Duva’s XI: The 2019-2020 A-League award winners, and Women’s World Cup update
It didn’t quite get to the finish line (yet...) but thanks to a Mexican superstar, a rookie coach and an 18-year-old rising star, the A-League season was still one for the ages. Here is the Duva XI ode to the 2019-20 season.
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Aussie football faces an uncertain future but unlike the winter sporting codes, the bulk of the A-League season has been played.
My award winners for the almost-completed 2019-20 campaign kicks off a Duva’s XI dominated by football’s coronavirus fallout.
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1 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Wellington’s artistic attacker Ulises Davilla is odds on to win the Johnny Warren medal.
Throw the former Chelsea man into any A-League side, and they shoot a few spots up the table.
The Mexican’s bag of tricks has bamboozled opponents and propelled Phoenix to unlikely title challengers, with 11 goals and five assists in 20 games.
2 COACH OF THE YEAR
Rookie A-League coach Ufuk Talay. Tipped by many to win the wooden spoon after the fifth-place team was ripped apart – Warren medallist and golden boot winner Roy Krishna, keeper of the year Filip Kurto and fellow stars David Williams, Sarpreet Singh and Andrew Durante headlining the exits.
Talay, an ex-Australian youth coach and Sydney FC assistant, steadied the ship after a slow start, and his superb recruiting, tactical acumen and man-management has blended into a potent concoction.
Sydney FC’s Steve Corica gets an honourable mention, for another barnstorming season.
3 YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Wily Spanish midfielder Isaias Sanchez left a gaping hole in Adelaide United’s midfield, but this teenager has filled it with aplomb.
Louis D’Arrigo has made 19 starts, which includes 17 full games, playing all bar 40 of those 1710 minutes.
Extraordinary consistency for an 18-year-old who’d played just four senior minutes prior.
Phoenix’s Cameron Devlin is a close second, while special praise to excitement machines, the Toure brothers – Al Hassan and Mohamed.
4 TRANSFER SUPER WINDOW?
Barcelona’s signing of “the new Cristiano Ronaldo”, Portuguese youth international attacker Francisco Trincao is among those under a coronavirus cloud.
A radical change to the global transfer market could be confirmed within days, with players pushing for a mega six-month window, starting July 1.
FIFA prefers a shorter option – the off-season window is usually 12 weeks – as the mega window could enable Europe’s super clubs to stockpile talent.
Trincao, 20, was due to join Barcelona next season after Sporting Braga agreed a $54.3 million sale. PSG duo Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Manchester City’s Leroy Sane are the hottest properties heading into the uncertain next window.
5 COACH MUSCAT, OFFICIALLY
Kevin Muscat will finally be unveiled as head coach of his Belgian club, after carrying a “technical” title since joining in January.
Sint-Truiden has recorded three wins, one draw and four losses since arriving, with Muscat adopting a “technical” title after the Belgian FA did not recognise his Asian Football Confederation Pro License.
UEFA – Europe’s governing body – is understood to have granted him a clearance (known as a ‘recognition of competence’ certificate) after a thorough interview process which will enable him to take charge of any European club.
Muscat, 46, signed an 18-month deal with Sint-Truiden, who he’s lifted from relegation zone to 12th.
6 WOMEN’S WORLD C-UPDATE
The Matildas remain optimistic their home World Cup dreams could become reality within months, with world governing body FIFA still aiming to announce the winning 2023 bid mid-year. The original June deadline may be slightly extended to July.
In a curious twist, Japan Football Association chairman Kozo Tashima tested positive to coronavirus, just weeks after travelling around Europe delivering 2023 bid presentations for Japan. Brazil and Colombia are the rivals to Australia’s joint-bid with New Zealand.
7 JAPAN’S HEAD START
Ange Postecoglou, his ex-lieutenant, Pete Cklamovski, and former Melbourne Victory defender Tommy Deng are on the verge of unprecedented global exposure. Japan’s J1 League is one of the first football competition’s likely to return – on May 9.
Highlighting Japan’s swift and disciplined COVID-19 reaction, Postecoglou’s Yokohama F. Marinos are training and playing friendlies like most clubs. Rookie coach Cklamovski will receive a handy buffer to implement his radical new system at unfancied Shimizu S-Pulse with league chiefs mandating no relegation this season.
Deng joined Urawa Red Diamonds in January. Most European leagues appear at least months away from resuming, while China hoping to kick off in April and South Korea in May.
8 CORONA-CHAOS
Perth Glory’s diabolic situation is unfortunate and I feel for the players and staff who have been stood down without pay – especially those at the low-end of the scale.
Some Glory staff were already hunting for jobs last week, so the radical move didn’t come as a shock.
Owner Tony Sage has had chances to sell the club to credible buyers, before attempting to offload to Cryptocurrency group London Football Exchange, founded by Jim Aylward.
Perth radio station 6PR spared Football Federation Australia time, with subsequent investigations uncovering Aylward’s criminal past.
In light of immense COVID-19-related challenges, FFA and A-League chiefs should take a leaf out of AFL’s book and collaborate on pay cuts and shaping the game’s future, or else a civil war could erupt.
9 GLORY RAIDED?
Glory coach Tony Popovic and strikers Bruno Fornaroli and Nick D’Agostino will be the prime targets of rival clubs, amid the WA club’s uncertain future.
Popovic’s squad-building and overhauling exploits make him the most coveted A-League coach while Fornaroli (12 goals in 20 games) is back to his best and D’Agostino, 21, is on the Socceroos radar after his recent exploits for club and Olyroos.
10 LIVERPOOL’S TITLE
Jordan Henderson and Juergen Klopp should eventually get the chance to hold this season’s Premier League trophy aloft.
Voiding the season has wider-reaching consequences than a condensed continuation, despite the fact that leagues will finish at staggered times depending on their country’s coronavirus containment.
If the season can’t be finished, extending the league to 22 teams by postponing relegation and offering promotion to the top two Championship teams (currently Leeds United and West Brom) is logical – it’s exactly what Japan has done.
11 MATILDAS MOVEMENT
Steph Catley’s Euro move is on ice, although Matildas teammate Hayley Raso could land a contract extension at Everton.
Arsenal was chasing Melbourne City skipper and Matildas vice-captain Catley.
Raso, the Matildas’ ribboned flyer, was sent home from the UK without even training with the Toffees amid the outbreak. But Everton chiefs may have seen enough from her Matildas displays, with a 12-month extension in the pipeline.
Euro-based Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik finished their 14-day quarantine on Saturday.
* Farewell to my loyal readers. This is my final Duva’s XI column as I am moving on. It has been a pleasure reporting on the world game for you.