will no doubt be expected to come into the upcoming season as underdogs to three or four other clubs (being Gold Coast, Sydney FC, the Victory, and possibly Perth), merely due to the lack of “big name signings,” but their pre-season has shown a lot of promise, and with a still-incomplete squad, they could keep going from strength to strength. They still have a few remaining spaces (though they are only likely to fill one or two), and a few of the players being trialled at the moment look like they could bring a lot of quality to the park (namely In-Sup Shin and Aron Wilford).

I don’t agree with the notion that a lack of name signings equates to lackluster (or non-significant) signings. It’s easier for a team to gel, when they’re equally-skilled, or more able to develop their talents further. Other players on the park are less likely to work as well with a higher-skilled player, if they can’t understand the movements. It’s more about finding the right mixture of players to compliment and build upon what’s already there.

Gold Coast have moved in leaps and bounds, obviously, with signings and squad development, over the last year, and I applaud them for what they’ve achieved in that time. They will be a great focal point for both national and global attention (as will the Fury, for having Robbie Fowler), and it’s what the league needs. I’m yet to be able to take them seriously, though, and it will take some time for me to respect them as a club (not that it really matters to them, of course).
A Gold Coast-based club, cashed-up, and using a home kit similar to that of Brazil, really does seem like nothing more than a novelty.

I agree that what they’re doing is excessive, in terms of throwing money around like nobody’s business (more so than what we saw with Sydney in the first year), but at this stage, I believe it’s beneficial to the league, and will be a great learning experience/centrepiece of entertainment for everyone involved.

I would really like to see Henrik Larsson playing in our league, and the best of luck to the club in their attempt at getting his signature.

I can’t think of any inter-league loan deals off the top of my head, but A-League clubs have certainly had players on loan (or out on loan) before (Victory with Lopez, Perth’s Dadi on loan to a Swiss club, et cetera).

Besides, the loan doesn’t need the FFA’s approval, by my understanding, if the loan agreements are that the player can only be used by the club for AFC Champions League matches. That’s the beauty of a contract; you can set your own terms to it.

In reality, the club doesn’t even need to pay for the player’s services, if it is agreed in the contract. May not be the most ideal situation for a club like Brisbane, but it makes it easier for the clubs who are sorting out their Champions League roster, and are in need of “a few good men.” It eases their budget strings a little bit, meaning they might even be able to buy a few more players to bolster their chances.

While that’s not likely to happen, with a contract, you can offer to pay only a percentage of a player’s salary, with the owning club paying the rest.

Who can argue with a “bargain” player that will no doubt be up there with the best in Asia?

Pip,
There aren’t any rules against it, because it’s really no different than a loan deal. I would suspect that if there were breaking some rules, Moore would have already received his 50 lashings for his comments.

Reportedly, he is already in talks with Adelaide United about making this a reality, so there obviously isn’t much scrutiny from either side of the waters (FFA/AFC).

Why wouldn’t you be a fan? Is it the fact that it might stop some of the regulars from getting game time?
If that’s the case, think of it this way; it helps your have more players ready for both international and domestic matches.
I, personally, like the idea. I’m all for helping club and country, so it’s great that it can assist the club get through earlier stages of the tournament, and helps the players prepare for the World Cup.

Ben raised a valid point of foreign clubs; if the players were loaned overseas – may not require these players on a regular basis, or rarely play them at all. Players like Culina and Moore are top-tier players in our league, and are likely to play every game available to them at a MVFC or AUFC, just as they are at their respective clubs.

Moore has already expressed his interest in joining the likes of Adelaide United or Melbourne Victory, during the AFC Champions League, to ensure his fitness for the World Cup.

It’s likely the other Socceroos – Culina, Sterjovski, Coyne, et al – will follow suit, or go on loan to another in-season Asian club, similar to Joal Griffiths going to Fukuoka, last year.

Having these players go to the Victory, or United, would be great for the game in Australia; it would draw more attention to the teams, put more bums in seats for the competition, and bolsters the teams’ strengths further, which could help them reach the later stages of the competition.

Hell, imagine the potential formations they provide.

The official transfer fee was actually marginally over £58 million (€67.2 million). It’s the highest transfer fee in pounds (due to exchange rates), but the highest in euros (which is the only currency being dealth with between the clubs) is still Zinedine Zidane’s transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid, in 2001, which was €73.5 million (could be converted to “a mere” £46 million at that time).

It’s also been stated tha Kaka made the move to help the club he loves – AC Milan – keep out of financial trouble. More a mutual agreement between the three parties, than anything.

Madrid have a massive €200 million transfer budget for the off-season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see plenty of exciting changes at the Bernabeu; possibly half of the “Galacticos 2.0” outfit moving in by the start of the new season.
Carlos Tevez has states that he would prefer to stay in England, as he and his family are happy there, and is likely to do so, with Manchester City having put an offer on his plate, and United reportedly willing to pay the owner of Tevez’s rights, Kia Joorabchian, the required fee for full ownership.

Frank Ribery, if offered, is likely to head to Madrid. In all honesty, it could probably be the best move he could make. It’s also reported that Valencia and Madrid have agreed on a price for David Villa.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest focus in the world media, though. While he continually says he wants to stay at United (for now, at least), it hasn’t stopped the various reports and speculation. A transfer between United and Madrid is unlikely to happen in this transfer window, however, as Sir Alex and co. are reluctant to release their star child.

Madrid looks likely to out-media Manchester City, this year.

To settle a few misconceptions;

– The World Cup is not part of the FFA TV rights bid, nor can it ever be. It is a separate entity, organised by FIFA. The same applies to other FIFA competitions, such as the FIFA Club World Cup and Confederation Cup. World Cup qualifiers are organised by the region body (in our case, the AFC), which is why they can be included in the rights. There is a list, out there, that contains all this information.

– Michael C, people were not celebrating the scoreline, they were celebrating the achievement of World Cup qualification. And there was nothing dull about the match, either. Care to elaborate how an exciting match that grants us a World Cup berth is everything that’s wrong with the game?

– Eamonn, you seem to be forgetting cricket played outside of Australia (this year’s Ashes, for example), and even the Twenty20 matches, which are played at night. This is what they’re mentioning.

I’m quite tired, so I’ll leave it at that.

They essentially had two squads worth of players – considering they changed 10 men around the 60-minute mark – which included some of the youth stock for the upcoming season.

Costa, who played on Tuesday night, was signed the next day. He’s only 16, but he looks like he has some potential. I doubt he’ll be terrorising squads anytime soon, though, and is probably set to be a future investment, more than anything.

And with Francesco Monterosso being promoted from the NYL (where he was last season’s golden boot winner), alongside Lloyd Owusu (who I haven’t really seen, since he wasn’t involved in the match), the attacking stock is looking a lot better than it has, and we’ll probably see a better-flowing, two-man forward line.

Fyfe didn’t have many chances to play his game, since there wasn’t a lot of work to be had in defence, until late in the game. But so long as he plays as well as he did for Sydney (if not better), he should be a valuable asset to the club.

Being the first pre-season match, it’s really hard to make too many evaluations. There’s one more local match, next Tuesday, and then they’re onto the A-League pre-season. That should provide some better insight.

I can see what you’re saying, Pippinu, and I do agree. It all comes down to whatever’s in Aurelio’s mind. Their first pre-season match, against Para Hills Knights, didn’t really reveal much, and it seemed to focus more on getting the players ready for the upcoming season, rather than playing out new tactics.

I guess we won’t really see Vidmar’s scheme until August.

One of the biggest reasons for low attendances is television. Not because people would rather watch big/bigger leagues, but because they can as easily watch the game on TV, as they can go to the stadium. It costs less, and is aired live.

If you look at the AFL, a game is rarely telecast live in the state it’s being played, and it draws crowds to the stadium. many NSL games also drew crowds for this reason; you couldn’t watch most of the matches on TV, so you really had no other choice but to go to the stadium and watch it in person.

Apparently, Adelaide United did, in the end, put an offer on the table for Malik. Osama decided it would be better for his career to stay in Townsville (I believe the facilities available were one of the proclaimed reasons).
As an Adelaide United fan, I was also extremely disappointed to see him sign elsewhere. I was fortunate enough to see his Club World Cup performances in person, and very close to the action (particularly the pressure he put on Endo).

It would have been much better if the club had put the offer on the table long before the lad was even offered a trial with the Fury, but – as sad as it may be – these things happen in sports.

And, just to clear up what might be some haziness, Diego was released due to constant injuries that only allowed him minimal appearances over the two years, and Jason Spagnuolo was a mutual agreement to release, because Spags wanted to find game time elsewhere.
Jonas was probably the biggest shame of them all, as his “last hurrah” for the club was the first appearance in quite a few games, and after the release had been announced.

Vidmar’s decisions have been about finding the right players. He’s clearly been a great coach, and I have a deep respect for him, but (as a coach, myself) there are some major problems with that.

You should find a formula for the club, not a club for the formula.

That’s how I see things, anyway.

This article was a fantastic idea in theory, but terrible in execution. I seems to be made up of the best stats from a FIFA or Pro Evo game, not the best players of the season.

I won’t nitpick, but I can say for sure that your Serie A and Bundesliga XI teams are way off the mark.

We don’t need it to be called “Chk-chk June” – the game’s called “wogball” enough as it is.

I caught up with a friend of mine – one of Jesse’s mates, as well – on Wednesday night, and discussed potential Socceroos. Looking at Genclerbirligi’s squad, and James Troisi is capable of playing both midfield and striker (though not a lone striker) – possibly moving back and forth between attacking and creative play throughout games. Jedinak’s essentially a given for a World Cup spot, but Djite was the real question mark.

I’m a big supporter of Bruce – he’s a good personality, and has great pace and striking accuracy – but he hasn’t been playing regular football. The one bright light, for me, was that he’s been scoring regularly in his (usually short) appearances for the club. Because of this, he could be earning regular starts – and playing full games – as soon as the beginning of next season. Turkish training is known to be exceptionally tough, so we know that the fitness of all Aussie players in the league – Kewell included – will be up for a World Cup.

Nathan Burns has only recently been getting called up for first team appearances, and is finally starting to get used to the Greek game. The question mark is probably bigger over his head, than Bruce’s.

Colin N summed it up – it was a goal that could have been netted by anyone. There was nobody even near the space.
Despite the first ten minutes, United didn’t show up for the match, and particularly in the midfield (Ronaldo included, regardless of peoples’ claims that he was the best United player on the field), where it should count most. Barcelona deserve the win for that very reason. Eto’o’s goal was the one that impressed me the most, though, not Messi’s. And Henry seemed to be the best-performing forward in the Barca lineup.

But these things are decided to appease the masses, and are more political than anything else.

Finno, Gamba and Urawa aren’t Korean. And J. League attendances can be found on the official website.

J1 attendances for the season to date: http://www.j-league.or.jp/SS/eng/j1f/2009010001_W0307_E.html

Not major, but they’ll knock out a good amount for the big games (like Gamba-Urawa, where it was over 53,000).

Also, Finno, Japan may not have a professional Aussie rules league (although they have an amateur league that gains a little popularity as the years pass), but rugby is relatively popular, and baseball is still the #1 sport of the country. Not to mention other sports, continually building notoriety, like basketball (and its humorously-named ‘BJ League’). Korea also has, among other sports, a fairly popular baseball league.
They’re definitely not one-sport countries.

With the ACL looking to expand the Champions League furthe, next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were granted a third spot into the tournament. It would be ideal, however, to include a third team – just a matter of deciding who that third team should be. This is where those additional requirements, such as the FA Cup-style tournament, come into play.

Until the next ACL review, the FFA should focus on strengthening the league. Find extra avenues to sell TV rights (growing a bigger international market), continue and improve nation-wide promotion, and improve development at all levels (grassroots and above).

The leagues with four places have had long-running leagues, and plenty of time to get to the point they’re at today. We might be able to progress at a faster scale than those associations, but we won’t be able to run before we can walk.
We’ve had a healthy start, and are starting to look fit, but we still need to trim a fair amount of fat around our football waistline.

Tom: “I doubt there is a club in the A-league that could survive the financial shock of being relegated at this stage.”

Likewise any club promoted to the A-League/second division.

To have any success in this kind of idea, we would need 10+ more clubs, and adopt MLS-style Eastern/Western conferences.
The size of the country isn’t the same as England, or the rest of Europe/most football nations, as a flight from Melbourne to Adelaide is the same as a flight from one side of a country to another. Most teams use buses to get from one city to another – a luxury Australian clubs (possibly aside from Queensland clubs) cannot have.
Eastern/western conferences wouldn’t even work, though. It would lose the massive rivalries that the likes of Adelaide and Melbourne have (assuming Adelaide are in the Western conference), and Perth would rarely face any recognisable/significant teams. “Bandwagon” fans who come to those big games wouldn’t see it as appealing as before.

If a second division – or country-wide cup, including state teams – were to be implemented, it needs to be done in the far future, when both teams and the league itself are more stable. Even then, it would probably need to introduce a second division similar to the J. League, where additional teams are slowly introduced through success in the “third tier” (Japan Football league), so long as the club has an Associate Membership (which is granted after the applicant meets certain guidelines, covering the likes of financial status, club management, and stadiums, to ensure a sustainable future in the league).

I’m all for a second division, but it just won’t work at the moment. We need to make sure the top flight is secure, first.

Guess we won’t be discussing football over a bowl of ramen, when I’m back in Tokyo, after all.
Hope you have a great trip home and settle back in well. Might bump into you at the Japan game.

Tactics play a huge part in the quality of our teams, but there are also plenty of other factors – particularly fitness (which has been discussed in brief a few times, on this site). Adelaide were quickly run into the ground at Hindmarsh, despite starting well. The Adelaide that appeared in the Club World Cup was more switched on – albeit a few tired legs, like Christiano – and Vidmar had clearly done a much better job at finding ways to break down Gamba’s midfield.

You’re right. Ideally. we would have foreign, technically-efficient coaches at our clubs, with Australian assistants being taken under their wings, to develop their knowledge for the future. But we also need to go further back, with better/more coaching courses, and player development programs that help better the ability to read the game.

Sydney F.C. or Melbourne Victory the best on paper? Methinks not. If we’re going by a squad on paper, the winner would be Gold Coast United.

Current Socceroos regular Jason Culina, last year’s golden boot winner, Shane Smeltz, current youth Socceroo Tahj Minniecon, Jess Vanstrattan, who was a reserve keeper for Juventus (a reserve for Buffon is good in its own right), and a cast of hand-picked foreign talent.

Big-mouthed owners and coaches aside, the squad does have a strong look about them.

“Adelaide, for example, looks set to start the season with a squad of just twenty, a questionable decision considering they will embark on another Asian campaign…”

Adelaide will be using various youth stock throughout the season (much like they did with the likes of Michael Marrone last year), and Vidmar claims a 20-man squad will be easier to manage, in terms of training exercises and finding the right squad balance (formation and teamwork-wise). I’m not 100% sure on the plan, but it’s definitely a good idea to work with a “more manageable squad”, considering so many new players have been brought in to fill the void left after the most recent mass exodus.

The Asian Champions League point is relatively moot, though, as there are still two transfer windows before the 2010 season, and the club can get some players on loan for the campaign (we’ve already being done with Newcastle and the Mariners), and they can, again, use youth players, where needed. They didn’t have their full squad available for last year’s campaign, so I can’t see the next one having too many hiccups, squad-wise.