kevrenor
Well-Known Member
A-League rises to the challenge
Michael Lynch of The AGE
July 9, 2011
Pedj Bojic of the Mariners competes for the ball against Mark Wilson and Scott Brown of Celtic during the recent friendly. Photo: Getty Images
CENTRAL Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold remembers playing against top club sides from around the world in big Sydney and Melbourne matches.
Back then, Arnold was a frontline striker for the Socceroos and whenever a well-known club came Down Under for a pre-season tour rarely was a local team deemed good enough to play against them. It was the national side that had to do duty.
How times have changed in just over a decade.
Advertisement: Story continues below Arnold has gone from playing against the likes of Glasgow Rangers and Red Star Belgrade to coaching against clubs such as Celtic, whom his Mariners defeated 1-0 in a friendly last weekend.
''I remember those games well, against the likes of Red Star and Rangers. Back then they were big events and were important for the players and the fans to help raise the profile. But it's changed a fair bit since then, and we showed with our performance against Celtic that A-League teams can be competitive against some of these better known clubs who have a lot of history and tradition in Europe,'' Arnold said yesterday.
Twelve years ago (in July 1999) the now deceased financier Rene Rivkin promoted a tour by Manchester United in which an Australian eleven took on the newly crowned European champions in Melbourne and Sydney.
Now, even if United's 2011 counterparts as Euro champions, Barcelona, came here it is unlikely that Holger Osieck would be asked to pick a Socceroo team to play the Catalan masters.
The point is that the local game has made big strides in the past 10 years and the number of big clubs playing pre-season friendlies here is growing all the time.
Sure, their motives might have as much to do with selling more shirts and enhancing their club's ''global brand'' but that is to be expected with the commercial behemoth that football has become.
Celtic are in action against Perth Glory tonight in West Australia before Wednesday evening's meeting with Melbourne Victory, and Arnold believes that The Bhoys' latest tour shows how much the A-League has lifted in status with overseas clubs and managers.
''They are here for several weeks and are playing three games. But this is a serious tour for them. When they get back to Glasgow it's barely 10 days before their competitive season starts so they are not messing around here. This is their main preparation, and I know that they were disappointed to lose to us. You could hear that from their dressing room.''
In Arnold's view the matches remain important for similar reasons that they did 20 years ago: to give local players exposure to what is needed to play at a high European level.
''A lot of the boys in the A-League are not going to play for the Socceroos or get transfers to European clubs so these matches give them an insight into what is needed, what the levels they need to aspire to are. It's a good test for them and it's also good for fans to see that maybe our league is not that far behind as some might have you believe.''
Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat, mindful of the fact that his side has only just gone into pre-season training, is anxious that his club's supporters don't benchmark the new-look team on one performance against the Scottish powerhouses.
''You can't use these games for that. We have only just started training again, they are in pre-season and have been travelling across the country so I hope no one will read too much into the result,'' he said.
''But having said that I think these matches can be very good for our younger players in particular. And also our fans, especially against a team like Celtic who will have a lot of support here. It should be a great atmosphere and a learning experience.''
Celtic have been to Australia twice in recent years and are Victory's third high-profile opponent after Juventus and Fulham, both of whom posted victories.
Other clubs to have toured here include Everton and Wolves, Glasgow Rangers and Blackburn Rovers. The crowds for these games have not always met expectations - often because the European teams leave many of their big name players behind - but that is not expected to be an issue on Wednesday evening. Celtic is one of the biggest ''brands'' in the world game with a long and successful history in the Scottish game and at European level.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/aleague-rises-to-the-challenge-20110708-1h6vh.html#ixzz1RYvZUzl1
Michael Lynch of The AGE
July 9, 2011
CENTRAL Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold remembers playing against top club sides from around the world in big Sydney and Melbourne matches.
Back then, Arnold was a frontline striker for the Socceroos and whenever a well-known club came Down Under for a pre-season tour rarely was a local team deemed good enough to play against them. It was the national side that had to do duty.
How times have changed in just over a decade.
Advertisement: Story continues below Arnold has gone from playing against the likes of Glasgow Rangers and Red Star Belgrade to coaching against clubs such as Celtic, whom his Mariners defeated 1-0 in a friendly last weekend.
''I remember those games well, against the likes of Red Star and Rangers. Back then they were big events and were important for the players and the fans to help raise the profile. But it's changed a fair bit since then, and we showed with our performance against Celtic that A-League teams can be competitive against some of these better known clubs who have a lot of history and tradition in Europe,'' Arnold said yesterday.
Twelve years ago (in July 1999) the now deceased financier Rene Rivkin promoted a tour by Manchester United in which an Australian eleven took on the newly crowned European champions in Melbourne and Sydney.
Now, even if United's 2011 counterparts as Euro champions, Barcelona, came here it is unlikely that Holger Osieck would be asked to pick a Socceroo team to play the Catalan masters.
The point is that the local game has made big strides in the past 10 years and the number of big clubs playing pre-season friendlies here is growing all the time.
Sure, their motives might have as much to do with selling more shirts and enhancing their club's ''global brand'' but that is to be expected with the commercial behemoth that football has become.
Celtic are in action against Perth Glory tonight in West Australia before Wednesday evening's meeting with Melbourne Victory, and Arnold believes that The Bhoys' latest tour shows how much the A-League has lifted in status with overseas clubs and managers.
''They are here for several weeks and are playing three games. But this is a serious tour for them. When they get back to Glasgow it's barely 10 days before their competitive season starts so they are not messing around here. This is their main preparation, and I know that they were disappointed to lose to us. You could hear that from their dressing room.''
In Arnold's view the matches remain important for similar reasons that they did 20 years ago: to give local players exposure to what is needed to play at a high European level.
''A lot of the boys in the A-League are not going to play for the Socceroos or get transfers to European clubs so these matches give them an insight into what is needed, what the levels they need to aspire to are. It's a good test for them and it's also good for fans to see that maybe our league is not that far behind as some might have you believe.''
Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat, mindful of the fact that his side has only just gone into pre-season training, is anxious that his club's supporters don't benchmark the new-look team on one performance against the Scottish powerhouses.
''You can't use these games for that. We have only just started training again, they are in pre-season and have been travelling across the country so I hope no one will read too much into the result,'' he said.
''But having said that I think these matches can be very good for our younger players in particular. And also our fans, especially against a team like Celtic who will have a lot of support here. It should be a great atmosphere and a learning experience.''
Celtic have been to Australia twice in recent years and are Victory's third high-profile opponent after Juventus and Fulham, both of whom posted victories.
Other clubs to have toured here include Everton and Wolves, Glasgow Rangers and Blackburn Rovers. The crowds for these games have not always met expectations - often because the European teams leave many of their big name players behind - but that is not expected to be an issue on Wednesday evening. Celtic is one of the biggest ''brands'' in the world game with a long and successful history in the Scottish game and at European level.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/aleague-rises-to-the-challenge-20110708-1h6vh.html#ixzz1RYvZUzl1
