Hold it Ernie

WHY, why, why Ernie?

Once again Ernie Merrick's foray into the transfer market seems to be another big folly.

The loan signing of Jose Luis Lopez seems like another case of the Victory manager aiming to put a square peg into a hole with three pieces already jammed in there.

The holding midfielder - who seems to have all the credentials of a class player - is the fourth holding midfielder on the Victory's roster.

Meanwhile, even according to the club website, there are no left full backs and no right-sided midfielders.

The problem with the Victory side last year was not a lack of quality, but a lack of flexibility. When sides like Newcastle took on the Victory they had a simple strategy, crowd the central midfield area, and force Melbourne wide.

With few specialist wide players, the lack of quality run, overlap and decent crosses meant attacking movement was all too predictable. It also forced Thompson, Allsopp and even Love to find space wide and away from goals.

The question also needs to be asked is why on earth a manager would use two of four spots on his roster for overseas players with the same role.

And with five central midfielders bought in the last eight months, how are they all going to fit onto the teamsheet, let alone in a balanced formation. Anyone?

Arnold looks past the young superstars

Graham Arnold’s squad of 18 for the Olympics is another reminder why he should not be in charge of any team in the national set-up.

The former Socceroos manager has somehow found it necessary to exclude arguably Australia’s most promising youngsters in a misguided by for success.

In particular, the omissions of James Holland, Bruce Djite, Nathan Burns and David Williams cast more doubt over whether Arnold learned from the 2007 Asian Cup disaster.

Arnold told SBS, "you can take them away for two months and still they can't acclimatise. You've got to be able to handle the conditions to give yourself the opportunity tactically to carry out the job.‘’

Which is a massive label to be putting on four of Australia’s brightest prospects. The idea that a player can’t tackle the heat of China would also imply, they would struggle in the Gulf, Middle East and South East Asia.

It also seems an incredibly stupid statement given Djite, Holland and Burns have all proven themselves regularly in the A-League – a tournament played during summer.

The real doosies in Arnolds squad are Nikita Rukavytsya and James Troisi. It wasn’t until Perth’s season was done and dusted last year that Rukavytsya began to fire, and his overall record of six goals and one assist in 23 games is poor.

That is underlined by him scoring just one goal in six appearances for the Olyroos. And while Bruce Djite seemed to be the fall guy for the Socceroos poor performance against China, it was James Troisi who has the most to answer for. His performance was not only sub-par, but selfish. It should be expected that even the best players will have bad games, but good players will always play to a team plan.

All Troisi did on that yawn inducing-night was shoot from 40 yards while off balance. He seemed more concerned in bringing glory to himself than working for his teammates.

Meanwhile Archie Thomspon’s selection has sparked many of the howls of protest. I’m a huge fan of the underrated Victory striker, and think he has not been given the chances he has deserved in the national set up. But… for the development of the senior side, the three overage players must be regulars for the Socceroos.

There are two key principles which should guide youth teams; development and preparation for the senior team.

By including Socceroos regulars, it gives those younger players hoping to make their mark, an idea of what is required both technically and tactically.

On his time as national coach, Arnold said…

"If there's one thing I've learned from playing in Asia it's that if players can't play in the heat, they can't play in the heat, no matter who they are.’’

What we’ve learnt is Arnold clearly can’t take the heat of being in the national set-up.

Might Be Time for Pim to Flip for Coyne

LITTLE known defender Chris Coyne could be the answer to Australia’s defensive woes.
The experienced Colchester United central defender could be included in the starting line-up to face Iraq on Saturday.

And his inclusion may force a re-shape of the team that means the squad plays more to its strengths.

The inclusion of Coyne alongside Beauchamp and North would give more liberty to Carney and Emerton as wing backs to get forward and provide extra width to the Socceroos play.

Neither Emerton or Carney are solid defenders, and reducing their need to play a purely defensive game will see their slick passing come to the fore, and generate overlap with some of the attacking midfielders.

Luke Wilkshire would be the obvious omission from the starting line-up if Verbeek went ahead with the change, but one of Culina, Bresciano or Grella would also have to start on the bench.

And while all three players have been vital cogs to the team, as Hiddink showed at the World Cup, having strength from the bench could be valuable especially in the heat of Dubai.

The 3-5-2 that would be the obvious formation with the shuffle would also give room for the inclusion of either Bruce Djite or the return of Josh Kennedy up front.

This would help remove pressure from McDonald to be a target man, and put Kewell back to his preferred spot as the free-wheeling creative midfielder.
But that is of course only if Verbeek sticks to his assertion that he is going after all three points.

Patafta a loss for Victory

MELBOURNE's loss is Newcastle's gain for the 2009 A-Legue season.

Just when you thought Newcastle would be gutted by the loss of Durante, Bridge & co from the Premiership side, Gary Van Egmond has done some smart business in signing Kaz Patafta.

The 19-year-old was criminally underused by the Victory both in the A-League season and AFC Champions League.

Desptie being a fans' favourite the pint-sized National youth player rarely saw game time, mainly coming off the bench with a handful of minutes played. According to one site, he only had two starts and just over 300 minutes football for the season.

The loss is twice as tough for Victory fans who see one of their most promising players go, and also one of the three key spots to be held by youth players.

I will always advocate for the need for youth over experience in the A-League, both in terms of excitement for the fans and for the future of the clubs through resulting transfer fees.

Also, full credit to the World Game website who picked the transfer nearly two months ago.

Good Result – Bad Performance

The Socceroos have clearly bought themselves some breathing space going in ahead of two tough away games on the road to South Africa.

And despite a fifth successive clean sheet under Verbeek, the defence looked at sea last night, with Iraq arguably having the better chances in match.

Marking and positioning were sloppy, especially given the Iraq side were playing with just one forward.

The 1-0 score line flattered the Australian side, and only a good amount of luck helped them secure the win.

Obviously the absence of Lucas Neill is going to have an impact on the team, but the Socceroos must have numerous options in the position.

Since the last World Cup the performances from Neill, Beauchamp, Milligan, Kisnorbo and North have all been patchy.

The importance of the centre backs is heightened by the continual inability to find a specialist left-back in Scott Chipperfield’s absence.

The result is leaving the side with deficiencies in both defence and up front, with a second disappointing display from Scott McDonald.

While McDonald is clearly one of the team’s in-form players, he only seems to fit in to the system if Josh Kennedy is also available.

Unfortunately for McDonald, the creativity of Bresciano, Kewell, Cahill (when available) and Carle are the real strengths of the team.

And it was clear when the more solid Bruce Djite was brought on, the Socceroos attack looked far more potent.

Unless Verbeek can have an alternate system to suit McDonald, he might follow the fate of Archie Thompson – a good player that isn’t suited to the national side’s style.

While Verbeek had a very difficult assignment recently against China, it is the next three weeks when he will really earn his money. It is this stretch with a close-to full strength squad that he can impose his style on the team.

And in McDonald and the central defensive problem he will have his work cut out for him.

No Victory for departing players

SOMETIMES the things you love hurt you the most.

While I could take a disappointing A-League season after the brilliance of the 2007 championship win, the Victory’s off-season and Champions League campaign have been disgraceful.

And I’m not talking about the results.

Last Wednesday night’s effort by the Victory management was appalling given the opportunities that abounded.

Two of the clubs favourite sons were moving off after serving the club with passion and sharing the A-League title.

Yet there was not a mention of the contribution from either Daniel Piorkowski or Adrian Caceras.

Neither player was on the bench to get one last run for the club. There was no public address, motorcade around the stadium or highlights on the big screen.

Thanks for nothing boys.

The incident highlighted a growing number of gaffes from Victory management that could prove costly on and off the field.

While Sydney FC and Newcastle both have memberships available, Melbourne are lagging behind on the April timeline they set out, and missed the opportunity of making sale to Victory fans at the last matches.

With a crowd of less than 10,000 for the match, where were the free tickets for school kids to come along, or cheap $5 tickets for members to reward them for their support.

Or why couldn't there be an incentive for those who forked out a $25 minimum for tickets to a dead rubber? What about a 25% discount on merchandise?

Instead the club are more interested in promoting their meaningless match against professional cheats Juventus... more to come on that one.

The only A-League club to be recording a profit needs to be sure to treat its fans and players well for its own good.

Better Times

ON a day of disappointment for both Melbourne and Adelaide fans, here's a reminder of some better times.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=qdVtCG1wFs0

Analysis of the Victory game to come...

AFL Fat Cats

IT is the richest game in Australia, and despite leeching money off the community through pokies, the AFL keeps getting handouts.

Today the Victorian Government announced a $10.5 million package for nine Victorian clubs to help improve their facilities.

That money is just a little helping hand to the clubs that already make do with a paltry share of a $196 million per year TV deal.

And you may have seen The Age’s revelation that AFL clubs are taking an estimated $110 million annually from punters and problem gamblers.

Giving a handout to rich clubs, who are taking money hand over fist from their loyal but gullible supporters is ridiculous.

Most of the venues that have been handed this cash were abandoned years ago and are now simply money pits to honour the bygone days of suburban football.

Meanwhile ask your local football (soccer) club about the facilities they’re making do with.

Reports abound of crowded, overused pitches… crappy changing rooms… and a lack of purpose built football grounds across the country.

That’s not to mention the lack of changing facilities for women’s teams.

Yes the State Government is funding the construction of a purpose built stadium, but that's a white elephant best discussed another time.

As Fat Cat AFL Administrators frantically build their levies as the tide of football support grows, expect more of these meaningless handouts from populist politicians.

Coming of Age

IS it too early? Bugger it, I'll say it.

Perhaps the best sign that the A-League is growing in stature came on Wednesday night.

The dual wins by the Victory and Adelaide were a solid sign about the League's improvement.

While we're only one game in, the performances by two of the lesser lights in last year's competition were an encouraging sign.

While I didn't see Adelaide's performance, they have managed to snag a convincing result in what must count as one their hardest group games.

At Docklands, the Victory may have had flaws in their win, but came out all guns blazing and were hungrier than Mark Viduka at a pie shop.

It was also a fantastic atmosphere at both ends of the stadium. The crowd were clearly grateful for the interuption in what would have otherwise been a seven-month off season.

Credit also to the small band of Chunnam supporters at the game, who banged their drums right through until the final whistle.

Now if only Melbourne could get that last pass right - and a decent full-back - they might just make it to the quarters.

A tale of two squads

THE squad of 21 announced for the Socceroos game against China highlights the strange nature of the Singapore friendly.

Pim Verbeek will now be casting an eye over 38 players in the space of four days - all the while trying to get Australia a step closer to South Africa 2010.

It smacks of trying to run before he's walking.

The match against China is of vital importance. A win would place Australia a minimum of five points ahead of third place and make them almost certainties to qulify for the second stage.

A loss... well, let's not think about that just yet.

Rather than trying to assess the maximum amount of players, Verbeek should be concentrating on developing the right strategy around the top players.

The second tier should then be groomed for filling spots that arise through injury and suspension

Good early results will give Verbeek the opportunity to look ahead, but at this stage, he simply cannot do everything.

Anyway, here is my pick for the match. Scott McDonald and David Carney are probably the unlucky ones to miss out of this selection.

The difficulty Australia faces is if Josh Kennedy does not recover from his ankle injury in time for the game.

Kennedy did not make it on to the bench for Karslruhe's weekend game against Eintracht Frankfurt.

His size against China could have been a great advantage, holding the ball and laying it off to the running, attacking midfielders.

With Troisi, McDonald and Holman all small players, Kennedy's absence would concede the height advantage.

---------------------Schwarzer------------------------

--Emerton--Beauchamp--Neill--Wilkshire-------

-------------Grella--------------Culina-------------

-----Bresciano-------Cahill---------Kewell-------

----------------------Kennedy---------------------

Subs: Federici, Carle, Kisnorbo, McDonald, Valeri, Carney and Holman

A Pointless Friendly

THE Socceroos’ upcoming friendly against Singapore seems strange at best in light of the 17-man squad announced today.

The side consists only of A-League players, and of those, all but three are Under-23 players.

Clearly the likes of Nigel Boogard and Nikita Rukavytsya stand no chance of playing in the World Cup qualifiers, so why choose them? Yet the side is without important names such as Joel Griffiths, Alex Brosque, Roddy Vargas or John Aloisi.
Also missing out are some of the European based players with more availability such as Michael Thwaite, James Troisi, Jacob Burns and Adrian Leijer.

It leaves the question, if you’re going to play an under-23s side, why play it as an international fixture under the senior coach’s guidance?

Either Pim Verbeek treats these warm up games seriously or risks a walloping in the heady heights of Kunming.

Australia should not be complacent about their progress to the next round just because of the easy win over Qatar. Once again they look set for little more than a 24-hour camp together, but this time against a far better prepared opponent.

I also wonder how happy Ernie Merrick and Aurelio Vidmar are about letting their players travel overseas between vital ACL games with a short turnaround.

The FFA also appear to have made a slip-up by inadvertently announcing Ruben Zadkovich’s departure from Sydney FC. The FFA has queried his club status, implying he could be the first casualty of the post-Aloisi salary cap squeeze in a media release issued today.

As one of the most under-rated youngsters in the comp, he may represent a bargain.

SOCCEROOS SQUAD TO PLAY SINGAPORE

Nigel Boogard (Central Coast Mariners), Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory), Nathan Burns (Adelaide United), Billy Celeski (Melbourne Victory), Ante Covic (Newcastle Jets), Bruce Djite (Adelaide United), Tarek Elrich (Newcastle Jets), Adam Griffiths (Newcastle Jets), James Holland (Newcastle Jets), Mile Jedinak (Central Coast Mariners), Jade North (Newcastle Jets), Nikita Rukavytsya (Perth Glory), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Perth Glory), Tando Velaphi (Perth Glory), Ruben Zadkovich (TBC), Michael Zullo (Queensland Roar)

No to league expansion

FFA Announcement



After meetings late this afternoon, Football Federation Australia (FFA) today confirmed that the entry of Townsville and Gold Coast clubs to the Hyundai A-League has been delayed in the best interests of the competition.

“Expansion of the Hyundai A-League is a critical issue to the continuing evolution and growth of football,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley.

“We stated last month that our approach to expansion has to be both prudent and planned - and it is.”

Buckley said that both teams would benefit from the additional lead time to finalise some critical arrangements such as long term stadium agreements.

Buckley reiterated the FFA’s earlier view that, ultimately, the Hyundai A-League has the capacity to be at least a 12 team competition.

“We will be continuing discussions with the consortia on the basis of a successful entry in to the Hyundai A-League in season 5.”

Youth League

THE FFA are set to announce the details of the youth league that is set to kick of next season.

Rob Baan and Ben Buckley will make the announcement at 1pm in Sydney tomorrow afternoon.

It is still unclear what links the competition will have with the A-League and critically whether the competition will act as a reserves. This addition would allow A-League squad players and those returning from injury to get match practice.

It is also unknown whether imports would be allowed to play in the competition.

It is a big few days for the FFA as they effectively try to create nine new teams within five months, with the two new Queensland franchises and at least seven youth league teams.

Potential new franchises in Queensland, Wollongong and Melbourne will also be interested to see whether they will be required to have a youth league operating within their first year.

Expansion or implosion?

THE FFA is set to decide this weekend whether the Townsville and Gold Coast franchises will be confirmed as starters for the 2008/09 season.

But already the wheels are starting to fall off one of the Townsville bid.

One of the primary backers for the franchise, backer Millissa Fischer-Massa has already signalled she will remove her capital after founders James Gage and Allen St James were unable to secure their end of funding.

The result leaves the FFA with a difficult decision. Do they try to push the North Queensland bid over the line, and risk the franchise struggling and possibly folding?

Or do they bite the bullet, say they’re not ready and proceed with an awkward 9-team competition.

There has been little word from the FFA on how they are planning to facilitate the new move, or whether criteria for the new clubs differ from those of the competition’s foundation members.

There are two clear obstacles facing the FFA and owners of the Gold Coast and Townsville clubs: Where are they going to find 44 players of the same quality as the other A-League clubs? With the youth league competition set to kick off, and restrictions on the number of imports, the prospect of finding the necessary talent will be a huge struggle.

The second, and probably more serious problem is attracting funds after the start-up. The Queensland Roar only managed to secure a long-term shirt sponsorship deal in November last year while Central Coast played the Grand Final without one, showing how difficult it is for the regional clubs to prosper.

Perth Glory are still struggling, both financially and on the park.

The addition of more clubs while welcome in time is going to put strain not only on the new clubs, but also on the existing yet still fledgling rivals.

There is no question the popularity of the A-League is building, but the FFA need to show extreme caution in proceeding or risk jeopardizing the competition.

The Forgetten Continent

THE Africa Cup of Nations showed some of the best, most exciting football on the planet, but will any of the players be coming to the A-League?

With a host of transfers already completed, most of the action has been shuffling players among the current eight clubs.

Yet despite the varied success of last season’s imports, there seems no willingness to venture to new shores.

Already teams have tried there hand in bringing in Brazilians, Colombians, Costa Ricans, Americans, Europeans and a smattering of Asian talent, but no team has been brave enough to head for Africa.

Last month’s African cup was a feast of exciting football, and despite limited coverage here, it should have given a bolt for scouts at all eight clubs here.

Ghana’s Junior Agogo was one of a host of lesser known players to impress on the big stage, a welcome relief from the trials of League one football with Nottingham Forest.

Remember that’s the same Junior Agogo that equalised against the Socceroos in a friendly last year – you would think Australian coaches would be familiar with him.

While there were too many sterling points to highlight, (particularly by the emerging Angola and obvious over-achieving Pharoahs) A-League coaches need to be wise to what’s on offer.

It might not quite yield a Michael Essien or Samuel E’too, but we could help bring to the next level the next batch of African talent.

The French league in particular has forged a strong relationship with the continent, that has seen some of the world’s best emerge in Ligue 1.

Instead, the idea that our clubs should be focused on retaining fading former international stars is just ridiculous.

The only possible benefit of persisting with players like Juninho are limited. At best they will prop up a squad for a year, before moving on to the their next short-term pay cheque.

The prospect of younger exciting talents entering the league, who might actually bring a transfer windfall down the track is surely the way to go.

Australia's best football prospect?

Forget James Holland, Newcastle might just have the Socceroos best of hope of future success on the bench.

Gary Van Egmond’s performance over the past two seasons has been nothing short of remarkable.

It’s not unheard of for manager’s to experience a honeymoon after arriving at an underachieving club, but this season’s success pales the impressive 2007 run.

Van Egmond arguably had the hardest lot of this season’s manager’s in recreating and improving on the Jets’ 2007 success.

Losing key playmaker Nicky Carle and popular forward Milton Rodriguez left the squad seemingly without the inspiration to progress.

Yet Van Egmond’s ability to have not only got the best out of existing players, but bring in a new crop of youngsters has been the foundation for the clubs grand final win.

He should also receive credit for tactically outthinking many of his opponents. Most notably was his side’s domination of the Victory (unbeaten against them in five) and coming back from the setback of giving up a 2-0 lead in the second leg of the major semi-final.

With the heavy smattering of Jets players in both the recent provisional Socceroos squad and new Olyroos squad, the argument for bringing Van Egmond into the national coaching setup is even stronger.

The 42-year-old clearly has a promising future, but already faces a struggle for 2009. With grand final goalscorer Mark Bridge set to move harbourside and Andrew Durante heading across the Tasman, the promising coach will have to move into the transfer market to replicate this season’s success.

But with the promise already shown, it might not be out of his reach.

Serious Assault or a frustrated high-five?

The aftermath of Central Coast’s loss to Newcastle may be even more keenly felt for the Gosford side than Adelaide twelve months ago.

The suspension of Danny Vukovic for 15 months (six of which have been suspended) is a crippling and certainly unnecessary one.

There is no question Vukovic’s actions in the wake of the poor missed penalty were stupid.

Evidence of that was how quickly the stopper ran away from Mark Shield, seemingly knowing what was due to follow.
Vukovic did not even stop to approach his bench before disappearing straight down the tunnel.

Yet despite the recklessness of his actions, one needs to ask whether one rush of blood to the head is worth such a severe reprimand.

Vukovic is young, and given it is his second red card of the season has a discipline issue. Despite that one would think the FFA could have taken more than 24 hours to make a decision that could dramatically shape this young man’s future.

There is no excuse for hitting a referee, yet clearly from the replays and photos that have emerged since, the contact was relatively minor. In fact, you have to wonder why the FFA has chosen the hard-line approach in this case, yet ignored calls to suspend Joel Griffiths following his incident with a linesman early in the season.

Justice seems to have been delivered swiftly… very swiftly.
The statement released by the FFA tonight does not indicate whether Vukovic has been able to plead his case. Let’s hope the FFA’s eagerness to resolve this issue has been due to efficiency rather than potential image problems in the mainstream media.

With the added burden of Sasha Petrovski facing action and John Aloisi potentially out the door, the Mariners may see the new season as August too soon.

Blowing the whistle on refs

While Australia may have criticised the performance of referees at last year’s Asian Cup, the problem of standards at home may be of greater concern.

Peter Green’s performance in yesterday’s A-League Preliminary Final took the gloss off a fine game, and forced Newcastle to play an extra 30 minutes ahead of the coming Grand Final.

The three penalty decisions were all questionable, and the offside decision against Joel Griffiths potentially robbed the Jets of a second goal prior to extra time.

That’s not to mention a series of poor judgement calls including a soft booking on Sasa Ognenovski that would have seen him miss the Grand Final.

By embracing the Australian love of the finals system, the FFA has also placed more pressure on the nation’s top officials to perform on the big stage.

Rather than a decision being accepted as part of the swings and roundabouts of a regular season, a dodgy penalty or red-card could see a team’s season disappear.

The fact is the standard of refereeing has not been good enough, with even the nation’s premier officials, Mark Shield and Matthew Breeze often getting basic calls wrong.

And one has to question the logic in not allowing players or managers to comment on their performance.

I have always thought referees should be treated the same as players. We should expect them to make mistakes, sometimes they even have a shocker.
There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s part of the game. And the same as we might question a player’s inclusion in a team, or whether they are up to the standard referees should face the same scrutiny.

It is not about denigrating the role of the official, it is about making sure every part of the game is at the highest standard.

Blackout on A-League

I will start by talking about a subject which will come up frequently on this blog – the lack of coverage of the A-League and Socceroos games.

Keen for radio commentary or even regular updates on the Preliminary Final, I was driven to frustration and the local pub to get my fix of the second most important game of the season.

It seems ridiculous that free-to-air A-League coverage is limited to SEN’s coverage of Victory home games and ABC Newcastle’s great service to their fans.

In particular ABC Radio Sport’s ridiculous decision to provide a full eight hours coverage to every international cricket one-day match, including matches not involving Australia.

Quite simply football is one of the few sports in Australia that has true national appeal, with attendances rivalling the NRL and interest rising.

Coverage in the media needs to reflect this.

No football match in Australia is currently considered worthy of a place in the government’s anti-siphoning list, meaning the sport remains hamstrung.

Government regulators and the ABC need to look at their role covering football and stop leaving fans short-changed.