The ocean of red that swamped the stands and the terraces of the MCG and the tsunami of emotion that accompanied an inspiring rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” spoke of just how loved the Merseyside club is in this country.
Last Wednesday was a night of firsts for Australian football.
It was the first time the Liverpool Football Club played in Australia.
The ocean of red that swamped the stands and the terraces of the MCG and the tsunami of emotion that accompanied an inspiring rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” spoke of just how loved the Merseyside club is in this country.
The 95,000 that filled every available seat provided the largest ever crowd an Australian domestic football club has ever played in front of and is ever likely to.
And for young Melbourne Victory winger Andrew Nabbout, it was his first ever visit to the iconic cricket coliseum.
Melbourne born and bred, Nabbout confessed to me that he doesn’t care much for AFL football and less for cricket. He’d grown up with a poster of Steven Gerrard on his bedroom wall, not Chris Judd.
So his first experience at the MCG was to walk out in front of 95,000 people to take on his boyhood idol in a game of football.
It’s the stuff dreams are made of.
To his (and his team mates) eternal credit, they didn’t let the occasion over awe them.
This columnist expressed concerns that Ange Postecoglou’s squad of young guns might find the bright lights, the big crowd and their storied opponents a little overwhelming and be trampled under foot as a consequence.
Not a chance.
Melbourne Victory’s team included at least 6 players under the age of 23. They played in the image of their coach, not daunted by the enormity of their mission but determined to seize it as an opportunity.
To see Conor Pain flying down the left, dribbling at Glen Johnson and drawing a save or two out of Brad Jones was fantastic.
Nabbout played without fear as well. His battle with Liverpool’s Spanish left-back Jose Enrique was one of the highlights of the evening.
Just the day before I had hosted an event where both Nabbout and Enrique and had gone head to head in a game of the new FIFA14 (for the record it finished 1-0 to Liverpool in extra time).
It occurred to me then that a fortnight of Enrique’s weekly wage would cover Andrew Nabbout’s salary for an entire season at Melbourne Victory. Such is the vast gap in economies of scale in world football. However,it doesn’t necessarily reflect the gulf in talent or ambition.
The like of Nabbout, Pain and Jason Geria have an instinct for the game every bit as attuned as their opponents that night. No doubt their appetite for hard work and sacrifice is also equitable.
Yet the likes of Liverpool youngsters Jordan Ibe and Raheem Sterling as well as Manchester United’s Wilfred Zaha who led the A League All Stars a merry dance, are clearly a class above.
Why?
Raw talent maybe the answer.
However, my belief is that the key to producing players on that higher plain is won or lost before our best kids can do their own boot laces up.
That instinctive one touch pass and move football is the product of a life long technical conditioning that starts at primary school age and continues in the academy systems of the world’s biggest clubs.
Ibe, Sterling and Zaha may not even be the best of their generation but they play as though the ball is an extension of their very selves.
It comes from lifelong learning.
Football Federation Australia’s national curriculum aims to provide a vertically integrated pathway that offers a consistent football philosophy and coaching system to give our best and brightest the opportunity to compete with the likes of Raheem Sterling and Wilfred Zaha.
There is a sense that a generation of footballers who emerged when no such curriculum existed have had their potential curtailed as a result.
This generation is yet to find it’s Kewell or Okon. It may be we’re paying the price for Australian football’s lost years.
It’s important that our next generation are given ever opportunity to be the very best they can be.
And from what we saw last week on that fantastic Wednesday evening, it has the potential to take on the world.
