Asian football

[josephb88]

For discussion of football in Asia etc.

 

[josephb88]

Well, the A-League season ended a while ago. Melbourne Victory were perhaps the strongest team on paper to begin with, considering they signed our Bes (Berisha), and they made sure they had the players to contribute, and they provided what was needed throughout the season. I enjoyed watching Adelaide and Wellington this season and I look forward to watching their style develop next season. I'm a little bitter considering Victory sort of feigned a penalty against our sort of reserve team in one of the last games that pretty much gifted them the title, but they do have a good team and I can see them doing well in the champions league next season considering the schedule that doesn't now include the Asian Cup. Hopefully, Australia will become a power in Asian football, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

 

[josephb88]

I've got a bit of time off now, so I'm hoping to watch a bit of the J and K leagues while I can. The recent post season friendlies in Australia were unusual. Tottenham looked alright but perhaps could've won more convincingly if more of their players were on target more often. Chelsea were fairly relaxed and I don't think they wanted too much more than a clean sheet, a goal or two and a win. They got it, anyway, since they're comfortable doing that against pretty much anyone. Adelaide lost 3-2 to Villarreal, but they didn't seem to turn up against Brisbane so we won 3-0 with a couple of decent goals from a decent young player who I'm starting to become a fan of. I know these friendlies don't mean much, but it's nice to see A-League teams playing these games with big attendances. I'm fairly sure the attendance was close to 84,000 for the Sydney vs Chelsea game, which is about double Stamford Bridge.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Besart Berisha? I remember watching him play for Albania under 21's against England about 10 years ago ... Burnley signed him shortly after ... didn't know he ended up in Aus mind...

 

[josephb88]

Yes, Besart Berisha. He's probably the best centre forward here at the moment. He never had too much luck until he came here by the looks of it. He can score goals here, but I don't believe he could do it at championship level. Andy Keogh did well for Perth last season and Shane Smeltz is second top goal scorer of all time here and the only place he scored as freely for before was AFC Wimbledon in the Isthmian League. It seems a little difficult to tell the relative quality of football here. Some players certainly are of a decent standard, but I doubt a lot would cut it or even be given the chance in English football. The salary cap helps there.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Andy Keogh was alright, he seems to work hard but his ability was lacking at times. He got a lot of flack from sections of our fanbase but I appreciated he always put the effort in.

Also I see Kevin Muscat is a manager over there now. I would be curious to see how he'd do if he came back to this country. I think he's broken a leg of a player from nearly every club in the football league

 

[josephb88]

I sort of despise Kevin Muscat. I'm not sure why, really. He's an easy target, I suppose, especially since he tried to break so many limbs. Especially here when he had more talent than the opposition but went in like mad anyway. I don't know what he does as a manager or coach, but he still doesn't come across as overly likeable from what I've seen. I don't doubt his ability to win the league here, but I'm not yet convinced if it's just through him having the best team and best resources or if he's actually got the ability to get the best out of his team. If he does well in the a league or champions league this season, I'll probably reassess and admit that he has ability that I didn't quite believe in, but if he fails that, I don't see him going too much further.

 

[josephb88]

I've plainly not bothered watching any other Asian domestic football so far with all the other international men's and women's tournaments going on recently and other things taking up my time. I'll probably get back into it when the champions league comes back. I'm hoping Jeonbuk will win as it stands. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it'll become clear when I watch them play.

 

[josephb88]

Unfortunately, I've not had the time or will to properly follow football recently. I went to see Lions FC play in the FFA cup recently, which was great, but the ownership situation at the Roar has left me quite underwhelmed, Whenever it's sorted, I'm sure I'll be live streaming every match of every tournament, but it's hard to fully motivate yourself when all of your favoured clubs are doing poorly. It's a learning curve I probably need to be introduced to being a primarily Rotherham supporter, but not one I'm used to just yet. It is very close to the quarter finals in the asian champions league, which is something to look forward to and a tournament I probably will watch a few matches in, so I'll be back then. Hopefully Jeonbuk win still. I'll see if I can find a reason why in the next week or two.