Will the Blue Moon rise or fall in 2008?

Rewind almost 12 months and Man City fans probably didn’t know what was going to hit them after a pretty successful Christmas/New Year period. Stuart Pearce’s side had been a bit up-and-down for the pre-Christmas part of their Premiership campaign in 2006 but 3 victories from 3 games from boxing day to New Years Day would have instilled a belief in City fans that better times were around the corner and that the year 2007 was one that held promise for them and hopefully a decent final league position. Unfortunately for Man City the year 2007 (at least the part of it that included Stuart Pearce as manager) would not be so kind besides the promising and in hindsight false dawn that occurred last New Years Day when two Samaras goals earned them victory against Everton.

After that win (and doesn’t it look strange to see the words Samaras and goals together?!), little did Man City fans know that they were about to embark on a goal drought at their home ground of epic proportions (they were not going to score at home for what was remaining of the 2006-07 season). Additionally due in large part to the aforementioned point, they were to be dragged into a relegation battle that threatened at times to take them down to the Championship. Add to this the embarrassing bust-up between Barton and Dabo, the ignominious honour of becoming the team who has scored the least goals at home in a season ever in the top flight (with a paltry 10), and the eventual sacking of Stuart Pearce meant it was a pretty miserable second half of season 2006-07 for Man City and their supporters.

Fast forward to today and it couldn’t be more different for City. They sit 5th in the league, they’re unbeaten at home in the league and due to their chairman’s millions, not to mention a world-class manager and a high league position, they now have a real reason to look towards January with optimism due to the fact they should be in an ideal position to add some genuine quality to their playing squad.

Before their final game of 2007 against Liverpool tomorrow, Sven-Göran Eriksson is armed with the knowledge that, should they take all three points off Liverpool, they will finish the year in 4th position on the table. It really is a remarkable position for them to be in considering how quickly this particular squad was assembled before the season started.

Let’s take a look at a few factors that will go a long way towards helping to determine why it is unlikely that Man City will suffer a similar fade-out to the one suffered after the New Year last season:

Sven


City supporters must be having a bit of a chuckle looking on at what’s happening with a team like Newcastle. The “give him more time” brigade in the English media are working overtime trying to do just that and defend the performance of Sam Allardyce overlooking the fact that managers like Sven and to a lesser extent Ramos at Spurs are showing that good managers are almost always able to get good results quite quickly (without the need for “time”). It must be a little embarrassing for many of them that wrote so disparagingly about Sven that he has so quickly turned City’s fortunes around for them, especially when their darling Big Sam (who don’t forget many in England thought was good enough to take over their national team…) is overseeing some of the least attractive football played by a team in the premiership for many a year.

The brutal reality is in the Premiership at the moment, the top clubs are not-so-coincidentally managed by top foreign (meaning non-English in this case) managers. City, by the virtue of having Sven in charge must feel pretty confident that their good form will continue into next year unlike last year under “Psycho” Pearce. There is quite a large group of teams below City with, if one is honest, similar or even possibly better playing lists than City. Where City can gain an edge over the teams snapping at their heels is with their super-cool and experienced manager. Sven’s experience in the run-in will be priceless and may well be the difference between a place in Europe or not. How he integrates any new signings into the line-up will also be crucial but, judging him on how he performed with his pre-season signings, in Sven City seem to have a manager who would rank in the top four in the Premiership when it comes to man management.

Sven and “Psycho” are like chalk and cheese in many ways; for City fans they will be hoping that under Sven their second half of the season will follow suit and turn out to be the opposite to what happened under Pearce.

January transfer window

Having spent much of my time on Man City fan forums it can be estimated that every couple of minutes someone posts a comment that contains some sort of speculation about who City will bring in over January. Rarely have I ever seen a group of fans so excited by a transfer window. And with good reason, I reckon. They now have some serious Thai money behind them, a high league position snapping at the heels of the “top 4” and a manager with contacts all around the world.

After the success this year of Elano, Petrov and co. who were signed in the pre-season, expectations are high for January and have been fanned further by the loan-signing already of young Mexican starlet Nery Castillo from the old stomping ground of Elano at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Who will City sign then? Don’t ask me; they have been linked with pretty much every player in the world over the last four months and it would be impossible and ultimately a waste of time to give a list of everyone they have been linked with in this article. I will say that I think City could do with signing another striker (even though Castillo has been signed) as their current batch, while showing the odd glimpse of promise, are not going to keep City up where they are now on the table. That is why they need to add to their stable of strikers (remembering the exciting Bojinov will be returning early in 2008 and without a doubt Sven will be letting go a striker or two).

Midfield cover would be great as well and in particular for the excellent Hamman (at his age Didi can’t be expected to shoulder all the defensive midfield duties!). And, without being greedy, a defender and a goalkeeper would top things off nicely for City in January. The defence has been looking more and more shaky of late, and bringing in a world-class central defender would really add to the squads chances of staying where they are now. And as Sven doesn’t appear happy with Isaksson, a world-class stopper is probably needed due to the fact that, as impressive as Hart has been and notwithstanding the promise he shows for the future, having a keeper that young starting would be flirting with danger as it is a position where the best players are usually much older and more experienced.

If, as we have been promised, City both buy and sell players in January it has the potential to have a major impact on the second half of the season for them. The ability of Sven to, after having had a good 6 months now to have identified deficiencies in his squad, go out into the market-place and fix them, could well be the difference between a top 6 finish or not for City come the end of the season.

Home vs. Away form

City’s results at home have been stunning so far, away not so good. That is the way it looks on paper anyway. But on closer inspection I don’t think the gulf between City’s home and away form is as big as it is made out to be by some pundits. The quality of the teams that they have played away from home is better than the quality of team they have played at home and I think this has no doubt had an impact on this stark difference between home and away performances.

Here’s the deal; if the season turns out logically based on the quality of their opponents that they are meeting home and away City will start winning more games away and losing a couple at home as they start playing weaker teams away and stronger at home.

Put simply City have a real chance to improve and/or consolidate their position if the City of Manchester Stadium (COMS) continues to be a fortress regardless of the quality of teams coming there while at the same time they start getting some results against the weaker teams away from home. Obviously if their home performances deteriorate and their away performances stay the same, City will be finishing the season around the middle of the table.

Chelsea aside, City have been competitive and at times unlucky on their travels in every game. I’m pretty sure against weaker opposition that they will be facing away for the remainder of their season they will start to pick up wins on the road. It is their home form that will be the x-factor and ultimately determine how high they will finish the season. I have an inkling they will continue to be strong at home (it will be hard to match what they have done so far, admittedly…) so that bodes well for their final league position.


Regardless of how things in the next five months, ever fatalistic City fans can for once rest assured that surely, even for a team as historically schizophrenic as City, they can go into the New Year thinking that things can’t possibly be as bad as last year. That thought alone will bring comfort to many of their loyal fans. So if you hear an even louder than normal cheer when (notice that I’m saying when, not if) City scores their first goal of 2008 at COMS you will know why…

Guest Article: The Circus Comes To Town - Beckham Style

Aussie correspondent for Whenballmeetsfoot Martin Cassidy reports on the marketing phenomon/footballer David Beckham's sojourn down under with his team the LA Galaxy and analyses the massive reaction he has received.

Vincent

The David Beckham circus is in town this week with Sydney’s Olympic Stadium acting as the big top. The main event, an exhibition friendly between Sydney FC and LA Galaxy, was played there tonight in front of 80,295. To put that in context, it is the largest football crowd in Australia this year for an international or representative fixture, surpassing the 79,322 that attended the Wallabies vs NZ All Blacks at the MCG. The crowd is therefore larger than that for the Socceroos against a virtually full strength Argentina featuring Messi, Tevez, Mascherano, Heinze, etc. It is also only 1,100 short of the crowd at the NRL rugby league grand final at the same venue but larger than State of Origin. Such is the drawing power of David Beckham.

You would have had no trouble finding a seat to watch Sydney FC play Sunday evening in the A-League, at the smaller Sydney Football Stadium and at a much cheaper price. Incidentally, Beckham was at that game as a guest and was paraded before the crowd at half time. Add to that Sydney rested several players for tonight’s exhibition, including former Leeds United striker Michael Bridges who picked up a knock on the weekend. For LA, they came with their new coach Ruud Gullit and with several internationals including US national team hero Landon Donovan, although I don’t think they were the attraction. Rather the fact a reported 20,000 Galaxy shirts with “Beckham 23” have been sold in Sydney in the last few days suggests the spectators were there for one reason.

The match itself was billed as a showdown between the MLS and our A-League, although with Sydney battling to reach the finals and LA missing out on reaching theirs, not to mention them being in the off-season, I’m not sure it was much of a guide. That said, LA started quite well while Sydney were nervous in front of the biggest crowd to ever greet an A-League club and there were numerous early errors as the home side struggled to maintain possession in midfield. However, in the 20th minute former Brazil and Middlesbrough star Juninho slid through a wonderful pass for Alex Brosque and he finished well for the home team. The goal settled the nerves and led to more open play and more chances, Brosque soon netting his second and before long it was 3-0 inside half an hour. The highlight of the night came in the final minute of the first half, Sydney conceding a free kick in front of the D and Beckham curling a trademark free kick over the wall, into the top corner. As an indication, it was similar to the goal he scored against Greece, but obviously with less pressure.
The public got their money’s worth in the first half but the goals continued after the break, Sydney eventually winning 5-3. Despite the game being a “friendly”, LA learnt that concept doesn’t exist for Australians, although Galaxy gave as good as they got. Beckham was felled midway through the first half, caused partly by the slippery surface following earlier rain. He took a knock on his troubled left ankle and limped about for the next ten minutes, no doubt causing heart palpitations amongst organisers and Beckham’s employers alike. He obviously played on and stuck through the full 90 minutes, producing several majestic long-range diagonal passes and the aforementioned goal. An LA team mate was red carded late for a very sinister act, deliberately standing on a player’s arm after pushing him to the ground. The same player earlier kicked Juninho but despite several unattractive incidents, the crowd got what they came for and went home happy.

I believe $1 million was Galaxy’s appearance fee but organisers would certainly be happy due to the estimated $3.5 million in gate receipts, not to mention the unbelievably positive promotion this has been in the media and the associated benefit to sponsors. Which ultimately is what this exercise was about. Beckham is indeed a great player and this was probably his only ever match in Australia. Even so I never thought about travelling to Sydney for this event and had it been in Melbourne I am still not certain if I’d have paid the asking price. However 80,000 people did, Sydney caught Beckham fever with him featuring on the back and front page of the daily newspapers, and even Channel 10, having never shown real interest in soccer before, broadcast the game live. They had to import an SBS (theworldgame) commentator for the occasion but the subsequent news bulletin described Beckham as a “genius” and referred to this as “the most highly anticipated soccer match in Australian history.” Now Vinnie and I, and a few mates, did fly to Sydney and paid good money to attend the qualifier that saw Australia defeat Uruguay to reach our first World Cup in 32 years. If emotion and historical significance are anything to go by, I would suggest that was somewhat bigger, but anyway... such is the nature of Australian football in the eyes of mainstream media.

There has always been problems of this type in Australia, where frustration with the lack of knowledge of new converts clashes with the reality they are needed for the game to really grow. Indeed, long suffering fans may have thought the same about me in years past, so I should not complain. The fact is Beckham’s tour of Australia has been a huge success on all counts, be it cocktail parties, mingling with fans, sponsors’ events or his on-field job. Yesterday he kicked footballs on the harbour from one boat to another, as part of an Adidas promotion with representative players from AFL, rugby and league and never stopped smiling. Tonight he gave a performance surely beyond the promoters’ expectations and the game produced 8 goals, ideal for the audience who were probably more used to higher scores in other football codes and often use that fact to criticise this sport. So in light of the growth of A-League crowds, and governments offering bipartisan support for future development, including a 2018 World Cup bid, an opportunity to win over more converts can ultimately be nothing but good for the game.

Earlier this year the Socceroos opened their Asian Cup tournament against Oman, hardly one of our traditional sporting rivals. The match drew the highest ever average audience for a sporting event on Australian pay TV. This did not include the additional tens of thousands who watched the game in 3,600 accredited bars nationwide, and it was a Sunday night in mid-winter. Melbourne Victory has attracted three crowds of over 47,000 to A-League games in the past 12 months and for the first time ever, the Socceroos are preparing to enter a full and meaningful World Cup qualification campaign, meaning more big matches than ever will be played in Australia in the next year. That comes on top of 95,000 to watch a friendly against Greece last year and two internationals over 61,000 this year for Argentina and Uruguay.

Football, soccer if you will, was always regarded as the sleeping giant of Australian sport until at least 2005 and the win over Uruguay. If it needs David Beckham’s celebrity to stir certain sectors into realising what the sport has to offer, so be it. There is already considerable support in Australia with more kids registered than any other sport. With more people being attracted each year, and Beckham aiding that cause, the future is very bright. Just as long as we qualify for the next World Cup.

Are you Dutch and Available?

Dick Advocaat’s last minute u-turn on his Socceroos coaching gig unfortunately did not come as a huge surprise last Friday. There were rumblings that the u-turn was on the cards for a few weeks before the news officially came out and the rumblings became louder when Advocaat’s current club, Zenit St. Petersburg, took out the Russian championship. The possibility of Coaching Zenit in the Champions League next year along with a reputed 4 million US dollar a year salary proved to be too big a lure. The fact that he had signed a contract to coach the Socceroos didn’t seem to bother him too much.

It is the way of the modern football world unfortunately that contracts often aren’t worth the paper they are written on. The FFA are rightly frustrated with the whole thing, as well as a little embarrassed I am sure; it is this embarrassment that will no doubt drive them to try to exact some revenge through legal avenues. Stay tuned on this, I have the feeling it will be a long drawn out process (please not as long as the Tevez saga from last year!) where a lot will be said/written, and ultimately not much gained.

There are of course serious football issues to write of now that Advocaat will not be the man to take over. Australia needs a new coach, and relatively quickly it seems, with the first game of World Cup qualifying campaign creeping ever so closer. The big question is who should that man be?

Having read a lot of Australian media over the past few days it seems pretty unanimous that it should be a foreigner (I do emphasise pretty unanimous. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Mike Cockerill somehow still puts Graham Arnold’s name forward as the best candidate for the role. I quote from a recent article of his: “The FFA's best choice has always been right under its nose. It's just it has been too blind to see it.” I don’t even know where to start with this, but as I’ve already written an article referring to his stupidity before, I’ll leave it there for the moment…).

So, what would be the ideal profile that the next Soccerros coach should have? I’ll go through what I think the desired attributes are point-by-point:

1) Be Dutch (or an equivalent nationality)

Having had great success with a Dutch manager in the past and having a Dutch technical director currently, this is a bit of a no-brainer. The Dutch footballing philosophy seems to be a good fit for Australia and is getting results, so, to use the marvellous quote that the monarchists used ad nauseum in the lead up to the Republic referendum in Australia “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” (shudder).

A final point on this, if a prospective candidate was not Dutch, they would preferably come from a country and/or come through a coaching system that was similarly as technically rigorous and impressive as the Dutch one that by design would subsequently add to the development of the game in Australia.

Unfortunately that rules out an English coach, as that particular footballing culture has had too big an influence on Australian football over the years and therefore having a coach from there does not fit in with the brave new direction Australia is taking to ensure it develops as a footballing nation. No offence to England on this, it is just time another philosophy was tried as we have had England as the major influence in a footballing sense for a long time and it is time we branch out as we must to develop further technically.


2) Have Asian experience

Australia found out the hard way in the Asian Cup that qualifying for the World Cup through Asia will be very tricky. The diversity of opponents, cultures and conditions is as extreme as it gets in World football and having a coach who has been there, done that and been successful would be a huge boost for the Socceroos.


3) Be willing to re-locate to Australia

Now that Australia is in the early stages of implementing it’s new National Football Development Plan, it is even more vital that whoever takes over the reins of the Socceroos lives here full-time. There will be a lot of work to do and oversee across all age-levels and the A-League. Quite simply, this will mean we should try and avoid a manager being based for the majority of his time in Europe or elsewhere.

4) Have a high profile/be charismatic

Football in Australia still has momentum built up from the last World Cup campaign that needs to be built on even further; the momentum and good-will won't last forever, though (in fact it has no doubt already decreased since the World Cup). What better way to build on this momentum than bringing in a high profile coach or one that is charismatic enough to feed the growth of the game even more?

Ideally the coach will act as an ambassador for the sport as a whole, we all know how competitive the market is for sport in Australia so this point is important as if the right person gets the job he could be successfully marketed as the public face of the new development plan.


5) Play an attractive style of football

Many would argue with me on this one but linked to the above point, Australia is a hugely competitive sports market and therefore we cannot afford to have a coach in place that burdens us with an un-attractive long-ball style of game, regardless of whether or not it gets results. The incumbent coach should carry on Hiddink's legacy in this regard and encourage the players to uphold the possession at all costs mantra that Hiddink instilled in his players so successfully and in such a short space of time.

6) Have been successful

Last but not least, the incumbent coach will have been successful at both club and national level as a coach (success in this case would mean winning titles). Any proven ability to have been successful in a country other than his own would be a merit as it would demonstrate an ability to have broken through the constraining and potentially hindering walls that exist when trying to succeed in an environment and culture foreign to your own.

Now let us first go through some of the names that have been bandied around over the past few days and see how they match the above criteria. The coaches that I am highlighting in detail below I classify as most likely to be hired due to their conceivable or real availability.


Pim Verbeek

Well he’s Dutch which means he gets a tick for the first desirable managerial attribute.

He has significant Asian experience having managed teams in Japan as well as been an assistant for Hiddink and Advocaat for South Korea and then taking over the reins himself to lead South Korea to 3rd place in the recent Asian Cup. I reckon he earns a tick for this desired managerial attribute also.

He has been quoted in this article as saying he’d be happy to re-locate to Australia and gave sound, logical reasons why it would be important for the coach of Australia to live in Australia. Another tick for this one.

He certainly doesn’t have the same high profile as a Hiddink or Advocaat. As for his charisma, from the little I have seen of him, it doesn’t seem to be a strength or a weakness. You would have to give him a cross for this desired attribute.

Not having been able to watch any of Korea’s games during the Asian Cup as I live in Europe I must plead ignorance on point 5. As he’s Dutch and was assistant to Hiddink I’ll give him a tick for this one (not very scientific reasons I know!).


Verbeek hasn’t had great success at club level, his most recent club managerial experience was with Kyoto Sanga F.C in the J-League in 2003 and from the stats (W 6 D 5 L19) it wasn’t a great year for Kim or Kyoto. Not taking into account the success of the Hiddink team he was an assistant for, his biggest success in management is undoubtedly from his most recent stint as a manager, leading Korea to 3rd place in the Asian Cup. So on balance as he hasn’t been a winner, probably a cross for this this desired attribute as well.

This leaves Pim Verbeek with a score of 4 out of 6.


Jorvan Viera

He’s not Dutch. He does though originate from an obviously strong footballing country and culture in Brazil having coached there early in his coaching career. Has a long coaching CV from many different places so he deserves a tick for the first desired attribute I think.

Asian experience is an obvious strength for Viera. He has vast Asian experience especially from the middle eastern part of the confederation. Manging Iraq to the Asian Cup under exteme adversity underlines that not only is he experienced in Asia, he is successful to boot (not to mention resourceful). Definite tick for attribute 2.

Like Verbeek, Viera has come out and said he would be willing to re-locate to Australia. Tick for desired attribute 3.

Not a high-profile choice. Somewhat of a journey-man of a coach. Haven’t seen enough of him in the media to now of his charisma but this point appears to be his weakness. Obviously an intelligent bloke as he apparently knows seven languages and has a doctorate in Sports Science, but I will give him a cross for this desired attribute.

Lack of seeing his teams in action again means I will presume that he plays attractive football as I haven’t heard anything to the contrary from the Asian Cup (I may be proved wrong on this point). I’ll give him a point for this as I did for Verbeek.

Viera has led a number of his club teams to titles in a number of countries over his career. As mentioned, he led Iraq to the Asian Cup which must go down as one of the greatest managerial feats ever due to the limited and disjointed preparations the team had. Another tick for how he scores for this desired attribute.

This leaves Jorvan Viera with a final score of 5 out of 6.


Martin Jol

He’s Dutch. Tick.

No Asian experience whatsoever as a coach. Cross.

No word on whether or not he’d be willing to re-locate to Australia but as he hasn’t said anything either way, I’ll give him a half score for this desired attribute.

He would be a high-profile choice largely down to the fact that he has just finished a managing role in the Premier League which is undoubtedly the most watched league at the moment in Australia (and even the know-nothing sports journalists from the mainstream media in Australia have at least heard of the Premier League and Tottenham). A tick on this one purely because of that.

Tottenham were known for their attacking football under Jol, it was their defense that was the problem at times. On balance, a tick for this desired attribute.

Jol has had success at club level in the Netherlands winning silverware and did a good job at Spurs lifting them into European contention. As it hasn’t been sustained success (as in winning tiles and trophies regularly) over his managerial career, he deserves only a half score for this desired attribute.

Martin Jol finishes with 4 out of 6.


Johan Neeskens

He’s Dutch.

Has some Asian experience through his time as Hiddink’s assistant. Engineered an impressive Asian Cup qualifying win against Bahrain when Hiddink was away and the team was 1-0 down at half-time. He earns half a point for this one.

Would most likely to be willing to re-locate; he even more than Hiddink seemed to warm to Australia and Australians, so I will give him a point for this desired attribute.

A top former player who has scored in a World Cup final and current assistant at Barcelona give him a fairly high-profile, though his profile doesn’t necessarily stem from his management skills. Half a point.

Being Dutch and having spent all of his time since assisting Hiddink at the World Cup under Rijkaard at Barcelona there is a high likelihood that attractive football would be the norm under a Neeskens-led team. One point.

Unfortunately for Neeskens, previous managerial success (where he's the sole man in charge) wouldn’t be his strongest point. So for this he scores no point.

Johan Neeskens finishes with four out of 6.

While it is not an exhaustive list, I have a feeling the next manager will be one of the above due to their current employment circumstances meaning it more feasible that they would be able to take up the position quickly. I think that the man who scored highest from the above grading (Viera) is not the most likely though; to be honest none of them are, it is really difficult to know which way the FFA will go on this one. No one candidate sticks out for me.

That is why they should make enquiries after all Dutch managers coaching at the highest level in Europe. Frank Rijkaard, Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman would be a good place to start. Out of that trio, I think van Gaal would be the man Australia could most possibly get, the other two have more prestigious positions at big Spanish clubs while van Gaal is managing a less glamorous Dutch team (AZ Alkmaar and doing a pretty good job too!). Louis van Gaal would be the man I’d go after out of the above trio as he also has experience as a technical director at Ajax, which would mean he could offer Australia even more help in that area too. But van Gaal hasn’t been mentioned by anyone in the Australian media from what I see, so maybe it is my own private pipedream (one of many I assure you!).

The Big Names

Then there are those who I consider to be in what I would call "the big names but do we want them, or them us?" category. Jürgen Klinsmann, José Mourinho and Fabio Capello have been the main ones mentioned.

Klinsmann is highly unlikely in my book and coached even his native Germany from the US; what chance that he suddenly will want to move even further to coach a country he has had no previous connection to, Australia? Not much I reckon.

Mourinho is a huge name and gets trophies, no one would be stupid enough to argue otherwise. But he was let go by Chelsea for playing unattractive football and besides, can you really see the self-proclaimed “special one” deciding to take up a job such as this? The odds must be extremely long and I don’t know why some of the media are even wasting column space with the notion. No chance.

Capello has the same issues as Mourinho in that he wins trophies nearly everywhere he goes but also seems to turn off the fans with his style of football. Seems to be awfully keen on the England job too if you read this article.

There it is, I’m sure that the FFA will make a fool of me and appoint someone else not listed above but I think an exercise such as what I’ve just done demonstrates how tough the decision is going to be for them. Sure, there seem to be many candidates but many are unrealistic or just plain silly. At this vital time in the games history in Australia, the powers that be in Australian football need to make sure that the new coach has the necessary abilities to not only bring success on the pitch for Australia but also off the pitch.

Let’s hope they choose wisely.

Guest article: A-League Round 12 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Here is another article from guest columnist Martin Cassidy that looked back on an eventful round of matches from a couple of weeks ago in the A-League. For the many international readers of this blog, the A-League is a two-and-a-bit year old football competition that is trying to establish itself in Australia. Football, or soccer as it is known by many in Australia, has had a difficult history and there is therefore much interest in how this young and promising football competition is performing in such a fanatical sporting country and market saturated by Australian Rules Football and the two Rugby codes. Articles such as this will give you a great insight into the trials and tribulations the game of football face in Australia every week.

Vincent

The four matches played across the weekend encapsulated all that is the A-League: the good, the bad and the ugly. The round opened Friday night with title contenders Newcastle hosting the winless Perth side who’s coach of the last two seasons was sacked after the previous weekend’s defeat. With the evenness of the competition this season, surely that would be one the tipsters could bank on.

That evenness was exemplified by Melbourne’s position, struggling in 6th but only a win from 2nd place. Melbourne hosted Sydney in the glamour clash of the round, in spite of the fact it was 5th vs 6th. As the champions of the first two seasons and each with Socceroos featuring, this would once again attract a big crowd and media attention. The other two games were a top of the table clash between Central Coast and the ever consistent Adelaide, 1st vs 2nd, while Queensland welcomed back skipper Craig Moore for their home game against Wellington.


The Good

The first good news arrived Friday when Perth managed a form reversal, as so often happens following a coaches’ sacking, producing a 4-1 away win in Newcastle. Having been poor for most of the last two seasons and lacking any real punch up front, they found a potent threat in 20 year old Nikita Rukavytsya. New coach and former Socceroo David Mitchell, assistant to now sacked Ron Smith, made some simple changes including returning Jamie Harnwell from his makeshift striker role to his preferred central defensive duties. Rukavytsya came in for his first start for five rounds and had a hand in all four Perth goals, scoring twice himself. So simple in hindsight.

Overall it was more guts and emotion than technical or tactical superiority that won the day. Mitchell’s post-match comments reflected that assessment, stating: “Before the game I said to the boys that they had to die for each other out on the park, nothing less would be tolerated”. It remains to be seen if this change in form can continue beyond the typical honeymoon period of a new coach, indeed beyond the emotion of the occasion but the result is good for the competition, for Perth fans and hopefully for the struggling crowd figures over there.

The best news of the round came Saturday afternoon courtesy of Socceroo John Aloisi. In the match between the top two teams in the competition, new recruit Aloisi managed his first goal in the A-League, converting a self-earned penalty. He capped a solid performance from himself and his team by scoring a second with a well judged volley from close range. Having always been a prolific goal scorer, most notably for Osasuna and Alaves in the Primera Liga as well as in England and internationally, it will be a very interesting indicator for the league to see how much influence he can exert and more importantly in how many goals he can score.

For promoters and naysayers alike of the A-League’s standard, a player of Aloisi’s quality and experience competing here at just 31 years old adds credibility and surely offers some guidance as to the competition’s standing in world football. He scored 11 goals in the 05/06 Spanish premier league season for a relegated team, scored in a Spanish Cup final, scored 4 goals against Germany and Argentina at the 05 Confederations Cup, and against Japan at both the World and Asian Cups. Australia always produces good goalkeepers and with the likes of Socceroos stars Craig Moore, Tony Popovic and Tony Vidmar among the defensive ranks of A-League clubs, the task for strikers here is not that easy. That said I would expect a player of Aloisi’s quality to average close to a goal a game in this competition. At that rate Central Coast would be clear favourites to take the championship this season.

I must make a passing comment on several good things happening at Queensland Roar. Now up to second in the league following a 3-0 win over Wellington, keeping them unbeaten in their last six games since un undeserved 0-2 defeat in Melbourne, Queensland welcomed back Craig Moore on the weekend but were without Danny Tiatto through injury. Since that Melbourne loss in which they were comprehensively the better and more attacking team on the night, coach Frank Farina has resolved the goal scoring problems most notably via teenagers Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse. They both debuted the week following that loss and have played a huge role in the club’s success since. Credit to Farina for taking a gamble, indeed for selecting more than the minimum youth players required by A-League policy. I maintain he was not the right man to lead the Socceroos to the World Cup but the national team also had some great results under his stewardship. Having coaches of his experience is fantastic for the league and surely for youngsters like Zullo and Kruse.

The last of the good news was the continued public support for Melbourne Victory. The Melbourne – Sydney contest Saturday night attracted the largest crowd of the A-League thus far this season. On the final day of the VRC Melbourne Cup carnival, with more than 80,000 at the races on the day, Victory pulled a crowd of 31,884. Each of Victory’s six home games this season has attracted more than 25,500 at an average of 28,187. These figures are impressive compared with most leagues throughout the world but quite remarkable in comparison to the next best supported team here, with Sydney averaging just over 15,000 and their largest crowd is 18,457.

The Bad

The various bad aspects of the A-League came under the spotlight in round 12 and can be best described by one term – ill-discipline. Ahmad Elrich has returned to Australia during this season to be Wellington’s marquee player. He has played for the Socceroos, the Olyroos at the Athens Olympics and has returned from an injury-plagued period in the English Premier League. At the peak of his career he should be able to produce the style and quality worthy of that record but his notable contribution last weekend was a straight red for an elbow on his opponent. This follows Craig Moore being sent off in his A-League debut, Danny Tiatto producing numerous mistimed tackles, kicks and stray forearms, and the trend continues among other high profile players including a straight red for Steve Corica when Sydney hosted Melbourne. Better should be expected from current and former Socceroos. Meanwhile Melbourne recently had three players red carded in two matches, each receiving further penalty from the competition judiciary. With Kevin Muscat suspended for the coming weekend that makes four in as many weeks for a struggling defending champion.

Elsewhere, despite my earlier praise for Melbourne crowds, there is some concern in the drop in numbers from the corresponding Melbourne – Sydney fixture last season. Given the nature of this 21-round competition, last season Melbourne hosted Sydney twice, drawing crowds of 39,730 and a non-finals record 50,333. In the only home fixture against Sydney this season, the Saturday night crowd of 31,884 is disappointing in that context and follows a slight decline in Sydney earlier this season between the competition heavyweights. This match on the weekend was an exciting and eventful 0-0 draw but mainstream media here is still more comfortable with higher scoring sports. The coverage of the match the following day centred primarily on incidents of crowd violence and the small time afforded to the on-field coverage included a description of “a dull goalless draw”. The game still has a long way to go to convert some in the media which unfortunately is necessary for continued growth and prosperity.

The Ugly

It is debatable as to how bad the “riots” and “violence” were at the Melbourne – Sydney match but it certainly attracted the attention of the media and the Football Federation. I recall there being four arrests last season among the 50,333 attending this fixture and the media played it up for much more than it was worth. I was unaware at the game that night of any incidents, that is until the news headlines the next day. It is amazing how poor picture and audio quality on a video phone can be made to distort a situation. Suddenly Victory supporters making the same chant as any other week becomes a primitive sounding roar that could frighten a hoard of Vikings.

I do not wish to trivialise Saturday’s situation nor make any excuse for what are essentially dickheads with no real interest in the game. But it is not as bad as reported. I understand a group of Sydney supporters caused mayhem on the way to the ground and that should not be tolerated. There were apparently incidents of that same group pulling stadium seating out and throwing them from the second level onto opposition fans. Again, this is anti-social behaviour at best, criminal more likely and should be dealt with accordingly. I could have identified several groups of young male Victory “supporters” at recent games who do the equivalent of driving up and down Chapel Street and I bet this is the younger brothers who haven’t yet got their license. At the games however, they walk back and forth around the wing, calling out to young girls and taking no interest in the on-field action. Some of these people are among the ugly element that still haunts Australian football – what FFA have tried to leave behind with the “old soccer, new football” slogan. There is obviously still work to be done but make no mistake, this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in new football.

Guest Article: Preparing for South Africa 2010

Here is the first of hopefully many contributions to Whenballmeetsfoot from Martin Cassidy, who will be writing on all things related to Australian football. As I live in Europe it is difficult to keep fully up to date with all of the happenings in the Australian league (thank god for the internet and SBS!) whereas Martin still has his finger on the pulse living in Melbourne and sitting in our old seat at Melbourne Victory games on the half-way line. Likewise with the national team. Martin's knowledge of Australian football is second-to-none in my experience so sit back and enjoy this, the first of many articles!

Vincent


Two matches played tonight, on opposite sides of the world, will pose some very serious questions for Australia’s credentials to qualify for South Africa 2010. In London an under-strength Socceroos squad faces a near full-strength and world-class Nigeria. The Socceroos go into this friendly with no fewer than ten possible first team players unavailable. Meanwhile in Gosford on the central coast of NSW, the Olyroos host Iraq in a must-win fixture to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

While Viduka remains uncommitted to the upcoming qualification campaign, the others unavailable for the Socceroos include Bresciano, Grella, Culina and late withdrawal Cahill, all of whom would feature in our best national team. Moore, Aloisi and Thompson were overlooked because the A-League does not adhere to the FIFA calendar, ironic considering the years of hardship endured for Australian teams struggling to have players released by their big European clubs; more so considering we need those clubs to release players outside FIFA dates due to the nature of Asia’s world cup qualification schedule. But that’s for another time. Therefore, Viduka’s natural replacement Aloisi again misses out, Thompson cannot fill the void and Kewell is just returning from injury. The positive aspect is a chance presented to Celtic striker Scott McDonald, having missed the Asian Cup and Argentina friendly, while Josh Kennedy has another opportunity to impress.

The midfield stocks are badly depleted with our best four all missing this match. Add to that the absence of Holman who has played in the hole behind the strikers, Cahill or Bresciano could have taken that role tonight, a fully fit Kewell would be the first choice there but instead that position, if utilised, will be filled by Nick Carle. Defensively, Moore has not played for the national team since this equivalent game against Ghana at the same ground last November. He would most likely still play as the second central defender if available but as was the case against Argentina, Michael Beauchamp will play alongside Lucas Neill. The other key absentee is Mark Milligan who is playing for the U/23 side and he would have had some chance of playing for the Socceroos tonight, even with all players available.

The Socceroos are further tested by the fact Rob Baan, FFA technical director, is taking charge of the group for the first and only time. Graham Arnold is now the Olyroos boss and Dick Advocaat was expected to be the incoming Socceroos coach, although that deal has today collapsed. Again, that’s for another time. Given the absentees, the confusion no doubt felt by the players over the Advocaat decision, and the quality of our opponent, it will be very interesting to witness how the experienced Dutchman Baan sets the team out. The 4-3-3 system normally used since Hiddink took charge may need to be tinkered with to accommodate the tall and short of Kennedy and McDonald. Assuming Kewell cannot start the game, I would expect a variation of 4-4-2 with Valeri behind and Carle in front of midfield. With an abundance of left sided players, Baan has an interesting dilemma in which of Chipperfield or Carney play defender and attacker, again assuming Kewell’s role is as substitute.

Regardless of pre-game speculation, Nigeria poses a massive challenge to the Socceroos. Among the four truly world-class African nations, they have incredible talent up front, combining skill, speed and strength. Late withdrawals Kanu and Utaka leave no problems for Berti Vogts who has Martins, Yakubu, Anichebe, Makinwa, Odemwingie and Ikechukwu to choose from. That’s a somewhat different selection headache than for Baan. John Obi Mikel adds further goal scoring potential from midfield and defensively they are solid, notably with Yobo and Taiwo.

The Socceroos of the 2006 World Cup were heavily influenced by the 2000 Olympic squad – Emerton, Grella, Bresciano, Neill and Kewell had he been fit, were all of that generation. In addition, Viduka came in as an overage player. The 2004 Olympians who reached the quarter finals included Wilkshire, Valeri and Holman, Carle was not selected while McDonald, Kennedy and Kisnorbo are also of that era, rising through the national youth teams. Their World Cup is 2010 and while all the missing midfielders from tonight’s Socceroos will be still in their prime for 2010, the opportunity for the generation following is tonight in those absences.

The next generation have their chance to stand up in Gosford. Entering this penultimate round of Olympic qualifiers, with only the group winner advancing, Australia trail Iraq on goal difference alone. Having already seen off Iran, this group of Olyroos has real potential and are worthy of an Olympic campaign. Unfortunately, so too is this Iraq side, featuring seven of the squad that won this year’s Asian Cup. That these two teams met in the quarter finals of the last Olympics demonstrates the difficulty facing Australia since the move to the Asian confederation. That Iraq defeated us in that match, as well as at the Asian Cup, presents a bad omen and a daunting task.

Australia faces two difficult matches tonight, one a must win, the other a game in which a strong performance is a minimum requirement. Fingers crossed it all works out.

Pondering on a Poster Boy for Passion: Ginger Mourinho

What on the surface seemed one of the more bizarre managerial appointments in the Premiership for as long as I can remember (a poll in a Bolton newspaper quoted a staggeringly low 1.7% of fans approved) seemed like a masterstroke last Thursday night at Allianz Arena when Bolton came away with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup. I must admit that along with almost everybody else I was perplexed when the man ironically dubbed by Leicester fans the “Ginger Mourinho”, Gary Megson, was appointed manager of Bolton. Probably the strangest thought I had after the appointment was that Megson would be in charge of a team playing in a European competition. Even a few months ago if someone had told me that I would have offered them odds of 100 to 1 on it coming true.

Even Megson must be secretly pinching himself at the way it has all turned around for him. What at one stage looked a promising managerial career while in charge of West Bromwich Albion (it must be said he is still a popular figure for many WBA supporters) had gone decidedly pear-shaped at Nottingham Forest.

It was in fact at Forest where Megson pulled one of the more original and downright strange managerial moves I have heard of when he invited angry Forest supporters into the changing rooms after an insipid loss so that the supporters could tell the players exactly what they thought of them. I’m all for managers explaining to their players the importance of the role that fans play but this was taking it a bit far. His failure at Forest meant an extended break from having the top job at a club, until Leicester came knocking earlier this year. Then after a few fairly modest performances with Leicester came the extraordinary news that newly manager-less Bolton were actually chasing him to be their next manager.

It can’t be right, we all thought.

Nicolas Anelka and Megson together would be like oil and water, the former a sublimely skilled mercenary, the latter a fire and brimstone poster boy for those that believe “passion” is the most important attribute a coach/player/team can possess. But for once the tabloids had it spot-on and, after Bolton paid Leicester (?!) a reported £300,000, they had their man!

From all reports Megson is quite the old-school manager. He doesn’t like the flashy cars and lifestyles modern players have so they say. I say if he feels this way he should get as far away from the “modern game” as he possibly can! It’s a fact of life that footballers, especially in the Premiership, have bucketloads more money today than they did when Megson was plying his trade. It’s a fair enough opinion he has (for what it’s worth I actually agree with him), but as a manger having to deal with these players on a daily basis it is probably a bit of a counter-productive opinion to have. To top it off, his teams don’t exactly have a reputation for exciting football either by the way. But Bolton supporters would be used to that I guess….

Maybe Megson will show us all up and lead Bolton to the promised land of Premiership safety and a decent run in Europe. I fear for Bolton’s sake that the result on the Sunday after their triumphant Munich adventure will be all too common for the rest of the year.

What was the result against Middlesbrough on Sunday, I hear you ask?

0-0.

At home.

Against a fellow relegation contender.

That’s not to say he won’t lead them to safety, just that if he does, he will do it without a lot of scoring or panache. Let us hope for everyone’s sake that during his time in charge of Bolton, however successful or otherwise it is, he does everyone a favour and keeps the fans out of the dressing room.

A Wake-Up Call for Lagerbäck

Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have woken up with a sore head the morning after the match between Sweden and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately it wasn’t due to a hangover after celebrating Sweden's qualification for next year's European Championships. His headache would have been due to the fact the ball delivery provided by many of his team mates was aimed at the poor guy's head (or even more often and less precisely, somewhere in the general vicinity of his head).

Swedens performance against Northern Ireland at home was a poor one, there is no other way of saying it. Readers of this blog will know what I think of Zlatan's ability, and as a spectator at Råsunda stadion the other night I could not believe the service Zlatan, and Johan Elmander for that matter, received from their team mates. From my limited knowledge of the Swedish language (with a little help from my friends) it seemed that coach Lagerbäck was equally disappointed with the performance.

The question I put to Lagerbäck is this: Why were you so disappointed? Are you not the person mainly responsible for the tactics of the team under your tutelage?

I know, there were some mitigating circumstances last Wednesday; Ljundberg was out, Wilhelmsson was injured early. Playing without your two best wide midfielders would be tough for any team as Sweden certainly played without width after Chippen was carried off. But it is absolutely no excuse to resort to the primitive tactic of simply lumping the ball in the general direction of Zlatans head. It was as if the defenders (it must be said, mainly Mellberg) couldn’t be bothered passing the ball around trying to patiently construct a move against an inferior opposition. Instead it was almost as if they were saying to Zlatan “Well you think you’re so good and creative, let’s see what you can do with this!” after they stuck their clogs into yet another long ball. Lagerbäck may try to act as if this performance was a one-off but he’s fooling no-one, the long-ball tactics are unfortunately all too common when watching Sweden play and it is such an unfortunate thing because it sells the abilities of the players in his team short.

I can hear people saying to themselves “Hang on a minute, if these tactics are so bad, why is Sweden sitting pretty on top of a very tough Euro qualifying group?” A valid point indeed, and let me say that Sweden have been a very consistent team with regard to qualifying for major tournaments since they missed out on the Euro in England in 96 and France 98. No one can argue with that, they are getting some results. But here’s a thought: maybe the results would even improve if the manager had enough confidence in his players to formulate a game plan around them keeping the ball on the ground at all costs, playing to feet, keeping possession as much as possible, changing the tempo of the game (not always going at 100 miles an hour).

I honestly believe that Sweden have a good enough team to get even further than the second round of a major tournament if their management trust the players enough to liberate them from the undoubtedly safe but ugly and ultimately unfulfilling (for the players and for the general public) long-ball tactics that seem to be the status quo under Lagerbäck.

To me it’s a no-brainer. You’re managing an international team. You possess one of the most potent and skilful attacking players in the world (Zlatan). What this guy can do with a ball at his feet makes the crowd, his team mates, the opposition, EVERYONE for God’s sake, shake their head in amazement. The rest of the team can play a bit as well. You have an athletic up-and-coming strike partner (Elmander), a midfield that includes a former player of the season for Arsenal (that pretty much means the guy knows a hell of a lot about how to play passing football having learnt from one of the masters, Wenger) and other midfielders that have the technical ability to have played in and thrived amongst the best in Europe. A no-frills but effective defence and goalkeeper.

What would be the one tactic that you would not use?

One that makes it hard for your best player to thrive, one where the ball is rarely at his feet where this player is at his most dangerous, one that gives defenders ample time to get back in numbers and try and nullify your main attacking threats, one that is unattractive to the fans, one that can get some good results and means you’re competitive in most matches but is unlikely to win you tournaments or plaudits.

Yep, you guessed it. The one tactic you wouldn’t use is the long-ball.

Last Wednesday against Northern Ireland should prove to be a wake up call for Sweden’s management. They were made to look second rate and were outplayed by Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing team to watch and certainly not averse to using the long-ball tactic from time-to-time themselves, looked like Argentina compared to Sweden with the way they were passing the ball around. You only had to visit the BBC chat-boards after the game to see what the Northern Ireland fans were writing. Person after person wrote they could not believe that this Swedish team were topping the group. It is hard to blame them for holding this view as they have seen the Swedes at their worst at Windsor Park and Råsunda. And I have to say that the style of play was equally frustrating in Germany at the World Cup and immediately afterwards.

The challenge that should be put to Lagerbäck is this: Okay, it’s great that you’re looking like qualifying for another major tournament. Thanks for the work you’ve done. But qualifying for tournaments and getting out of the group only to go out in the second round won’t be enough this time. Arm your players with a game plan that challenges them to channel their creative side, not their negative side. Play the ball to feet (especially one guy’s feet). Trust your players to execute a game plan that is more technically difficult to pull-off, they’re professional after all; it’s their job to be able to adapt to new tactics. If it doesn’t work for a half, don’t resort back to the tried and true long ball game. Dare to win AND play attractive football. And at least then if you go out in the second round again (or God forbid earlier), at least you can say that you went down taking some risks, having given your great fans their money’s worth.

It’s time for Lagerbäck to give his players the tactics that just might allow Sweden to, for the first time since 1994, get back to the semi-finals in a major tournament.

The Revenge of the Dithering Simpleton

Around about the time West Ham had just parted ways with their manager Alan Pardew last season (and anyone who under-utilises Tevez and Mascherano as he did deserves the boot, I reckon!) there were rumours surfacing that their new Chairman was interested in hiring Sven-Göran Eriksson as the new Hammers boss. I did what I normally do when I read such rumours and went on to the BBC chat boards to see what hammers fans thought about it all. I must admit I was a bit taken aback by what I read.

Comment after comment went along the lines of “This guy was the worst ever England manager. If we hire him, I’ll stop supporting the club, all he’s interested in is money” etc., etc. I think you all get the drift. There was maybe one or two dissenting voices but they were quickly howled down. Being a bit of a fan of statistics, and thinking any club such as West Ham would be extremely lucky to get a manager of Sven’s pedigree I looked up some stats on Sven pre-England and posted them on the chat board. They made impressive reading as you’ll see below:

IFK Göteborg

Svenska Cupen Winners 1979, 1982
Allsvenskan Champions 1981, 1982
UEFA Cup Winners 1982

S.L. Benfica
Portuguese Liga Champions 1983, 1984, 1991
Cup of Portugal Winners 1983
SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira Champions 1989
European Cup Runners Up 1990
UEFA Cup Runners Up 1983

A.S. Roma
Coppa Italia Winners 1986

U.C. Sampdoria
Coppa Italia Winners 1994

S.S. Lazio
Coppa Italia Winners 1998, 2000
Italian Super Cup Winners 1998
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winners 1999
UEFA Super Cup Winners 1999
Serie A Champions 2000 (for only the second time in their history)

After posting these stats, some people admitted they didn’t know he’d been that much of a success before managing England and stated maybe they’d think again before so vehemently ruling out the possibility of him managing their club. But it must be said that most maintained that he was still a terrible manager based on his time with England regardless of what he had done before that.

Which brings me to his time in charge of England. Before I went to the World Cup in Germany, I thought that Sven had done a pretty good job for England during his time in charge. He had guided them to qualification in all of the major tournaments they had contested under his tutelage, steering them out of the “group of death” at the World Cup in Japan only to be knocked out in the quarters by eventual champion Brazil. Then on to the European championships in Portugal where his team were knocked out by hosts Portugal on penalties in the quarter finals again.

But in Germany where I was forced to read the only English language newspaper available daily (The Sun, and no it wasn’t for the page three girls!) I saw that Sven was subject to ridicule pretty much every day. Now I know there were scandals that had preceded the World Cup, but it was the way they made him out to be a dithering simpleton that really surprised me. And not a day went past without him being criticised for not having enough “passion”, whatever that is (“passion” seemed to be the most important attribute a manager possessed, according to The Sun. Poor old cool, calm and collected Sven was never going to win on that front compared to a Scolari). And as that great old saying goes, mud sticks. No one can say that Sven left his job as England manager with his reputation enhanced. Quite the opposite. Was he worthy of copping what he did? Not to bore you with statistics, but have a look at the stats I have below from his time in charge of England and judge for yourself whether the torrents of abuse he copped were justified:

67 matches spanning over 5 years with only 4 competitive losses (3 inside 90 mins).

He never lost a competitive match by more than 1 goal.

He is the only England manager in the post for 3 or more major tournaments not to fail to qualify for any of them.

He took England to their first European Championship quarter-finals on foreign soil since 1972 - their third ever.

England earned the second seed of the 2006 World Cup, ahead of all other European teams and only behind top-ranked Brazil.

I’d say looking back now, it wasn’t fair what he copped. Even the Sven-haters must admit that the guy has bucket loads of courage to come back to England and try and prove the doubters wrong in the place where his reputation was the worst. I know if I was him I wouldn’t have had the guts. And his courage looks to be paying off. Articles like this one are beginning to appear from previously scornful journalists (I use the term loosely).

But it’s what he has managed to achieve with Man City so far with such limited time from when he was hired just before the season kicked off that is so impressive on so many different levels.

The players he has brought in; Elano at £8 million pounds is already the bargain of the season and is a joy to watch. The way he has blended the exciting young talent from City’s academy with his new buys. The way he has helped to develop what appears to be an excellent team spirit after only a couple of months. The rejuvenation of old-timers like Hamman. The position on the table (3rd). The list could go on.

In theory it should only get better as well after the players, old and new, have more time to settle in to his style of play and when he can splash more cash on transfers in January. Of course there is a long way to go and after a turbulent recent history, City fans would tell you that the thing first and foremost in their mind is to finish as far away from the relegation zone as possible. But the longer the season goes (and especially if Chelsea lose ground after Mourinho’s exit) they might start to dream of a top 6 or even top 4 finish. And why shouldn’t they?

If City do achieve great things under Sven, there will be a lot of people with egg on their face.

The consistently affable Sven would not be human if somewhere deep down he was not already feeling a little satisfaction at having proved some of the doubters wrong. And I for one wouldn’t begrudge him that for a second.

The World’s Most Overrated Player?

One of the best things about having moved to Sweden (besides the obvious that to watch any European football means not having to set my alarm to get up at some crazy hour!) is to be further exposed to the sublime skills of one Zlatan Ibrahimovich. I’ll never forget a remark made by Martin O’Neill during the World Cup in Germany while he was commentating for English television. He said that Zlatan was “the most overrated footballer in the world”. It’s funny the way things like that stick in your mind, because I have never been able to respect O’Neill as a manager since that statement. I mean, if his judgement is that bad about Zlatan, what else is he getting wrong?

But I digress… In Sweden they are quite proud of their football exports be they Zlatan, Svennis or the many others in between. The good thing about this is that as a product of this pride they show all Inter Milan games on television so the Swedes can keep tabs on their most skilful and important international player. Because of this I have been able to see quite a lot of Zlatan in action and he has really taken his game up another notch since his surprisingly subdued World Cup in Germany last year (it was later reported that he was hampered by a groin injury).

He’s always had the talent, I remember watching him during Euro 2004 and he produced that memorable piece of improvisation against Italy (see Zlatan Ibrahimovich's Nice Goal below.). Since leaving Juventus after a lacklustre 05/06 season he is turning those trademark flashes of brilliance into more consistent high-level performances: statistically he scored 15 goals last season compared to 7 the year before at Juve. This year he’s already scored 6 goals and after watching him in action on the weekend against Livorno, I think if he stays healthy will easily score more than 15 goals this season. Just seeing him as a goal scorer alone would be doing him a great disservice though. What I really love about Zlatan is his ability to bring others into the game and, even more so, his ability to time and again make defence-splitting passes.

I believe we make many judgements of players influenced by cultural stereotypes due to a footballer’s nationality. I firmly believe that if Zlatan came from, say, Brazil instead of Sweden (not exactly a football culture known for its flair) with his armoury of tricks he would be on par with a Ronaldhino as far as being a star of world football. On that note, for those of you who haven’t seen much of him, or even if you have, there’s some highlights I posted below from You Tube for your enjoyment from his most recent season with Inter as well as another more lighthearted clip that still manages to show off his freakish skills.

Lastly, I’ve always felt that there are similarities between Zlatan and Mark Viduka. Both tall, but at the same time exceptionally good on the ball. Both criticised at times for looking lazy and disinterested, both capable of the sublime and the infuriating on the same day. I would have loved for Viduka to play in Italy, I really think that league would have suited him so well. The slower tempo of the game in Italy would have allowed a player such as Viduka to exploit his fantastic technical skills to maximum effect, it is such a shame that it looks like he will finish his career in England. He’s still really effective at Newcastle and I’m sure if he stays fit he will score many goals, but watching him on the weekend chase long ball after long ball hoofed in his direction my concern is that the tactics(?!) of big Sam Allardyce are not going to suit him that well. He looked absolutely spent when he came off relatively early in the second half after scoring twice on Saturday.

Oh well, instead of seeing Viduka in an Inter or AC Milan shirt you can watch a younger version of him in the form of Zlatan glide around the San Siro. For this Australian, it’s hard to do so without shaking off the feeling of “if only” though…..

Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Inter 06/07 - Compilation part 1

zlatan - gum

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Nice Goal

The Danger of a Short Memory

The news that Dutchman Dick Advocaat looks to have finally signed on the dotted line to take over the coaching role for the Socceroos should be welcome news to every fan of Australian soccer. It is also a time to reflect back on the 14 months since the bittersweet World Cup experience and glean that there are some lessons learnt from this time that should never, ever be forgotten by those in charge of football in Australia.

It was a strange time just after Germany. For me the euphoria of qualifying for the World Cup and witnessing all of our games in Germany, especially the games in Kaiserslautern, was tempered somewhat by a little voice in my head saying “remember where we were 12 months ago?” (There was also the annoying voice of a female from that delightful group “The Fanatics” who, when Craig Moore was substituted late in the game against Japan, asked those around her “who’s that?” in a disdainful way when his face was flashed on the scoreboard. None of her entourage knew, but that’s another story for another time…). For those uninitiated to Australian football, 12 months before the World Cup, we were in Germany losing all three games of the Confederations Cup and being coached by Frank Farina. And oh, I almost forgot, with the small task of again having to face the fifth place South American team in the World Cup qualifiers only a matter of months away. Those were dark days indeed and the despair and hopelessness that all fans would have felt when we reached the low point of the Confederations Cup should have lived with us all.

Thankfully it contrasted hugely with those joyful 10 minutes against the Japanese in Kaiserslautern and our overall performance at the World Cup. Humans, by our nature, nearly always forget the bad when they look back on life’s moments and I believe that this has happened with many Australian football supporters and journalists. The thing I really want to highlight is how badly off we were barely 4 months before that momentous night in Sydney where we beat Uruguay in the now famous shoot-out that booked our place at the World Cup.

We were at this low point due to an internationally inexperienced Australian manager.

Compare this to the huge achievements that were made in barely 4 months with an internationally experienced, renowned, and tactically astute manager. Then ask yourself, how the hell did we end up with an inexperienced Australian manager (Graham Arnold) in charge of the team for the Asian Cup and from the Australian media only having Craig Foster, Les Murray and the team from SBS questioning how it had occurred? This oversight by most of the Australian media beggars belief.

The bare stats for the Socceroos in their competitive matches since the World Cup reads as follows: played 14, won 5, drawn 3, lost 6. Not great, not completely disastrous. Graham Arnold has been in charge that whole time. I argue he shouldn’t have even made it past his second game in charge, the 2-0 loss to Kuwait. That result would never have happened under Hiddink. But even after such a disastrous result, there were some, such as The Age leading football journalist Michael Lynch, who made the extraordinary claim that Graham Arnold should be hired permanently for the Socceroos coaching job. Lynch’s article makes even more interesting reading 12 months on, especially how many things former Socceroo and now SBS analyst Craig Foster got right. My personal favourite part from the piece Foster wrote is the following:

“After Wednesday, Graham said that in the second half the players were "looking forward to their club games". I have difficulty believing this happened under Hiddink when everyone had to perform, all the time, and after the Kuwait loss away the excuses were the heat, the players, and the "World Cup hangover". Hiddink didn't make excuses, he made changes.”

Has anyone else noticed the similar, sorry excuses peddled out by Graham and his brother-in-arms John Kosmina after the Asian Cup? Les Murray in his article “Rid us of these cheats” writes: “The thick cloud of Australian excuses that drifted forth from Bangkok following the Oman game was suffocating. Left unchecked and allowed to run, this stuff will debilitate this team to the point where it will leave this Asian Cup with nothing.” Prophetic stuff.

The point I’m trying to make is this: How could anyone who has any knowledge of the many trials and tribulations Australia has faced as a football nation not have wanted us to hire another big name coach to take over as soon as the World Cup finished?

Why were people like Michael Lynch and leading football writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, Mike Cockerill, people who (apparently) know what they’re talking about writing articles read by thousands of people extolling the virtues of keeping Arnold on as Socceroo coach? The writers of these articles created a debate out of an issue that anyone with a brain and a memory would know was a non-issue.

Put simply as a nation still forging our own football identity it is even more important for us to have a coach with an excellent international pedigree and experience as we will need all the help we can get on these fronts to make up for our lack of tradition, our lack of opportunities to play together and consequently gel together as a national team, and technical competence. I can hear people saying “Well, if we get Dick Advocaat in now, there’s no harm done really is there?”

I’ll explain why I think there has been some harm done by not getting a big name coach in straight after the World Cup.

Australia as a football nation gained a lot of respect from our performances in Germany. Living in Europe I can safely say that the level of knowledge and respect for Australian football that the average European fan had rose by about 80% after Germany. Simply stated, it put us on the map.

Mumbling to these same people 12 months later that we were beaten by Iraq pretty much erased that new-found respect. But it is obviously not the respect of other fans that is important. The most serious issue, and one that I think is most worrying for the immediate future of Australian Football, is the respect of the clubs and the players themselves. Here are a couple of worrying quotes, first from World Cup hero Tim Cahill: “ I understand me playing for Australia frustrates him [his Everton manager David Moyes], but you can never take away what we achieved as a country. Now I understand that when I come back from this, maybe I will have to think differently. My priority now is Everton and the Australian manager knows this. I'm not in any rush to be thinking about Australia.” From Mark Viduka: “Australian football's in transition as well and we don't know who is going to be the new manager. So until that's sorted, you don't know, it might have an effect on my decision.” And finally from Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez: “My players travel more than Phileas Fogg in "Around The World In 80 Days". Javier Mascherano had to play a friendly for Argentina in Australia. That must have been really important.”

Without drawing too long a bow, would any of these quotes have happened if we had installed a high profile and quality manager 12 months ago and gone on to win the Asian Cup?

I doubt it very much.

I not only believe that it is vital for our 2010 world cup campaign to have both Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill heavily involved, but, and this is important to remember, to have their managers allow them to come back to Australia or Asia even more often than they have in the past as now we are qualifying through Asia we will have to play more important World Cup qualifying games more often. This means that, like it or not, we will need to have a good relationship with the managers of our big players in Europe. Rafa Benitez’s comments may have been in jest but do you think he would have made such a joke if Argentina were playing Spain for example, or the reigning Asian Cup champions with a high profile manager?

My hunch is that if it were not for journalists like Michael Lynch and others suffering from memory loss about where Australia was before Hiddink, we would have installed a manger a long time ago who would have built on the momentum from the World Cup and the great work done by Hiddink before and at the World Cup.

Just like in Orwell’s Animal Farm where the animals tell each other to always remember what it was like when the farm was controlled by humans, as Australian football fans, without a hint of irony, we must always remind each other of what it was like before Hiddink came.

Not doing this would mean losing it all and winding up back where we were. The good news is it is not too late to fix the inaction of the past 14 months.

So on that note, welcome Dick Advocaat, you are arriving just in the nick of time…

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog When Ball Meets Foot, which is about – you guessed it – football!

For as long as I remember I have been obsessed with sport, probably the best example of this being the fact I was able to verbally give the total number of points scored for quite complicated Australian rules scores before I could even count or write (I have been assured by psychologists that this is quite weird!).

As an Australian based in Sweden with a lot of football channels to get me through the winter here, I will be writing articles on football (soccer), as well as keeping a close eye on all the Australian players based over here in Europe. From time to time, I’ll be writing articles on Australian rules football and American football too, even though I don’t watch them as much nowadays (thank God for the internet…).

Every so often I plan to have guest writers. My good friend Martin Cassidy based in Melbourne will write about soccer, especially The Socceroos and the Australian A-League, while I’m hoping that another good friend and Sports Psychologist Andrew “Alright” Mills who is based in England and has worked with a Premier League club will contribute some of his vast knowledge to When Ball Meets Foot. I will also hopefully get some Swedish friends here to write on the Swedish league as my grasp of the language hasn’t allowed me to get right into it yet.

Anyway, check the blog regularly, or better still, bookmark it as I plan to have good quality opinion pieces on it for your reading pleasure very often. It goes without saying that I would welcome any comment on the articles.

See ya,

Vinnie