We have an old, has-been defender who gets carded more frequently than any other A-League player, who lost out in preference to Titus Bramble in a race for new contracts at Newcastle United, and so on (we all know where this is going)… coming out of retirement in an attempt to take a national team spot off the next generation of defender when we all know that Craig Moore will be of no use at all to the national team by the time the World Cup rolls around in 2010. We should be building towards the WC and developing the team we intend to take, not bringing back an old team that will be of little use. Why dont’ we try and coax Alex Tobin and Tony Vidmar out of retirement while we’re at it?? Hell, lets go the whole 9 yards and get Jonny Warren to play too.

Then there’s John Aloisi, which is almost as bad. I hesitate to suggest that Brett Holman would be of more use up front, but you catch my drift. There are many players more deserving of a Socceroos spot on current form. ex A-Leaguers Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns surely should be getting a look in before Aloisi, so should Macca, even an injured Joshua Kennedy would be of more use. And then there’s the next generation of players in the likes of Zullo, Kruse, Rukavytsya and company all very capable players who will be looking to show what they can do and win a spot for the next world cup and we want to rob them of a spot for these has-beens?

I hear what you’re saying “But without Aloisi taking that penalty we might not have made the world cup!” but that was in the past, and we can’t continue to select him on the basis of something he did in excess of two years ago. All sloppy sentiment in football gets you is a reputation for being vulnerable to sentiment.

I’ve found a couple of hours this weekend since I’m not working to write a bit of an article but I’ll keep it brief so here we go…

This weekend sees a bit of a lull in the procedings after the transfer window came to an end, Melbourne Victory favourite Michael Theoklitos’ reported transfer to everton failed to eventuate and FFA has decided to implement international breaks in the league fixtures after a disasterous clash in fixtures and players being called up for national team duty last season saw just a handfull of goals scored in what was branded as the “worst week of the A-League in its brief history” by many pundits.

The panic raised that the sport would be seen as boring has seen a new plan introduced and international breaks observed by the A-League as it attempts to fall further into line with the bigger European leagues.

The international break also gives the league a chance to regroup after particularly average crowds have seen some of the more twitchy football fans wonder if the league has grown too rapidly or that the league is nolonger the ‘flavour of the month’ in the domestic sport scene in Australia.

In reality, the AFL and NRL competitions are reaching their climax and attracting away many of the neutral fans who attend A-League games over the Australian summer when there is no other competative ‘football’ of any kind for fans to get behind and salivate over the prospects of. Once the NRL and AFL seasons pack up for the summer crowds should return to the levels fans are familiar with from earlier in the year.

In other news The Socceroos face a setback for their international clashes with The Netherlands and Uzbekistan this week with Vince Grella upholding the fine tradition of English Premier League players to pull out right before important Socceroo clashes with an injury of some description. While the injury is not terribly serious it should be servere enough to stop Grella from participating in both international matches this week. Ironically, Harry Kewell is currently fully fit and expected to start against the Dutch.

Anyway, that’s about all from me for now. I hope I’ve contributed atleast something interesting in my first article after the build-up I was given.

On the other hand Sterjovski and Kennedy goals were brilliant. love Miles cheeky voley over the keeper. You need both precision and timing for that and Sterji came up with the goods.

Seems to have a decent run out but there was a lot to think about as drawing with South Africa souldnt be acceptable, friendly or not.

Not in the mind of SA coach Joel Santana however. He came up with this beauty:

“South Africa are similar to Brazil in the way they play – my players treat the ball with love and care”

“That’s why we play football. I would never want to play the way Australia play – my players don’t have those characteristics.”

alright mate, you draw with Aus and you compare yourself with Brazil… cant think of you guys doing anything in your history.

For an all out report of the proceeding check out the Aussie World Cup Blog

Even then a few players have been left out of the squad. Verbeek has decided not to call on Michael Beauchamp, Brett Emerton and Harry Kewell. Harry’s getting settled into his new club so i can understand why he was allowed to have a rest.

Not too worried about Beachy not coming down, but wouldve liked to have seen Harry and Emo torture the SA wingers. If you guys didnt catch it, Harry headed home a brilliant cross on his debut for Galatasaray. heres a link to the vid, this guys going to light up that league (barring any major injuries).

Players Brought in
David Carney, Bruce Djite, Richard Garcia, Mark Milligan, Nicky Carle and Matthew Spiranovic are the non regulars that have been brought into to the squad by Pim Verbeek.

I’ll start by getting something off my chest…. ahem…. WHY the hell does Mark Milligan get called up to this team? The guy is clubless for god sake! I would choose frigin Mclenahan before i choose this guy… at least he plays, allbeit in English league 5 or whatever. I cant for the life of me understand this love affair with this guy whos main goal in a game is to hoof it out of defense and up-field!

And Holman… How many mistakes does that guy have to make before he is excluded from this squad for God sake!

Anyway with 2 negatives come 4 positives. Love the fact that Nicky Carle, Matty Spiranovic, Bruce Djite and Richard Garcia have been brought into this team. Each and every one of them thoroughly deserve to be there. Nicky’s skills cannot be questioned. If Pim lets him, he will run the attacking midfield possie for us. Spira showed us at the Olympics that he is a confident, solid defender who is not affected by the pressure. Richard Garcia has topped off a week to remember as his Hull side won their first game in the prem.

And Djite… You frigin legend! is in the squad! This guy was left out of the Olympics by the doosh Graham Arnold and didn’t let it affect him. Hes put his head down and got to work at his new club in Turkey and has been ripping it apart there ever since! He recently score the winning goal to give gencler….(whatever the name is) the pre-season cup. A future superstar of the Socceroos and would love to see him get a run.

The others are pritty much regulars. This seems like its a pritty strong squad, most likely because its played in London so it will be a good gauge on where we are at leading into the World Cup Qualifiers.

Prediction
I predict that the game finishes 2-0 to the Socceroos. The players Pim has brought sort of leans towards the roos playing some good football, especially with the names Bresciano, Carle, Grella and Cullina running the show in the mid. Hoping that Scotty McDonald can show all of Aus what he is capable of and bag a goal for us, he needs to put one away in a game like this to get the Aussie media off his back. Hope to G.O.D that Pim puts him and Djite up front! that would be a troublesome forward line but i think that Holman will get a run which will spoil my wish.

Should be a great game though. I think that South Africa will be the ‘decent’ opposition that the Aussies need to come up against before the qualis.

SOCCEROO SQUAD
Mark Bresciano, US Citta di Palermo, Italy
Nick Carle, Crystal Palace FC, England
David Carney, Sheffield United FC, England
Scott Chipperfield, FC Basel, Switzerland
Chris Coyne, Colchester United FC, England
Jason Culina, PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands
Bruce Djite, Genclerbirligi, Turkey
Richard Garcia, Hull City, England
Vincenzo Grella, Torino FC Spa, Italy
Brett Holman, AZ Alkaamar, Netherlands
Josh Kennedy, Karlsruhe SC, Germany
Scott McDonald, Celtic FC, Scotland
Mark Milligan, uncontracted
Lucas Neill, West Ham United FC, England
Michael Petkovic, Sivasspor, Turkey
Mark Schwarzer, Fulham FC, England
Matthew Spiranovic, FC Nurnberg, Germany
Mile Sterjovski, Derby County FC, England
Carl Valeri, U.S. Grosseto FC, Italy
Luke Wilkshire, FC Twente, Holland

Cummon Aussie!!!

Congratulations are due for Adelaide skipper Travid Dodd for tearing the back of the net apart on his 100th game for the reds!

In other news, the squad for the Socceroos clash with South Africa has been anounced here… no major suprises just the fact that Djite is int he team… bahh arnold!

Here are the highlights and the reports for matchday 1.

Newcastle Jets 1 vs 1 Central Coast Mariners Match Report

Sydney FC 0 vs 0 Melbourne Victory Match Report

Wellington Phoenix 1 vs 1 Queensland Roar Match Report

Adelaide United 1 vs 0 Perth Glory Match Report

Fantastic goalkeeper, played for Man Utd, Chelsea and was touted as the best in the world when he was in his prime. Then it all went downhill from there, Mark tested positive for cocaine and has never hit the field since… until now.

Now after training at QPR, we now find Bozza (36 years old) on a trial at Central Coast Mariners. Seems almost poetic the way its all turned out. The Mariners need a player to cover Danny Vukovic’s suspension and Bozz is ready and willing.

I opened the paper the other day and saw in massive letters “Bosnich aims for the Socceroos”. Thats when all the buterflies left the building! Hes frigin 36 and he hasn’t played a game of football in years! and now just because hes decided that he wants to come back into the game he thinks he can fight his way into the fold for a Socceroo spot. I mean give me a break! Once again hes 38 and just coming back from looking like Jabba the hut from Star Wars! I don’t care how good he was he deserves possibly a guest stint at the mariners and nothing more!

Bozza im sorry but your time has past, although it was unfortunate that Australia missed out on having one of the greatest players in the world reach the heights he could, we have all moved on. It makes me sick how reporters and the such have a hard one about this!

If we let him continue playing in the A-league and (god-forbid) get into the Socceroos what is that saying about this league and the national team?? That we are so crap that we have to revive old has bins to fill spot. Nup this should just stop. Bozza you were great but you screwed it up for yourself and its just too late.

First up, theres the Harry Kewell move that shocked us all a few weeks ago! At first i thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world for Harry to do. Why the hell would a player of Harrys talent shun a move to Serie A powerhouse Roma and move to Turkey, a country not known as an immense powerhouse in the world of football even despite their great showing at the Euros

But then i started to depict this a bit more and depict the pros and cons of the move:

Cons
– Galatasary arnt exactly the biggest club in the world at the moment are they even the biggest in Turkey?.
– Hes dangerously close to his 30s and hasnt reached the talents we know he can
– He is in danger of being forgotten in world football by being in Turkey
– Other than Fenerbache, there isnt very much else, as i look down the table i struggle to know any of the teams let alone pronounce their names.
– Turkish fans are a bit nuts lol

Pros
– When he arrived at Gala, he was the Star of the show and is easily their best player
– He is pritty much guaranteed game time unlike if he joined Roma, this is especially important for a player of Kewells fragile nature who may loose his spot at any other team if he breaks too often.
– Hes still playing Champions League football and could be potentially show himself off to other suiters
– Logisically Turkey is a much better option than Italy. He will most likely be able to decide for himself which Socceroos games he wants to play instead of being told.
– Gala v Fene games would be absolute crackers to play in!

I dont know it could just be me but after weighing up both the good and the bad of this move i support Harrys decision as i know it was a well calculated one. Of course i would have like to have seen him play in Italy but i think this is much better for his carrer.

Agree/disagree with me, add more to it.

Happy to be back

On another note, Hull has beaten Bristol, winning promotion from the championship to the Premier League. As mentioned in the previous post, this means that Richard Garcia will join the Aussie contingent in Englands top division. Well done Richard and good luck next season.

Garcia vs Carle tonight!
I don’t know how much money is on stake when a team moves up to the prem league but it’s a shit load and the Bristol vs Hull game will have its own aussies connections on both sides of the pitch. Nicky Carle (Bristol) and Richard Garcia (Hull) will be fighting it out toplay in the premier league next season. Im a little biased towards Carle as I want to see a boy whose come from the A-league and made it onto the big stage. He has enourmous talent and I don’t think he deserves another year in the championship. But this is also unfair to Richard as hes been slugging it out in the championship for years and probably deserves this as well. I don’t know too much about the guy so cant comment on his skill but hes stats are pretty crazy. Either way its one more Aussie in the prem and one cant complain about that!

Olyroos 3-1 Ireland
The Australian under 23 team are at it again!. Undefeated in this tournament in Malaysia. Actually they’ve won every game! The latest one was against Ireland with Central Coast’s Matt Simon Banging in an awesome hat-trick! The team were without many of its players as they were called up for the senior side against Ghana. The Aussies now have made the final of the comp which sees them play Nigeria tomorrow. MATCH REPORT

Victory sign Ney Fabiano
Melbourne Victory has completed the signing of Chonburi FC striker Ney Fabiano to a 2 year contract. This is awesome news for all Victory fans out there as he was an absolute handful for Melbournes defence scoring in the away and Home legs. It’s a matter of if you cant beat em…. Get them to join you and for once an A-League side makes a calculated decision when it comes to Brazilian signings. With the 29 year old in the prime of his carrer, I will look forward to seeing him in Aus.

Adelaide United sign Cristiano
Melbourne aren’t the only ones attempting to fill their brazilian quota this season as Adelaide United have signed Willem II’s striker Cristiano. I don’t know a whole lot about this player but he’s got some really good stats in Holland. At 26 I think this is another really good capupture as I can see him actually adding something to this league as aposed to some player in brazil’s 3rd division

Schwarzer to Fulham
Mark Schwarzer has made the move to London signing for Fulham after 11 years at Middlesborough. To the naked eye it seems like a really stupid move. Why the hell would a 35 year old goalie move to a team with lesser quality, away from a team who you’ve stuck by for 11 years. He also had offers coming from Juventus and Bayern!… its not really conceivable but when money, contract lengths and first team football come up in an offer, its always hard to resist… especially for a 35 year old.

Promotion relegation
The Lack of promotion relegation argument has resurfaced as the ACL is reformatting its format. Aparently because we don’t have promotion relegation in our league, they wont rank us as highly at club level… who gives a shit really! I mean its not like theyre going to throw out the Aussies from the ACL. After 3 years, I think its too early for the A-League to even think about promotion relegation. Trust me I would love to see it implemented as it would add another dimension to the games but until we have conistant numbers of fans coming to games week in and week out this will never happen.. I mean how many people would go to a Perth Glory game if they were ever relegated? ARTICLE

Scotty Mcdonald wins SPL title with Celtic
Celtic Scotty Mcdonald’s side has won the SPL for the 3rd time in a row and they probably have him to thank for most of it. The Socceroo banged in 30 something (cant be fucked looking it up) goals for the hoops in an outstanding season! Hes one of my favourite Socceroos and I hope he gets heaps of praise and maybe a bit of champions League glory as well.. absolute legend, lets hope he replicates that form in the Socceroo June madness

Look forward to reading your thoughts

Australia 1 Ghana 0

Just came back from the pub after watching a game that probably symbolises the fact that it was a friendly match, featuring what was effectively an Australian ‘B’ side on the park.

The first half was boring as bat-shit to watch as neither team did particularly anything at all. I was very disappointed with Harry Kewell’s performance. I guess it may be because he was lacking match fitness but he was never really a part of the game and didn’t show what he was capable of at all. It was a very scrappy first period, one where neither team could get a real hold of the proceedings at all.

The match picked up in the second with Mile Sterjovski slotting it within seconds of the restart. Was a very good goal from a player that has been slated by his own coach recently. If it hadn’t been for him getting sent off, id have given him man of the match. As the second half wore on the Aussie began to get a very good hold of the game, with nice pieces of play. Then the unthinkable happened… Pim put on Danny Allsopp…. why oh why is he even in the team selection!!!?? From what i remember he only got one touch of the ball all game! Anyways approx the same time “super”dan came on, the game seemed to switch into Ghana’s favour. I was very impressed with the way the Ghanaians played without many of their star players in the side. They really ripped us in the later part of the game.. had it not been for the fantastic defensive work of the Aussies, Ghana would have surely scored. They probably deserved a draw tonight.

The Aussie defence was fantastic in this game. The whole back line were sturdy and held off the Ghana attack throughout the match. I was impressed by Adam Griffiths and Socceroo Debutant Matthew Spiranovic. They both showed that they could step up when and if the manager needed them. Can’t say the same about Adams brother Joel as he had a very quiet one tonight.

Basically i don’t think that Verbeek learnt anything from this match other than that he has reliable backup in the defensive department. I dont think any of the players stepping into the mid-field or attack impressed at all.

Match Report

 Special Mention to the girls! Australia 2 Canada 1

The Matildas took part in a match against Canada right before the Socceroos. The game finished off 2-1, with Caitllin Munoz the star performer for the aussies, setting up the first and scoring the second. The second was crossed in by 17 year old Elise Perry who also plays for the womens national team in Cricket. Some people are just too good at everything! Fuck! hehe anyway heres some vision of that game. I like giving the womens game a shout out here and there.