Another reason why to aligned the seasons so players could play NPL or NYL if they not in the first team.

Thats been Arnie's pet hate. 

To me Dukuly could come on the bench too, but I guess the coach knows best in any case.

The young boy Stynes style of play reminds me of Robbie Kruse, he's got good movement and knows how to find space.

Good to see you back D! 

I knew the Messi thing would come out
Messi is about 10cm taller than Caletti

Messi is an extraordinary talent

To be that small you need to make up for it elsewhere otherwise why wouldn't you pick the player with better physical attributes if they are similarly skilled in all other areas?

Being physical isnt the only to compete on the field, playing with intelligence and making good decisions with the and without the ball is another way to do it.

Everyone wants those pace and power players but they not being and end all if your a small player, in fact it could play into your advantage. 

And I will repeat:

If he is no better than other players who are also better physically, why would he get picked?

My point is you need to be VERY very good to justify your spot if the basic physical elements of the game are beyond you. 

If another player has similar (or even almost as good) decision making abilities and or ball handling speed but can ALSO chase a man after being beaten, put in a tackle, break through lines with the ball etc then why would you choose the first player? Just as some sort of poster boy for the shorter man? 

I get in the past Australia relied on physical prowess but I almost feel like we are going too far the other way at times while the rest of the world is actually INCREASING their physical side of the game.

We (as a league) have some seriously slight young boys playing out there in the last couple seasons who would be destroyed if they played in Europe.

End of the day I would NEVER not pick him just coz of height. That's crazy. However, a CM who is not an old school no.10 needs to do some physical stuff too and I don't think he is offering anything creatively that another player couldn't who would also give us a bit more presence in there when the chips are down and we are in a scrap (not just when we are cruising 2-0 up with 65% possession)

Anyway I feel bad now coz I don't actually dislike him as a player as much as it probably sounds like here, I am justusinghim to make a point.

Caletti is not why we lost the other night. That was a team effort being that bad.

He does a decent enough job of keeping the ball moving. I just want to see a lot more forward passing creativity if he is going to be one of the starting 3 midfielders when we already have other CDMs.

Well said.

Thanks, B4L.

In the modern game regardless of the size of the player you have play on both sides of ball (with and without the ball), and decision making is paramount to that I agree if the player doesnt do anything else outside of those physical qualities then the player becomes ineffective but I dont see that with Caletti, he seems the type of the player he gets the ball moving whilst having a good work rate too.

I think physically our players are respectable and known to be almost at times over physical, have we gone too far the other end? maybe but in that case its easier to improve physically whilst technically it takes years and years of work from they are kids and up.

I think why its looks different in Europe because over there they certainly play and train more than here and look like more complete footballers.

I agree with most of what you say in this post , Davide, but when Barcelona was having so much success, it was one of the smallest  and shortest teams in Europe regarding height and weight. Xavi Hernandez, Messi,  Iniesta, a couple of wingers and others are only little  fellows. They didn't get  destroyed playing in Europe, and have enjoyed incredible success.

Ditto Spain were a small team when they won successive European Champs and a World Cup.

As for Caletti's technical qualities, not many in past Aus generations would be able to match him  with the  ball at his feet, but there is now  a production line of technical whizzes coming through as graduates of SAP and NTC programs.

There area so many of these clever ball players I don't know all their names - Najjarine, Arzani, Daniel Stynes, Lachie Wales, etc. Another ripper is Nisbet from CCM, who is also quite short.

Apart from Nisbet, most of the aforementioned whizz kid technically adept  tyros  would probably be stronger and  faster than Caletti, but the AU player has demonstrated that he can control a game with very good distribution - which is not easy to do.

Plenty of other outstanding shorties too - Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Jesus Navas, David Silva, another Spanish winger beginning with X,  a recent Barca LB whose name escapes me.

Thats Jordi Alba.

What Bayern Munich did to Barcelona in the Champions League last season where they won 8-2 they exploited the physical defiences of the Barca players something maybe wouldnt existed a decade ago where Barca passed through the press with ease under extreme pressure, as we know it like life in football it evolves too and I feel the game is alot more quicker with more transitions involved compared to a decade ago.

Technique is still king but marinating it other qualities is important too as the game continues to evolve.

Enjoy watching the Spanish players though, they play with so much skill and intelligence.