Matthew Hall
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Australia's Player Drain
Got a problem? Throw money at it. Hope it goes away.
That's the message sent by Football Federation Australia's new initiative to keep young talent in the A-League.
The plan works something like this. Each A-League club now has the provision to pay one player under the age of 23 an extra $150,000 outside the salary cap.
Hooray!
The thinking is that players like Nathan Burns, Bruce Djite, and Kristian Sarkies will spurn opportunities in Europe and stay in Australia for several more years if they're being paid big bucks.
"It's a very important initiative and one that we consulted with the clubs on and the players' association," FFA boss Ben Buckley said on Friday.
"In partnership with them, we can use this mechanism to try to retain players who may be enticed to go overseas on slightly larger financial incentives."
"So if the clubs use it wisely we think it has the real ability to retain some of the players who can do with an additional one, two, three years in the A-League before they may want to go overseas."
The concept is well intended but, unfortunately, the clubs and the Professional Footballers' Association may have sold Buckley's people a dummy on this issue.
The marquee player format has thrown up mixed results over the A-League's past three seasons.
Dwight Yorke worked for Sydney, Stan Lazaridis probably didn't for Perth, Juninho was underused, especially off the pitch. Some clubs have not even bothered hiring one.
But the whole issue of retaining young players in Australia has to contend with an irrepressible force that has nothing to do with the market.
The reason a youth marquee is destined to fail, even if PFA research says otherwise, is not because of club policy or economics.
It is all about desire.
Let's type that word again.
DESIRE.
Australia may have a comfortable lifestyle where you can train, go to the beach, and sip a cappuccino all in the same day.
But a player with real hunger to make it to the top will travel as far as their boots will carry them.
Unfortunately, that's further than Bondi Junction, or even Gosford.
They want to see the world.
Smell damp grass.
Breathe in cold morning air.
Kick a ball across snow.
Read (or look at the pictures in) La Gazzatta Dello Sport in a plaza cafe before work.
They are young and want adventure and want to taste life.
I know this because I've asked them.
Writing and researching two editions of my book The Away Game - and producing a TV documentary based on the same idea - resulted in a pretty thorough insight into players' motivations.
Plug, plug, plug, here's some links if you're interested in the book and the film.
Also check out this list of Australians playing overseas from the comprehensive Ozfootball website.
It's revealing to discover that out of over 100 Australians abroad only a handful are at top European clubs.
The rest? Try Greece (the third division!), Denmark, Romania, Macedonia, Croatia, and Georgia.
Even Scotland!
Here's Vince Grella, now a 10-year veteran of Italian football, sitting in a back room at Parma's training ground a few years ago and telling me about his Serie A debut.
Grella recalls a baptism of fire. It may have come too early, he thinks, but he will carry that experience with him for life.
In 2008, no amount of money will keep Nathan Burns in Australia if he has the talent to win the smallest of contracts on offer in Europe.
A European deal might not be with Manchester United, or even Derby County but Europe's lure is a rite of passage for every aspiring Australian footballer.
John Aloisi did it. Robbie Slater did it. Ned Zelic did it. Paul Okon did it. Harry Kewell did it. Graham Arnold even did it. Aurelio Vidmar did it. His brother Tony did it, came home, and went back and did it again. Lucas Neill did it. Nathan Burns will do it.
Keeping the boys at home, with their laundry done, meals cooked, and bed made by mum, won't help them in the long run.
If you're 23 years old and don't have the hunger to test yourself, don't have the desire, don't have the inner-strength, don't have the will to face the biggest challenge of your football career, you're not going to make it to the top anyway.
My apologies to FFA. This is way off message for how the A-League is being promoted but, in five words, get out of the house.
No amount of marquee money will compensate you for wondering what you could have been.
It's not good. It's not bad.
It just is.
COMMENTS
Schwarzer to be Buffon understudy
Saturday 3 May, 2008.
Middlesbrough’s Mark Schwarzer is set to be Juventus’ new second choice goalkeeper, according to the Corriere dello Sport.
The newspaper maintains that Schwarzer will join the Bianconeri on a free transfer in the summer, when his contract with the Premiership club expires.
The Australian international is the prime choice to act as understudy to Gianluigi Buffon, whose back problems have been forcing Juve to reconsider their priorities.
Next season he may need to rest occasionally, especially with the Champions League games on top of the fixture list, and current number two Emanuele Belardi is not considered up to the task.
Over the past few weeks there have been reports that Fiorentina, Tottenham, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Celtic were all interested in Schwarzer.
According to the Corriere dello Sport, Juventus have beaten the competition to secure a deal with the goalkeeper.
- by Breaking News on May 03, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Have to agree. Should a suburban club try to hold on to players or encourage them to rep level? Should a district try to hold on to rep or encourage them to A-league?
A player is going to be exposed to the best of everything in Europe and for the forseable future A-league must be a nursery (and retirement home) for the best of the best.
- by Manners on May 03, 2008 at 11:26 PM
I'm sure I will get shot down for this. But I feel that what the league needs to do is instead of marquee players. They should be bringing in marquee coachs. Seems to me the main difference is coaching, training and TACTICS within our league. To highlight this take a look at Pim's true but much hated coments. Or a greater example, the sooceroos. Bring in different O/S coach with exp (Gus not the Butcher) and the same players that played embrasing kick it to Mark long ball game, suddenly were in the quater finals of the world cup (also with a level of style)!? You may only need to have them here for a few seasons. Have our coachs as 2IC's. Learing a higher level of coaching standards and tactics. Which in my opion should therefore be automatically passed down the line to state, rep and clubs teams that there respecive a-league teams work with. The players, coaching staff and standard of play should therefore impove. Buy doing this I think you would have the chance to jump ahead a few years in the sporting evolution chain and end up with a better all round product sooner. How wrong am I?
- by Craig on May 04, 2008 at 11:04 AM
You're right, the FFA shouldn't bother. I can't even work out why they waste their time with this A League stunt.
- by Sam K on May 04, 2008 at 11:57 AM
What a disappointing argument Matthew. Where normally you hold your head above those nay-sayers who are ready to tear down any show of initiative, you have joined the queue of people eager to take a leak on attempts to answer a real problem with the Australian game.
And you have successfully done it with a neat little answer, or alternative to the propsed $150,000 on offer to young players ... oh, what's that? You haven't actually come up with an alternative, you've just taken a swipe at people trying to solve the problem.
Matthew, you're better than that. And while it's worth making people think about the problem, you woul dhave been wiser to at least offer another answer, rather than simply put exrement all over the one that is on offer. Like you say, Australia doesn't have much to offer in the way of competition and adventure, but at least it's offering something. And you would have been wise to at least acknowledge that. And as far as adventure goes, why isn't Asian Champion's League a nice little adventure overseas? the FFA would be smart to sell that SE Asian aspect of what they have to offer ON TOP of the extra monetary incentive. So, you're criticism isn't actually as clear-cut of coherent as you make out.
You're better than that, and I hope that next week you return to form.
Far from a naysayer. The whole point is that there is NO solution. Offering a little more more money to eight players isn't going to keep them home. MH
- by karlo tychsen on May 04, 2008 at 01:03 PM
I think money and the prestige of possibly playing for a big club are much more at the forefront of a young footballers mind than just travelling abroad.
I mean once you're signed up with a decent Europe club, you don't really get to do much sight-seeing with the professional set-ups and training that these clubs have these days. Your days off if you get them you'd just want to rest.
But I agree on the overall issue. No amount of money will stop young Aussie Footballers for staying in the A-League. It will always be a nursery and stopping ground for those just not good enough to cut it before trying to cut it again anyway over in Europe, and of course the players at the end of the line.
Therefore I think the money would be better spent developing juniors for the A-League and promoting the A-League to the Australian public. The A-League definitely has it's place, but they should be encouraging the better players to try out Europe.
- by Wanimac on May 04, 2008 at 03:46 PM
To the blogger under the name of "breaking News"... If your right about Mark Scwartzer going to Juventus, i wanna buy you a beer because this is the first ive heard of that. The media here in Sydney are usually about 6 days behind. Where did you get the story from mate ?
Does the Sun Herald have european based reporters because ive heard nothing on that.
What do you know? It's the silly season! MH
- by Simmo on May 04, 2008 at 11:43 PM
MH, can you please tell whoever wrote the article "Reds flash cash in bid for Barry transfer" to get with the times please ?
The article quotes: "Flamini, 24, is out of contract at the end of the season and is believed to be considering an offer from Juventus, as well as a significantly improved deal from Arsenal." The reality is that Flamini agreed to terms with AC Milan this week.
This was probably a wire report. MH
- by Rich on May 04, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Gotta love the media here, they are always about 3 weeks behind. Flamini was linked with Juventus about a month ago..it first came out he was ging to AC Milan, but somehow the herald used the old source which was a month old. Useless twats.. they should have one reporter permantly based in England, Italy & Spain for all the big signings !!
- by Rory on May 08, 2008 at 04:57 PM
The reason why the Australian media have no idea whats happening in Italy or Spain is because they only have access to the media in the UK and its only when a story involving an Italian or Spanish team is in the British media.. then it makes it down under. And thats the way it always has been and always will be. The only solution is to get an Australian journo who speaks Italian & Spanish so he can read whats in the media and newspapers over there.
Si, si. Possiblimente es verdad, pero, en actualamente, la prensa Australiana es el mismo de la prensa ingles. Yo creo. MH
- by Toon Toon on May 09, 2008 at 03:20 PM
Everyone knew Flamini was going to Milan except the Sun herald. I still cant believe what i read last Sunday when the Sun herald said Flamini was linked with Juventus or may stick with arsenal. The day before that article Flamini said his goodbyes at the Emirates stadium and the following the day he was in Milan having his medical. Mathew Hall and the Sun herald... you have no idea whatsover in whats happening in European football. Whoever did that story should get an uppercut. What makes it even more funny was the timing of the story as when i read the article Flamini was in Milan about to sign on the dotted line. Can i have a job in The Sun Herald writing on Milan, Inter & Juventus because im sure i can do a better job than the useless writers thats in there now !!! Oh by the way.. Flamini's Arsenal teammate Alexander Hleb has just agreed to join Flamini's rivals Inter Milan for next season just so you dont write something that was mentioned 6 months ago when he said he would like to stay at Arsenal. useless clown you mob are !!!
Dear Justin, I would love to take credit for the Flamini story and ease your rage but I had nothing to do with it. It was a wire story. Regarding your job application, send your CV to the editor but make sure you brush up on your punctuation first. Regards and best of luck, MH.
- by Justin on May 09, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Seeing the Aussie media are so far behind, according to the Corriero Dello Sport newspaper in Italy today, Juventus are To Meet Mark Schwarzer on Monday when he flies into Italy..
- by Lupco Klimovski on May 10, 2008 at 01:30 AM
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Haha, nice link to Vince Grella. He looks like a kid in that video. Vinny doesnt deserve to be playing for clubs like Parma. Im surprised a big Italian club like Int Milan & AC Milan never signed him up.