Think of any big football league the world over, and there's always one or two players who sum it up perfectly. Wayne Rooney is the English Premier League. He's physical, brash, a bit arrogant, but has the quality to pull that off. His strong, hard-working, physical and yet smart-thinking (footballing) brain sums up the Premier League to a T. Likewise, look at the Spanish La Liga and you immediately think of Xavi - a man who constantly moves, looks, and passes all in a split second; a general in the heart of midfield who does not score many goals, yet is instrumental in setting up some of the best you'll ever see. His work rate and technical skill, along with his tactically astute mind, sums up what you see in the Spanish top tier.
Or does it?
You see, these representations only go so far. If you watch Wolverhampton vs Fulham, you might not see anything like what Wayne Rooney may represent. Heck, the first Manchester United match I saw in the flesh was so dour it may as well have been a Conference match on a mid-winter evening. The thing is though, the easily moulded 1-or-2 man representations of clubs, leagues, and even countries are dream fodder for your average marketing guru. Pass the EPL off as all Rooneys and Bales and you can consolidate a nice little folio of TV rights, T-shirt sales, and tickets for tourists. Make Xavi and Messi the model of La Liga and watch as people immediately have an in-depth knowledge of why the Spanish league is the best in the world, overnight.
The image of a league, or a club within that league, is evidently a powerful thing. Which makes you wonder - just who best represents the A-League? Who would grace a cover of FIFA: A-League Pro Edition? And what player would be good representation of your club and it's image?
I asked the people of the Australian 442 Forums this very question; and fans soon clamoured to tell me who the best representative of their club would be:
"Gold Coast United, Michael Thwaite. He seems the most passionate on the park and interacting with the fans and always gives 100%."
"Adelaide United, Cassio. The most passionate of our players. A true legend of the club."
The thing is, that's not quite what I was after. For all the good work these players do in the community, and for all the great qualities about them as people, I didn't necessarily think that they fit the stereotypical image of their club. For example, Real Madrid might have players that go out and serve the homeless at soup kitchens for all I know - but the stereotypical, everyday image that you and I see of this club is cashed up teams of purchased individuals. A Cristiano Ronaldo or David Beckham comes to mind. Therefore, forumite Benjo had exactly the right idea though when he said:
"Perth Glory. Mile Sterjovski. Why? Perfect representation of the team. Lots of money invested, but poor quality production."
The reason why Mile Sterjovski best represents the Glory is that his impact and performances as a marquee signing align beautifully with the performances and expectations of Perth Glory as a whole. Without meaning any disrespect to someone whose Socceroo performances I've never had an issue with, he arrived on the scene in Perth as someone expected to make an instant impact and push on towards A-League greatness. Like the Glory themselves, he has never lived up to these expectations in the national league. Seemingly affected a lot of the time by injuries and/or motivational issues, he represents perfectly the trials and tribulations faced by the Perth-based club since the league's founding. But if Sterjovski sums up Glory altogether much too well for my liking, what about the other nine A-League sides?
Adelaide United are a fairly successful club. They've gone further in Asia than anyone else, and they seem to be competitive just about every year. But just as they seem to be on the cusp of greatness, the pissants strike - and Adelaide self-destruct. Enter Bruce Djite. He was so promising in his youth, then made a bad career move and rotted away in Turkey for a while. After a terrible year or so he struck back, just like a Coolen-infused United did last year, and now he looks to be getting back to his best. But somehow, in the back of your mind, you just can't quite shake the feeling that history may repeat itself in future…
Brisbane Roar are lucky in that they enjoy a very positive image in the league at the moment - and as reigning champions, that's more than justified. For mine, the best representation of Roar is someone like Matt McKay; a player enjoying a newfound popularity and level of fame thanks to some excellent performances in a Roar shirt - so good in fact that he can now be considered a key element of the new-look Socceroos. What strikes me about McKay and Brisbane is their emphasis on team play - while a good player in his own right, there is no desire from the player to weave magical paths and trip the light fantastic on the way to scoring a brilliant solo goal. He's just as happy to pass, cross, tackle, and press in line with the overarching team strategy. To me, Roar's image is very much like this - a well-drilled champion team, rather than a team of flamboyant and overpaid champions.
Central Coast Mariners find a perfect manifestation of their image in Matthew Simon. Mocked, underestimated, and generally slagged off by some of their more glamourous competitors, the Mariners nevertheless seem to always come through with the goods. They've appeared in three Grand Finals, they've worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and they've been a hell of a lot more successful than some in the A-League. Likewise Simon finds himself derided as an unintelligent player who simply biffs his way around the park. Yet he still pops up with important goals and each year always finishes a lot higher up the scoring charts than you'd imagine. Sure, you might not think he's much to look at - but in the end he's a lot better than you give him credit for.
Gold Coast United are a tough one, with all the changes made this off-season, so I'm going to go with their new Dutch signing Peter Jungschläger. Much has been said about United's lack of crowds and their off field struggles, but really nobody has any idea what the heck Clive Palmer is doing up at that club. Nor does anyone know how a much-changed team will perform this year. Like their unknown Dutch recruit, there is a projection of some future success based on past records - but frankly like most A-League imports, until they run onto the park you have no idea if you've got a diamond or a dog turd on your hands.
Melbourne Heart can probably be encapsulated in their new signing Fred, who represents pretty much everything that can be thought of the club. They are seen as this 'proper' footballing team, a club who appreciates the 'beauty' and 'culture' of football as opposed to the 'thugs down the road'. Yet they also have this '2nd best' tag, an image of being Victory 2.0; the Melbourne Blue Castoffs. It's a tag they'll struggle to escape for a while - and something which their new signing will have to work through as well, especially with the presence of some new poster boys in the Victory stables. Can you be brilliant and a Victory reject at the same time? I guess we'll find out.
Melbourne Victory however is fairly straightforward - it's Archie Thompson. It's not because he's a good club man, or the fact that he plays an attacking role - it's because of how other people view him. In (the blue side of) Melbourne he is loved and cherished; feted as being one of the great attractions of the Australian game. Outside of the club though he is booed, taunted, and jeered within an inch of his life. Whether it be his habit of riling opposition crowds or the stupidity of a new haircut, Thompson inspires a mixture of hatred and grudging respect like few others. As much as we despise him, we've all wished at one time or another to have someone like him at the pointy end of the park. Likewise, Victory is a hated team - but in that hatred there is a grudging respect for what they have accomplished on and off the park since the founding of the A-League. Other teams such as Sydney FC may have won titles too, but off-field you must say Victory have their measure - and that is something to be admired, though perhaps not openly admitted!
Sydney FC are the Nicky Carle of the A-League. Far too much fanfare is devoted to a team which seems utterly unpredictable. It must be that you stick the the name Sydney on something and all of a sudden there is this expectation in Australian football that it must be awesome and successful - 'for the good of the game' even. Let's be fair - when Sydney and Carle are good, they can be very good - they have the trophies to prove it and they rightfully deserve most plaudits that came their way. But both can be incredibly overhyped too, and as a result when they have a poor season they are brought down to earth very quickly by ever-patient detractors. You often think, if Carle and Sydney were treated like any other club or player, they'd be considered extremely successful. But alas this is Sydney and this is Nicky Carle - and they need to be so much more than anyone else.. for whatever reason that may be.
Wellington Phoenix, being the A-League's only New Zealand team, tend to spend a bit of time being ignored by the Australian footballing public. Likewise, defender Ben Sigmund may be a Kiwi international but to most Australian audiences he is "Ben Who?". In addition, even Phoenix fans would admit he is not the most skilled player in the competition - and frankly it is hard to imagine Wellington being amongst the favourites this coming season. But just like Sigmund, they'll try their hardest - and that's all you can ask.
You may notice there is one team I've missed here - Newcastle United Jets. Now it's not that I've forgotten them - it's that I cannot for the life of me think of how to define the club, let alone a player that suits it. For years it has been a case of "you'll be paid what I think you'll be paid" for the club's stars, the impression of undervalued players who banded together and somehow won a title. Now they've been taken over by Richie Rich and are practically giving out memberships. What's going on there? And how does someone find a player to represent that? Help!
So now that we've had a look at the image of the teams, let's turn our attention to the league itself. We've already discussed the debatable but nevertheless widely identifiable images of La Liga and the English Premier League; so what can we make of the A-League? Well it's pretty young in terms of its existence, shows a lot of potential but also displays some rather dire stuff at times, so perhaps a young and raw player would be a good representation? Seems odd to imagine a Scott Neville or Ben Kantarovski on the Australian cover of the next FIFA game, doesn't it? But here's the thing - it's hard enough for me to identify players representative of their clubs at this stage, so how on earth do you manage to do so for a league, especially one as young as ours? Frankly, I can't - and I spent a lot of time thinking over it.
So I'll throw it out there - who best represents the perceived images of each of the A-League clubs? And what about the A-League as a whole - how do you class the competition itself, and who best sums it up? I'd be very interested to know.
