Imagine if Fabio Capello Hated the Premier League: Welcome to Australia!

Australia face an away tie against Kuwait in Asian Cup qualifying on Wednesday 6 Jan (AST).

Twenty-first in the overall FIFA rankings and No. 1 in the Asian confederation, on paper the Socceroos should have little trouble overcoming a team 83 places below them

Why was it then that a squad that boasts the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer and Tim Cahill fell to a 0-1 home defeat last time out against Kuwait, a defeat that left Australia with one point from their first two qualifying games and facing the embarrassing prospect of missing out on next year’s tournament?

For the simple reason that neither Kewell, Schwarzer, Cahill, nor any of the country’s first choice players were available for the tie.

Not all Asian Cup fixtures fall on a designated FIFA international fixture date and as a consequence, clubs are not obliged to release their players for international duty.

This meant the team that drew against Indonesia in January last year and then lost against Kuwait in March was composed entirely of players selected from Australia’s domestic football competition, the "Hyundai A-League."

Impressive as the name sounds, re-branded and re-born from the ashes of the National Soccer League (its troubled predecessor), the quality of the competition is well below the standard of the majority of European Leagues and its leading clubs are regularly out-classed by their Japanese counterparts in the Asian Champions League. The J-League remains top dog in Asia and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Once again, Wednesday’s Asian Cup qualifying game does not fall on a date designated by FIFA for international competition and Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek will be largely reliant on players drawn from the A-League, along with eight players based overseas whose circumstances permit them to join up with the national squad, but who would not themselves ordinarily be considered first choice.

The A-League players called up to what is effectively Australia "B" are the cream of the domestic crop and leading stars for their respective clubs. Try telling that to Verbeek.

The Dutchman has a notoriously low opinion of the A-League, a view he has not been shy to air since his appointment in December 2007.

Shortly after succeeding Guus Hiddink, Verbeek candidly announced his opinion that “if you train for three weeks with Nuremburg or with Karlsruhe, I have to be very honest, I still think that’s better than playing A-League games.”

In February 2009, sandwiched between their goal-less draw against Indonesia last year and ahead of the home defeat to Kuwait, he described the performance of Melbourne Victory strikers Danny Allsopp and Archie Thompson, standing in for unavailable European-based regulars, as "absolutely hopeless."

More disconcertingly for "franchise" owners and the FFA, he also suggested that soccer regular Jason Culina was putting his place in the starting line up at risk by leaving PSV Eindhoven to join A-League new comers Gold Coast United.

Verbeek elaborated on his concerns to explain that he thought A-League training standards lacked intensity and accused the tournament of being too "open" tactically: “If you play as open as some games I’ve seen here, you do it against a European or South American team, you would get slaughtered.”

When pressed on his suggestions to improve the competition, Verbeek deadpanned; ‘do you have an hour?’

There is no denying that Verbeek has a point. The A-League may be an improvement in quality from the its predecessor, but it remains tactically naïve and limited technical ability or a lack of pace will prevent the majority of home grown players from earning a move overseas.

The domestic games administrators and financiers can do little in the short term to rectify these deficiencies and remonstrate with Verbeek at the lack of tact and bluntness regarding the A-League’s obvious comparative shortcomings.

How can they be expected to tempt Australia’s top players into returning and build a successful brand with the national manager undermining their efforts at regular intervals?

Verbeek sees things differently. He has defended his views on the grounds that his responsibility is to the national team and to their campaigns to qualify for the World Cup and Asian Cup.

He also dismissed the furore surrounding his comments as overblown and out of context, citing the lack of attention given to his praise of the A-League and its players.

It is true that Verbeek could perhaps employ a little more circumspection in regards to his opinions on tournament and its quality.

However, while wincing at Verbeek’s uncomfortable frankness, the A-League money-men would do well to remember that they are competing against organically popular and entrenched rival codes with a disproportionate share of the market place. Attracting over-the-hill national players back home for a swan song will not be decisive in the battle for football supremacy in Australia.

If they are worried about match attendance or participation in grass roots football, I doubt the kids who don their Victory scarves for a trip to Etihad Stadium after playing for a club side in the park care too much about the Socceroo manager’s comments in press conferences.

Given the Aussie public’s fascination with international competition, regular attendance at the World Cup will be more likely to capture the imagination of sporting youngsters than the fortunes of their local ‘soccer franchises.’

If the ball of choice to be kicked around by kids in Australia is ever to become the round ball, World Cup qualification must be the priority for every Australian manager. It certainly is for Verbeek.