Markus Babbel continues to take aim at Australian football
Former Wanderers boss Markus Babbel has taken aim at Australian football once more, lashing the technique, the pace, the training, even the cost of playing. Nothing he could have fixed, then.
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Sacked Western Sydney coach Markus Babbel has slammed the standard of the A-League, calling it a “weak” competition.
And Babbel says Aussie players coming through aren’t as mentally tough as the likes of Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka were because those types of characters are now playing other codes here.
Babbel made the comments in German newspaper Bild and teed off on all aspects of the game in Australia from the standard of refereeing to the costs of playing the game at junior level.
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Asked about the standard of the A-League, Babbel replied: “To be honest, weak. The pace is slow, there are many technical mistakes.
“You can see a good game from time to time but that’s more of an exception.”
The decorated former Liverpool player also believes the A-League suffers from a limit on foreign players.
“We only had a certain budget, we were only allowed to have five foreign ones (players), however this also led to problems,” he said.
“The level of the league suffers from the (foreigners) regulation because the result is that there are 19, 20 Australians playing in each club who can choose their clubs.
“There are 22-year-olds who are already playing at (their) fifth club. In general, the mentality surprised me a little.
“In my (playing) time, the Australians I played with were real mentality monsters, players like Mark Schwarzer or Mark Viduka.
“Today, these characters play football (league) or rugby in Australia.
“Football is a rich sport for the elite here. The annual fee is easily $2500 so the parents are already considering whether to invest it.”
The 47-year-old also didn’t miss A-League officials.
“I was stolen eight points this season, it is incredible how bad the referees are doing here,” he complained.
“If you know our referees and see what's going on here, that's blatant.
“My mistake was that I publicly denounced it early on and then became the focus. But honestly: I did not understand until the end what they are whistling.”
NEXT CAB OFF THE RANK?
As for who will replace Babbel, wheels are turning slowly and the list of potential candidates is rumoured to be less than enchanting.
One name in the frame is Wellington boss Ufuk Talay, who has done wonders with Phoenix this season, but there is an increasing feeling that favourable results could secure interim coach Jean Paul de Marigny the job until the end of the season.
RISING STAR SNAPPED UP
The man that knocked Australia out of the 2006 World Cup is knocking on the door of 16-year old Sydney-born whiz-kid Cristian Volpato to be his agent.
After the teenager signed a three-year deal with Serie A giants Roma, we hear that Franceso Totti, whose illustrious career includes 25 seasons at Roma and 59 caps for Italy, wants to bring the Aussie under his wing.
It was revealed by A-League Confidential last week that Benevento manager and AC Milan legend Filipo Inzhagi has already identified Volpato as a top talent to represent in Europe.
GUUS SIGNS UP
The return of one icon for the Football for Fires game has been confirmed, with Guus Hiddink to coach one team in the fundraising extravaganza at ANZ Stadium on May 23.
But there’s still no word on whether Alessandro Del Piero will likewise come back to dust off his boots.
OLYROOS IMPRESS DUTCH
The success of the Olyroos in making the Olympics hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Dutch clubs thought to be watching both Wellington forward Rene Piscopo and Wanderers defender Tass Mourdoukoutas.
OLE, OLE, OLE
The expansion parade has quietened down since Western United and Macarthur FC were announced 14 months ago, but there are whispers that Spanish La Liga clubs are interested in investing in a Canberra team.
Canberra missed out on the last round of expansion but are firmly in the frame as one of the favourites for the next time the expansion train comes around.
Foreign investment could act as a bargaining chip for the bid.
SAD JOURNEY
Sydney FC will be wearing black armbands in their home match against Brisbane Roar in honour of suspended midfielder Alex Baumjohann, who will fly back to Germany after the passing of his mother this week.