We can. But I don’t think you get the point. I’m not implying that every footballer who goes to Dortmund will succeed. The point is that Dortmund does a far better job at producing world class footballers than the A-League. The same goes for heaps of football clubs in Europe.

It’s patently clear that  the longer a footballer stays in the provincial backwater that is Australia, the less chance they have of becoming a world-class footballer.

Football development in this country is appalling. And the A-League serves practically no purpose.

I have two questions for you, jas88:
(1) Has the A-League ever produced any footballer of Pulisic’s or Reyna’s quality?
(2) Is there some kind of compelling scientific or cultural reason that footballers from other countries (e.g. the US) can go to Europe very young and succeed, but Aussie footballers don’t succeed?

Agree. The sooner they leave Australia, the better for their football development and careers.

McGree bench. 

Yeah did anyone watch? Took him a while to get in the game. He got a silly yellow and a shot blocked near the end looked like he was playing pretty deep 

A few Boro fans commenting that they were rudderless without him and then when he came on it was a lot more positive. Good signs.

Fran Karacic subbed on in 76th minute for Brescia in 0-0 draw away to Pisa in Serie B. Then received a yellow card in ET.

1. No not really, I mean Mooy got close but never really was good enough for a UCL side, I don't know how well he would of done in Germany. They are arguably the best in the world at developing young talent. 
2. Because in most cases you need a Euro Passport, Milligan could of easily played in Europe but was never able to get a visa. Yes i'd love to send all our boys over at 16,17 but they cant as aussie citizens, the idea is that if you do well enough in the a-league you can get into the fringes of the Socceroos and enough playing time you can get that euro visa. Case in point: Douglas Luiz... you think a club like Villa is going to get an exemption for an Aussie? lol maybe in Scotland with Ange but that's it. We aren't respected.

"Pulisic obtained Croatian citizenship after moving to Germany in order to avoid applying for a German work visa, which is required to work in the country without a European Union passport."

He's barely American lol should play for Croatia. If his grandad wasn't Croatian you think he would be where he is now?
Reyna was born in the UK lol

So what's the solution? only pick European background players so they can go to Europe early? seems kinda unfair.

madaschi

What is everyones thoughts on Gethin Jones? Better than Karacic/Grant?

Glad you pointed this out. It is lazy to say all players need to go at 16 to succeed. Opportunity is the first obstacle and different paths to success is another, within this are a lot of variables that can go wrong. What works for one player doesn't necessarily work for another. How long did it take Mooy to succeed in England? How about guys like Emerton or Kruse who went in there 20s? Or even guys like Bresciano and Grella who went in their late teens? The issue is increasing our player pool and promoting youth.

There is no great national team without a proper development pathway, relying solely on overseas development is madness.  Even in Japan they didn't develop good international players until the clubs got onboard and then the pathways were not always lineal, I mean Kagawa came from the J2.  

Better than Grant. Jack Iredale is one who's improved immensely the past few years going from WA NPL to Scotland, Carlisle then getting promoted with Cambridge. Probably the peak but if a League One promoted team or lower Championship takes him I can see his fitness and skill going that one bit higher like Dougall has grown.

Remember, Dougall couldn't even get a game at Sparta Rotterdam. 

So from this breakdown it seems Jack iredale can score goals, has good defensive skills, likes to dribble however is not the best passer of the ball. While Jones is the complete opposite.
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/381043/Show/Jack-Iredale
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/255960/Show/Gethin-Jones

Yeah he was left back and played CB a lot. Wing last night it seems. Jones was often in Carlisle back 3.

Jas88,

your post is bang on in so many ways. You’ve nailed it in identifying a bunch of issues which obstruct an individual footballer’s prospects abroad. The points you’ve made merit proper engagement when I’m not absolutely budgeted after an exhausting shift at work.

I’ll just say this. On (2), your post doesn’t quite answer the question given that so many Aussie footballers do actually have an EU or British passport. Not all but a lot.

Iirc, here are some examples of current Aussie footballers with EU or British passports; Mat Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Jimmy Jeggo, Ajdin Hrustic, Denis Genreau, Aaron Mooy, Brad Smith, Jackson Irvine, Jamie Maclaren, Callum Elder, Connor Pain, Chris Ikonomidis, Apostos Giannou, Daniel de Silva, Massimo Luongo.

Probably more. And lots going back into the 2000s. And yet, overall, Aussies (with the right papers) have struggled in Europe.


So, I still don’t get what so many Aussie footballers (including many with European passports) haven’t managed to succeed in Europe, while there have been so many success stories from footballers from the US, Africa, Japan, South Korea and now Canada.

buggered*, not budgeted

Hrustic bench vs Barcelona.

Tete Yengi scored a brace on debut for Vaasan (Finland top tier) last night.  On loan from Ipswich Town until the end of the year.

Shocking first touch but he scored which is what matters

https://twitter.com/Veikkausliiga/status/1512458424365338627

Other goal was a tap in

https://twitter.com/Veikkausliiga/status/1512471298110328834

Tristan Hammond back from long injury, came on 51 min for Austria Wien reserves. Hopefully he gets solid mins leading up to under 23 Asian cup 
no Arazani again for Lommel. 

Early today, Anthony Kalik a full game in Croatia for Gorica and Martin Boyle a full game for Al-Faisaly in Round 1 of the AFC Champions League.

Preview

Mitch Duke and Stefan Mauk both started for Okayama in J2 and both scored. Mauk with an assist also. Full game for Duke, Mauk subbed off in 69th minute.

Mabil bench. 

Irvine starting against Bremen

Irvine back starting vs Bremen. 

McGree starting against Elder who is rotated to bench today. The guy who always starts in tangerine but never in gold is playing today.

Wright, Luongo, Burgess, JRB starting. Williams bench.

Devlin out. Atkinson, Rogic starting. No AMB at all.

Elder been a bench player for 20th Hull the last few games he has played except the game against Luton where they lost 3-1.

Some thoughts from the boro forum

The boro fans like him and wilder rates him. Just needs a run of games to build on I’m excited to see him succeed there 

Atkinson started & 83 mins - came off with an ankle injury apparently. Hearts fans have certainly changed their tune about him on their forum. Rating him 7 & 8's for his performance and saying best performance in a Heart's shirt. Great to see 

Milos Degenek a full game for Columbus this morning.
Alex Grant another full game for Pohang in K League 1.
Also in K League 1, Lachlan Jackson started again for FC Suwon and Harrison Delbridge to start for Incheon.
Mitch Langerak as usual starting for Nagoya.
Thomas Deng and Adam Taggart both still not in squads for Niigata and Cerezo, respectively.