TALKING POINTS: Auckland FC midfielder Louis Verstraete made a declaration about the standard of the A-League Men competition in comparison to his native Belgian Pro League this week, while Sydney FC made history in the AFC Champions League 2 on Thursday night.
Australia v Belgium – how the top flights stack up
Is the A-League Men on par with the Belgian Pro League? Auckland FC and Belgian midfielder Louis Verstraete certainly thinks so.
Verstraete has been a revelation for his new club in their opening five games of the season, fitting in seamlessly in the heart of midfield and helping them establish an undefeated start.
The former Belgium youth international, who also played for the likes of Gent and Anterwep in the Belgian top-flight, appeared on Total A-Leagues this week with Sydney Morning Herald’s Vince Rugari and former Socceroo Tommy Oar and was asked about for his thoughts on the A-League Men.
“I didn’t know the league beforehand,” he said in response.
“I was surprised that the level is higher than I expected, I must say, and especially the individual players are really good with the ball.
“So I think this is a difference. Maybe in Belgium it’s a bit more organised, let’s say.
“But on the ball, I think on average, the players in the A-League are better than in Belgium.”
In light of his comments, the PFA revisited its competition analysis in the recently-released PFA’s A-League Men report.
According to Twenty First Group (TFG)’s World Super League model, the ALM is ranked as a second-tier Asian league, with a slightly lower average team strength than those in England’s League One, Major League Soccer and the Scottish Premiership.
The World Super League model uses machine learning to rate team strength based on the performance of teams against each other and the performance of players who move between clubs and leagues.
TFG acquired data from the past six seasons of ten relevant competitor leagues, with the average team strength rating placing the ALM eighth among those ten leagues for that time period.
The data helps provide a guide for outgoing transfers for Australian players, and where the best young players in the country would be best suited to land from a development environment point of view, that also balances quality with opportunity to play.
While the A-League Men ranks lower than the Belgian Pro League, recent and past examples of players making the move from Australia to Belgium have illustrated that they can not only fit into their top-flight, but thrive.
Jordan Bos, one of the best young players produced by the ALM in recent years, was able to immediately establish himself as a starter in a mid-table Belgian Pro League side at K.V.C Westerlo.
Meanwhile, Rhys Youlley debuted as a substitute for Westerlo this week in their 4-1 loss to Anderlecht in the Belgian Cup, after making the move from Macarthur FC .
Previously, Jason Davidson returned to Europe off the back of a solid season with Melbourne Victory, signing for Belgian side Eupen, where he immediately established himself as a starter in his two campaigns at the club.
Aiden O’Neill has taken up the captain’s armband at Standard Liege in his second season since signing from Melbourne City, and in years gone-by both Mathew Ryan (Genk and Club Brugge) and Danny Vukovic (Genk) starred after making moves from the A-Leagues.
The Australia-Belgium pipeline stretches long before the A-Leagues came to fruition too, with the likes of Eddie Krncevic, Paul Okon, Aurelio Vidmar, Frank Farina and Josip Skoko all having success in Belgium after signing from National Soccer League clubs or other European teams.
“The (Australian) players who went there, the vast majority went on to bigger and better things. The quality of the player was high. It’s not an easy league, tough league to play in,” Former Socceroo and Player Agent Vince Grella told Optus Sport in 2021.
“In the past with their freedom of registering non-EU players, it was a good country to get into the Euro market. Why don’t we send more players there? They’re signing better players than we can propose them.
“It’s a strong league. Arguably now it is better (than the Dutch Eredivisie). Physically more demanding, a bit more tactically rigid.
“There are more strong teams in Belgium than in Holland.”
Sydney FC’s talent pipeline features in Asia
The strength of Sydney FC’s youth academy was on full show on Thursday night in their 3-1 win over Kaya FC in the AFC Champions League 2.
With their sights set on balancing their league and continental commitments, coach Ufuk Talay rotated his squad heavily, handing a number of youngsters an opportunity to thrive under the bright lights of Nestrata Jubilee Stadium.
The team they fielded was the youngest in club history with an average age of 19.8, including 17 of the 21 squad members coming through the academy and two teenage debutants – Wataru Kumijo (18 years old) and Tyler Williams (16 years old) – and another 16-year-old in Nickolas Alfaro, who made his Asian football debut.
Hayden Matthews – who is only 20 years old – was also handed the captain’s armband for the first-half, while fellow 20-year-old Adrian Segecic had the armband for the second 45 minutes.
Fellow youngsters Zachary De Jesus, Patrick Wood, Nathan Amanatidis, Tiago Quintal, Jaiden Kucharski, Marin France, Aaron Gurd and Mitch Glasson – who are all under the age of 23 – were all given opportunities as either starters or substitutes.
Segecic, Wood and Kucharski all found the scoresheet as well, capping off an impressive night in Kogarah.
Despite the bigger, more seasoned names who are still in the Sydney squad, there has still been a focus to bring through the next generation, as has been shown over the last two seasons.
Matthews has thrived ever since breaking into the senior squad and has attracted overseas interest, Segecic spent last season on loan in the Netherlands, while academy graduate Jake Girdwood-Reich signed for St.Louis City in the MLS in the off-season.
Sydney’s squad only has five players over the age of 30 in Anthony Caceres, Andrew Redmayne, Douglas Costa, Joe Lolley and Rhyan Grant, with the average age of the squad sitting at 24.1, which is the fourth-youngest in the entire competition and below the league average of 24.4 (as per Transfermarkt).
“At Sydney FC, I have had a front row seat to witnessing the development of some of the best young talents in the country,” he said.
“In my opinion, they are leading the way in Australia when it comes to youth development. Coming into a facility like Sky Park has certainly enhanced my ambitions to be as professional as I can. If we double down and put more effort into facilities and youth development, it will make the game more sustainable and grow the league.
“For lack of a better phrase, we’ve always had a ‘no dickhead’ policy at Sydney FC and have a humble changeroom where young boys can come in and work hard, but also learn off each other. Sydney grabs a lot of headlines for the big names who come in, but they really help foster youth too.
“When you look around the league, there’s boys in almost every team that have come through the Sydney FC Academy. There’s Harry Van der Saag at Brisbane, Clayton Taylor at Newcastle, Marco Tilio and Callum Talbot at Melbourne City, and Ryan Teague at Melbourne Victory, just to name a few. It’s so exciting to see young boys given a chance, and taking it.”
