Australian football needs to address its youth development policy if it is to compete with international rivals, says former Socceroos great Alex Tobin.

While the three seasons of the A-League has produced its sprinkle of young stars, Tobin laments the lack of structured coaching at the grassroots level, and fears for the sport’s future.

Tobin, currently the head of Central Coast Mariners’ youth development, says: “Your average parent for the under sixes doesn’t come from a soccer background, but one of them will be the coach. Since they themselves don’t have too much knowledge on the game, the early coaching that the kids receive will not be good. In Europe, the dads would have all played football themselves so they will pass on some basic techniques. We have a lot of kids coming through the system who aren’t being coached particularly well.”

Tobin stresses that instead of looking for individual wonderkids, emphasis should be placed on improving the talent pool as a whole.

“There’s a lot made of the nine year old superstar who can do everything, and in my experience that almost never happens. They say Maradona can juggle a ball when he was eight years old, well I can show you 150 kids who can juggle the ball the way he did, but that’s not to say that they’re all going to be Maradona’s.”

“I want everyone to have good coaching, but I’m more interested in making the bottom of the pyramid much bigger and having everybody coached well rather than just find the few (young superstars) and concentrate on them.

While the famed Clairfontaine Academy of Paris is the ultimate model for youth development, Tobin believes that we need not look too far from home for advice. “I went to Japan a week ago and it’s scary how much they emphasis they put on coach education. Even the youngest coaches are qualified and know what they’re doing, it’s scary.”

However, Tobin is inspired by the new youth league which the A-League has implemented prior to the start of this season, and the opportunity it would give Australian youngsters.

“The coaches were all screaming for it. We’re going to have another eighty or so players having a chance to step up to the A-League.”

Tobin argues that the most important part of a player’s life was the period where they must seriously consider turning professional, and this new youth team policy will be of great assistance.

“It’s a long path, but now that there’s a youth league, I think that it’s more likelihood that youth players, around the tender 17-19 year old stage, will at least be able to go through the A-League youth system.”

“Historically, young players try to go overseas (for trials with foreign clubs) as early as possible, but the reality of it is that 99 percent of the time they come back unsuccessful. Hopefully this system will get them to stay here and play here instead of being one of those Australians who are scratching a living playing fourth division football in England.”

While the squad is looking very exciting, the most intriguing signing must be that of Culina, as it represents something much more than just a marquee player. His homecoming is a big step towards building a better league. The fact that a current Socceroo first team member chose to pass up on the overseas paycheque for the A-League is a significant coup, not only by Gold Coast but by the league in general.

His return becomes a symbol for other Socceroos and high profile players that the A-League is growing. One of the main concerns for Aussies abroad is the perceived weakness in our league and how this places their Socceroo status in jeopardy if they chose to come home. However, Pim Verbeek lent his support behind the move, publically stating that Culina’s spot in the national side is safe. If anything, Culina’s status now as the biggest name in the A-League will enhance his position within the green and gold.

To build a better league, we naturally need more quality players, and the likes of Culina, Craig Moore, and to a lesser extent John Aloisi (back off, his return was initially met with great enthusiasm!) choosing to play at home is an encouraging sign. It shows the public that we’re not just a breeding ground for foreign clubs to poach our players from, that it’s not necessarily a one way street for quality players. Importantly, it also shows youngsters that the A-League is worth playing in, and that you don’t need to go abroad to get a career in football.

Traditionally, former greats will come home at the end of their careers and slug it out for a season or two living off their reputation, but the fact that 28 year old Culina chose to come home in the prime of his career is a step in the right direction for football in Australia.

What do you think? Was it a smart move for Culina? Did he just commit career suicide by signing with Gold Coast? Who are the other Socceroos you see coming home in the near future?

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers:

Mark Schwarzer, Brad Jones, Ante Covic, Michael Petkovic

Defenders:

Michael Beauchamp, Scott Chipperfield, Chris Coyne, Mark Milligan, Lucas Neill, Jade North, Matthew Spiranovic, Shane Stefanutto, Luke Wilkshire

Midfielders:

Mark Bresciano, David Carney, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia, Vinny Vincenzo Grella, Mile Sterjovski, Carl Valeri, Harry Kewell, Jacob Burns

Strikers:

Bruce Djite, Brett Holman, Joshua Kennedy, Scott Mcdonald

It looks like a fairly promising squad, with a few (relatively) new faces, some of whom I’d like to see get a run out, others that I’m less sure of (not to name any names, like Brett Holman). Troisi misses out, but he is clubless, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Carle misses out; we know not how or why.

What sort of squads would people like to see used? I’ve always been a fan of the 4-3-3, so I’d be hoping for something like this:

- – - – - – - – - Schwarzer – - – - – - – - – - -
Wilkshire – Neill – Spiranovic – Chipperfield
- – - – - – - – - -Grella – - – - – - – - – - – - –
- – - – - -Bresciano – Sterjovski- – - – - – - -
- – - Emerton – - McDonald – - Kewell – - -

Although Emerton’s ability as a wing forward could be dubious; you could also play him as a full back instead of Wilkshire and put Sterjovski on the right, bringing Culina into the midfield.

Another interesting possibility would be the 3-5-2, which would allow us to unload bring out all of our firepower at once:

- – - – - – - – - Schwarzer – - – - – - – - – - -
- – - – - Spiranovic – Neill – Coyne – - – - –
- – - – - – - – - -Grella – - – - – - – - – - – - –
Emerton – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – Kewell
- – - – - Culina – - – - – Bresciano – - – - – -
- – - – - – McDonald – Kennedy- – - – - – - -

And yes, you read that right: I would like to see Spiranovic starting for Australia. I thought he was sensational at the Olympics. I also like Kewell on the left better than in the middle. Word is, incidentally, that McDonald probably won’t play against the Netherlands but may be available for the Uzbekistan game.

Obviously, with a squad like this we have a lot of options. Anyone have a particular team they’d like to see? Players they really want to see in either game?

Australia’s goals were scored by Mile Sterjovski, who chipped the oncoming South African keeper after receiving a lobbed ball over the defence from Grella, and Josh Kennedy with a header from a Bresciano free kick; which means that Scott McDonald still hasn’t hit the goalscoring form we’d all love him to for Australia. The first-half lineup sounds pretty strong:

—————Schwarzer—————–
Wilkshire – Neill – Coyne – Chipperfield
———Grella——-Culina?————-
–Sterjovski—————–Bresciano–
———McDonald—Kennedy———–

I haven’t been able to tell who the other midfielder is – Culina is my best guess, but I have no evidence. Anyhow, at half time Neill was replaced by Milligan, Chipperfield by Carney and McDonald by Brett Holman. At this point South Africa started to make a comeback. Later in the second half, Grella was replaced by Valeri and Sterjovski by the newcomer, Hull City winger Richard Garcia. Eventually, Bruce Djite replaced Kennedy, so that our final lineup looked something like this:

—————Schwarzer——————
Wilkshire — Milligan — Coyne — Carney
———Valeri——–Culina?————-
–Garcia———————–Bresciano–
———-Holman——Djite—————

Without seeing the match I can’t exactly give a qualified opinion on how we played, but I think it’s good for all of these players to get some match time for the national team in the buildup to our qualifiers coming up, especially since Verbeek hasn’t sounded all that impressed with the A-league thus far.

Myself, I would have liked to see Spiranovic play; I think he earned it at the Olympics.

Anyone have any thoughts on the friendly or the upcoming qualifying group?

[edit] Daniel from the A-league Offside has posted a video of the highlights on his review of the match if you’re interested.

After numerous rounds of speculation about the Australian World Cup captain’s future, Viduka has reportedly signed a deal with Newcastle United. Speculation arose since the striker’s contract ended at the Riverside this season. He will now join Sam Allardyce’s men as a free agent. According to Fox Sports News, Newcastle’s close proximity to Viduka’s Yorkshire home prompted him to sign a deal with the Magpies, ahead of other high profile English and Italian clubs. Newcastle, having an injury depleted season will have many attacking options available next season. Viduka might have to battle it out with Obafemi Martins in order to partner Michael Owen up front, although, rumour has it Owen himself might be going to Arsenal. This will be a relief to Socceroos fans, as ‘Dukes’ can now focus on the all important Asian Cup.