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Roar Rookie
Joined May 2024
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It’s 2024 now but I can’t see why Australia should adopt the MLS model. While Australia has similar issues like the US, there are more genuine desire to follow the Japanese pattern in Australia than American one. Japan and the US were only into professional football by the 1990s (Japan was a baseball country for most part), but unlike the US, they successfully entered into the mainstream system of FIFA rule, something the Americans are still unwilling to admit.
The problem, however, is enormous. The United States, with over 330 million people, is not known in being patience, they only want to fasten with short-lived visions, but their richness and gigantic population mean it appeals to everyone who want quick successes. Not to mention the US is a member of the CONCACAF, a far weaker confederation. Except for Mexico and Costa Rica, which nation can truly compete with the US? Panama, Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Haiti? And only Mexico has sufficient resources to build a world-class team given how popular football is in there (although corruption is rife in Mexico).
Meanwhile, Japan offers a long term vision, but it requires a lot of patience and even sacrifices. Japan, like the US, started their football building from ground zero, so it took them a lot of efforts to learn which model, and of course, they chose the German one (Germany has historically been close to Japan). By going the German path, Japan emphasised a stronger grassroot movement and nuanced investments. Today the Japanese system is undisputedly the best in Asia.
There are also other Asian models for Australia: the Saudi, Iranian and Korean models. However the Saudi model is basically just an upgraded version of MLS. The Iranian model has a strong grassroot movement but is deeply ripped by corruption and mismanagement because of the Islamic Republic (obsessed on trying to destroy Israel rather than solving domestic problems). The Korean model offers the closest competitor to Japanese model, but sadly it is also suffered from chaebols’ influences, seen by the most recent President of the KFA being a Hyundai tycoon with little footballing knowledge.
The A-League Men, unfortunately, leaves me at a doubt. I think it wants to be like Japan, but instead it may end up being like a hybrid version of J-League, MLS and K-League combined.
Major League Soccer is what the A-League cannot be