Enter The African Lion

It is always exciting when quality sides agree to tour here in Australia, recent indications are that Cameroon will make the trip to our shores for a friendly on Friday May 23. It apparently will be played at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. This match of course will act as a warm up match for both teams ahead of World Cup Qualifying matches (Australia will host Iraq at home on June 1st while Cameroon meet Cape Verde Islands at home on May 30th).

The timing of the match will also coincide with the FIFA Congress being held in Sydney in May and will allow the FFA to showcase our ability to stage world class events here in Australia. With that in mind I am expecting FFA to go all out in terms of marketing for the event to ensure a bumper crowd at the match.

There is one major issue however that may impact the quality of the match. The European season pretty much finishes in Mid May and with both countries having a full plate of World Cup qualifying matches in June they are going to want to rest some of their older and more experienced players. These are of course the players that are also the major drawcards. Pim Verbeek has already hinted at this and I also expect Cameroon to allow several players some time off.

For Australia I would be expecting Emerton and Cahill to be just about certain non starters. You would also have to place question marks over Neill, Culina, Grella, MacDonald as all could do with a short break. Cameroon will almost certainly rest Eto’o (that’s if Barcelona are not in the Champions League Final, which case he won’t be coming anyway) and one or two others.

This of course should be seen as a positive (though I am sure the media will take the negative approach when players start dropping out) as the purpose of friendly’s is not to win at all costs but rather to try new systems and players. Hopefully Pim takes advantage of this and make some long term strategic moves. Such as

Cap Matthew Spiranovic
Currently playing for Nurnberg in the German Bundesliga, Spiranovic is currently eligible to play for either Australia or Croatia. Although he has reaffirmed his commitment and desire to play for Australia, the country of his birth, it is important for us to lock him in. The question mark at the centre back position for the Socceroos is still unresolved and it would be a disaster to lose such a talent through lack of action.

Take a close look at Richard Porta
Posta currently holds eligibility for both Argentina and Australia. Pim made it clear that looking to cap Richard Porta for the Qatar match was out of the question and I agree totally with him. However the Cameroon match would seem a prefect time to approach him to get a feel if he is at all interested in playing for Australia and to get him out here to take a closer look.

Take a close look at Rhys Williams
Williams currently holds dual eligibility for Wales and Australia, he is a current member of the Welsh Under 21 team. There is no indication that Williams wants to play for Australia but I hope we haven’t ignored him. At the very least we should be approaching him to assess whether he is interested in playing for Australia.

Start Adrian Leijer
With a full season of training and reserves football behind him at Fulham, Leijer should be blooded with a full game in defence. A key defender in the Olyroos he did well when he was brought on in the Singapore match. Instead of playing Beauchamp, North or Kisnorbo lets go with the youngster and see how he stands up.

Start Bruce Djite
If the China demonstrated one thing is our lack of depth in the Centre Forward position. Viduka, Kennedy and that is it. We need to bring Djite along and means we need to throw him in as a starter and allow him to develop. If Australia lost Josh Kennedy for the long term tomorrow we would be in real strife we need to mitigate that risk now.



There is no doubt that Pim will use this match as preparation for the June Qualifiers but I hope he doesn’t also lose sight of the long term view. Australia needs to plan now for not only 2010 but beyond and blooding/developing new players is critical. Too often in the past Australia has approach every friendly with a win at all costs and it does nothing for the long term health of the Socceroos.

Australia v China – A Review

Australia 0 – China 0

In the end this was a good result for us, Pim was left with no effectively no strikers going into the game (Archie Thompson, Mark Bridge and Brett Holman could be the only players left standing in the squad who could be considered strikers). From the outset it appeared both teams were going to be satisfied with a draw and the goal of both teams was not to lose.

I was surprised to see Australia setup as a 3 – 4 –1- 2, it was always likely that Pim was going to go with two DMs covering the defence so I wondered at the sense in playing a back three. That being said it worked well to a point. The Chinese tactic of the long ball over the top was successfully negated and all three worked well together all game. The other end of the pitch was much more of a concern. With Jason Culina starting as the creative attacking midfielder I was expecting little in terms of our shots on goal and was not disappointed.

I think in total we created two real opportunities to score and should have done so on both occasions. For all Australia’s good work though we were damn lucky to escape with our deserved draw, the penalty really should have been converted and the gods were certainly shining when Shao Jiayi directed his penalty effort into Mark Schwarzer’s legs.

It would be a gross understatement to call China’s tactics peculiar. The first half they didn’t put any pressure on the Socceroos coming out of the back at all. This played into Australia’s hands by allowing us to maintain possession and build up slowly. I thought the reason for the tactic was their fear of the altitude and their hope they could snatch the game in the second half once Australia began to tire. This wasn’t to be however as again in the second half they stood off the Socceroos and allowed us to dictate the pace. In the end they appeared to value the point from the draw more important to their overall qualification than the win.

Here are my Australian player ratings

Mark Schwarzer 6.0
Hard to rate Mark, he had very little to do. The penalty he gave away was dubious but then again he should never been in that position, he left it too late to come out for the ball. The penalty save was more a poor kick from Shao Jiayi than any brilliance from Mark.

Jade North 8.0
Brilliant game by North and the best player on the pitch for me. Did everything asked of him and more. His positioning at the back was excellent and he clearances strong and full of determination. Would love to see him given a chance in a good European league because on that performance was good as good if not better than Beauchamp.

Lucas Neill 7.5
Neill looks so much better when he is not allowed to try long balls from the back. Back in 2006 Hiddick pretty much knocked it out of his game and he looked brilliant, in the last few years the long ball pass from him has been creeping back into his game he has looked the poorer player for it. Yesterday we saw the Lucas of 2006. He marshalled the backline with confidence, his positioning in defence was spot on and most importantly his distribution out from the back was excellent.

Michael Beauchamp 6.0
One of two players who I thought under preformed last night. Over the last year there has been constant question marks on the Central Back position and last night we saw why. Beauchamp is not comfortable when draw out wide and when caught one on one against skilful opponents gets turned too easily. Nearly all of China’s chances came from attacks down our left hand side and on several occasions Beauchamp looked in real trouble.

Luke Wilkshire 7.5
Luke is the most underrated player currently in the Socceroos setup. He constantly draws criticism from media pundits who see in him all that is wrong with Australian football (too much emphasis on athletic ability and not enough on skill) but he continues to put in solid if not outstanding performances. Again yesterday he played his role, breaking up attacks when needed and pushing forward when required.

David Carney 5.5
A poor performance from Carney, he was after all overdue (to date this is the only game in the yellow strip where he has under preformed). It must have been a nightmare out there for him yesterday, he was constantly caught in possession and lost it several times while pushing forward. He was caught out of position on several occasions and was the main reason China was getting so much joy done our left hand side. To top it all off, he should have put away the chance he had at the end of the game. Whether Fatigue had kicked in or not we will never know but his lack of intensity to get to that cross from Brescanio looked woeful.

Vince Grella 6.5
He started the game really well, getting lots of touches and controlling the distribution and tempo (mind you China put him under no pressure what so ever). As the game wore on little cracks started to appear. The second half was below his best mistiming some passes and on at least two occasions completely missing the player. This is yet another occasion where Vince has noticeably tired after a long flight in.

Carl Valeri 7.0
I thought Valeri played well, he was busy screening the defence and was always available to take a pass. As a screening DM he is developing well however I think he is still a little limited in his play as you rarely see him passing the ball forward with those probing attacking balls that Vince Grella can generate.

Jason Culina 6.0
I thought Culina played well but as he was playing as the creative midfielder I need to rate him that way. Australia had two real chances for the match, just two ! The reason why was because Culina just could not provide that killer ball that would set Brescanio or Holman through onto goal. I couldn’t help but wonder how Nicky Carle would have gone last night.

Marco Bresciano 7.5
The best part of Brescanio’s game last night was his energy. I kept waiting for Pim to sub him off as his work rate started to drop off but it never did. He ran up and down that left hand side all night and just about all of our attacks went through him. He was extremely unlucky to not score in the first half and it was only that the ball was a little too far in front of him, and so denied him the ability to place the shot, resulted in the ball hitting the keeper on the chest rather than the back of the net.

Brett Holman 7.5
When Archie went down injured I thought we were in real strife, Holman doesn’t exactly fill me with a bucket of confidence. His game yesterday however was first class. He created plenty of headaches for the Chinese attack and made a real nuisance of himself. How much better he would have been if he had a centre forward to run off is debatable but on last nights effort he deserves another chance to show us.

Wanted.....One Australian Striker

As Australia’s attacking options disappear quicker than an ice cube in the Sahara it seems the knifes are already out. Predictably Les Murray has produced his usual “the decline of Australian Football” piece and Jesse Fink has his drum out and is banging it hard for Nicky Carle (it does appear though that Carle would have been well suited to this match).

Is this really the disaster that on first glance it appears? Pim was almost certainly going to want to play a 4-5-1 for this game and I think we still appear reasonably equipped for the majority of options.

Keeper
Schwarzer

Mark will be the obvious choice between the posts.


Backline
Wilkshire ---- Neill ---- Beauchamp/North ----- Carney

Wilkshire will almost step in for the injured Emerton at Right Fullback and there is no doubt we will miss Emerton work rate, Wilkshire has shown in the past that he is adequate backup in this role.

Neill will fulfil one of the Centre Back roles with either Beauchamp or North taking the other spot (Beauchamp would be the favourite). With Neill out of form lately and with question marks hanging over both Beauchamp and North we certainly look vulnerable.

Defensive Midfield
Culina ------ Grella

With the lack strike options Pim is almost certain to opt for twin DMs. Vince Grella has shown time and time again his ability here, his distribution from the back is first class. Add in the mobility of Jason Culina and we have our strongest position.


Attacking Midfield
Holman ----- Bresciano -------- Kewell

Brett Holman has been very inconsistent for the Socceroos and just may be the key to the success in Kunming. If on song, he will combine well with Kewell and both of them will be extremely dangerous running at the Chinese defence.

The biggest concern here is our ability to maintain the intensity for the whole match. Both Kewell and Bresciano will struggled to last 90 minutes and we will need to look at subs for both of them.


Striker
???????????

Pim has a huge headache here, his only choices are Archie Thompson and Mark Bridge, neither of which inspire huge confidence in the lone striking role. Both of them much prefer to run at the defenders and both have little to no strengths in the air. I think he will go with Archie as it will allow him to use Bridge off the bench later in the match.


First and foremost Australia needs to ensure we don’t lose this match, with that in mind I am sure Pim will be looking to play a counter attack game. Hold possession as much as possible and move the ball quickly to Holman and Kewell out wide. The key will be a early success, I have no doubt that Australia will tire quickly in the second half and we need to be in front going in at the half.

I would be expecting the Chinese are going to come at the defence hard and strangely this may suit us with our current problems.

Can Kangaroos and Lions Swim ?

Apparently not ! On Saturday night the Socceroos took on the Lions of Singapore on one of the worst pitches I have seen for international football in a long time. With large puddles of water laying about the ground (one right in front of the penalty box at one end) it was difficult for both teams to play with any sort of fluidity.

The fact that the match ended in a nil all draw is no surprise but what can Australia take away from the game if anything.

The big story before the match was the presence of Harry Kewell. Pretty much out the door at Liverpool, Kewell obtained a release for this friendly to help his fitness and also demonstrate to Pim that he could do the job in China. It only took him a half to prove his worth. Even on a waterlogged pitch Kewell was a class above anybody out there, his little runs and through passes were a pleasure to watch.

Apart from Harry, other players to shine were Archie Thompson, James Troisi, Nathan Burns and Mile Jedinak. Thompson was busy from the outset and he was enjoying the service from Kewell, with Kennedy and MacDonald (it appears he has injured himself on the weekend) out of the China game it appears that Archie will almost be a certain starter. The question Pim will have is who to play alongside him? Mark Bridge was ineffective last night, Bruce Djite may be the best option from the current squad. If MacDonald indeed cannot travel I would be expecting Pim to replace him in the squad with another striker.

Troisi is one to watch, I have seen him play in a couple of the Olyroo matches and have liked what I have seen. Again last night he showed why so many are touting him as one to watch. It seems Pim is encouraging him to move on from Newcastle United and look for first team football to continue his development and it seems he may have some interest from Holland.
Nathan Burns was the standout player of the second half. This was the best performance from him on a long time and it seems he may finally be returning to the form we saw in 2006/7. Jedinak also demonstrated that he is capable of stepping up to the highest level, though he may be third in line for the DM position.

In terms of negatives, Topor-Stanley was disappointing. The quality of the pitch certainly contributed to this but I question whether he has the speed to play the Left Full Back position at this level. Mark Bridge again failed to fire, he seems to drift in and out of form and just doesn’t have the consistency I would like to see. He has made the final China squad and may just get his chance to shine.

Overall there is not a lot to take away from the match (The weather saw to that) but it does provide a entree to the main course of China on Wednesday.

Into The Dark Continent

It is difficult after watching Stephane Baga (Chonburi FC) blast two outstanding goals past the Melbourne Victory defenders to understand why the A-league still hasn’t tapped into this brimming pool of football talent.

Africa players should be in a lot of ways much more appealing than South America imports. Certainly the EPL seems to be embracing the African footballer and it has been shown that in a lot of ways the physique of the African player is better suited to the fast and physical EPL than that of their South American counterparts. The same could be true of our A-League.

As Les Murray quite rightly pointed out in this article last year, African talent comes cheap and they are of a technical standard that should make them attractive imports.

In the article Les mentions Qatar’s direct recruitment of African teenagers with the express intention of nationalizing them to play for Qatar. I came across this excellent article detailing what Qatar is doing as a country in this area from the Albuquerque Tribune. The scope of their recruitment is staggering.

When Ernie Merrick and Gary Cole took a punt on their three Brazilians back in 2006, it awakened a stampede to the land of the Samba Kings but no such attention has been paid to nations like Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Togo etc. Of course the A-League clubs are still quite new and inexperienced. Many of the international signings are conducted via contact with a limited network of player agents and/or direct from DVDs. You can therefore understand the slowness to link into these countries.

With the growth of African Communities in Australia over the past 10 years, the time seems ripe to take a punt on some young talent from this region. Lets hope there is at least one club out there exploring this path and we soon will see a Stephane Baga or two showcasing their wares in the A-League.

Back Down To Earth

Melbourne 1 - Chonburi 3

Melbourne landed with a thud last night when Chonburi FC demonstrated to them just how difficult the AFC Champions League can be.

Melbourne had a right to feel confident going into the game, last weeks win against Chunnam had given the club and team a reason to walk tall but in the world of football last weeks performance at home can mean little when faced with the task of undoing a team on their home turf. As Sydney discovered last year, the conditions and opposition should not be underrated.

Ernie Merrick had decided to stick with the same line-up that was so impressive last week but it was like a different team took the field. The Victory we saw last night was more akin to the team that struggled badly in the first half of the 2006-2007 A-League season. Too many times in the first half Melbourne lost possession on the third or fourth pass, cheaply giving away the ball without placing the Chonburi defence under pressure. Adrian Caceres, Archie Thompson, Billy Celeski all struggled with the conditions and had poor games. If it wasn’t for Rodrigo Vargas and Matthew Kemp in the first half, Victory may have found themselves further behind at the break

Matthew Kemp again enjoyed the freedom to push forward and was clearly the most dangerous midfielder for Victory in the first half. The reshuffle of the team at half time was badly needed and the addition of Seb Ryall allowed both Muscat and Vargas to push forward a bit more. With Vasilevski also introduced at the expense of the disappointing Caceres, Melbourne suddenly looked much more comfortable at the back.

Although coming in questionable circumstances, the Victory equaliser was a well worked goal with Matthew Kemp providing a quality cross to Danny Allsopp. Throughout the second half Victory looked the better team and Chonburi appeared to be holding out for the draw. All credit to Chonburi manger Jadet Meelarp for the timely introduction of his Cameroon striker Stephane Baga, the tiring Victory players were instantly on the back foot and his first goal was one of the best you will ever see (a superb 30m strike that left Michael Theoklitos with no chance). His second came with Victory pushing hard for an equaliser and being caught too far up the pitch but again he took his chance with a poise that had been lacking from both sides throughout the night.

Once again last night Ernie Merrick decided til the last ten minutes to use Kaz Patafta, which I am sure with hindsight he would regret. Billy Celeski, poor the entire night, and Matthew Kemp, showing signs of Fatigue, should have been subbed much earlier. Chonburi would have been the prefect opponent to pitch Patafta in much earlier and I thought he could have been introduced at around the 60 min mark.

Where does this leave Melbourne ? Certainly not all is lost with Gamba Osaka and Chonburi drawing in the first round this loss has not been the disaster it could have been. However Melbourne must achieve full points against Gamba Osaka on April the 9th at home to have any chance of topping the group. No easy task but the Japanese team has shown that it is possible to score against them (allowing in four goals to date) and Melbourne should be encouraged by that.

Welcome to Against The Crossbar

Welcome to my new blog “Against The Crossbar”. This is a first for me, though I am a regular reader of Australian Football Blogs, this is the first time I have made the next step to actually producing some content myself.

I should start with a little about myself. I have not been a football fan all my life, growing up in central Victoria, my sports of choice, as with most young males there, was Australian Rules and Cricket. Although I did catch the occasional FA Cup on the TV, where my earliest memories were watching Tottenham win back to back Cups in 81’ and 82’ (this of course forever made me a Spurs fan). As a result I had only a fleeting exposure to the game in my early years.

Moving to Melbourne for university awakened a greater interest in the world game. Being surrounded by many fans of the game allowed my understanding of the game to expand. I have great memories of staying up very late during the 1990 World Cup cheering a poor performing Scotland on (though the 2-1 win over Sweden was celebrated with many cheers and drinks). I remember the disappointment of losing to Argentina in 93’ and like many thousands of others I was on the verge of tears at the MCG in 97’ when we came so close. By the time 2001 rolled around I was an avid follower of the Australian team at least and I did shed a tear with Tony when we were knocked out.

I cannot express fully the joy of the 2005 qualifying campaign and 2006 World Cup. I wished I had gone to Germany but being a new Dad at the time I felt my place was at home. Instead I watched all of Australia’s games as well as many others at home and at Fed Square.

My interest in football unfortunately did not extend to the local competition. I tried to get interested a few times but could never make a connection with the teams. I was excited in the late 90’s when the NSL tried to change the comp to appeal to the more mainstream supporter but still it left me feeling an outsider.

When the A-league was announced as a replacement for the NSL I truly felt for the first time that this was a competition I could support. I have been a Melbourne Victory supporter and member ever since, hardly missing a game. The league is still raw no doubt but the signs are good and I am looking forward to the fourth season with much anticipation.

I have started this blog because I truly believe the more people who write about this wonderful game the more it will grow and evolve in our sunburnt country. We have a long way to go, football in this country has always had to fight for space in the hearts and minds of the public. With a hostile press and other strong football codes that are quite happy to watch the world game falter it is sometimes hard to believe we have came so far in the last 3-5 years.

So over the coming weeks, months, years I hope you will enjoy my musings on the world game. I will try to concentrate on the Victorian and Australian scene but no promises, who knows where my interest will wander.

Cheers
Brendan