Post by Nick on Oct 23, 2018 13:17:19 GMT
Okay, hands up how many of you have managed in Australia? I'd be surprised if it's more than a handful.
History
The A-League, as it's currently known, is a fairly new competition - only founded in 2004 - and took over the old National Soccer League, which was originally founded in 1977. The league currently runs during the Australian summer - from October to May.
The league is usually hard fought, with five different teams winning the last six Grand Finals.
Structure
The league setup is a fairly simple one, but one that is different from the main European leagues and therefore something many of you may not be familiar with.
The 'A-League' is home to ten teams, with nine coming from Australia and one from New Zealand (Wellington Phoenix). In the regular season, teams play each other three times for a total of 27 games. The top six teams then qualify for the 'Finals Series'. This is where it starts to sound more complicated than it actually is:
- The top two teams automatically qualify for the semi final
- The teams that finish 3rd-6th play in an 'elimination final' to decide which two go through to the semi final
It's worth noting that the winner of the regular season is named the 'premier', while winning the Grand Final will see you crowned as 'champion'. So there are essentially two 'titles' to fight for, but winning the Grand Final is the one that carries the most by way of reputation.
Rules
The first rule you should be aware of is the salary cap of £28k per week. That is, of course, per squad, not per player!
There are a couple of ways around the salary cap, in that you can have two designated players that don't count towards it. In real life, the general unwritten rule is that your designated players are usually attacking players. The result of this is goals. I watch a fair bit of Australian football and over 2.5 goals is usually a given if you like a bet!
The salary cap might sounds restrictive, and if we're being brutally honest, it is, but what it does allow you to do is focus on bringing through young players, as well as micro-managing your finances, something we're all guilty of overlooking at some point.
In terms of your squad, you can register a maximum of five foreign players and a maximum of 20 over-20 players, again underlining the need to look at youth.
Teams
Melbourne and Sydney make up 2/5's of the league's teams and are certainly four of the most reputable. Melbourne Victory are the current Grand Final champions and recently signed Keisuke Honda and Ola Toivonen. Melbourne City are, of course, part of the City Football Group that also owns Manchester City. The salary cap means they can't go out and spend untold riches on players however, and they remain one of four teams to have never won the Grand Final.
Western Sydney Wanderers, only founded in 2012, shot to fame in 2014 as they become the first Australian team to win the Asian Champions League.
My two tips for teams to be, however, are: Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory. Brisbane had their finest period between 2010 and 2014, when they won three Grand Finals. Since then, it's been a slow but steady decline and they are currently predicted to finish sixth. Eric Bauthiac, Adam Taggart and Alex Lopez are their three best players and give you plenty to work with in an attacking sense.
Perth Glory are different, in that they have a trophy cabinet waiting to be filled. Diego Castro is your best player, while Andy Keogh is your other designated player. Matthew Spiranovic is a top defender and you also have ex-Aston Villa defender, Shane Lowry in your squad.
Conclusion
The hardest decision is picking which team you'll be. All ten teams are reasonably close in terms of ability, the salary cap ensuring that no super clubs break away from the rest like in some of the European leagues.
The other question you need to ask yourself is which nations to load alongside Australia. I'd obviously recommend loading the default Asian nations, but it may also be worth waiting for the other Asian nations to be created as well, for added realism. I'd also recommend loading England and possibly Brazil. Any extras on top of that would depend on how many nations your PC can handle.
History
The A-League, as it's currently known, is a fairly new competition - only founded in 2004 - and took over the old National Soccer League, which was originally founded in 1977. The league currently runs during the Australian summer - from October to May.
The league is usually hard fought, with five different teams winning the last six Grand Finals.
Structure
The league setup is a fairly simple one, but one that is different from the main European leagues and therefore something many of you may not be familiar with.
The 'A-League' is home to ten teams, with nine coming from Australia and one from New Zealand (Wellington Phoenix). In the regular season, teams play each other three times for a total of 27 games. The top six teams then qualify for the 'Finals Series'. This is where it starts to sound more complicated than it actually is:
- The top two teams automatically qualify for the semi final
- The teams that finish 3rd-6th play in an 'elimination final' to decide which two go through to the semi final
It's worth noting that the winner of the regular season is named the 'premier', while winning the Grand Final will see you crowned as 'champion'. So there are essentially two 'titles' to fight for, but winning the Grand Final is the one that carries the most by way of reputation.
Rules
The first rule you should be aware of is the salary cap of £28k per week. That is, of course, per squad, not per player!
There are a couple of ways around the salary cap, in that you can have two designated players that don't count towards it. In real life, the general unwritten rule is that your designated players are usually attacking players. The result of this is goals. I watch a fair bit of Australian football and over 2.5 goals is usually a given if you like a bet!
The salary cap might sounds restrictive, and if we're being brutally honest, it is, but what it does allow you to do is focus on bringing through young players, as well as micro-managing your finances, something we're all guilty of overlooking at some point.
In terms of your squad, you can register a maximum of five foreign players and a maximum of 20 over-20 players, again underlining the need to look at youth.
Teams
Melbourne and Sydney make up 2/5's of the league's teams and are certainly four of the most reputable. Melbourne Victory are the current Grand Final champions and recently signed Keisuke Honda and Ola Toivonen. Melbourne City are, of course, part of the City Football Group that also owns Manchester City. The salary cap means they can't go out and spend untold riches on players however, and they remain one of four teams to have never won the Grand Final.
Western Sydney Wanderers, only founded in 2012, shot to fame in 2014 as they become the first Australian team to win the Asian Champions League.
My two tips for teams to be, however, are: Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory. Brisbane had their finest period between 2010 and 2014, when they won three Grand Finals. Since then, it's been a slow but steady decline and they are currently predicted to finish sixth. Eric Bauthiac, Adam Taggart and Alex Lopez are their three best players and give you plenty to work with in an attacking sense.
Perth Glory are different, in that they have a trophy cabinet waiting to be filled. Diego Castro is your best player, while Andy Keogh is your other designated player. Matthew Spiranovic is a top defender and you also have ex-Aston Villa defender, Shane Lowry in your squad.
Conclusion
The hardest decision is picking which team you'll be. All ten teams are reasonably close in terms of ability, the salary cap ensuring that no super clubs break away from the rest like in some of the European leagues.
The other question you need to ask yourself is which nations to load alongside Australia. I'd obviously recommend loading the default Asian nations, but it may also be worth waiting for the other Asian nations to be created as well, for added realism. I'd also recommend loading England and possibly Brazil. Any extras on top of that would depend on how many nations your PC can handle.
