In the 2015 Asian Cup final, both Australia’s goalscorers were players based in Europe: Swindon Town-turned-QPR midfielder Massimo Luongo and Juventus loanee James Troisi.
Indeed, nine of the starting lineup were plying their trade in European leagues at the time of the final. The success in the Asian Cup has coincided with something of a debate on the destination of Australian players coming through the A-League ranks, and whether the interests of Australian footballers and the national team are better served by moves to European leagues when moves to Asia have become seemingly fashionable in the A-League era.
There have been concerns, and quite legitimate ones, about whether player development is being severed by Australian players in the A-League era taking what seems to be the ‘easy’ route by moving to unquestionably lucrative Asian leagues, to which Middle Eastern leagues can be added.
Many feel that a ‘Europe or bust’ attitude might better serve player development and the national team as they are being compelled to raise their game and be prepared to go outside their comfort zone if one existed. Such concerns were raised in the post-2006 period where the admitted decline in Socceroos’ performances prior to the appointment Ange Postecoglou coincided with the not unrealistic fear that the ‘Golden Generation’ would be replaced by players who were not of the same standard.
That is quite understandable for many footballing nations. Even historically strong ones have faced the same challenges and in some cases never quite replicated a singular ‘Golden Generation’ (the Netherlands and Portugal are two that spring to mind).
The players that made up the 2006 World Cup squad had been raised either in the NSL era or in the transitional period – and most had worked their way through European leagues – such was the case with Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka, Lucas Neill, John Aloisi, Mark Bresciano, Vinnie Grella, Scott Chipperfield, Stan Lazaridis, ad infinitum. These players were raised in an era of ‘Europe or bust’ where there was less of a safety net for those who did not make it to the top, for better or worse.
Right now, however, players like Luongo, Neil Kilkenny, Bailey Wright, Mile Jedinak, James Meredith, Oliver Bozanic, Dario Vidosic, Mathew Ryan, Robbie Kruse, Mathew Leckie, Jason Davidson, et al have more or less been doing the same.
Jedinak, for one, was a relative latecomer into the A-League who went from Central Coast Mariners to Turkey and is now a Premier League regular with Crystal Palace. The others mentioned above are more or less established fixtures where they have gone, just as the Golden Generation players had become in their time. Not necessarily superstar level, yet sufficient to form the basis of a viable and ultimately winning national team.
There are other incentives to pursue a European career path, even in lower divisions. For starters, clubs, though not necessarily high in profile, are deeply rooted in terms of their history, culture and fan base. And then there is the prospect of European competitions, and the romance of knockout cup competitions such as the FA Cup and League Cup. The Asian Champions League and FFA Cup are both great experiences, yet it is also easy and cruel to say they still do not measure up. This of course is not meant as a condescension towards the Asian leagues or the A-League, but a statement of fact.
For the clubs of English football in general, European league football boasts to varying degrees a certain legacy which includes a pantheon of heroes, and, of course, villains – an admission to which is never less than an honour for a professional footballer. And with it, comes the sort of demands that compel professional footballers to raise their game dramatically.
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Players can win the adoration of the fans if truly warranted, but fans are just as capable of being unforgiving to those who are not up to the job. Football fans can indeed be a demanding, even cruel, bunch and that contributes to character-forming among footballers. Their views, naturally, are informed by the fact that a football club is far more than its players and staff, but a living and breathing social and cultural entity and with it comes a culture, tradition and a certain expectation of standards.
It is fair to say that several Australian players have been able to carve out a viable living in Asian football, and not everyone who has gone either to Europe or Asia has lasted long, for which the A-League may serve now as the veritable career safety net or a platform to relaunch careers.
The A-League, only a decade old, had not had the same amount of time to develop truly deep-rooted cultures and legacies, but if fans are already demanding as much from players as those abroad, it cannot be bad for the development of Australian footballers in the longer term. But for the well-being of players’ career development and that of the national team, it may as well pay to think about the next move.
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