Laugh?? Or get angry??

Quicky · Jan 23, 2010

I don't know whether to laugh or get angry at this. All I can say is this kent serious?? This moron is obviously pretty ignorant about football in Australia. Love to see how he views his NT the USA after reading that sh!te.

By Paul Gardner
No doubt you will all have been excited to find out that this season will mark another first for MLS: its first Australian player. Now there's progress for you.

The club presenting us with this magnificent achievement is D.C. United, up till now known as a club that favors a skill-based game, and an attractive one at that.

Well, we'll see about that. New coach Curt Onalfo evidently has a rather eccentric method of pursuing that tradition. Since his arrival, the club has shed two pretty good Brazilians. Luciano Emilio, who scored 41 goals in 83 games during his three seasons with D.C. has been ushered out. He will be replaced by the pioneering Australian — Daniel Allsopp.

Now, the first thing to know about Australian soccer is that it is relentlessly physical. There are Australians playing in many different countries, and almost without exception they are of the he-man persuasion.

The most skillful Australian has been Harry Kewell. Then, maybe, Mark Viduka. After that, I can't think of anyone. I saw Kewell play way back in 1995, when he was on the Australian under-17 team. A nice player. Alongside him on that team was a tall, gangly, powerful presence named … Daniel Allsopp. Not much of a player — but he did score goals. In fact, he was the top scorer of that under-17 World Cup tournament with five goals in four games.

Allsopp played as a target man, and the Australian idea of attacking soccer — which didn't leave too much opportunity for Kewell to shine — was to get the ball as quickly and as often as possible to Allsopp. He did the rest. It worked well, if crudely — until the Aussies ran into Brazil, who beat them 3-1 (goal by Allsopp) and that sent the Aussies packing.

So I think I know what to expect from Allsopp. The sort of play that enabled him to do well in the crudity of the English lower divisions — 39 goals in 102 games for Notts Co and 22 goals in 64 games with Hull City.

For that success to continue, D.C. United will have to play to Allsopp's strength. Literally. It will not be pretty. It's worth mentioning that Allsopp's goalscoring activities in England occurred when he was much younger — between the ages of 22 and 27. He is now 31. It is also worth noting the oddity that Allsopp joins D.C. after an abrupt departure from a Qatari club, Al-Rayyan, with whom he signed a reported three-year contract only four months ago.
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http://www.socceramerica.com/blogs/soccer_talk/?p=195

lilcookie · Jan 23, 2010

Laugh it off I will. They forgot Tim Cahill, thats a first and they forgot the others.

cmedina1983 · Jan 23, 2010

Eh, it's American arrogance at its best but he has a point. That being said it's not like the MLS is incredibly far ahead of the A-League after over 10 years of progress. Perhaps he should be worried about the state of the MLS compared to the better local leagues around them instead of worrying if DC United's football is going to be less pretty when a proven goalscorer joins their ranks.

RickChelsea · Jan 26, 2010

The strange thing is, Allsopp isn't even a real target man

I think the fact that even someone like Brett Emerton or Mark Bresciano have had far more distinguished careers than any American player ever speaks for itself

Never mind Harry Kewell or Mark Viduka, simply a class above

el-capitano · Jan 31, 2010

Well there's one easy way of sorting this out

Would the footballing gods be kind enough to finish the World Cup groups C & D in such a way so we play the US?

And_ROOS · Feb 17, 2010

el-capitano said: ↑

Well there's one easy way of sorting this out

Would the footballing gods be kind enough to finish the World Cup groups C & D in such a way so we play the US?
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The football gods did their bit in getting England and the US matched up against each other... this site will go into meltdown after that match

Sardukar · Feb 18, 2010

why the hell would we want to go to a world cup and end up playing the USA? i couldnt think of anything more boring. Give us England in the second round thx!

Also the MLS isnt any better than the a-league, they have better imports but their local players are worse than ours. Also theres a reason why australians havent played in the MLS before................

msilverstein47 · Dec 22, 2025

Serie A abandons plans for AC Milan-Como match in Australia - ESPN