Where is the next crop of players coming from? Who is going to help us qualify for the World Cup in the next 20 years? Why does the A-League struggle to produce as much talent as the NSL?
Questions like these have become slowly but surely more ubiquitous in the realms of Australian footballing rhetoric over the past two years. A COVID-enforced national team hiatus gave fans the first opportunity in a while to determine their views on the ever-divisive issue of youth development in Australia.
Despite the growing angst about Australia’s relative lack of footballers plying their trade in the top leagues of Europe, silver lining has begun to emerge in the form of young Australians earning moves overseas off the back of stellar performances in Australia’s domestic competition.
Connor Metcalfe’s recently rubber-stamped move to FC St. Pauli makes him the fifth A-League and Olyroos graduate to earn a move to Europe in the months after a competitive Olympic campaign. Joining the likes of Joel King (Odense BK), Denis Genreau (FC Toulouse) as well as Heart of Midlothian duo Nathaniel Atkinson and Cam Devlin, Metcalfe’s move is perhaps the most demonstrative of the need to follow a linear process of development in Australia.
These transfers have not occurred as a matter of mere chance, rather, they are clear-cut examples of what ensues when A-League clubs invest in their youth.
Genreau, Metcalfe and Atkinson are each products of Melbourne City’s Football Academy and were each granted opportunities and responsibility at a young age. Erick Mombaerts placed his belief in Metcalfe as he emerged as the preferred sidekick to Adrian Luna in City’s advanced midfield positions with the robust youngsters usurping Frenchman Florin Berenguer in that respect.
Metcalfe’s growth from that point forward should act as the paradigm for youth development in Australia. Asserting himself as a key figure in City’s starting XI, the Newcastle-born midfielder seemed to improve every week as he played consistent minutes at A-League level en route to a PFA Team of the Year appearance while also being awarded the Harry Kewell Medal as Australia’s best U23 player of the 2020/21 season.
The consistency with which he built at City, in conjunction with some eye-catching performances at the Olympics undoubtedly played a part in him being signed to a three-year deal for a club who could feature in Germany’s Bundesliga next season.
Metcalfe also became one of five players under the age of 23 to make their Socceroos debut in the last eight months.
It seems like more Australians are earning moves to Europe than for the majority of the last 10 years. Selection in national team sides is surely playing a part in that.
For context, five players under the age of 23 made their Socceroos debut in the five years that preceded Metcalfe’s first cap. With this in mind, more U23 talent has been handed opportunities in the national team during the last eight months than the five years beforehand.
During those five years, fans only had the chance to experience a modicum of youthful exuberance in the A-League courtesy of coaches often prioritising pragmatic and results-driven philosophies over the need to promote and foster young talent.
It says a lot about the altering state of youth development that all five recent Socceroos debutants under the age of 23 were made in the A-League. More often than not these days, Australia’s top tier of football represents the primary option whereby a promising player should look to advance their career.
In a more holistic sense, Australian football as a whole is reaping the rewards of A-League clubs placing resources into youth academies. While City represent the most illuminative example of this, it is surely only a matter of time before the likes of Western Sydney Wanderers make the most of their elite catchment area of talent and world-class facilities.
Put simply, Australia is well placed to continue succeeding in youth development. Established academies continue to thrive and there is now a clear recipe for sending players overseas.
Each club in the league should begin to take note of the need to offer consistent playing time for prodigious talent with the aim being to assert themselves in the league like Atkinson, Genreau or Metcalfe, before then looking to overseas clubs.
Particularly between the ages of 20 and 23, gaining valuable learning experiences week by week can prove transformative in propelling a player’s career. Too often in the past, Australian players have sought to jump at the lure of Europe before they had even conquered the A-League.
Consequently, talents like Jacob Italiano and Seb Pasquali were made to bide their team in Borussia Mönchengladbach and Ajax’s youth teams respectively, rather than playing consistent professional football against men. Unfortunately, similar can be said of many other promising talents who never took the time to truly establish themselves in Australia.
It is no surprise that Riley McGree, Cam Devlin and Denis Genreau have thus far succeeded in Europe after having individually impressed in the A-League across multiple seasons.
While positivity is often met with snarls and facetiousness in the realms of Australian football, there is little reason but to be optimistic about the future of youth development.
Most promisingly, there is a wave of talent ready to emerge from the A-League as players like Marco Tilio, Kusini Yengi, Ben Folami and Jake Brimmer seem to be verging on readiness for moves overseas.
One can only hope that A-League clubs have learnt from the mistakes of the past and are willing to take heed of the proven formula for successful youth development in Australian football.
Image Supplied: Melbourne City
