Did Ifill say this recently? No way were the weaker A League teams League 1 standard last year. Not even close.
Big Pete 65
Watched the Sydney v Wrexham game on the Duke channel last night and their game vs. Victory last week. They look about the level of an A-League side. Which is what Paul Ifill has said in the past: according to him, A-League is about bottom half Championship, top half League One level. Wrexham will definitely struggle in the Championship with their current modest squad, unless they make some decent signings before the transfer window closes.
What evidence... because I don't recall us playing too many league 1 teams to be honest. I do know that when teams or Aussie here have played these types of games against bigger teams we have generally been competative (with both sides often in preseason or an A League All Stars Team with a weeks training together behind them).
I think the A League would generally sit around the top of League 1 and bottom of the Championship.
I think sometimes the A League is see as a weaker league also because it is a comp set up to promote youth. 10 years ago the youth coming through was a little meh, but now, it's actually quite a high quality as seen by the number of kids getting picked up elsewhere at decent teams, having been in academies for 5 - 10 years already. This is also reflected in the sharp increase in fees the A League is now demanding for players.
to compare.... Phoenix v LA Galaxy 31,853 Phoenix v Newcaslte United (and Sydney v West Ham) 30,968 Phoenix v West Ham in Auckland 19,183 Phoenix v Boca 11,751 Phoenix v Beijing 2,613
"Wrexham were hoping to announce the signing while in New Zealand, though it appears unlikely Cacace will be making a surprise appearance at the game."
Wrexham are determined to finish their pre-season tour on a high after suffering a surprise 2-1 defeat to a youthful Sydney FC team on Tuesday.
The Phoenix team they meet on Saturday could be even younger with only 12 first team players available for selection due to the timing of the fixture.
The Phoenix reported back for pre-season less than three weeks ago, are missing a handful of players due to injury, most notably senior players Alex Rufer, Tim Payne and Paulo Retre, and are still three or four signings away from completing their roster.
The way the quality of the A league top half has been maintained despite all the disruptions has been amazing.
I think the league has got better than it was historically, but the sprinkling of amazing talent is less and tactics themselves have become more focused on coordination of defense over care free attacking. See the finals series. Victory and Auckland were based on their defense. City had a tough, tough midfield press. There’s not the space in the midfield that there used to be and fewer bangers from distance. There’s no Villa or del Piero. Or Berisha or Broich that matter. The best players are midfielders, defenders or keepers. There’s not a surfeit of fast dribblers with a killer shot.
As to how those teams would measure up it’s hard to say. But there have been fewer star players staying in the A league. The Irankundas and so on tend to leave faster, but we haven’t seen an Aaron Mooy for a while. So perhaps tactically and defensively stronger, but fewer star players.
I was in the Welsh dragon bar at lunchtime. They were filming for the next season of Welcome to Wrexham. Nobody from the team there, but Wayne who you may remember from the documentary was in.
Wrexham are determined to finish their pre-season tour on a high after suffering a surprise 2-1 defeat to a youthful Sydney FC team on Tuesday.
The Phoenix team they meet on Saturday could be even younger with only 12 first team players available for selection due to the timing of the fixture.
The Phoenix reported back for pre-season less than three weeks ago, are missing a handful of players due to injury, most notably senior players Alex Rufer, Tim Payne and Paulo Retre, and are still three or four signings away from completing their roster.
Oh dear, just hoping we don't get completely destroyed then...
Did Ifill say this recently? No way were the weaker A League teams League 1 standard last year. Not even close.
Big Pete 65
Watched the Sydney v Wrexham game on the Duke channel last night and their game vs. Victory last week. They look about the level of an A-League side. Which is what Paul Ifill has said in the past: according to him, A-League is about bottom half Championship, top half League One level. Wrexham will definitely struggle in the Championship with their current modest squad, unless they make some decent signings before the transfer window closes.
Probably it's been more a general line from visiting clubs and import English players that the A-League is mid to upper League One, bottom Championship. I'd say the best A-League clubs are roughly equivalent to the top half League One. I don't rate this Wrexham side at all and they will struggle in the Championship.. James McLean is a decent player with EPL and Championship experience but is a bit past-it at 36 Ryan Hardie is an ok goal-scorer at Championship level and his two seasons with Plymouth at that level makes him one of the few players in the squad with any experience above League One level. Ifill late in his first season at the Nix said that the A-League is League One standard: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/football/wellington-phoenix/imy-life-in-sporti-paul-ifill/EVQOW6M66SL5POTNSFMXA7SAKM/ How does the A-League compare to the English leagues? I would say roughly on a par with League One. Because this league is so young, most teams have a mixed bunch of players. At the Phoenix, if Costa Barbarouses and Marco Rojas had gone to England when they were 14 or 15 they would be on the books of a Premier League team. Both have got things you can't coach, especially speed. There are a few others like that - Tommy Oar from Brisbane and Mathew Leckie at Adelaide. Jon McKain and Andrew Durante could easily play in the English Championship division - they are two of the best centre halves I've played with and very comfortable on the ball. and here: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/phoenix-ace-ifill-finds-a-league-serves-up-a-variety-in-terms-of-talent-20090911-ge837v.html After playing five games for the Nix: "The 29-year-old said he had rarely played in a league in which the player quality could vary so much between individuals within each team. ''I would say that overall the standard is a bit like League One, but you have some players who could easily play in the Championship, maybe even the Premiership, and others who would be at League Two or the Conference. I suppose it's because the league is still quite new after only five years and is still sorting out its level. It will take more time. " https://www.theroar.com.au/2009/10/27/how-ifill-came-to-light-phoenixs-rise/
Ifill believes the style of football adopted by the Phoenix is more suited to his talents and has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the A-League. “It helps that there is not promotion or relegation here, in England it is so results-orientated that teams will just and kick-and-rush to get into the Premiership. “We try and play the right style of football and sometimes it doesn’t always work, but I would rather than just lumping it up front.” I seem to remember him at some later stage saying it was top half League One, bottom half Championship. SOME VARIOUS OPINIONS BASED ON EXPERIENCE OF HOW THE A-LEAGUE COMPARES: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/where-does-the-aleague-fit-in-among-the-worlds-leagues-20150925-gjunn9.html and here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Aleague/comments/1d1iyez/how_well_does_the_aleague_compare_to_other_leagues/
