Goodbye Danny Allsopp

With confirmation that Danny Allsopp has left for Qatar club Al-Rayyan Sports, Melbourne Victory has lost not only one of its two primary scoring targets but a long time servant of the club.

Of course the writing has been on the wall (or in this case within the forums) for a week now after Allsopp failed to not only take the field against Newcastle but wasn’t even present at the game. Rumours were flying almost instantaneously about a Qatar club that had come knocking. Of course Victory denied it (as is their policy) but everybody knew a transfer was on the cards.

Danny Allsopp leaves as the Leagues second highest goal scorer, second only to his strike partner Archie Thompson. He is also the holder of the most game appearances with the Victory and was one of only two remaining original Victory players who have been there continuously from the start (the other is Kevin Muscat). Although not exactly a crowd favourite (he was regularly jeered because of a perception that he wasted a lot of opportunities), he did have his fans however and nobody could question his work rate and stamina.

Farewell Danny you will be missed.

On the positive side Melbourne does have a decent amount of depth in the striker stakes. Ney Fabiano will now get his chance to show if he is good enough for a regular starting spot and Ernie does have young Nathan Elasi there to throw in if and when needed.

The biggest challenge that Melbourne will face however is the need to change the game plan. Fabiano and Allsopp are very different strikers. Danny preferred to attack defenders with his pace and hard work, never really comfortable with his back to goal or with the ball in the air, it was his ability to use his strength and pace to arrive late into the box and pounce on a cross. This suited Melbourne’s counter attacking game style. I am not sure though the same can be said about Fabiano.

Ney Fabiano doesn’t have Allsopp’s stamina but is very good with his back to goals and is excellent in the air. He is also deceptively quick over 2 –5 paces and uses his body well to hold up the ball. Victory need to adapt to this. If they can I think that Fabiano may surprise a few of his critics.

More emphasis needs top be placed on width though and good crossing. Carlos Hernandez and Tom Pondeljak now need to get closer to the strikers to ensure an outlet for Fabiano. But most of all Victory needs to get more desperate in the box.

With Muscat returning over the next couple of weeks, Ernie Merrick must be considering his options and a back three looks to be a possibility. This would release Kemp and Surat to push forward more and hopefully give Victory the width they will need. The loss of Celeski however will hurt and although the club deny it they don’t have the depth in this position as they would like.

The next few games will tell if Melbourne can adapt to Allsopp’s loss.
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Ticket Shocker

Last year Brisbane Roar played Central Coast Mariners in a Round 3 match that attracted 12,185 people along. This year their round 4 fixture against Central Coast could only manage 6,433. The low crowds in Brisbane have been focus of media attention over the last two weeks and much conjecture about the reasons behind this. For me the overwhelming reason has to be the ticket pricing.

Such a significant rise in the pricing of memberships and general admission was always going to see a lot of people stay away. Small increases over a period of time can usually be absorbed by the fans but a 40% increase is going to cause many fans to think twice at purchasing a season ticket let alone part with their hard earned as a walk up fan. As a comparison compare the pricing across the league. Prices below are full prices for a General Admission entry.

Wellington $34
Gold Coast $29
Brisbane $27
Melbourne $25
Adelaide $23
Perth $22
Sydney $20
Newcastle $19
Central Coast $17
Nth Queensland $14.50

No wonder Gold Coast and Brisbane crowds have been disappointing. I don’t think I would pay $27/29 to see a A-league match week in week out. When you use the membership prices it is even more telling

Perth $260 $20.00 per game
Brisbane $275 $19.64 per game
Wellington $245 $18.84 per game
Sydney $242 $17.29 per game
Gold Coast $230 $16.43 per game
Newcastle $209 $16.08 per game
Adelaide $209 $14.93 per game
Central Coast $190 $14.62 per game
Melbourne $195 $13.93 per game
Nth Queensland $131 $10.08 per game

What is going on in Perth where the difference between buying a membership and general admission is a paltry $2 saving per game?

The table also explains why just about everyone attending Melbourne matches is a member when the cost per game is nearly half that of a general admission ticket.

The FFA need to step in here and take the lead with clubs to ensure ticket prices remain at a reasonable level. As a guide a target of no more than $20 for General Admission and $15 per game average for season tickets should be set as a goal.

Of course though these prices are not driven by the clubs but rather some very poor stadium deals. I am not sure why clubs would agree to poor deals that force them to charge over $25 per game. Brisbane need to rethink their relationship with Suncorp because at these prices they will soon be out of business if something isn’t done.

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Th Free To Air Question

Interesting article on The Roar today regarding the viability of having the A-League on Free To Air (FTA) TV. It has generated a substantial amount of discussion amongst the readers and got me thinking about where I stand on the topic.

Although author Adrian Musolino makes some good points I cannot help but think he has missed a critical one. There is an old saying in the media, “There is no such thing as bad publicity”. With a FTA deal comes a much greater exposure to the general public and although this raises other concerns the good outweighs the bad.

Growing up my heroes were AFL stars. As kids running around the playground we pretended to Geoff Raines, Greg Williams, Leigh Matthews and a range of other stars of the egg ball game. We did this because we all knew who they were. They were in the paper, on the radio, on TV. They were in fact an indelible part of life within the country. This saturation is what the A-League is missing and only a FTA deal can begin the process of making it happen.

Although I loved watching Football I rarely got to see it, there wasn’t much of a league back then in my home town and the only time I got to see the best in world was when they were playing in the FA Cup final, most likely where my support for Tottenham came from.

Don’t get me wrong I am not against FOXTEL, they stood up and stumped up the cash when the sport needed it. The only ones willing to take a $120 Million punt on Frank Lowy’s dream. But the A-league needs more exposure to grow. Kids need to be able to walk into school on a Monday morning and be able to say, “Did you see that cracker of a free kick Carlos slotted home on the weekend” and have all of their mates nod along. At the moment the young boy would more likely get blank looks or maybe even a question of Carlos who?

Junior Football in this country is huge but who are these young kids heros? You are more likely to see a Manchester shirt than a Victory on the backs of young boys and girls throughout the training pitches of Melbourne. Some would argue there is nothing wrong with this as the EPL would arguably be considered the pinnacle of our sport but how many of these youngsters have seen a Manchester game on TV let along live.

We need all this kids to have the opportunity to watch their teams on TV not just the 25% who can afford the Foxtel subscriptions, it is only then that they start to build a connection to the game. Sure it can be achieved in other ways via the internet, newspapers and radio? Yes it can but the TV is still the driver of mass media.

The fact is it doesn’t matter if the quality isn’t world standard, as Melbourne and Brisbane showed two weeks ago the League does produce some cracking games and as a whole human nature means we tend to remember the positives rather than the negatives. We all have a tendency to create our own highlights package in our mind.

So in answer to Adrian’s question, “Is the A-League product good enough for free to air?” is yes it is and the sooner the better.
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It’s Gold For Danning

Great news overnight with FIFA confirming that Kofi Danning will be granted exemption from their recent rule change that tightens international eligibility for Under 18 players.

The rule in question states “for any player who refers to art. 15 par. 1 of the Regulations to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football in accordance with art. 15 par. 2 of the Regulations shall be eligible to play for the new representative team, inter alia, only if he has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 an the territory of the relevant Association”. The rule was approved in attempt to curtail some of the activities of certain middle east countries that were actively recruiting children as young as 12-13 in Africa and offering them citizenship in exchange for football. This was a cynical attempt to improve the quality of their national teams.

Unfortunately though the rule does impact countries like Australia quite considerably due to the numbers of genuine refugees and immigrants that we take in. Kofi Danning is not the only potential young socceroo to be impacted by this rule. In this current crop the FFA is still waiting for confirmation on midfielder Luke Bratten and goalkeeper Alex Cisak on whether they also will be granted exemption from the rule.

The FFA are arguing that legitimate immigrants and refugees should not be disadvantaged from the rule and so far FIFA does seem inclined to agree. However it appears that FIFA will maintain the view that all players captured under the rule will be ineligible unless a exemption is granted so it appears that this waiting game is set to repeat itself every year as there always appear to be a few who fall under it for Australia.

In the meantime Australia is now free to select Danning for the Under 20 World Cup, to be held in September this year. With Danning off to a flying start for Sydney this season there is little doubt that he will be included in the squad. Before the season started he was my tip to win the NAB Young Player of the Year award and nothing I have seen so far has altered that view.

Danning’s ability to hold the ball and dribble with pace combined with a natural instinct for goal is a dangerous combination and already at 18 he would be one of the first on the team sheet in a quality Sydney line-up. I will repeat my warning though, enjoy the spectacle of him now as I am sure an overseas club is going to snap him up much sooner than later. Holland would seem a logical destination for the youngster.

I look forward to seeing him streaming forward in a Gold shirt for many years to come.
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Wanted, One Central Defender

What a game on Saturday night! Probably the most exciting A-league match I have attended in terms of goals and attacking play. Of course both managers will need to ask some serious questions of their defences that allowed so much freedom and space to the opposition midfields.

Gary Cole will be madly scouring overseas leagues this week after Victory’s defence failed miserably on Saturday night. The experiment with Matthew Kemp as a central defender was exposed as the folly that many were suggesting and now Ernie has a nightmare of his own making.

After commenting in the press pre-season that there was no need to sign an additional central defender Ernie seems alreadyb back tracking to a degree. With Daniel Vasilevski being released by mutual consent yesterday and young Matthew Foschini signed to a two year contract today it would seem that Ernie's is preparing to give Foschini a chance at the problem centre back position.

Matthew Kemp was never a logical person to partner Vargas. It left the Melbourne defence ridiculous short at the back. Although very mobile and a good tackler Kemp is only 1.75m tall and doesn’t make much of a threat in the air. Melbourne looked so much better when Kemp was moved back to his preferred full back role.

Merrick does have Stephen Pace in the squad and may be another option this week against Fury. At 1.85m Pace does strengthen the defence by providing some height but there is a question surrounding his speed and ability to deal with quality strikers. What he does add is the ability to man mark the main striker and free up Vargas to play his normal free role.

For all its lack of defence though you could not fault Melbourne’s attacking play. When Billy Celeski was introduced to the game on Saturday night, it looked a different Victory side out there to the ones that sputtered along in the first half. Suddenly we had a player on the field who was able to build up the attack from the back and allowed Hernendez much more freedom to roam forward and create havoc in the Roar defence. The additional of Fabiano 10 minutes into the second half also gave Melbourne further options when going forward.

So influential is Fabiano that many Victory fans are calling for a 4-3-3 and Ernie Merrick may be tempted to give them what they desire. I think the only thing stopping it him switching to it right now is the fitness of Celeski. With Fabiano playing as a Centre forward both Allsopp and Thompson push up further and generally take the ball higher up the field. I actually prefer this as both Allsopp and Thompson are much more confirmable when running at defenders than when they have their back to goal.

With two long away trips in the next two weeks (Townsville then Perth) Melbourne need at least one win to stay in touch with Gold Coast who already are showing signs of how dangerous they can be.
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Superman Wears Tim Cahill PJs

How nice to sit through a Socceroos match with a smile the entire 90 minutes. Pim Verbeek couldn’t have asked for a more emphatic performance this morning and should satisfy even the most ardent of his knockers.

Right from the opening whistle Australia dominated this match and even though Ireland were unlucky not to score at least 1 goal the end result was well deserve. What was especially satisfying was the way we moved the ball from defence to attack, using short sharp passing to control the tempo.

The joke during the commentary was that when Superman goes to bed he wears Tim Cahill pyjamas and who can argue with another outstanding half of football from Super Tim. His ability to find the back of the net is uncanny and he has a knack of being at the right place at the right time.

But what would Pim have gotten from the match and who has elevated themselves in contention for South Africa (which was the point of the match for us). I am not going to go threw the whole squad but there were a couple of stand out performances for me.

Firstly Rhys Williams backed up he excellent debut with an even better performance this morning. Although he was beaten on several occasions by the tricky McGeady and in the second half by Hunt it didn’t deter him from pushing up and backing himself. His ability to get forward and cause headaches for defences and the pressure he applies in the midfield are a real asset and he would be close to stamping his passport to SA already but I look forward to seeing him a few more times, hope he gets a start again against Korea.

Carney also had a good game at left back that was capped off with a truly world class goal. Like Williams I loved the way he is always thinking attack and thought him pushing up high and pressuring the Irish midfield was a major reason we dominated possession. There is no doubt that Carney is the backup at left back but if he can find a starting spot at a decent club he should be pushing for number 1 spot ahead of Chipperfield.

To me the biggest surprise this morning was how well Wilkshire and Jedinak played in the Culina/Grella roles. Wilkshire has really grown over the past two years and his box-to-box running this morning was a major part in our success. With Culina back in Australia could Wilkshire steal the box-to-box role from him? It is possible but doubtful, I am sure Wilkshire will revert to the right back role when Culina is available. Jedinak played the screening role perfectly but I think Grella is always going to be first choice. Jedinak will be competing with Valeri for the backup role.

In terms of the substitutes; Nikita Rukavytsya’s pace really added an interesting element late in the game and he made some excellent runs but I think he is competing with Brett Holman for the spot in South Africa, who seems to be a Pim favourite (though for the life of me I cannot see why as once again he murdered a golden opportunity to score). I also thought Nicky Carle was excellent in the last 15 minutes, two really quality passes into the box and really worked hard. Pim really needs to start him in one of the upcoming friendlies (maybe against Korea?).

Overall there was a lot to like but the Irish gave us a lot of room in midfield and let us play to our strengths. They didn’t use the wings that well and allowed our full backs to push up high. They also failed to convert the chances they did create, we were the better team but the score line flattered us.

It will interesting to see what side Pim send onto the park next month against Korea. Would especially like to see Williams start again and give Carle a full game. Maybe give Bresciano a rest and start Carle with Kewell and Cahill either side of him.
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Australia vs The Leprechauns

Although it is only a friendly and the result itself will mean little, I am genuinely excited by the upcoming match against the Irish on Thursday morning (even if I am not looking forward to getting up at 4:30am to catch it live). Pim Verbeek has picked, whether by design or need, an extremely youthful side and hopefully some of these fringe players can get a starting run.

It is difficult to remember when an Australian squad had 50% of its players 25 years old or under. The question for Verbeek is how many of these players does he start.

In defence Matthew Spiranovic must be a real chance of starting alongside Lucas Neill. Spiranovic has been developing quite well with Nuremberg and is hoping to win a starting spot this year with the side in the Bundesliga. Ange Postecoglou has called in him to be given an extended run of games to prove his worth and I agree wholeheartly.

With no Grella or Valeri, Rhys Williams may also get a chance to start with a role at either Right Back (if Wilkshire is used in a more central holding role) or as a defensive midfielder. Williams has been in stellar preseason form for Middlesbrough with four goals in four preseason games and I am sure Verbeek wants to take another look at the 21 year old.

Carney is also likely to get the nod at Left Back. He still appears out of favour at Sheffield United and desperately needs a move. To be honest anywhere else that will give him some first team football would be better than the situation he currently has as Sheffield. I am not how much longer Verbeek can afford to carry him in the Australian Team if he is not part of a first team.

I doubt that Verbeek will start any of Holland, Bozanic and Vidosic but hopefully at least 1 of these outstanding young players gets a decent amount of time as a substitute. I think it likely that Verbeek will start Carle, Cahill and Kewell in the middle of the park.

Up front Scott Macdonald is an almost certain starter but if Verbeek did do something crazy like start with two strikers we might just get to also see Nikita Rukavytsya. Rukavytsya is getting game time with FC Twente in the Eredivisie, coming off the bench in their season opener, and provides some genuine pace.

All this youth is making me giddy and makes for an interesting match where the result is less important than the actual performances. We can only hope that Pim will be adventurous and allow some of these players the starting roles they need to showcase where they are at in terms of their development.

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