With sources in recent weeks linking Brazilian player Ronaldinho to the A-League as a guest player or potential marquee, many have questioned why this move would even be a smart one.
The idea of a guest player is one that has always been unique to the A-League. With only five players in the history of the competition falling under this rule, it is clear that there are strict criteria for clubs and players to meet if they are to field a guest player. The most notable of these to date have been Romario and David Villa, although Lucas Neill also qualified as a guest player during his stint at Sydney FC in 2013. These names all fulfilled the criteria that the FFA has set, which are largely about marketability.
There is a question as to how this criteria itself can be fulfilled and Dominic Bossi from the Sydney Morning Herald believes that a club must sign a player who “captures the attention of the broader public, dominates the back pages of newspapers and leads nightly sports news bulletins”, but this provides a double-edged sword for any club that decides to go down this path. A great case study is that of current target Ronaldinho. The 35-year-old is still one of the most recognizable players in the world thanks to his stellar career at Barcelona and his performances for the Brazilian national side. However, while it is clear that he would draw the attention of the population by playing for any A-League side that can obtain him, there are more issues that need to be solved before a player like Ronaldinho can take to the field.
Most notably, there is the issue of player fitness. At his last club, Ronaldinho was heavily criticised by fans for his apparent lack of skill and fitness in his nine matches for Fluminense. This led to him and the club terminating the contract between them only three months into a year-and-a-half deal. Should this follow him to the A-League, there would no doubt be an issue between him and whatever club decides to pick him up.
Yet there is also an issue as to short term gain against long term growth. Several commentators have derided the guest player system for its ability to completely disrupt a team and its system for what could essentially be seen as a short term gain. As the player would only be at the club for a maximum of 14 matches, any attempt to mould a new system around them, or fit them into a system that could not utilise them, would essentially render the team useless for that period of time. There is a question that needs to be asked by both the FFA and the clubs themselves and it is what is worth more to them? More fans attending matches and watching games on television, or a more competitive and entertaining type of football being played on the pitch?
Another issue many see with guest players is that the core concept of it affects the credibility of the competition. The A-League should not need to rely on short term boosts through guest players in order to increase its appeal, yet the sad fact of the matter is that at this current stage, it appears like there may be no other options. With flagging TV ratings and attendances, the league is arguably stagnating and needs a shot in the arm popularity wise to at least get things going again until the FFA can negotiate a new TV deal with a proposed move to free-to-air.
We have all seen how guest players have gone before in the A-League, most recently with Villa at Melbourne City, whose four games for the club approximately tripled the club’s attendance rate, but failed to produce a win. That move was widely seen as somewhat of a disappointment due to Villa being unable to fulfil his obligation to play all 10 games, but there is no doubt that the move brought significant attention to the league, both in the media and in normal everyday conversation. A player of Ronaldinho’s reputation would no doubt garner more attention for the league if utilised correctly, and with the season the A-League is having, they desperately need it now more than ever.
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However, there is still the question as the use of guest players. One would argue that the best use of a guest player stint could be to draw a large name to an A-League club and then once they are here use it to pull them into a Marquee contract for a longer term stay in the league. But merely bringing a player in for a short period of time just to increase attention and media hype seems rather detrimental to the league in the long term, as not only will the team suffer as it struggles to adapt to fit this new marketing tool into their lineup, but once the stint is over and the player has left, the fans who were there purely for the star will not have had the time to get used to the sport and the players of the club and will fade away, putting the club and the league in roughly the same spot as they are currently.
That is not to say we should not have them at all. Ronaldinho is a massive name and should he choose to come to the A-League for a guest stint I for one would most definitely be interested and probably make the two hour trip to Sydney to potentially see him in action, but clubs should be wary about the effects of guest players and should be looking to use the 14 games as a taster of what the club has to offer them, and sign guest players with a view of making them marquees at the end of the stint.
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