One of the A-Leagues’ greatest debates was reignited this week; who is the greatest player to have played in the competition’s history?
Normally a question discussed and debated by fans, this week it was current Sydney FC and former Perth Glory defender Alex Grant who weighed in on the debate when speaking on the A-Leagues’ newest show, Kicking Back.
HIs candidate for GOAT status? Perth Glory maestro, Diego Castro.
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“I think (because of) that Western seaboard, Eastern seaboard (divide), he doesn’t always get the credit. He’s not always up there in everyone’s top five,” said Grant when discussing his former Glory teammate.
“But he’s certainly up there in my two or three without a doubt.
“I think he was just at the wrong club in all honesty,” continued Grant when discussing Castro at Glory.
“If he’d have been on this side (Eastern seaboard) he would have been the best player in the history of the A-League. Without a doubt.”
A bold statement? Well Grant’s big call was debated by former A-League stars Daniel McBreen and Tommy Oar as well as host James Dodd on the latest episode of Total A-Leagues.
“It’s a big if and it’s hard to say how he would have gone in some of those players’ shoes,” said Oar.
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“But what I can say is that when you played against him… you know coming up against a (Thomas) Broich, a (Milos) Ninkovic you always thought ‘Oh they might get the better of me.
He continued: “You’re gonna go and press them and they might dribble past you, or they might, you know, make a really intelligent pass around you.
“If you were pressing Castro, you thought, this guy’s gonna humiliate me. He’s gonna put it through my legs. Like, what is he gonna do?
“That is just different level. His individual skill level, I would say, surpasses the other two in terms of his dribbling. He was also playing in a team that, you know, especially early doors when he first came to Perth, probably wasn’t really competitive in terms of challenging for finals or for trophies.
“But he could, single handedly, get the ball in his own 18-yard box and travel almost the distance of the field and create things with that. There’s not many players in A-League history who have done that.”
A-Leagues Champion McBreen added: “I remember Liam Reddy, early doors, saying to me, this guy’s one of, if not the best, He’s unbelievable.
“And I remember having a bit of a chuckle because I said to be one of the best, you’ve got to win things. And they weren’t winning things at that stage.
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“But he was, individually, doing well; Johnny Warren medalist etc but then he was a big catalyst in them winning trophies. He was outstanding. And then that’s when I think you get elevated from a great player who gets the individual accolades. But when the team now starts to win trophies, and you immediately escalate, you’re in the conversations.”
“I think people forget with Diego Castro, this is a guy who came directly from La Liga,” added Dodd.
“He didn’t come from the Spanish Second Division, where he spent a bit of time in his career, he came when he probably didn’t need to come. He opted to come for his family, and to come and play in Australia.
“I think Alex Grant is right. I think if he was playing on this side of the country then he would be. More eyeballs would have been on him and his talents would have been appreciated by not just more fans, but people like yourselves who played against him.”
