Comment: Listen Up, Australia

This responsibility, quite simply, will rest on the shoulders of the administrators of the game and will depend upon the vision of men like a certain Frank Lowy – it is from the top of the Australian football hierarchy that there must be a clear sense of direction for the future.

Are, for example, they to be content with allowing moments such as Adelaide’s Asian Champions League run to exist on an intermittent scale, during which time people sporadically afford the game an attention which it should be receiving on a weekly basis?

One cannot shake the feeling that this recent continental phenomenon that has taken place at Hindmarsh Stadium has existed as a completely separate entity to the A-League itself.

There has not been, either during the time of Adelaide’s campaign or in between and after it, a clear link established between any potential lessons and developments they might have been blessed with and how these can be immediately applied on the greater domestic landscape.

This is reflected in the fact that Asian Champions League crowd numbers have not replicated themselves within the confines of the A-league, whilst media coverage of the final – let alone the group stages, quarter and semi-finals – has certainly not been worthy of such a tournament.

Just how much impact the FFA can have on the latter aspect of Adelaide’s journey is perhaps a debate for another day – ultimately, the willingness of the wider Australian sporting public to embrace football and the variety it offers is a choice that they alone must make, whether they are pushed or enticed by Australian football’s governing body or not.

Whilst both crowds and public interest exist outside of the total control of the game’s administrators, they are nonetheless the products of what seems to be an overriding view of Adelaide’s achievement as a special, one-off occasion – perhaps it would be appropriate to roll the dreaded 'bandwagon' into view at this point.

Certainly, the comments of Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley after the Adelaide clash, echoing the rhetoric “pride” in the manner in which Adelaide have represented themselves and the country, are perhaps a worrying sign of the light in which this latest episode of Australian club football history is danger of being viewed.

Frankly, Mr. Buckley seems to have taken nothing from Adelaide’s run, which – if treated correctly – could signify one of the most important moments of the history of the domestic came: when Australia, as a football nation, realised its conspicuous fallibility.

It is time to acknowledge the fact that Australian football – and not Adelaide United – was exposed across 180 minutes.

As much as Adelaide deserve credit for their application and tenacity throughout the competition, where they faced a host of side’s who were technically superior and tactically more sophisticated, such praise would be rendered meaningless if not taken as part of a larger move to reform the domestic game and move forward with lessons learned from our Asian club adventure.

Make no mistake that Adelaide’s heavy loss in the final is a warning sign for Australian football generally and that the FFA, instead of focusing all of their post-match reaction on basking in a manufactured national glory, should immediately admit that the many flaws of the A-League have been painfully exposed – as well as how they are going to address such issues.

Ironic, then, that Ben Buckley’s post-match comments as posted on the FFA’s official website, dedicate only one, final line to Gamba Osaka that read: "They are a good team who did the business on the field with flair and efficiency."

A good team? “Did the business”?

Such a reaction serves to highlight the danger of mistreating Adelaide’s Asian Champions League run.

By all means, Vidmar and his players should be congratulated on being humble ambassadors in a diplomatic football climate that was shattered by the arrogance and ignorance that surrounded Australia’s Asia Cup campaign.

Adelaide’s refreshingly respectful attitude – and particularly that of their manager – will have gone some way to repairing already damaged relationships with a continent who’s football history and pedigree does not depend upon the Socceroos.

If justice is truly to be done to Adelaide and their players, fans and administrators, a few simple statements of praise and self-glorification will simply not suffice from Australian football’s governing body.

They must make clear that a 5-0 aggregate loss in a cup final is simply not good enough by any club or country’s standards and that when such a phenomenon occurs, it is a reflection of issues which extend far beyond the Expo ’70 or Hindmarsh Stadium.

A start might be for the football hierarchy to admit that their model of development does not appear to be yielding results on the continent or domestically, with a discernible lack of quality within the confines of the A-League mercilessly exposed by Osaka on two occasions (against Melbourne during the group stages and then against Adelaide in the final).

Another might be to focus the majority of praise on the development of the J-League, which has survived and grown within a fiercely competitive sporting landscape over the past two decades. Theirs is a history that deserves applause for its widespread achievement and establishment of professionalism, rather than the simple 'efficiency and flair' of one of its clubs, a statement that might be interpreted by the JFA as a slightly simplistic.

Viewing Adelaide’s campaign within the context of a season, or a handful of performances, or from their seemingly perpetual tag as 'underdogs' will render it meaningless.

Instead, it must be viewed appropriately, within the context of a need for greater investment and thought about the development of football in Australia and a reassessment of the role of its governing bodies, from the FFA, right down to local district clubs.

It must start at the highest hierarchical level, where a conspicuously narrow-minded viewpoint must be changed to encompass a greater vision for the more rapid development of the game – in which financial investment and the facilitation of expansion is crucial.

The role of Adelaide United manager Aurelio Vidmar in the development of Australian football on a larger scale will be limited: there is only so much, after all, a manager can do.

However, the lessons that can be learned from his post-match comments to broadcaster Fox Sports and indeed, his comments after the first leg, about the clear gulf between the Australian and Japanese football landscapes – as evident over 180 minutes of an Asian Champions League Final - are invaluable and may transcend his own existence as a coach.

The fact that the work of the JFA with regards to its domestic scene and league model far outdates that of the fledgling A-League is not an adequate excuse.

To the contrary, it demands that the improvements, reforms and investment of time and resources into Australian football are more rapid and concentrated, with more responsibility taken by the governing body and its various figureheads if such an embarrassing defeat is to be avoided in the future – they certainly don’t make Vidmar’s comments any less potent.

In fact, the FFA would be wise to pay attention to them, with immediate effect.

Chris Paraskevas