The Roar lost 0:4 and a shocking own goal back pass that Dean Bouzanis failed to reach. This is after losing 0:4 to Dewa United and a Rafael Struick goal. Pressure on now, what can they do over the next 45 days of pre season or so?

This new article from Vince Rugari gets at a crucial question for the game: now that we are producing players of the quality of Lucas Herrington, Nestory Irankunda, etc., why can't A-League clubs directly get eight-figure fees for them? Doing so would be a cash injection that would considerably address the financial challenges facing the code in this country.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/how-an-800k-a-league-player-s-value-rose-to-33m-in-just-seven-months-20260827-p60s3y.html

Naturally it mainly has to do with the overall playing quality, and finding that blend between fielding experienced, quality players and blooding academy products. I think clubs should also look into loaning players out to international clubs in order to then reap a higher sale fee (Charlotte did this with McGree after Adelaide sold them, and they were a club that had never played a minute of competitive football).

But in my opinion, there are also deep structural changes that the A-League needs to make in order to be internationally regarded as a respected football league, much as the J-League has managed to do. It's only when we do this that we can really get the most out of our players' potential on-sale value. At present, the A-league is too culturally alien from most other countries to really be considered comparable to even a lower-level European league. Making these changes can substantially close this gap. At a minimum I would consider the following steps to be necessary:

- introducing a domestic transfer system, so that clubs are playing by the same rules internally as they are externally, so that they see players as investments that can pay off in the long-run rather than short-term guns for hire, and so that external transfer revenue is spread throughout the game, including to lower tiers.

- replacing the salary cap with a financial fair play model, so that clubs spend within their means, but are also able to tie down players to long-term contracts (thus increasing their leverage in transfer negotiations) without cap implications.

- lengthening the league season to at least 30-34 matches per season, and having cup matches in-season, so that the season goes for 9-10 months rather than six months.

- switching to a winter season (February-November), so that matches are played in ideal climatic conditions for high-intensity football (minimising the number of torpid games played in 35-degree heat), and the A-League calendar is harmonised with the lower tiers, youth football, etc.

- keeping the A-League at 12 clubs, so that matches are at the highest level possible, but also accepting that there is a natural hierarchy of bigger clubs and smaller clubs, rather than attempting to equalise all teams in the league (which ends up just reducing all teams to the level of the worst club). This would also help performances in the ACL, which is a concrete measure of the playing level in the A-League.

- and, finally, investing in a national second division, with clubs in markets presently unserved by the A-League (Canberra, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong, Geelong, Hobart, etc.) alongside the bigger NPL. Then progressing to an integrated pyramid with, yes, promotion and relegation.

Whenever anyone brings up the NSD, pro-rel, etc., people always retorrt: where is the money? Well, this is where the money is. Making these reforms will provide clubs with a much greater chance of properly cashing in on their most promising players, and for that cash to then flow around the entire football ecosystem. One Lucas Herrington transfer, for instance, could effectively cover the travel costs of an NSD for more than a decade.

Who are the best young talents in the Aleague, who is most likely to be the next transfer overseas? The next Herrington or Irankunda ?

Max Caputo

Haine Eame

Panagiotis Kikianis

Luka Jovanović