Foreign Socceroos

We have seen the likes of Qatar naturalise players from Brazil, Uruguay and Senegal in order to provide their national team. New Zealand may be about to follow their lead with Daniel recently gaining citizenship.

With the quality of the imports this season, the Socceroos could certainly benefit from following this approach. Particularly for an A-League based squad, the likes of Cassio and Cristiano would be in serious contention for selection if they were eligible. The question is whether we want to adopt such a practise given that we have been critical of other nations that have imported ‘mercenaries’.

The striking department is one which the current ‘foreigners’ could really be pushing the likes of Kennedy and MacDonald given that no one has really cemented their spot. The likes of Matt Simons and Nikita Rukavytsya also have legitimate claims for selection. However, the striker from the A-League who would most suit Pim’s preferred style of play is probably not surprisingly a Dutchman.

Sergio van Dyke isn’t as physically imposing as Simons or as fast as Rukavytsya. However, he is technically better than above the Australians and has greater ability to holdup the ball or linkup with his supporting midfield cast. For the majority of this season, he has been deployed as the lone striker so we know he can play this role in Pim’s usual formation of 4-5-1.

Of course, this argument is completely academic since van Dyke won’t be eligible for quite some time, if ever. But it does raise interesting issues about whether foreigners may have an even greater role to play in Australian football.

Bosnich’s Story

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

Former Manchester United keeper Mark Bosnich has turned down the chance to join Australian A-League side Wellington Phoenix. It is thought that the club couldn’t guarantee him a starting place and that this was the deal-breaker.

Bosnich – who made 17 appearances for the Australian national team between 1993 and 2000 – was in talks with Wellington over a proposed move last week. The agreement was set to be that Bosnich would fill in for the Mark Paston as he recovered from a rib injury.

However, Wellington announced yesterday that they had signed Gold Coast United’s Scott Higgins instead and this raised questions about what had happened to Bosnich joining the club.

Speaking about the issue, Phoenix chief executive Tony Pignata revealed that Bosnich had opted out of the move at the last minute because the club were unable to provide him with the starting keeper’s spot. This obviously wasn’t satisfactory for a man who had played Premier League football in England.

Instead, Glen Moss will be between the sticks for Wellington as they take on Perth Glory on Saturday night. Pignata admitted that Bosnich would have only been a ‘back up’ if he joined because Moss is their number one keeper.

So, where does this leave Mark Bosnich? Well, he is still without a club since his seven week stint at the Central Coast Mariners where he made four appearances. Not exactly where we would have expected him to be after making his professional debut with Sydney Croatia 20 years ago is it?

It is a shame that so many personal problems got in the way of a talented goalkeeper having the career he should have done. At Aston Villa in particular, Bosnich showed that he could be a world-class performer.

He made 227 appearances for the Premier League club and looking back, it was probably a bad decision to leave them. He was their number one when he left for Manchester United in 1999 and this was a move that never really worked out for him. Neither did the brief stint at Chelsea in 2001.

Overall, it is worth considering whether things would have been different for Bosnich had he never left Aston Villa. Perhaps he would have made more than 17 international appearances? Perhaps he wouldn’t have had five years out of the game all together? Perhaps he wouldn’t be considered as a back-up for an Australian A-League side right know?

Who knows!

And We Are Back

Many, many apologies for not most posting for so long. I’ll blame the financial crisis? Well through a combination of exams and work related dramas, I have been kept away from my blog. For those of you who don’t know, you can actually find a few of my recent blogs on FourFourTwo here. Yes, I am stepping up in the world and I am getting paid very well for it. In fact, I’m planning to trade my pay, a monthly subscription to the magazine, in for some food. Any much has happened since my last post, both in the footballing world and the ‘real’ world. We seem to be caught in some kind of financial crisis. But don’t worry, a New Hope is here to save us all. Luke Skywalker (aka Barack Obama) is the new leader of the free people of Earth. The previous evil empire has left him quite a bit of work to do.

On the footballing front, Australia is currently cruising towards the World Cup. Adelaide almost eclipsed the Might Ducks with its run to the ACL final. Sydney FC looks to be on the verge of being taken over by a rich Russian while Perth is starting to again look like the club that once dominated the league. The Jets have crashed while the much loved Fred has also made a return.

More to come soon. Hopefully something that happens in the A-League this weekend sparks my interest.

Former Manchester United Star Turns Down Move To Australia

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

The man who once won the treble with Manchester United has turned down the chance to play his football in the Australian A-League. After considering an offer to represent the Newcastle Jets, Dwight Yorke has decided to stay in England with Premier League side Sunderland.

It is thought that Sunderland boss Roy Keane is happy for Yorke to end his contract – that runs out at the end of the current season – early, paving the way for a move to Australia. However, Yorke believes that playing for Trinidad and Tobago would be difficult if he moved to the other side of the world.

The 37-year-old is obviously still keen to prolong his international career and this has been one of the reasons that a move isn’t likely to happen at this moment in time.

The Jets wanted Yorke help them out in the Asian Champions League campaign, but the player couldn’t juggle this with his international commitments.

Ian Crook, who is the Jets high performance manager, has revealed that ‘money was not a problem’ in the potential move and that it was purely a ‘clash of calendars’. Trinidad have qualified for the final stages of World Cup qualification and this fell at the same time as when Yorke would be needed by the Jets.

Had the move gone ahead, it wouldn’t have been the first time that Yorke had tried his luck in Australia. Back in the 2005/2006 season, he played 22 games for Sydney FC and found the back of the net on eight occasions. There was no doubt that he enjoyed his time in Sydney, but the opportunity to play in the Premier League again came about and it was too good for him to turn down.

This is all a bit of a shame for the Newcastle Jets because Yorke would have been an excellent signing for them. Even though he is at the latter stages of his career, Yorke’s experience alone would have been enough to improve their chances of victory in the Asian Champions League campaign. The football odds may have started backing them had Yorke completed the move.

As things are though, The Jets are going to have to carry on regardless and Yorke will be pondering his options. Sunderland obviously don’t need him and with a move to Australia ruled out, he may have to play in the lower leagues in England to prolong his professional football career.

West Ham Captain Set For Australia return?

By Thomas Rooney

West Ham United skipper and Australian international Lucas Neill may well be earning millions of pounds playing football in the English Premier League, but he has revealed that he could return to Australia in the not too distant future.

 

Neill has confirmed that he will swap West Ham for Western Sydney should plans for a new A-League franchise be approved. The 30-year-old is part of a group of investors that are involved in setting up the new club which hopes to enter the A-League in August 2010.

 

As we all know, the Western Sydney face strong competition from a number of other A-League hopefuls in the cities of Canberra and Geelong to name just two. However, Neill is confident of success saying that he is ‘in it to win it’ and that not coming out on top isn’t an option because he ‘hates losing’.

 

Something these comments show is that Neill is very determined and passionate about what he is aiming for. He first investigated the expansion of the A-League about a year ago when rumours about the situation became public. Taking this into consideration, Neill is obviously very prepared for the challenge ahead as well.

 

One of the main impacts Neill with have on Western Sydney should everything go to plan is, unsurprisingly, financial related. The West Ham star who has earned a healthy sum of money during his many years in England, plans to plough a significant amount back into the Australian game.

 

This doesn’t mean that Neill is after a seat on the club’s board though – far from it. He says that he doesn’t want to be involved in running the club and would much prefer to play for the club before his career is out. Then, this could lead to an eventual coaching role.

 

Like I have previously mentioned though, even if the franchise is granted, Western Sydney won’t be entering the A-League until August 2010 at the earliest. This means that Neill has at least another season in England to focus on and therefore, is after a new contract at Upton Park. Most football betting money would be placed on this not being a problem either as he is a very important player for West Ham.

 

Speaking of his current team, well they aren’t having the best of times. They have lost seven of their last eight games and some football odds are even suggesting that they could be relegated this season. This is obviously something that Neill won’t want as he will be hoping to play well, as part of a top ten Premier League team for a couple of years, before his potential move back to Australia.

 

 

Everton’s Cahill To Shape Australia’s Future

By Thomas Rooney

 

Tim Cahill has played 19 times for Australia and scored 10 goals along the way. He has become a mainstay in the national team and has help lead a new era of Australian players to a positive start in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. Overall, he is one of the most talented Australian footballers that there have been in recent years.

 

However, this isn’t quite enough for the Cahill. The 28-year-old has moved to open a development academy on the South Coast to help Australia produce more players with his talents in the future. However, it appears that this is just the start of his plans as he wants so open several similar academies around the country. This would give children, who wouldn’t have had the opportunity otherwise, the chance to make it as a professional footballer.

 

One of the main aims of this project, according to chief executive Chris Gardiner, is to ‘give parents confidence that there will be a quality training program available.’ As for Cahill himself, well he is very passionate about the reasons behind the whole project. He says that his own pathway to becoming a professional footballer was ‘extremely difficult’ and that he wants to make it easier for the talented young footballers of today.

 

This is certainly something that Cahill will be heavily involved in over the next few years. However, for now, he will be continuing to focus on his own career at Premier League side Everton. Speaking about Cahill the player, it has been a rather frustrating season for him so far. He has only played 4 Premier League games and only just made his comeback after a 3-game suspension following a red card against Liverpool.

 

However, there is no doubt he is still one of Everton’s most important players. The football odds are always more likely to favour an Everton win if Tim Cahill is part of their team. His goal scoring record as a midfielder has been excellent and the majority of online betting websites back him to grab a goal when previewing games.

 

Cahill’s short term aim will be to get back playing regularly for Everton and help them climb from their current position of 12^th in the Premier League. His long term aim though, is to set up a number of academies around Australia to help produce players that could go on to be as successful as he has been in England.

New Gig

You can find my latest piece on FourFourTwo here. It is just a short article on the lack of genuine wingers in the A-League.

Route One Derby

The F3 derby could be renamed the route one derby, well at least for the most recent addition in this rivalry anyway. The rate at which the Mariners were pumping those long balls up was alarming and this kind of football is very much an acquired taste. It will also leave a foul taste in the mouths of others. The Mariners’ tactics were not surprising but were still frustrating given that they showed that they can play good football on the ground against the likes of Adelaide and Melbourne. I guess with Jedinak out, route one was preferred. I think even for Mariners fans, this game was very much a case of getting to the destination with the travel not being half the trip.

As for the Jets, it was very disappointing that they didn’t get their own game going. Particularly in the first half, the Mariners’ play caused the Jets to start playing long balls as well. Yes the front three strikers of the Mariners were putting a lot of pressure on and made playing out from the back difficult but the Jets didn’t really attempt this. And what is the point of having more in midfield but you just going to bypass them? Good teams play the game on their terms. The Jets should have tried to monopolise possession and play their short passing game. By also pumping the ball long and frequently giving the ball away, they just gave the Mariners more ammunition throw long balls back at them.

They tried to change things up in the second, to get more of the ball and be more patient. However, their attack really failed to spark. Song had plenty of possession but created little end product in terms of creating chances. It was again Joel Griffiths that looked the most likely for the Jets. Additionally, I thought that the Jets’ attack looked very stagnant. There wasn’t enough players working hard and making runs off the ball to either provide an option or create room for teammates. They looked like a bunch of individuals out there.

Milligan’s return was unsurprisingly lackluster given his lack of match practice. He missed several easy passes in his own half while his reading of the play in defence was also off. Given the short season, he won’t have much time to get things right.

Carle Links Palace

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I got to watch Nick Carle play. He played the whole game for Crystal Palace as they quite comfortably accounted for Barnsley at home 3-0. The commentaries seemed to be very impressed with Carle, noting his high work rate, his willingness to track back, the quality of his distribution and ball retention under pressure as well as his constant involvement throughout the game.

Carle played in a free-role position, basically roaming around the field to provide an option. He played mostly as a central attacking midfielder although he often drifted out to the flanks. He setup Ben Watson for the second goal, drifting out to the left flank, getting to the by-line and crossing for Watson to slot home. In terms of his involvement, he probably touched the ball more than any other player on the park. It was only towards the end that Palace started to by-pass him as they played long-balls for the big target man, Shefki Kuqi.

Like for the Jets, Carle was very much the link man for Palace in the heart of midfield. He directed the attack as well as ensured that the home team had the lion’s share of possession.

In terms of the football Palace played, they generally kept the ball on the deck and played through the midfield. It may be a misrepresentation to take much out of this game as Barnsley are in relegation while Palace was at home. Still, there was no denying that Carle’s involvement was impressive.

Newcastle v Melbourne

Man Of The Match: This probably should go to Marko Jesic for scoring the winning goal but Edmundo Zura was nothing short of outstanding, despite missing a penalty in the first half. We are still to see the spider mask come out but with performances like this, surely this is not far away. His work rate was immense while he also delivered some excellent crosses after he dropped off onto the flanks. His partnership with Jesic looked very promising as the youngster buzzed around the big striker the whole night. It will be interesting to see if Joel Griffiths returns to the team as a striker as he and Zura are quite similar players and might get in each others’ way.

Special Mentions: The match winner, Jesic, was a constant threat and had several good opportunities during the course of the game. The fact that he gets himself into great goal scoring positions suggests that he has great instincts as a striker.  Additionally, he didn’t let missed opportunities faze him which is another essential attribute. Adam Griffiths was excellent as the defensive midfielder as he was very composed on the ball while his distribution was also accurate. The Jets have been trying to fill the void left by Musialik and they might have found their man.

Missing In Action: A few of the stars of the Victory were below their best. The whole team was really as there was just not the excellent movement off the ball that has won the Victory so much praise for their football. The likes of Celeski and Pondeljak never really got into the game.

Newcastle Verdict: This was the kind of performance that made them Champions. Given that arguably their two most talented players didn’t even start, Joel Griffiths and Song, they might finally be getting their title defence on track. The question is now how van Egmond will fit all that attacking talent into the team. Additionally, the Jets continue their tradition of bringing through young Australian players. The latest prospects are Ben Kantarovski and Jesic.

Melbourne Verdict: The constant red-cards would definitely be a concern. Other than that, it was just a rather flat performance from the usually dynamic Victory.