“Everybody runs a lot and sometimes too much…the difference is to run in the right way, not just run.” – Alessandro Del Piero on the A-League
At the risk of sounding like an arrogant, European football purist, it’s an absolute joy to watch Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero showcase his quality on Australian shores. The difference between him and the rest of the league is glaringly obvious, not to say that there aren’t any good Australian players in the A-League, Jason Culina and Brett Emerton are just two of many, but Del Piero is simply on another planet. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, Del Piero developed his game in Italy, one of world football’s powerhouses. Australia on the other hand is a developing football nation, an up and comer, and this is what makes signings such as Del Piero such an exciting opportunity for not just the A-League, but Australian football as a whole. The players at Del Piero’s new club, Sydney FC, particularly the younger players have a chance to learn from Del Piero and improve their technique as a result of playing and training with him. German play-maker Thomas Broich arrived at Brisbane Roar FC in 2010 from German side FC Nuremberg and immediately became a catalyst for Brisbane Roar’s remarkable recent success and Brisbane’s new fluid, passing, attacking football style. Not to say Broich did it all himself, the whole Brisbane team and coaching staff have been incredible, but Broich has undoubtedly helped his teammates improve. With Broich dictating things in midfield, Brisbane have arguably revolutionised the A-League, leaving records in their wake and winning back to back premierships. They are the benchmark for the rest of the competition, and now it falls to Del Piero and Sydney to raise the bar once again. Del Piero is keen enough, saying on his arrival that “I want to continue my career in a new part of the world where I can make a major contribution and help grow the game I love.”
Del Piero, here to “help grow the game I love”
Having watched Sydney FC’s opening two games of the new A-League season, a dismal 2-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix and an entertaining 3-2 loss to Newcastle Jets, Del Piero’s quality has already been evident. Everyone has been banging on about the free kick he scored against Newcastle, while it was a great goal it’s more the little things that he has done that have caught my eye. I’m talking about the composure he shows on the ball, he doesn’t panic or just kick it away in a rush like his teammates have been doing. He looks up, finds an option and goes there, if there’s no option he’ll use his body and ball control to shield the ball from his opponent until support arrives. It sounds terribly simple but in the first two weeks of the A-League, Brisbane Roar aside, it’s been a rarity. Having watched my team Melbourne Victory dither about with the ball in defense and struggle to string a purposeful series of passes together, seeing Del Piero’s ability to keep the ball under pressure, bellissimo. There’s nothing worse for the development of the A-League than panicky players giving life to that old AFL mentality of ‘just boot it!’, and Australian teams get found out when playing in the Asian Champions League by technically superior teams from other developing football nations such as Japan. There’s nothing wrong with passing the ball in the air or clearing it into the stands when necessary, but there is definitely something wrong with players needlessly booting the ball away aimlessly. As legendary manager Brian Clough once said on the importance of passing to your teammate’s feet, “If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there.”
‘Ol Big head’, Brian Clough understood the importance of passing to feet
As my coach from this season told the team, ‘you treat the ball like your girlfriend, you take care of it and you don’t let anyone else take it away from you’, the ball that is. If the better teams in modern football have one thing in common, it’s the ability to keep the ball for extended periods of time and dictate the pace of the game, and for Australian clubs to be a force in Asia, we need to start doing this. For that reason I sincerely hope Sydney FC’s players and all A-League players use Del Piero’s Australian adventure as a learning opportunity, we need more players with his football brain. Right now in the A-League there’s too much footy being played and not enough football.
P.S Check out Del Piero’s recent interview with SBS on his initial thoughts about the A-League
Sources:
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video/2288671685/Alessandro-Del-Piero-part-1
http://www.brianclough.com/new_page_2.htm
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/250078,buongiorno-oz-del-piero-signs—official.aspx
MelbourneBlue 