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Aussies need imports - big time |
Aussies need imports - big time | 11.04.2008 | |
THREE rounds down in the AFC Champions League and already one thing is abundantly clear, the Australian teams can compete at this level but if they want to match the best, they have to find some five-star imports quick smart.If you took the imports out of all the clubs Melbourne and Adelaide have played so far, the Australian teams would be on a level playing field. The difference is the playing standards of the imports.
Let`s start with Match Day 1. The man who caused Adelaide the most problems at the Steelyard in Korea was Pohang`s journeyman striker Denilson while at the Telstra Dome, Chunnam`s attacking flair came from Victor Simoes and Adriano.
Match Day 2 and the stand-out players for Chinese champions Changchun Yatai were Guillama Dah Zadi and defender Gabriel Melkam while Melbourne were beaten by the skill and pace of Cameroon`s Stephane Barga and to a lesser extent the crafty Brazilian Ney Farbiano.
Match Day 3 and doing the damage for Gamba was their highly priced and highly dangerous Brazilian striker Bare, while off the bench another Brazilian Lucas scored the match winner. In a very ordinary Binh Duong side, South African striker Kubheka Philani was the shining light.
Let`s contrast that with Melbourne, well in fact, it`s impossible to contrast that with Melbourne because they didn`t have a foreigner in their starting side. It`s been a major disappointment for the Victory that Carlos Hernandez has been missing through injury but let`s compare apples with apples, Leandro Love and Bare. I rest my case.
For Adelaide, Diego Walsh and Cassio both lined-up in Vietnam and to be fair they have been two of Adelaide`s best throughout the competition. Again it`s a shame Bobby Petta had such a bad run of injuries and was dropped from the squad because he could have provided that x-factor.
So what`s being done by Australian clubs to rectify this problem? Mike Cockerill in the Sydney Morning Herald tells us that several A-League coaches have recently been overseas on fact finding missions. A lot of this has been more about furthering their own education and less about strengthening their squads.
To be fair the scouting job isn`t really the coach`s domain, it`s the football managers. Football managers in the A-League seem more content to sit on the coach`s bench and get their melons on camera rather than getting out and trying to find a Stephane Barga or a Kubheka Philani.
Both Barga and Philani are Africans and there`s been a severe shortage of quality Africans in the first three seasons of the A-League. A lot of this has to do with the fact that not many clubs have good contacts in Africa but surely it`s time to start trying to find them. Did any A-League club send a representative to the recent African Nations Cup? It would have been a good start wouldn`t it.
It`s not just Africa, what about Asia? How many years will it take before an Asian player is a marquee at an A-League club? When Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney were competing in the Champions League, did any of them bother trying to set up ties in Asia? Sydney spoke to Urawa but aside from that I haven`t heard of anything.
A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that Australian clubs think they`re superior to Asian clubs. Well in a lot of off-field aspects they probably are but in the most important aspect, playing ability, they`ve clearly got us covered. Once we drop the arrogance, we might make some forward steps.
It`s clearly not an aversion to foreigners but more a lack of imagination. A lot of A-League clubs were scared off by a few recent South American failures but then a lot of clubs seemed to think that any South American would be able to cut it in the A-League. You have to do your homework. Don`t watch DVDs, fly to South America and take a look at them in person. If you invest $100,000 in a player then surely a $10,000 trip to South America is money well spent.
The lack of imagination is not just from clubs but also from coaches. It annoys me when coaches aren`t prepared to gamble. You have to speculate to accumulate. Lawrie McKinna is a coach who`s openly declared he`s not a fan of South American `circus performers`. He needs to find a couple of quality performers in the next 10 months otherwise he`ll be fed to the lions in the Champions League.
I`m not picking on Lawrie, Ernie Merrick hates to take a punt as well. Why else would you have replaced Archie Thompson with Stephen Pace when you have Kaz Patafta on the sidelines. Patafta is good enough to attract interest from European clubs but clearly not a better player than Pace. Strange days indeed.
There`s just over four months till the start of the new A-League season and that`s plenty of time to try and find that special someone for next season.
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09. 2008 |
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