Lewis and Sail could gave been those type of ‘club legends’ but they choose to leave. Both coincidentally with partners not committed to living in Welly.
Was Daniel any better than Sasse. Is it better to have Academy kids coming through rather than Aussie journeyman like Manny and Vinny. As I think Doloras said nostalgia is a dangerous beast.
Sure, our academy and youth is now a focus and launching careers a plan.
But you rather undercut it by the Daniel/Sasse comparison. Yes, Daniel was clearly better!
We came back at Melbourne Victory with belief and desire in that first ever game. Daniel scored and was highly influential in grabbing a late draw against one of the top sides of that era.
I think Payne and Ball could have had better seasons and if they had, they definitely could have played a decisive leadership role in the team. As it stands, Payne’s made great tackles, but also notable mistakes and Ball was unable to buy a goal after hitting the post 3 times in a few seconds.
Sure, our academy and youth is now a focus and launching careers a plan.
But you rather undercut it by the Daniel/Sasse comparison. Yes, Daniel was clearly better!
We came back at Melbourne Victory with belief and desire in that first ever game. Daniel scored and was highly influential in grabbing a late draw against one of the top sides of that era.
I think Payne and Ball could have had better seasons and if they had, they definitely could have played a decisive leadership role in the team. As it stands, Payne’s made great tackles, but also notable mistakes and Ball was unable to buy a goal after hitting the post 3 times in a few seconds.
So I have a perspective of not finding this forum until just recently. I've watched the Nix for a fair while too - since about 2009. I also haven't interacted with many fans of the Nix - Tauranga just hates them I think (full of old rugby tragics).
So yeah I saw the last 2 years or so of Daniel's career at the nix. I thought he was pretty average to be honest and have no idea why people rate him so highly. Maybe not quite as bad as Sasse at the start but not much better at all than Sasse at the end of the season.
If Sasse stayed on he would have been better than Daniel was in my mind.
My dim memories of Daniel is he was passionate for the club and so a fan favourite. But really no better than Sasse. For all it's current faults compared to the early glory years the quality in the ALM has certainly risen. I'm not sure a Lia would ever be an A League player now.
Significant difference now is that guys like Waine may spend 8 years at the Nix, but 4 of those years are in the Academy team, and then they are off to Europe at 24. They are still passionate Nix players, and at the club a long time, just not as much time in the first team as say a Ben Sigmund who came through a different bygone pathway.
Daniel was a fan favorite because he was likeable, passionate for the club, and scored our first goal. But an example of his time for us was his 100th game was 20 seconds off the bench to waste some time. He wasn't a starter for most of his time here and wasn't really worth an import slot.
Daniel had exquisite touch and football nous. And when the coach wanted him to play for twenty seconds, he played for twenty seconds.
He wanted to be at the club. It wasn’t a steppingstone for him. He played with an enormous amount of awareness of what was going on around him. Only Uli that I can think of immediately has had that kind of awareness for us.
I’m sick of playing the woulda coulda shoulda game. Sasse didn’t show up ready and struggled to adapt. He wanted to play football differently, but couldn’t adapt his game enough to dominate a game the way Uffie would have liked. Maybe he would have kicked on.
The way Daniel was aware on the pitch, he rewarded the fans for showing up. He was a player people wanted to see: Daniel, Smeltz, Ifill, Burns, Krishna, Taylor, Uli, Hemed, Zawada. Kraev? Lewis? Rojas. He respected he club and fans.
Maybe that was Terry money, but it also seemed a genuine thing too.
As well you have to consider we had the pick of AW professional players for a long time. A lot of the talent that is spread over US and Europe now came home to get the Nix going. Our imports were a mixed bag, but our home grown players, at least initially, were often good enough to have been imports in other teams.
Now we’re a team of imports and youth development, but Toto, Chen, Gao, Tony flippin back up keeper Warner, Sanchez, Cleberson… and we’re talking early internet video and smartphone age. There wasn’t always great scouting video available. An import slot didn’t mean a Taylor or an Ifill each time.
Daniel was still there because he’d earned the respect for him to be allowed to leave at a pace we might not tolerate today.
My dim memories of Daniel is he was passionate for the club and so a fan favourite. But really no better than Sasse. For all it's current faults compared to the early glory years the quality in the ALM has certainly risen. I'm not sure a Lia would ever be an A League player now.
Significant difference now is that guys like Waine may spend 8 years at the Nix, but 4 of those years are in the Academy team, and then they are off to Europe at 24. They are still passionate Nix players, and at the club a long time, just not as much time in the first team as say a Ben Sigmund who came through a different bygone pathway.
Waine is a Nix man. But we also need a few Siggies, or Browns who are still there when he goes or the club has little meaning for the players or fans.
Maybe it’s been tough with NZ football and now no home games. But we need a bit of pride and parochialism, a bit of home fortress, a bit of an attempt on Everest mentality every time we go to Hindmarsh…
As well you have to consider we had the pick of AW professional players for a long time. A lot of the talent that is spread over US and Europe now came home to get the Nix going. Our imports were a mixed bag, but our home grown players, at least initially, were often good enough to have been imports in other teams.
Now we’re a team of imports and youth development, but Toto, Chen, Gao, Tony flippin back up keeper Warner, Sanchez, Cleberson… and we’re talking early internet video and smartphone age. There wasn’t always great scouting video available. An import slot didn’t mean a Taylor or an Ifill each time.
Daniel was still there because he’d earned the respect for him to be allowed to leave at a pace we might not tolerate today.
Moss came from Knights/Romania, Sigmund from the National League, Bertos from lower league UK/Perth Glory, Lochhead from MLS (but as squaddie really), Brown from Newcastle Jets, Christie from Knights/Glory & Smeltz from Halifax Town. Mostly funded via the IRD??
It would be like having Crocombe/Tzanev, Kyle Adams, Musa, Deklan Wynne, Roux, Howieson & Max Mata all sign for the Nix now. Not really the cream of current NZ football talent. Though you would be getting an experienced Kiwi spine I guess.
You only know their "club men" after the fact but good candidates in recent years include Rufer, Ball, Fenton, Taylor, Payne. You can also include the likes of Ollie because of the players you listed Bertos, Daniel, Manny, Durante, Lia, all continued their professional careers outside of the nix (most turning out for other a league clubs). Only Ifill (through injury), Brown, and Greenacre actually retired here.
I think you're looking at those teams through the lens of nostalgia and we've got quite a lot of players who are committed to the club. Maybe even more than back then, some of these players actually grew up fans then came up through the academy, the club has been part of their lives their whole lives.
A player like Rufer and before him Fenton might play his entire career at the one club.
'lens of nostalgia'. what a load of rubbish.
and also a patronising may to dismiss someone's opinion.
Lewis and Sail could gave been those type of ‘club legends’ but they choose to leave. Both coincidentally with partners not committed to living in Welly.
Was Daniel any better than Sasse. Is it better to have Academy kids coming through rather than Aussie journeyman like Manny and Vinny. As I think Doloras said nostalgia is a dangerous beast.
Ball, Rufer and Payne are the glue currently
yes, daniel was a lot better than sasse (said with no lenses)
vince lia arrived a-league ready. muscat took a while to tune up, but becamne one of our best players. i don't have any issue with them and i'm not sure why they have been comnpared to academy grads here.
i never liked our over reliance on australian nobodys at the expense of young locals and herbert's insistence that the NZFC plyers were not good enough. once again, no lenses in
Watched that classic Nix v CCM they they put up online.
We’re really missing some club men: Brown, Ifill, Greenacre, Daniel, Manny, Leo (?)and basically Durante and Lia saw out their careers with the club.
I know there’s been a pivot to a focus on youth and trying to make transfer sales, but then fans sense that loyalty and solidity at the club or its absence. Maybe David Ball is an attempt and Taylor retired after he left us. But it’s a big difference to the early years imo and perhaps some of the glue that was missing or caused a shock at Oli and Lewis leaving and Elliot having his contract offer withdrawn. A different league perhaps, but none of these guys were guys we thought would turn out for other A league clubs.
nice point, well made
we had a consistent core for a good period of time. this core had several traits that fit well in to a typical 'club stalwart' description
- longevity at the club - age of the player - passion - committed style of play. a lot of these guys were grafters and hard in the tackle - character. we had it in spades
youth players are naturally quite a different proposition
I went to a VUC verus Nix game at Docklands in about 2012. The VUC fans (admittedly not the most humble types) were making fun of us having Lia & Manny. In their eyes they were nobodies no better than the NPL.
The ALM has moved on, I'm not sure that Lia especially would be good enough today for the league. You could agrue that grafting guys like those two, would just be blocking the pathway for the best Weenix grads. If you roll out that same style of team from the early days, there is no starting spots for young Kiwis (it's why Rojas & Barba moved on quickly). The days of Terry robbing the IRD are over. The current owners are hopefully tax compliant, so selling young Kiwis is one way of plugging the cashflow hole.
Yipe there is still room for experienced, older club stalwarts/hard men, but you can't play 11 at once. And if the likes of Lewis & Sail, want to move elsewhere for a pay rise and to presumably be with their partners not sure Nix can do much about it. Anyway Chiefy is reportedly going to trial some domestic league players. Someone like Francis de Vries could end up at the Nix until it's over.
You only know their "club men" after the fact but good candidates in recent years include Rufer, Ball, Fenton, Taylor, Payne. You can also include the likes of Ollie because of the players you listed Bertos, Daniel, Manny, Durante, Lia, all continued their professional careers outside of the nix (most turning out for other a league clubs). Only Ifill (through injury), Brown, and Greenacre actually retired here.
I think you're looking at those teams through the lens of nostalgia and we've got quite a lot of players who are committed to the club. Maybe even more than back then, some of these players actually grew up fans then came up through the academy, the club has been part of their lives their whole lives.
A player like Rufer and before him Fenton might play his entire career at the one club.
'lens of nostalgia'. what a load of rubbish.
and also a patronising may to dismiss someone's opinion.
his opinion was there were a bunch of club men that you knew were never going to play for other a league clubs, except half of them did play for other a league clubs. So yes, there is some sort of bias in that opinion, in my opinion.
I went to a VUC verus Nix game at Docklands in about 2012. The VUC fans (admittedly not the most humble types) were making fun of us having Lia & Manny. In their eyes they were nobodies no better than the NPL.
The ALM has moved on, I'm not sure that Lia especially would be good enough today for the league. You could agrue that grafting guys like those two, would just be blocking the pathway for the best Weenix grads. If you roll out that same style of team from the early days, there is no starting spots for young Kiwis (it's why Rojas & Barba moved on quickly). The days of Terry robbing the IRD are over. The current owners are hopefully tax compliant, so selling young Kiwis is one way of plugging the cashflow hole.
Yipe there is still room for experienced, older club stalwarts/hard men, but you can't play 11 at once. And if the likes of Lewis & Sail, want to move elsewhere for a payrise and to presumably be with their partners not sure Nix can do much about it. Anyway Chiefy is reportedly going to trial some domestic league players. Someone like Francis de Vries could end up at the Nix until it's over.
every club takes the mick out of another club's players. we were weaker than the victory, with a smaller budget. of course we would have worse players. manny and vince did a certain job very well and also had limitations. remember the victory had broxham, who is very similar in many ways to our battlers.
the league is different now. slower and less physical. a hard tackler like lia may actually be quite effective at breaking up system play. when he was around he was up against similar players who also probably had a bit more technique, like grant brebner. comparing periods is never easy.
As well you have to consider we had the pick of AW professional players for a long time. A lot of the talent that is spread over US and Europe now came home to get the Nix going. Our imports were a mixed bag, but our home grown players, at least initially, were often good enough to have been imports in other teams.
Now we’re a team of imports and youth development, but Toto, Chen, Gao, Tony flippin back up keeper Warner, Sanchez, Cleberson… and we’re talking early internet video and smartphone age. There wasn’t always great scouting video available. An import slot didn’t mean a Taylor or an Ifill each time.
Daniel was still there because he’d earned the respect for him to be allowed to leave at a pace we might not tolerate today.
Moss came from Knights/Romania, Sigmund from the National League, Bertos from lower league UK/Perth Glory, Lochhead from MLS (but as squaddie really), Brown from Newcastle Jets, Christie from Knights/Glory & Smeltz from Halifax Town. Mostly funded via the IRD??
It would be like having Crocombe/Tzanev, Kyle Adams, Musa, Deklan Wynne, Roux, Howieson & Max Mata all sign for the Nix now. Not really the cream of current NZ football talent. Though you would be getting an experienced Kiwi spine I guess.
No- they were starting All Whites. They were among the best we had. Many had had US college experience.
Smeltz had burst into recognition against Wales. Bertos was an import at Perth and had a record for assists, as well as later being linked with Real Madrid (I can use straw men too!). Moss and Paston were the two main AW keepers- tbf probably quite similar to Tzanev and Crocombe. Lochy was the starting LB, again with the US college experience. A squaddie in the MLS you say- but that is better than 5 of the examples you give. That’s almost Tuiloma level. And you forgot Vaughn Coveney, at the time iirc, AW record goal scorer.
And the path was paved for a lot of future AWs by their performances in 2010, so their efforts made it easier for current NZ players to be noticed.
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
I went to a VUC verus Nix game at Docklands in about 2012. The VUC fans (admittedly not the most humble types) were making fun of us having Lia & Manny. In their eyes they were nobodies no better than the NPL.
The ALM has moved on, I'm not sure that Lia especially would be good enough today for the league. You could agrue that grafting guys like those two, would just be blocking the pathway for the best Weenix grads. If you roll out that same style of team from the early days, there is no starting spots for young Kiwis (it's why Rojas & Barba moved on quickly). The days of Terry robbing the IRD are over. The current owners are hopefully tax compliant, so selling young Kiwis is one way of plugging the cashflow hole.
Yipe there is still room for experienced, older club stalwarts/hard men, but you can't play 11 at once. And if the likes of Lewis & Sail, want to move elsewhere for a payrise and to presumably be with their partners not sure Nix can do much about it. Anyway Chiefy is reportedly going to trial some domestic league players. Someone like Francis de Vries could end up at the Nix until it's over.
every club takes the mick out of another club's players. we were weaker than the victory, with a smaller budget. of course we would have worse players. manny and vince did a certain job very well and also had limitations. remember the victory had broxham, who is very similar in many ways to our battlers.
the league is different now. slower and less physical. a hard tackler like lia may actually be quite effective at breaking up system play. when he was around he was up against similar players who also probably had a bit more technique, like grant brebner. comparing periods is never easy.
Victory had Broxham? They’re still wheeling him out of some crypt now!
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
The league has CLEARLY improved by a significant amount. It's pretty obvious really. If you can't see it then I'm starting to think its your eyes that are rose tinted.
I mean christ back in the day you could have been forgiven for thinking half of the league was playing rugby the way they were defending. The skills of the average player was so low that players like Daniel would shine.
You need only look at the blooper reels from back then, they were something else. Do you remember bloody Kevin Muscat damn near killing a guy in an attempted tackle? These days we get far less of these comical bloopers because the league is improving significantly in technical skill.
Oh and don't for a second think that I'm ragging on the old days. There was a certain uniqueness to the league before it started to improve. I thought it was uniquely kiwi/aussie and a bit scuffed, it was a fun watch with some occasionally good football. Now a days its far easier to enjoy the good football because there is a lot more of it.
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
The league has CLEARLY improved by a significant amount. It's pretty obvious really. If you can't see it then I'm starting to think its your eyes that are rose tinted.
I mean christ back in the day you could have been forgiven for thinking half of the league was playing rugby the way they were defending. The skills of the average player was so low that players like Daniel would shine.
You need only look at the blooper reels from back then, they were something else. Do you remember bloody Kevin Muscat damn near killing a guy in an attempted tackle? These days we get far less of these comical bloopers because the league is improving significantly in technical skill.
Oh and don't for a second think that I'm ragging on the old days. There was a certain uniqueness to the league before it started to improve. I thought it was uniquely kiwi/aussie and a bit scuffed, it was a fun watch with some occasionally good football. Now a days its far easier to enjoy the good football because there is a lot more of it.
So when you judge between different eras you judge how someone performed at that time, right?
I mean we started Karl Dodd! And he just kicked a guy, Segal style and didn’t get sent off. I understand that.
But within the context of the era, imo, Daniel inspired the fans and his team mates and really, really wanted to win. We scored late goals, we scored second half goals, we won post season games…
I want the club to take a half step towards that era and to really matter, to mean something. I want the players to fight to see the flabby guts of the yellow fever. I want some players who really love the club and the fans on the field, and not a team entirely of guys calculating their next move. They don’t have to have lucky head bandages, but I want to see a bit more of that spirit. CCM had it this season. I want to see a core of senior players who 100% want to be at the club next season and want to win. I’m sick of seeing the team slump 5 games out after it’s clear everyone has packed their bags.
I don’t think it’s an unfair observation that we had more players committed to long term futures with the club when Ricki was coaching. And not all cos of Terry money. Some of it was the story of the club and of the AWs emergence and a good deal of it was lead by the players as a group. There was a palpable excitement just to have and fight to keep having football.
We get bits of that with those big crowds to hate on the snakes or just see Roy in his prime…more!
Ricki never gave Daniel a licence to roam. He had one of the best left feet in the game. His crosses were on the money, not on the defenders arse like several other players have specialized in, in the last few years. Daniel could read the game, he was a favourite with fans of all ages because he was approachable, respectful but more importantly, a damn good winger/forward.
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
The league has CLEARLY improved by a significant amount. It's pretty obvious really. If you can't see it then I'm starting to think its your eyes that are rose tinted.
I mean christ back in the day you could have been forgiven for thinking half of the league was playing rugby the way they were defending. The skills of the average player was so low that players like Daniel would shine.
You need only look at the blooper reels from back then, they were something else. Do you remember bloody Kevin Muscat damn near killing a guy in an attempted tackle? These days we get far less of these comical bloopers because the league is improving significantly in technical skill.
Oh and don't for a second think that I'm ragging on the old days. There was a certain uniqueness to the league before it started to improve. I thought it was uniquely kiwi/aussie and a bit scuffed, it was a fun watch with some occasionally good football. Now a days its far easier to enjoy the good football because there is a lot more of it.
there are so many measures of quality of play that i find it hard to say if the league is better or worse.
one component would be aesthetics. globally, the game has changed from dual based to systems based play. in 2006, when the a-league started, australasian football was still a little behind the world and was heavily duals based. most midfields had two ball winners and you had nut jobs running around playing nut job football. and you had an institution (FA and the commentators) who glorified the nutters; Muscat was labelled a 'character'. 'good old Aussie battlers' like Matt Simon could get away with flith.
you often got a fast paced game with a lot of aggro. the ball was played in to the box a lot. individual chances created were often lower X-G, but the volume was higher so we got similar goal tallies. teams played narrow, often boxing up a small portion of the pitch. the ball moved quicker and central players needed to have leather heels. skillful players had to be a quicker on the ball in this environment.
the standard dropped noticeably as the season progressed and squad players got more starts. duals football exposes individual ability, weaker players can be protected in a system.
right now i think the league is still progressing towards system football. if done properly, this probably makes for a better watch, depending on what you're in to. it does reduce individual flair moments and game breaking play. if not done well it becomes dross, nothing-football pretty quickly.
system football means more consistency through the season regardless of personnel and an overall improvement in quality as teams become more cohesive units. this is one of the reasons why the massive off season is an issue for development.
Ricki never gave Daniel a licence to roam. He had one of the best left feet in the game. His crosses were on the money, not the defenders arse like several other players have specialized in in the last few years. Daniel could read the game, he was a favourite with fans of all ages because he was approachable, respectful but more importantly, a damn good winger/forward.
It is hard to compare players from a decade ago since level of competition changes. Do you judge based purely on ability or how good they were relative to competition/era. Daniel was a good player and very likeable, I remember he used to try and rev up the crowd at corners by throwing his arms up, etc. He also wanted to play for NZ but was just a little too old to get citizenship in time. From memory he played his last season in Thailand with the interestingly named Police United
One of my favorite Nix players for sure even though I don't think he would stand out these days or compare in quality to someome like DaVila. He played the game In a good spirit and was entertaining to watch (I'd put Sasse in that category too although he had a higher ratio of frustrating to quality moments).
Edit: found the original tweet in Spanish which this tweet is referencing. I think it could easily be a case where he wants to return home and they just assume home is NZ because he is a kiwi, when it could easily end up being Melbourne. Probably too early to get our hopes up
Costa Rican international Youstin Salas has started following the Nix, however he is a defensive midfielder and his contract doesn't expire until 2025 so not likely he would join us
Costa Rican international Youstin Salas has started following the Nix, however he is a defensive midfielder and just signed a new contract so not likely he would join us
His club Deportivo Saprissa team mate Kendall Waston might be a useful CB pickup however. Though he is now 35. Was on the Kiwi Football Fix with Goran last year, just prior the AWs v CR playoff.
Speaks good Ingles after several years in the MLS, including a few seasons at Vancouver with Marinovic. Big unit, who was bought on at HT in that playoff (just over 12 mths ago now) to negate Chris Wood.
Costa Rican international Youstin Salas has started following the Nix, however he is a defensive midfielder and his contract doesn't expire until 2025 so not likely he would join us
Speculation from a guy called Chiefy with a brand new account! Spicy
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
The league has CLEARLY improved by a significant amount. It's pretty obvious really. If you can't see it then I'm starting to think its your eyes that are rose tinted.
I mean christ back in the day you could have been forgiven for thinking half of the league was playing rugby the way they were defending. The skills of the average player was so low that players like Daniel would shine.
You need only look at the blooper reels from back then, they were something else. Do you remember bloody Kevin Muscat damn near killing a guy in an attempted tackle? These days we get far less of these comical bloopers because the league is improving significantly in technical skill.
Oh and don't for a second think that I'm ragging on the old days. There was a certain uniqueness to the league before it started to improve. I thought it was uniquely kiwi/aussie and a bit scuffed, it was a fun watch with some occasionally good football. Now a days its far easier to enjoy the good football because there is a lot more of it.
While I am not even an armchair expert, my own observation regarding ALM league quality improvement is based on these two factors: - slow, uneven, but overall noticeable improvement in refereeing quality (we still get howlers, from time to time, but fewer than even just five six years ago); this allows the team with better skills to prevail and not be hacked to death; - gradual improvement in quality of imports to all ALM teams; and I am not talking about the few big name ones like Del Piero or Fowler who were relatively late in their career but the presence of more numerous solid dependable performers who stayed on for at least several seasons. My list would include our own Taylor, and of course Davila, but also guys like Fornaroli, Thomas Broich, Isaias, and Diego Castro. I will argue that the quality of other players in their teams' first XI will lift either through improvement or through swift replacement.
I am not including factors like "are the game attendances falling" etc because covid, inflation etc are likely to be temporary events, while the quality of the game on the field has progressively improved in my opinion despite these events. Looking forward to others' views on this.
Finally, as an aside, for a different discussion somewhere else: I see a lot of parallels between Broich and Zawada. Broich spent a few years at Brisbane; Zawada only had a year here so far, so it may be early days to draw that comparison. Both had very promising early careers, but neither made it to their respective senior national team, yet both produced some exceptional football after arriving here while still very much in their prime. Does it mean that ALM is so poor that they were bound to shine? I for one do not think that way; it may have more to do with less pressure on their place in the team, or perhaps less grueling / shorter / season? I do not know. For some players, ALM may just be the answer, and I hope to see more of them here. Young local players will get better by being around them and we will get better value for our viewing dollar.
"Both had very promising early careers, but neither made it to their respective senior national team, yet both produced some exceptional football after arriving here while still very much in their prime"
DaVilla is another one who falls into that category.
Some seriously rose tinted glasses in here right now
If you can’t be bothered contributing or a least misrepresenting what I was saying and arguing with that, just put a pipe in your mouth and play the group sage I guess…
Ten or eleven years and not a win post season. How’s your explanation for that?
The league has CLEARLY improved by a significant amount. It's pretty obvious really. If you can't see it then I'm starting to think its your eyes that are rose tinted.
I mean christ back in the day you could have been forgiven for thinking half of the league was playing rugby the way they were defending. The skills of the average player was so low that players like Daniel would shine.
You need only look at the blooper reels from back then, they were something else. Do you remember bloody Kevin Muscat damn near killing a guy in an attempted tackle? These days we get far less of these comical bloopers because the league is improving significantly in technical skill.
Oh and don't for a second think that I'm ragging on the old days. There was a certain uniqueness to the league before it started to improve. I thought it was uniquely kiwi/aussie and a bit scuffed, it was a fun watch with some occasionally good football. Now a days its far easier to enjoy the good football because there is a lot more of it.
While I am not even an armchair expert, my own observation regarding ALM league quality improvement is based on these two factors: - slow, uneven, but overall noticeable improvement in refereeing quality (we still get howlers, from time to time, but fewer than even just five six years ago); this allows the team with better skills to prevail and not be hacked to death; - gradual improvement in quality of imports to all ALM teams; and I am not talking about the few big name ones like Del Piero or Fowler who were relatively late in their career but the presence of more numerous solid dependable performers who stayed on for at least several seasons. My list would include our own Taylor, and of course Davila, but also guys like Fornaroli, Thomas Broich, Isaias, and Diego Castro. I will argue that the quality of other players in their teams' first XI will lift either through improvement or through swift replacement.
I am not including factors like "are the game attendances falling" etc because covid, inflation etc are likely to be temporary events, while the quality of the game on the field has progressively improved in my opinion despite these events. Looking forward to others' views on this.
Finally, as an aside, for a different discussion somewhere else: I see a lot of parallels between Broich and Zawada. Broich spent a few years at Brisbane; Zawada only had a year here so far, so it may be early days to draw that comparison. Both had very promising early careers, but neither made it to their respective senior national team, yet both produced some exceptional football after arriving here while still very much in their prime. Does it mean that ALM is so poor that they were bound to shine? I for one do not think that way; it may have more to do with less pressure on their place in the team, or perhaps less grueling / shorter / season? I do not know. For some players, ALM may just be the answer, and I hope to see more of them here. Young local players will get better by being around them and we will get better value for our viewing dollar.
Also the youth in this league is improving a lot. We've sold a few kiwis overseas as well as Aussies and some are playing at quite a high level like Cacace. And other clubs too have had success with their youth too and actually playing overseas. Because before It seemed a lot more common that you'd get youth players like Amini, Brillante, DeSilva that'd get a transfer overseas but not play and come back.
Costa Rican international Youstin Salas has started following the Nix, however he is a defensive midfielder and his contract doesn't expire until 2025 so not likely he would join us
ESPN Costa Rica is linking him to us & Orlando City
