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A-League

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J

Jeggo

Player Valuation: £100k
Being from Australia I wanted to know what you guys consider the quality of the A-League. Obviously at it's start it was a joke league, but over the last 5-6 years it has increased in quality dramatically.
Performances in the Asain Champions League show it is starting to compete with teams from the J and K league even though their wage bills are much higher.

The youth product coming out of the league though is starting to show it's quality - Robbie Kruse, Mitch Langerack, Rhys Williams ect.

So what does it compare to? Blue Square? League 2? Even leauge 1?

How would A-leauge teams do in the English set-up?
 

Reckon L2, mid-L1 at a push, imo. But it's a league of its own, very different to England, so you can't really compare the two accurately.

It does appear to have tons of quality youths coming through, as it relies mostly on that (I think... right?) because of the wages/rules and whatnot. Hope to see the league prosper in the future.
 
The standard of football is really quite poor and extremely variable. I would place it anywhere from struggling Championship to League 2 depending on the team.

It is also a very poorly run league with questionable financial integrity and autocratic leadership, where else in the world would a football team get wound up by the league because the league had a falling out with the club owner (not saying Clive Palmer isn't a prize blert because he is) and revoked his license?

The setup also falls down because there is no 'feeder' set up, no lower divisions, no real youth policies. To be honest the whole thing is a bit of a joke, which is a crying shame because I would love my kids to see more live football.
 
Celtic and Rangers aside it's just a bit better than the SPL but still miles behind the Swiss or Austrian leagues, so I'd say League 2 at best - probably Blue Square. Seems a little harsh but I present: Fowler, Muscat and Jeffers.
 
Azzurri said:
Celtic and Rangers aside it's just a bit better than the SPL but still miles behind the Swiss or Austrian leagues, so I'd say League 2 at best - probably Blue Square. Seems a little harsh but I present: Fowler, Muscat and Jeffers.
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You do know that they are all considered hacks of the A-League? Jeffers is an absolute joke, saw him put a 1-on-1 wide at the SFS. I believe he has scored 3 goal in almost 30 games. Fowler was way off the pace, scored some goals but also a fair few pens. Muscat was more a leader figure that his club built their image around.

I think it is somewhere around League 1 standard. One of the better players a few years back, Mark Hughes (Evertonian) did well in the league and plays with Bury now.

But read what Degs wrote, because he is on the money. Lack of feeder sides, no youth systems and academies, and dictatorial rules placed on club owners. It's all a bit of a joke and hard to get the average football viewer excited. But, I still will follow it because it is my league.
 

Azzurri said:
Celtic and Rangers aside it's just a bit better than the SPL but still miles behind the Swiss or Austrian leagues, so I'd say League 2 at best - probably Blue Square. Seems a little harsh but I present: Fowler, Muscat and Jeffers.
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Those players have done sweet **** all in the league except take up salaries. You should really try watching a bit of it before coming out with comments like that mate (y)

It's a tricky one, it's not as fast as the championship, but there is some skill. A good example would be Paul Ifill for Wellington, average striker for Crystal Park Rangers, but is dynamic in this league because he has pace and a very powerful finish. So whilst there are a few gems, there's a lot of mediocre players making up the numbers. Still, it's something to watch apart from League and Union on the weekend.
 
DualityNSNO said:
Reckon L2, mid-L1 at a push, imo. But it's a league of its own, very different to England, so you can't really compare the two accurately.

It does appear to have tons of quality youths coming through, as it relies mostly on that (I think... right?) because of the wages/rules and whatnot. Hope to see the league prosper in the future.
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Yeah the game relies on youth and retirement, you best players are going to be under 23 or over 28 to be honest. I mean I'm a MVFC fan and I'll watch players like Kruse and Langerak, and soon Jeggo and Rojas and see them get better then leave - which I love to have them doing well, then hope they come back when they hit 29-30.

Sort of like the Wayne Rooney situation.
 
Jeggo said:
Yeah the game relies on youth and retirement, you best players are going to be under 23 or over 28 to be honest. I mean I'm a MVFC fan and I'll watch players like Kruse and Langerak, and soon Jeggo and Rojas and see them get better then leave - which I love to have them doing well, then hope they come back when they hit 29-30.

Sort of like the Wayne Rooney situation.
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Rojas is a talent isn't he? Loving him develop, could make it big time if he keeps working.
 
I've watched 15-20 matches over the past 2-3 years, so I'm obviously no expert. Play is a bit spotty, there are some good athletes there. I don't think people in Europe realize how difficult it is to start a league from scratch with a limited local talent pool.

Think it also struggles a bit because of the large geographic footprint, something the MLS in the US has struggled with.
 

Hard to say. Brisbane were actually a thrill to watch over the past two seasons, they played beautifully and were a complete contrast to the gashness of the majority of teams. Honestly, the skill level does vary from anywhere between L2 up to lower championship teams. There are some more than decent individuals playing, unfortunately, the team around the can be gash at times.

The problem with Australian football is that we've been too focused on producing top athletes which has shown especially in the players that have played in top flights. All have been super fit, work their asses off, and play a high energy game but are mostly technically deficient. Thankfully this is slowly changing and we have a good crop of youngsters coming through, namely in the U/20 group who possess a more technical game. Eg, Antonis, Amini, Rogic,Tombides, Oar etc etc.
 
Azzurri said:
So I had two biters then...
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There's a lot of people passionate about making it work, so your stereotypical response was probably going to work on a couple of us. Look, it is a bit gash at times, Wellington's got one outlet to score really, but it needs support to make it better, I can't see it ever attracting massive names, look at the MLS, talented locals but a holiday for the imports, apart from Angel, he was boss.
 

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