Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The Asia Shift, Part 1
Lots of rumblings lately in the media about the difficulties posed by our Asia switch. Mostly with regard to the eternally problematic issue of player availability; Mark (not Marco, please) Bresciano has fired the first shot from the players’ locker, suggesting that a roster system be put in place for the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
More on that idea soon, but first, a small point about one statement from the Socceroo midfielder:
“When we have to play a weekend in Italy and play here on the Wednesday, you are going to be travelling most of the week. It will be a big issue for most of the clubs.”
No doubt, but the majority of midweek games will probably be the second match of an international double-header. FIFA have, sensibly, ensured that these are all Saturday-Wednesday, rather than Wednesday-Saturday, affairs, giving international teams four or five days to get together and prepare after weekend club commitments. Hence, Bresciano will not often have to play for Palermo on the Sunday and Australia on the following Wednesday.
Nevertheless, some Asian qualifiers may be held on friendly dates rather than full international dates, as our home qualifier against Kuwait in August was. So the scenario outlined by Bresciano may be realised from time to time.
Next, an unnecessarily alarmist prognosis from David Lewis in the Daily Telegraph. He states, inter alia:
“Australia's bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup could be over before it begins if the Socceroos are forced to follow a horror schedule of matches drawn up by the Asian Football Confederation.
Football Federation Australia is so concerned at a 12-game fixture list for 2008 and 2009 – including the logistical nightmare of eight midweek dates – that it is poised to deploy chairman Frank Lowy to lobby the AFC for a calendar rethink.”
Now, further to the excuses-in-advance tenor of the phrase in bold, the implication seems to be that the AFC has blithely ignored the usual FIFA conventions regarding international dates. Although I have recently acknowledged that the AFC are not always helpful in their scheduling, the fact is that the late 2008-2009 period contains seven full international midweek dates (see here).
That means that the other confederations will, presumably, be scheduling international fixtures on seven of those same eight “logistically nightmarish” midweek dates. Asia is not exactly a rogue confederation in this regard; they do take liberties with the FIFA calendar, but not outrageous ones. And again, let’s not forget: all of these seven are part of international double-headers, and will not immediately follow a club weekend. The logistical challenge is, in my opinion, somewhat over-estimated.
So, what of the roster plan?
In Part 2, I will explain why I think it should be consigned to the bin.
More on that idea soon, but first, a small point about one statement from the Socceroo midfielder:
“When we have to play a weekend in Italy and play here on the Wednesday, you are going to be travelling most of the week. It will be a big issue for most of the clubs.”
No doubt, but the majority of midweek games will probably be the second match of an international double-header. FIFA have, sensibly, ensured that these are all Saturday-Wednesday, rather than Wednesday-Saturday, affairs, giving international teams four or five days to get together and prepare after weekend club commitments. Hence, Bresciano will not often have to play for Palermo on the Sunday and Australia on the following Wednesday.
Nevertheless, some Asian qualifiers may be held on friendly dates rather than full international dates, as our home qualifier against Kuwait in August was. So the scenario outlined by Bresciano may be realised from time to time.
Next, an unnecessarily alarmist prognosis from David Lewis in the Daily Telegraph. He states, inter alia:
“Australia's bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup could be over before it begins if the Socceroos are forced to follow a horror schedule of matches drawn up by the Asian Football Confederation.
Football Federation Australia is so concerned at a 12-game fixture list for 2008 and 2009 – including the logistical nightmare of eight midweek dates – that it is poised to deploy chairman Frank Lowy to lobby the AFC for a calendar rethink.”
Now, further to the excuses-in-advance tenor of the phrase in bold, the implication seems to be that the AFC has blithely ignored the usual FIFA conventions regarding international dates. Although I have recently acknowledged that the AFC are not always helpful in their scheduling, the fact is that the late 2008-2009 period contains seven full international midweek dates (see here).
That means that the other confederations will, presumably, be scheduling international fixtures on seven of those same eight “logistically nightmarish” midweek dates. Asia is not exactly a rogue confederation in this regard; they do take liberties with the FIFA calendar, but not outrageous ones. And again, let’s not forget: all of these seven are part of international double-headers, and will not immediately follow a club weekend. The logistical challenge is, in my opinion, somewhat over-estimated.
So, what of the roster plan?
In Part 2, I will explain why I think it should be consigned to the bin.
Comments:
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SHOCK HORROR!! We should try and get into the Oceania confederation, all they have to do is a playoff against a South American team - EASY!
Great article Mikey!
Why do I feel that we have the talent and, at the end of the day, the success of the Socceroos will be defined by how much the FFA supports them?
Great article Mikey!
Why do I feel that we have the talent and, at the end of the day, the success of the Socceroos will be defined by how much the FFA supports them?
# posted by 
: October 11, 2006 at 10:40 PM
: October 11, 2006 at 10:40 PM
You can't expect a newspaper to report the facts if the story isn't beat up beyond recognition no-one will read it. The rotation system is not something I'm against. In the years leading up to the 2006 world cup Lippi rotated the Italy squad (63 players called up in 12 games) and was heavily criticised for it (especially by me). It is now obvious that despite some bad results early in his charge, in particular losses to Iceland and Slovenia, he was using the time in the lead up to the world cup to get a good look at the players he would be considering for the world cup, in particular new young players. Grosso, Barzagli, De Rossi, Iaquinta and others popped out of the woodwork, he was able to forge a world cup winning squad and I happily ate my words. In the same way rotation for the sake of rebuilding could be very good for Australia.
# posted by : October 13, 2006 at 12:11 PM
: October 13, 2006 at 12:11 PM
...The rotation system is not something I'm against. In the years leading up to the 2006 world cup Lippi rotated the Italy squad (63 players called up in 12 games) and was heavily criticised for it (especially by me). It is now obvious that despite some bad results early in his charge, in particular losses to Iceland and Slovenia, he was using the time in the lead up to the world cup to get a good look at the players he would be considering for the world cup, in particular new young players. Grosso, Barzagli, De Rossi, Iaquinta and others popped out of the woodwork, he was able to forge a world cup winning squad and I happily ate my words. In the same way rotation for the sake of rebuilding could be very good for Australia....
In the piece I'm going to put up in just a moment, I'll explain why I'm against it, but in relation to the above, I think the Italian situation is different. They were in a relatively straightforward European qualifying group (given the depth of Italian football), and Lippi could AFFORD to chop and change in the qualifiers a bit. I seriously believe, particularly with all the difficulties of acclimatisation first time in Asia, etc., that we can't afford too many stuff-ups (if any), even in the first stage. Also, not to denigrate our players, but Australia's strength in depth is not the same as Italy's.
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In the piece I'm going to put up in just a moment, I'll explain why I'm against it, but in relation to the above, I think the Italian situation is different. They were in a relatively straightforward European qualifying group (given the depth of Italian football), and Lippi could AFFORD to chop and change in the qualifiers a bit. I seriously believe, particularly with all the difficulties of acclimatisation first time in Asia, etc., that we can't afford too many stuff-ups (if any), even in the first stage. Also, not to denigrate our players, but Australia's strength in depth is not the same as Italy's.
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