Sydney FC boss Ufuk Talay delivered a brilliant answer when asked about the the levels of A-Leagues sides compared to their UK counterparts in his post-match press conference after his side’s 2-1 win over Championship outfit Wrexham AFC.
In the lead-up to the pre-season friendly match at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday night, an age-old question re-emerged, spurred by an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“In an alternate universe in which A-League sides have the opportunity to compete in the English pyramid system … how would they go?” wrote Vince Rugari.
After the match, the question was posed to Talay. His response was perfect.
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“Yeah, look, I don’t, I personally don’t like this comparison,” Talay told reporters.
“They play in their own competition, we play in our own competition and I don’t think we’re comparing apples with apples at the same time.
“It’s apples with oranges. Their budgets compared to our budgets are totally different.
“But one thing I will say, our game is the A-League.
“So we should love and support our domestic game regardless, because it is our game.
“And what it produces, the talent that it produces – you look at the Socceroos, where (Tony Popovic) selects players from within our competition.
“So obviously our competition level is good enough for players to be selected at that level to play at international level. So we do produce players. Players do go overseas.
“In the last two-and-a-half years, Sydney (FC has) made sales that they’ve never made before previously in the 20 years that the club has been around for.
“So you know, it is our game, and I think comparing it with other competitions, I don’t believe is the right thing.”
Indeed, Sydney FC finished the match with a crop of youngsters, largely made up of academy talent who are currently featuring for the club’s NPL side, and they more than held their own – admittedly after Wrexham had made a raft of substitutions of their own.
At a time when A-Leagues talent is being increasingly courted around the world, it was another feather in the cap of the local league.
As Talay notes, Sydney have banked more than $5 million in transfer revenue in the past two years, while A-Leagues clubs combined have made more than $37 million.
Meanwhile, just hours after Lacey made headlines with his maiden goal for the club, another academy graduate Adrian Segecic scored his first goal for Championship outfit Portsmouth, assisted by another A-Leagues product in Thomas Waddingham.
Others are making taking steps in Belgium (Ryan Teague), Germany (Kasey Bos), Hungary (Daniel Arzani), Austria (Noah Botic) and elsewhere in the UK (Kealey Adamson, Jaylan Pearman, Nicolas Milanovic, Zac Sapsford).
The question may never go away, but as Talay notes, there is every reason to believe Australian talent measures up globally right now.
