EP 21: John Iredale - From Sydney FC to Heerenveen, Wolfsburg, the Socceroos and South Korea

John Iredale: the moment where I scored my first goal for the Socceros it was my first touch I saw the ball coming, I just knew I had to be there. it's a dream come true really is very special.
Jani Schmidt: John, cheers to South Korea. How's it going, my man?
John Iredale: Pretty good, thank you. It's nice to see you again.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, the last time we saw each other in person was when we went for pizza. did you rate my pizza recommendation?
John Iredale: Yeah, it was pretty good. It was funny, before you guys got there and said it was your favourite pizza restaurant, I was gonna order a pasta, but I couldn't do that. No, it was really good, that's for sure.
Jani Schmidt: And for anyone listening, that was during the international break. So you were allowed to have one or two easy days, right? have a pizza, treat yourself before you then went back straight into to training. obviously great to have you on board for for an episode. before we jump into it, I always like to give my guests a chance to introduce themselves. So for anyone who doesn't know you, who is John Iredale
John Iredale: So yeah, I'm John Eidell. I'm currently playing in South Korea. I was born and grew up in New South Wales, Australia. I played played for Sydney FC Youth Academy before I made my my move over to the Netherlands firstly and then spent most of my career playing in Germany.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, we're gonna go through all of these different topics. Maybe to to start it off, I always like to find out what was your first touch, what was your first contact point with football.
John Iredale: Well, if you go back and ask my parents, I had a football with me since I was a baby. but the first time that I could really, really remember was joining the under fives when I was four years old. So I've been playing football ever since ever since I could run really. So that's as far back as I can remember.
Jani Schmidt: it's i it's not that usual, right? there's other sports in Australia. So what brought you to football? Was it family influence? what was the main part and the main reason why you chose football?
John Iredale: Yeah, so my grandparents ran the association at Spirit, Glazeville Hornsby back then. And my my father played football. So football was always gonna be the biggest sport that we were gonna play, my me and my brother and my sister. but back in the day I used to play a few different sports. I was doing athletics every week and playing baseball as well. but when it came time to to really choose, football was the easiest choice for me.
Jani Schmidt: So then when you're saying it was it became time to choose, obviously at the younger ages, ten, eleven, twelve, a lot of players are playing a lot of different sports. What would you say, what was the age where you decided to lock lock in and say, Okay, now I'm only gonna focus on football?
John Iredale: from memory it was about ten or eleven years old. when I went from playing local club football to association football. that's when I joined Glasborough Hornsby Football Association. so that was basically back in the day spirit under elevens and under twelves. so then it was more a lot more trainings and the season was longer, so then it kind of overlapped with other sports like the the baseball and athletics. so that was probably the point where I decided that football was the only one I wanted to do and focus on.
Jani Schmidt: And then already in these early years did you think like I wanna be a professional footballer or did it come at a later stage?
John Iredale: It was maybe at a time I was thirteen or fourteen, where I got picked for my first team that I was like trialling for. It was basically through the school system, you go to your regional areas, then to the state areas and I was selected for the New South Wales team to compete against all the other states. And that was the first time that I was really like, Wow, I I got selected for this, maybe this is actually something that I can really strive to achieve, like a really a good career out of this. but before that it was just playing for fun, really.
Jani Schmidt: Did you have any any idols, any plays that you watch on YouTube and on TV and were like, Wow, I wanna play like him?
John Iredale: I'm a big Manchester United fan, so back then I was watching Wayne Rooney and Van Persi absolutely tear up the Premier League and that's when Man United got their twenty first Premier League title back then as well, when Van Persi joined Man United. So those are the two strikers I was really watching from a young age.
Jani Schmidt: When I was doing a bit of research on you and looking up the earlier years and then I saw an article that I put out in Germany where they said, is he the young Mario Gomez? So did you ever look at him be
John Iredale: really?
Jani Schmidt: we are having a play a similar playing style?
John Iredale: I probably didn't look at playstyles as much as like who was doing well. now I have a lot closer look at the playing styles because obviously it's really important. but back then, yeah, Mario Gomez he was unreal striker for the German national team and yeah, I I didn't ever compare myself to him of course, but it's nice. I I don't think I ever came across that article.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, maybe I said it to you after, but yeah, it was an interesting one. It was like I it's kinda like Mario Gomez was like the generation when I was growing up, he was at Stuttgart, he was an amazing striker. He would score the most random goals sometimes out of positions where how did he score that? let's come back to a bit about yourself. So you said like thirteen, fourteen, getting selected for representative teams, state teams. What did the next years look like? What was your journey like?
John Iredale: Yeah, so I played through the the NPL in Australia. So I was at Marconi for one year, then I was at Blacktown City for two years. And that's then when Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC youth teams joined the NPL system. So I was actually trialing for both of those clubs in the very first year. and I actually joined Sydney F C back then. So the very first year I was playing eighteens and under twenties. And then I got a few minutes also in the first grade back then. So that was kind of my next steps and yeah, I spent two years in that system, we went from NPL two to NPL one in that first year. So yeah, it was it was a really big big challenge 'cause I was I was sixteen when I first joined. So I was playing under eighteens and under twenties at that stage. So it is a big jump, but No, it was definitely a really good experience for me.
Jani Schmidt: So it's like if you look back at around that time, obviously the younger years, you were not part of like an A-League Academy setup, you didn't learn everything through like the A-League Academy system. What would you say was maybe like one or two parts that coaches at the different clubs that you played at that they gave you as an advice? Would you always play striker already? Would you play a different position? What would you say were the key parts that you took away from these early years?
John Iredale: Yeah, I was always playing striker. 'cause that's I could score a lot of goals even when I was like really, really young. So yeah, that's just the position I have always grown up in. but over those younger younger years, like I remember when I was at Marconi I had a coach there, Alex Watson, he's now in the youth academy at Sydney F C. he was the first coach that kinda really taught me about formations. So we learnt at that stage about different formations and how you can move as a team. so that was really important learning experience for me at that age. So I was about 13, 14. and then when I was at Blacktown City I had a coach, Jonathan Langan, and he was kind of the first coach that taught me about like the technical abilities that a player needs in different positions. So I was able to pick up small things along the along the years. And that's the most important thing is like you're having fun, But you're also picking up small details 'cause I think at those ages you cannot be a complete player. It's it's just not possible.
Jani Schmidt: And I assume back then you would be training with the team what three times a week, then maybe one more training session with a school team or something like that. And then how much time outside of organized training sessions would you spend by yourself practicing?
John Iredale: Yeah, so as far as I can remember was three three nights a week and then games on the weekends. but like the good thing is back then, like the body of a young footballer can do a lot more than what we think now is possible. We could play a full game for the under thirteens and then play half a game for the under fourteens about an hour later. so I was getting lots of game time, which was probably like one of the most important things back then. just this unstructured just playing competing is really, really important for youth progression.
Jani Schmidt: And then to the to the question around how much time would you just spend besides
John Iredale: yeah.
Jani Schmidt: a a team environment, what what would you say?
John Iredale: Yeah, probably I mean, I went every single Friday afternoon from school. used to pick up my best friend and his dad and another another two friends and we used to always go to the park every Friday just to hone our shooting skills before the weekend. that was probably as much as I
Jani Schmidt: I just love it.
John Iredale: did extra, when I was in those youth y years, yeah.
Jani Schmidt: And then obviously it goes into that next chapter where you're then making your debut with Sydney FC in the senior team. you're then moving overseas for trials. Did during that time when you then met a lot of different players that obviously went through a lot of different youth systems and had different experiences from youth development, that you ever feel like they did something completely different, or were you that you feel like you were on the same same level as them, or was there something missing?
John Iredale: I probably wasn't really aware of the differences at that stage. I was just like really excited to to be playing with them. you know, especially when I went into the Sydney FC team. A lot of the boys were a bit older than me and I knew they they had like more qualities than me. But it's always been like a staple of my career is to to work harder than the people around me. That's it's always something that's helped me get further in my career. So I never looked at them thinking I'm behind, but more like, What can I learn from them?
Jani Schmidt: And then was there maybe one or two places where you vi visibly remember okay, I I trained with them or play against them, I'm gonna try to to copy something that they're doing or or or kind of use what they do as well?
John Iredale: Mm. trying to think back to the to the Sydney FC days. It was there was there was two strikers that I was playing with Manny Gonzalez and Charles Localingoy. They were both a couple years older than me. Really strong, fast players and they were scoring every week. And I knew if if I wanted a chance to play in the in like the the first grade basically back in NPL days that I needed to to bring even more. So those were two strikers that I was like, I was good friends with them, but I was fighting to get better than them. we ended up at some stages playing across the front three together. So we managed to I managed to get myself in there and and have a really good time there with them. But they were definitely, you know, the first the first guys I can remember that I was looking up and being like, Okay, I need to I need to get better than them, otherwise I'm gonna be left behind.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah, perfect. and I think that's always that balance of yeah, you are a team, you wanna win together, but also you always know you're gonna have to try to take someone else's spot, right? And I'm sure you came across that that hard part of football across the the the many years of your career so far.
John Iredale: Yeah, it happens it happens every single season. Every new team you go to. You always end up making friends with the guys in your positions 'cause you're you're doing all the same drills as them. but you wanna play. But you're also happy when they're doing well 'cause it's good for the team. So it's a really it's a really close balance. And sometimes the media try to to get in there and ask you questions that are, you know, make you say something about a teammate, but in the end of the day, like if I'm playing, that's the best thing. if he's doing well then I just have to wait my turn and and you know, take my opportunity when it comes.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. it's good that I'm not doing a media podcast here. We actually just want to pass on the advice from professional players to young players. So we'll we won't get into these details. Obviously, the the interesting part then comes in the in the next years of your career where, like, okay, someone can say, you're in the Sydney of C academy as a young player, you're playing first grade minutes. What happened next? Because that's a very interesting part of your journey and probably like where a lot of learnings came from. What made you then think, I'm at this stage, but I wanna go overseas.
John Iredale: Yeah, so well I had the dream to play in Europe, from when I was young. but the biggest thing was actually at the time at Sydney FC, there was a lot of older players in the squad. and especially in the A Leagues A League squad. When I first started training with them, I was actually ended up getting some minutes and friendly games at right back with the A League squad. And it's funny, there was one time where I actually scored two goals in a game from right back. And I remember Graham Arnold giving me that look like, maybe this is for you. But I was like, I knew I knew that I can bring more as a striker, but obviously the the guys that were playing there at the time were, far far better than me. it was the time where Bobo was there, David Carney was there, it was like all these guys in Antonies were w winning the league and winning the grand final, all these things. So I just knew I was like, it's it's not my time to play yet, but I don't wanna change positions right now. so I knew I kinda couldn't really break in for a few more years there. so that was what kinda like drove me to to look for opportunities abroad. and yeah, I w ended up going on trial in the Netherlands for for a week or two. and that led to getting my first No, as a striker. Yeah, and then they really, really liked
Jani Schmidt: As a as a right bank or as a striker?
John Iredale: me and so I ended up making my move over there. Even though I was moving into an under eighteen squad, I still thought the pathway there was gonna be more beneficial than maybe not so many minutes playing as a striker in in the A League.
Jani Schmidt: So were you seventeen, eighteen years old? What was the age?
John Iredale: Yeah, that was sev at seventeen. And then when I turned eighteen then I was allowed to move to Europe. So it was it at that phase. Yeah.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. And then what did the next one or two years look like? What were the challenges? What was maybe like for you in hindsight now the the hardest part from from moving overseas, being there by yourself, different country, different language, different cultures?
John Iredale: the hardest thing was probably just adapting to a new new playstyle. you know, Australia's always kind of been very physical and outwork, outmuscle the other teams. but when I went to the Netherlands it was very, very tactical. A lot of the players were very individual. I had to l to kind of adapt to that. I also hadn't kind of really been to the gym much before. So it was a very professional environment when I joined Herrinvain in the Netherlands and I remember back then I was the first thing that is stuck in my mind that since I wasn't able to do one pull up. obviously I can do multiple pull ups now, but that was just the some something that stood in my mind like r that I was I was behind. So that first year I was I was doing really well, but it was kind of like just getting up to speed basically, physically and tactically. But it it it worked out well because this leads into what I mentioned before about that phase, the end of twenty eighteen. so that was a time where I got called up for the like the Haranbeen first team for the Eredivise Division squad for preseason. yeah, so that's kinda how it went those first two years.
Jani Schmidt: It's interesting you mentioned the S and C side, the physical side of things, because I always try to explain to like football people here in Australia that back home in Germany, for example, like the S&C side starts already in under elevens, under twelves, in terms of teaching players how to move their body, how to balance, how to single like balance. Then the older they get, it starts with more and more gym focus. Where I would say an under fifteen, sixteenth, like players are properly in the gym once or twice a week already. Where I feel like a lot of players here in f in the football environment, this part is not happening as much and it's not as structured as much. So I sometimes worry that a lot of players miss out on these ES because you can't catch it up, right? You if you have to learn how to squat at nineteen years old, it's gonna be a bit challenging in the future.
John Iredale: Yeah, and I hope that Australia is is improving in this because back when I was coming through, obviously those times where I was in the the NPL, you just you know, the you're just focused on your own team. There's no actual structure from the whole club. and then going into the Sydney FC system, we kind of did get in the gym, but it still wasn't like f it was still so brand new that it kind of wasn't a full setup like where you had one one head of the S&C taking across the whole youth academy. I hope that that's included now in the system. But back when I was coming through was it was not really a a focus. It was just all the football side. even when I was in Wolfsburg in Germany a few years later, I had a phase where I was injured and I was spending a lot of time with a strength and conditioning coach. And that's when I also noticed that he took a lot of time from his day to do sessions for the youth at Wolfsburg. and he he said like you see the players that already know that it's important and the others that think, this is not football, what are we doing in here? and he's over his experience, the ones that really stick in like get stuck in at a young age are far ahead when they get into the professional level.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, hundred percent. I couldn't agree more that this is the probably the biggest part where a lot of players miss out on because they're either don't do it at the earlier ages or they don't realise how important it is and then they're turning seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old and they're like, okay, now I understand what the guy tried to tell me when I was in under fifteens, how important it is. Or it's like unfortunately sometimes a big injury happens and then you're going through the full rehab process and then you're actually learning from a physio and S&C coach how to properly prepare your body and how to use your body. So To any young player that is listening, go see a physio, go do a check up if you're not sure if your body's in the right place and and make sure you do at least your rehab and prehab because that that this is gonna accumulate over a long time as well.
John Iredale: A hundred percent. And this is something I wanna do after football. So I've already started studying. I've got certifications to be a personal trainer, a strength conditioning specialist. because like as we'll probably talk about, we'll touch in a in a minute, I had a big injury that that's when I finally had to learn about everything. And this just like wastes a year or two years of you know, the most important time of a young player's career. And after football I would love to absolutely get in there and and help the youth of Australia to actually be prepared. because, we have an amazing soccer roos team right now, really young really young team. and in the future you just want to improve on that, you know, and the players need to be playing and they don't need to be sitting out for a year learning now about the importance of strength and conditioning.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, then maybe directly let's jump into that topic, give us a bit of a yeah, a summary of the years in from the Netherlands, then your first socceros called up and and all what happened around this age around that time, which then ultimately led to your first yeah, major injury.
John Iredale: Yeah, so it was at the end of twenty eighteen I was called up for the Aerodivisie squad's preseason at Herembane. so I had a full pre season, first team. it was probably the first time in my career that I had a full proper preseason like this. So it was very intense, but I was doing really well. which actually got me a call up into Graham Arnold's first Socceroos squad. so I was nineteen at that stage. And so I went away to Turkey. We had a two weeks there and that was an unbelievable experience in itself. you know, just being around all these players that I've watched for years and years with the soccer jersey on. was quite surreal, but it was very, very motivating at the same time because you know, I was so close to actually, achieving, a lifelong dream of playing for the national team. but anyways, it it it all compounded. There was like really, really high level, really intense, Training sessions and all these things. I went back to club and then I was straight away going to the under-20 Asian Cup. So I spent a month away at the Asian Cup training every day. a bunch of games in a tournament setting. by the end of that, my body was very fatigued, and then about a week after I returned to club football, I had a stress fracture in my right foot. unfortunately, you know. it all happened at the same time and it was just too much for my body to handle. If it happened one at a time, I think I'd be all right. But because all of these steps, I was doing everything right in football. It I was r getting rewarded for my hard work and performances and, all these things come. But in the end of the day, my body wasn't ready to deal with it all. And it was very unfortunate that then I had to spend the next six, seven months recovering. And that took me all the way until the end of my contract. at Heronvane, which in in itself is very difficult because, you know, now you've been injured and now you have to find a new club. It's not an easy experience as well in itself.
Jani Schmidt: And you haven't played for a long time, so not a lot of clubs will be looking at a young player being like, he's not proven himself, he's not had many first game minutes. What are we gonna do? before we jump into a few different questions I wanna ask you, obviously you went into yeah, like the the Socceros camp, which is an amazing achievement already at a very young age. Who were maybe the one or two players that you looked at in that squad that were ahead of you but where you're like, Okay, this is the level, this is where I need to get to?
John Iredale: Yeah, there was Adam Taggart and Tommy Yurich were there. both Unreal Strikers in you know, they were performing so well for their club and country at the time. and the young boy in me thought I thought I had a chance and you know, I gave everything. Unfortunately there was no friendly game in that in that camp, which was unfortunate. But it was actually I went into that camp with Daniel Ozzani and Denny Jonru. So I had two boys that I had known when I was a bit younger, so felt quite comfortable being in there with them. but yeah, it was it was definit it was a little bit like a mixture of motivating and a bit like overwhelming as well. But it was a unreal experience in itself.
Jani Schmidt: And then you went from obviously the the top top level in terms of national team, yeah, Socceroos to then on the twenties tournament, what was that like?
John Iredale: Yeah, that was full on as well. That was my first full proper tournament setting as well to be in. So it was also a learning curve. I had to understand like being prepared for games in after like a short period of time, this like training period before. Sometimes you think if you don't have a game you need to train extra hard but you have to actually prepare your body for the intense period that's coming. So you don't actually need to train so intense leading up to the to the first games. So it was very very big learning experience and there was like how to how to manage games, how the Asian teams play. Some teams try and get under your skin because they know that they're not up to the quality of the national like the soccerers or something. like the Australian teams, so they have to get under skin and win mentally. So I in that as well was very interesting experience. I remember there was there was one game against South Korea that we played them in the the group stage. we ended up drawing one one. But it was also we needed to draw to get through. And I remember one player was they were winning one nil and one player goes down and everyone kinda stops but you didn't think that he was actually injured 'cause it looks really like really too easy. And one of my teammates, I couldn't remember right now who it was, took a long shot and scored while the whole South Korean team were like stopping. this is also in itself like a tournament tournament vibe where you need to get through. This is not like time to play so friendly if you think that that there's nothing actually wrong with the player. So we went through as well, which that it's that was that stuck with me because you have to also do what you need to do to win games at some stage, you know.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, especially the the closer you get to senior football, right? Was there any boys from from that team that you played with in the under twenties that that went on to make professional careers, maybe even go to the to the level of the Succarus?
John Iredale: Yeah, there was a few. I can't remember everyone right now. but we Ben Falami was in there, he's now made his soccer's debut. Danny Jean Rue was there, he's played many games now for the national team. I believe Daniel Arzani was at that tournament as well. but there's a few more but I can't remember everyone right now.
Jani Schmidt: No, fair enough. It's already a few a fair few years ago, right?
John Iredale: Yeah, it was. It's it's crazy. It's been a while now.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. So then let's jump into that that that big challenge of like obviously you're coming off I got get selected for a Soccer Roos camp, I'm playing an under twenties tournament, now I'm injured. What goes through your brain? How do you come back from that? How do you go through this phase of your career?
John Iredale: Yeah, it was tough. I kind of had been playing through the pain for a few weeks and I didn't want to believe that it was anything too serious until I actually took a trip down to Amsterdam to see a specialist and I remember sitting in his office and him telling me that it was gonna take six or seven months. I just couldn't believe it. I'd I've never experienced anything like that in my career. I just thought that he was he looked at the wrong scan or he was making a joke. a non funny joke to me or something like this. It was very tough to take. but I had my I had my parents and my brother and sister with me at that stage and you know you're all the way across the world, you move across the world to play football and now you suddenly can't play for a long time. It was tough. but I just took it I took it in my stride and I knew that the more that I give in this recovery phase, the better I'm gonna be on the other side of it. So I really just didn't take any days days off really. I just gave everything I could and it's it is a good opportunity at some stage to to work even harder than you can in training because now you don't have any games to prepare yourself for. so I do believe that I came out of the other side even better and yeah. And I was able to learn a lot about myself as well.
Jani Schmidt: you said earlier that the the big rehab phase give you a chance to work onto other parts of your body that maybe were not addressed before as much. What would you say what were the one or two biggest components of the training that you would say then changed the way you are maybe moving your body, preparing your body, maybe more power, more speed? What was it?
John Iredale: Yeah, I got I was always fast, but I got faster. I got stronger. So I was maybe in the back in the day you can call like skinny fat. Not that I'm fat not that I was fat at all, but like I just had this young kid little bit chubbiness to me. and that you could see in my in my physique the immaturity at my age when I was eighteen then. But I think when I came back all the players quite shocked. They're like, Wow, you've you've worked really hard here and and it felt really good. I remember taking some photos back in the day, like to compare and you know, it makes a big difference. And also in that phase I was able to to grow up mentally as well. I think, you know, you always just focused on training and playing, training and playing. You never stop to think about the mental side of things. And in that phase I was able to also slow down and really align what type of player I wanna be with, my actions that I'm, you know, showing as well.
Jani Schmidt: So he did a full Leon Goretzko transformation, right? Have you ever seen the picture where he was like before COVID and then when the covert break happened, he went to the gym and out of nowhere he came back shredded and everyone's like, Who is this guy? Was it similar for you?
John Iredale: Not not that intense.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
John Iredale: I it's definitely taken me a lot more years to get to the way to the to the physique I am now. there is this there is this like stereotype. You don't want to get too big, you gotta play football. but you also gotta feel good in your in your body as well and and you gotta fit to your playing style. So some players they really you have to have minimal muscle 'cause they need to move a lot. some players, you know, strikers often, defenders often have to be very physical. So Yeah, just you gotta find what works for you and what you know, what feels good for you. But yeah, it's definitely taking me a lot longer than Goretzka, that's for sure.
Jani Schmidt: Then obviously you said it before that then there was the challenge of you're just coming back from injury, your contract has run out. what do you do next? how do you progress?
John Iredale: Yeah, that was tough. I actually came back for the very last game of the season, Herman Bane, so I didn't have enough games under my belt as we touched on before to kind of prove to clubs that I'm as good as I was before I was injured. so actually I took the opportunity to go on trial at Stuttgart in Germany for their second team. so I s went there for three days and they said, Hey, can you stay a few days longer and play in a friendly game? so that's all I needed really. I just was so motivated to prove that I'm, you know, still got the ability and even better now. I actually played in the friendly game and scored two goals against Grote Firth. and then suddenly I had a few offers on the table. So it just took it just takes, you know, backing yourself, at certain stages you don't want to go on trials. You think, yeah, they should have seen how good I am to take me before trial. But sometimes just showing up Putting yourself in right in front of the people that you want to impress is also a good opportunity to take. and that's all I needed and and from then I took the opportunity to go to Wolfsburg and then yeah, then I spent two years playing for Wolfsburg.
Jani Schmidt: And that was what the vision back then?
John Iredale: So we played in the fourth league in Germany. Yeah.
Jani Schmidt: For the second team of Wolfsburg
John Iredale: Yeah. So I was in the second team, it was under twenty three's team playing in fourth league of Germany. so if I look back on it and compare it to Australia, it's it's pretty much similar to playing for like Sydney FC or Western Sydney Wanderers, Central Coast Mariners, in an NPL first grade team. it's very similar to that. So you have the opportunity to play against full grown men. maybe the quality isn't as high as obviously higher leagues in Germany, but the physicality and the work rate that you need to show in that type of league is like an amazing place for a younger player to grow and improve. 'cause if you can't keep up with the demands there, there's no chance for you to say, go from second team Wolfsburg to second Bundesliga because The quality improves, which maybe you had already, but the physicality is even more and even tougher there. So it is a great place for for young players to really to really shine and improve.
Jani Schmidt: At the same time, you could have gone and and I think that happens sometimes to play say okay, I was already at a first team in the Netherlands, right? First division. Now I'm back in a second team and a fourth division in Germany. maybe other players would have said, you know what, okay, maybe the dream is over, this is me done. what kept you going?
John Iredale: I was still young. I had never looked at it like giving up. I I never look I never give up on especially on football. like at this stage I'd only been training with the Aerodivisy team. I I would have probably played that year, but because I didn't, because of the injury, I didn't have this mentality that I'm taking a massive step back. I was looking at it like, yeah, I'm in the second team of Wolfsburg, Bundesliga club. this is a great place for me to Take the next step really. I didn't really care about the league I was playing in. The facilities, the training environment there was top notch. I had German youth internationals in my squad there. So like I knew I knew I was stepping into an environment where I wasn't the best, which actually Sammy my wife, mentioned in her podcast with you earlier, that it's
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
John Iredale: important not to be the best 'cause then you're able to learn from the best in squad. So that was the mindset I had. I was able to get to their level and then hopefully take the next step from there.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I love that you mentioned it. I'm gonna send through a few of her questions that she sent me for you at a later stage of this episode. But I think the important part, like you said, what is important for especially players here in Australia to understand that the level that you're going to, let's say for example, Germany, fourth division, this is where players that are played under seventeenth, under nineteenth, Bundesliga maybe represented youth national teams in Europe, whether that's Germany, Spain, England, Portugal, they're ending up initially in these fourth division teams. because they need to learn how to play against grown up men, like you said. And this is the level that we're talking about because sometimes I feel like when I speak to players here, they're like, yeah, I want to play fourth division. It's like, yeah, but you know what your competition is. That's not just an average NPL player that you're playing against here. It's actually gonna be like the the top level of players that are just making the step up from youth into senior football.
John Iredale: Yeah, it's exactly right. And this is a great platform and especially in Germany, the whole system is really like a ladder. So everybody knows the quality of each league and everyone's watching Eagle Eye on every league because it's very special. You're they're able to to pick up players really cheap or for free from from young like young teams or from lower divisions. Because they're able to know the level that they're playing at really well. It's a really good connection between them. And I have a few players, just to name drop a couple, Anton Stark. He was in my Wolfsburg team and now he's, German
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, well
John Iredale: national team playing in Leeds in the Premier League. I had Omar Marmoush was in my squad then as well. so you have these players as well that you just you know, you play with in the fourth division. it's just a it's just it's a platform to really excel. yeah.
Jani Schmidt: it's interesting you you mentioned Omar Mammush because obviously he's an attacker as well, but he would probably have a completely different playing style to you in terms of the way he's moving on and off the ball. When you were playing with him back then, did you think he's gonna end up where he is at now?
John Iredale: he's he's hit the top really, he's unbelievable. back in in the back in Wolfsburg, he had amazing quality. His technique and his finishing ability was next level. you could tell already back then. But it was a it's actually interesting. We had one one boy come down from the first team to play striker, John Yaboa. He's actually also had a really good career, he's played for Nietzsche, he's playing for Columbia national team. think, yeah. and then I actually played with him. So I was actually ahead of Marmoush in that time in Wolfsburg. just a different type of playing style. I was very direct. Marmoush w always wanted the ball to feet. So it also depends on what the coach wants, you know. But he he was always ready, always available and there was this time where Corona came. I was obviously injured at that stage and and he took the opportunity to start training with the The first team, at the beginning, he they took a few of our players just as mannequins during Corona. but he obviously he's got the quality, they couldn't keep him as a mannequin very long and you know, then he's had an unreal career, went on loan in second Bundesliga to Saint Pauli and then he had un unreal time at Frankfurt and then now Man City and and now on loan at Tottenham. So it just shows like
Jani Schmidt: Yes.
John Iredale: you just need to be ready it no matter what. even if you're not playing at a young age. Back yourself and these things can happen.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, that's honestly that's an amazing story to share because I feel like so many people always think yeah, it just happens to a player straight away. Right. Someone is looking at Marmoush probably now and be Yeah, he was always like that. But then you go like, nah, nah, nah, nah. He had to go through the same phases, he had to play a second team, he had to make up his way into a first team training and then progressing, getting a chance, going to a lower division again in terms of second Bundesliga, showing what he can do again. let's come back to your story. I feel like that's something that what you've done as well to reach the then the profession level. So what was your next step from playing a second team, Wolfsburg, Fourth Division to then progressing into the higher professional levels in Germany?
John Iredale: Yeah, so I I got injured again, unfortunately. This time it was just really, really unfortunate contact injury. But this was just before corona. So it was actually ended up being eleven months between professional games for me. mainly because the fourth division completely shut down during corona. There was no we were just training at some stage, there was no games. So It was tough. It was a tough period. this was also leading up to the Olympics as well. I was still going to every every national team to Oli Ruse, all the camps before the Olympics, but yeah, I ended up signing for Paderborn in Second Bundesliga, which was like an amazing thing. I did it in like April, so that's even like a few months before the transfer window even opened. So they were really, really determined to get me and I was really excited to make that step. But then there was a few things that all happened on top of each other. I didn't make the Olympic team, they ended up bringing in an overage striker, Mitchell Duke. instead of me, you know, but I can understand I even though I wanted to be there, I hadn't played professional like I hadn't played competitive games for quite a few months. so that hit me at the same time that I joined a new club in Second Bundesliga. And I probably wasn't mentally ready to to start that challenge, unfortunately. so I didn't have like an amazing first experience, or my f first step in the second Bundesliga, which ended up then I went out on loan to the third league. So there's no one path, one straight path to the top. But you know, after that season I was able to to really improve and, you know, get mentally in the right space over the next few months and and you know, take some take some time to to understand that like it's not just gonna be easy steps every time. You have to really struggle at some stage so that you can adapt to it and and improve and get better. So yeah, that's how I went. And then I ended up spending another two seasons at Wiesbaden, which where we got promoted to the second Bundesliga. So I did get my second Bundesliga season in there before I made a move abroad.
Jani Schmidt: even then when you made that first move to be you were still you were still quite young, right?
John Iredale: Yeah, I was when I went to Paderborn I was twenty two. Yeah, twenty two.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
John Iredale: Yeah. So you had players obviously that can play there and you know, are ready for that. and I I I think if I look back I was ready, physically and and my ability wise, but maybe I was not mentally ready after like this this first really big you know, football thing that I've kind of missed out on. which was the Olympics. It was very tough and sometimes you look at the mental side and think that you only need to talk to people when things are bad. But sometimes it's nice to be ready before they get bad. But that's also a learning experience in itself.
Jani Schmidt: you're already sharing some some advice, some knowledge there. If you now look back on the the years from there all the way back to your youth, if you f could change something, do something differently in terms of I don't know, like training, the the moves that you had, how you approach the game, is there something that comes straight to mind where like, yeah, if I could go back in time we would prepare this differently, do this differently?
John Iredale: Yeah, with everything in football, you make the best decisions you can with the information you have. So there are moves or times of my career where I probably was like, it might have been different if I took the other the other option, but I can never look back and and say that I wish I did something different because I made the right decision with the information I had. so probably when I look back and and think, is this something I could have done It's interesting to say I spend money or invest in myself to get back on the pitch when things go wrong. if that's like injuries or, you know, better r recovery tools or mental coaching when I'm in a bad place. if I look back, I wish I did what I'm doing now and is it is invest in keeping me on the pitch or keeping me in my best condition. because the results actually compound a lot quicker when you're physically ready, you're mentally prepared, rather than trying to get back to the level that you know that you can be at.
Jani Schmidt: man, love it. I think that's a brilliant advice because that's what I often say to people that are like, yeah, I'm gonna see the physio when I'm injured. It's like, why would you wait for an injury to prepare your body even better to maybe avo avoid that injury or that that overuse injury, whatever it might be? It's like, nah, it's it's it's not a fireman. It's like you should
John Iredale: Mm.
Jani Schmidt: go see the physio, see the S&C, maybe see, like you said, see the mental coach. Like you said, when everything is going well and just improve rather than wait for the moment where you crash and then say, okay, now I'm gonna change something. So yeah,
John Iredale: Yeah.
Jani Schmidt: man, honestly, ama amazing. I I totally agree. Very good. So you said then obviously these these these parts happen, the Germany part comes to an end. Before we progress into that that next move, what was maybe one part that you enjoyed the most about Living in Germany, playing in Germany, what was one of the two one two best parts of the the German football side.
John Iredale: the fans are unbelievable in Germany. It's the first thing that comes to mind. just playing the football atmosphere in Germany is like far beyond anything I've experienced anywhere else. you know, we in Wiesbaden we had great fans, but we were a really small club like right in between Frankfurt and Mainz. So, you know, our fans could do all they could, but every time we went away, like, you know, we have our fans shooting us on, but then the rest of the stadium is just insane. There was one game I remember we played Dusseldorf away, I think it like forty or fifty thousand people. and I scored a penalty in front of their main block of fans there. So like these are experiences that like just stay with you forever because this is what you play for really. You just you know, y you want to entertain and you wanna test yourself under pressure and and these are the the highest pressure situations you can get yourself in.
Jani Schmidt: And then besides the football, is there was there something else about Germany, maybe your favourite food, favorite drink, whatever it might be?
John Iredale: Maybe the Autobahn
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Okay. Just driving fast, yeah.
John Iredale: Nah, I really I really get along I really get along with the with the German people and yeah had really really good teammates there at Wiesbaden. but no not just the Autobahns but just driving around, getting around Germany is very easy. unless you take the the trains. It's very unreliable. 'Cause my wife and I we were living three hours apart in Germany at that stage. So yeah I got to to see a lot of the the country while driving around to see her. yeah. But yeah, that's
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. I just I just remembered something what you what you guys told told us when we were when we were going for dinner and you said that obviously you were I think your story was you moved just had moved to a new apartment, you were sad are we gonna stay in this city and then out of nowhere three or four days later you had to go to a different club, to a different team, move everything again. I guess that's like part of football, but like that's all also something that you always had to adjust to in your career, right?
John Iredale: Yeah, it's it was a really tough tough moment for us because we made the decision. We we so my wife and I, just a little bit of background for anyone who doesn't know, my wife Sammy, she's now playing for Western Sydney Wanderers in the women's A League right now. So she's just moved there. Their season starts this weekend from when we're recording this. we met while we were playing in Wolfsburg and when I moved to Paderborn in the second Bundesliga, we moved together. She had a big injury at that stage, and her main focus was her rehab. So she joined the Armenia Bielefield, which had a really, really good rehab there. And she was also studying at university there. So that was kind of the little bit of a background. So we ended up moving there together. I had preseason and then I went on loan. she was living in a like a student apartment, so quite small, because it was all she needed at that stage. I came back from my loan and we decided that we wanted to get an apartment that would be good for the two of us and our dogs. So we kind of towards the end of preseason that that second year we moved in to a new new apartment. moved in on the Saturday and the Sunday over the weekend. And it was my birthday actually on the on the Sunday, so I had my family helping us move and also celebrate. unfortunately we got some some news that like It wasn't gonna work out. I could stay obviously, but maybe I wouldn't play so much. so I ended up making a permanent transfer and on that Monday I drove down to Wiesbahn to make the to make the permanent transfer. So I kind of lived there for two days with Sammy before I had to move again. So it's just a side of football that people don't really see. but it's not very pleasant when it happens.
Jani Schmidt: in saying that though, if you then look at the journey that you took from there, at Wiesbaden you had two amazing seasons where you got promoted, you got to play second Bundesliga. So in Heinz, I can also say the move that you did and the decision that you took was right. Obviously at the time was very challenging and very hard.
John Iredale: Yeah, you have to weigh up the the challenges. I could have stayed and been with my wife, but probably not played much in that season or anything really. my contract would be finishing and be like, Yeah, well, I haven't played for a year, so how or where what's my next step now? Or you take the initiative to, you know, get ahead and and help your football career, but then your personal life kind of suffers. But no, we were still quite early in our relationship, so we We managed it and we've it's been something that we've kept with us the whole time as we never wanted to to regret anything in our football careers. so yeah, it's been a interesting story our our personal life over the years.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. I mean to anyone that's like interested in Sammy's story, obviously she's been on this podcast as well and that's how we even met each other personally, through a bit of the German connection. So anyone who wants to listen back to that, just go back into the episodes and I think there's there's some very good advice that she gave, especially to young female footballers as well. John, to come back to your story, obviously then the German chapter is closed and you make another move, different country, how did that come about and what was the next step like?
John Iredale: Yeah, so came to the end of my contract, in Wiesbaden and I had been in Germany for five years at that stage. I loved it there, but I was kinda ready for something new. I kinda felt like well, it's something that I believe in now, is that football is a key to unlock the world or it's prison cell to keep you locked down in one place. you know, you kinda have these dreams when you're a young kid to h to achieve the highest you can, to get to the absolute top, be Champions League, go for the balloon d'or, all these really outrageous goals. But the longer that you keep chasing them and stop being realistic and you're not being realistic, the kind of more that you feel like you're in a in this prison of trying to achieve it. so at this end of this five years in Germany I was like, let's be realistic. What level can I actually achieve right now? you know let me let me take this opportunity to see the world but also obviously still push my career forward. So that's when I took the move to Denmark. I had worked with the head coach of Alborg in my youth at Herrenveen in the Netherlands. it was his first time taking the head coach role and he was you know taking over Alborg and yeah he was really, really keen to bring me in and that's what drew me to move to Denmark.
Jani Schmidt: And I have to say you obviously achieved one big part in Germany as well, which is like learning the language. And you used when we met, we're still speaking very fluent. So I think that's another thing that football sometimes provides, but players have to take the opportunity to learn another language to embrace themselves and to culture. And I I can definitely say that you've done that. so so Godunia on that.
John Iredale: Thank you. Yeah, it's it's nice and maybe some of the boys in in Germany don't know how well I can actually speak, so it's kinda funny, sometimes. you know, you just kind of are a fly on the wall sometimes. But no, it is it's a cultural thing that you pick up and and it's really important to to learn the language 'cause then you kind of adapt even better. In saying that I haven't learned Korean since I've been here, it's it's a lot more difficult than German, that's for sure.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Thanks for the transition into South Korea because that's another bigger topic for this episode. Obviously, Asia is quite close to Australia. It is quite close to maybe achieve that that next step in terms of going to the professional level for a lot of younger players in Australia that are not maybe making it to an A League team. Because obviously, like if you're looking at the A teams, yes, they're getting younger, but there's also still a lot of older players in positions. Maybe players find themselves in a similar shoe that you were in that you're like, okay, I wanna play pro level, but there's two or three guys that are older that are ahead of me. Asia is a great opportunity because it's close. because I feel like Asia is starting to look more at Australian players as well. So maybe give us a bit of an insight what is life and football like in South Korea?
John Iredale: Yeah, moving to to Asia was not something I had thought about for most of my career, but you know, now as I was turning twenty six, you know, now I'm twenty seven years old. I thought like this is a great opportunity to continue to see the world. and the Asian football like is improving drastically. South Korea and Japan are, you know, like players are making big moves to Europe from here. there's a lot of opportunities and quality here is really high so it was also a really exciting opportunity for me to come here. Obviously as you mentioned it's closer to Australia. The time difference is only one hour and two hours now because of daylight savings. It makes a big difference with family and friends as well. so I was kind of excited about that. The culture here is very different than Europe. The language is very difficult. so in Europe most people speak English in each country you go to but in Korea it's maybe eighty percent don't speak English. So it's quite difficult. But we have translators. So we have a translator that's with us on the pitch in every meeting. sends the schedules in in English to us. So that itself was really an interesting experience. At the beginning I felt like people were like thinking that we're stupid because the whole conversation takes so much longer than just speaking, you know, in the same language. Like it has to go through multiple translations to get a small conversation out. So this was quite interesting and but to live, especially in South Korea, the lifestyle here is like amazing. It's a great place to live. Everything is very, very convenient. there's restaurants, cafes everywhere. The people are really, really friendly. so I'm really enjoying living here. it's just only a bit lonely sometimes.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, which I guess it's another part of football sometimes, especially when you go into countries where maybe like English is not the first language and you have to meet a lot of new people, you have to settle in. Is there many international players that are speaking English in your current team?
John Iredale: so in my current team, yeah, there are six internationals and five of us speak English. So it was really, really nice. at my previous club we had five of us and only two two spoke English. Two and a half. Some of the Brazilians they say that they were speak they could speak English, but they didn't show it too well. but yeah, there was one stage where the two boys that spoke English were injured in my whole club. And I went for a couple of weeks without really speaking to anyone. So it's tough. But yeah, now I'm in a really good place with you know, with good boys around me. And even in my club now there's a few of the Koreans that speak very good English. So it's definitely much more welcoming when you can communicate with the team.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, for sure. And then when we talk about the football side of things, how what would you say? What is the the key parts of football in South Korea? How does it compare to what you obviously see in Australia, but also what you experience in in Germany? how does it compare? Where does it sit?
John Iredale: Yeah, it's it's different. They're maybe a little bit behind in the the overall tactics with the league and everything. so all the teams, you know, they're slowly improving on these things and and the players before haven't experienced as much tactical training growing up. so this is like really new to them. but in saying that they're the level and intensity, like i I'd have to say it's even higher than Germany. when I first moved here I was really fit. I was playing all the time in Denmark and the first game of the season, I think at halftime I couldn't breathe. I was like, what is this game? This is like box to box, no one slowing down to to keep the ball. it's just like we c let's attack as fast as we can. and for me that was completely new style of play. I was like Why are we not keeping the ball? Why why are they not keeping the ball? it was very, very intense and by the time like when I got used to that, then I was able to to bring my qualities with the physical attributes as well. So took some some time to adapt. But that's definitely the the biggest thing here is that what they lack with any quality, they make up with their fighting spirit.
Jani Schmidt: And then is there also differences in terms of how a training week is designed, how training itself is?
John Iredale: Yeah, I'm not sure if it's all across Korea, but definitely the two coaches I've had, so the two clubs I've been at in Korea are are a lot more eleven V elevens and we spend a lot of time on tactics. That might actually be w due to what I mentioned just before with with the players not kind of growing up with a lot of tactical training. So we spend a lot of time on that, in trainings. Which means that we spend less time doing five V fives, small tournaments, which is what you do in in Germany, for example, all the time. Even in Denmark we were doing it multiple times a week, which is like really good for these one V one moments in a game, these times where your legs are fatigued and you have to make good actions. it's just a different type of training. Now it's very much like full field, non stop, like you have to be able to, you know, cover long distances like without much rest. So it's just a different playing style.
Jani Schmidt: I'm gonna throw one of the questions that Sammy sent me before the episode to you because we're just talking about training. She said to ask you what is your go to pre training snack?
John Iredale: Go go to a pre training snack. I is this the one she said that I have to be telling the truth or what?
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
John Iredale: I actually don't know what she's gonna think I'm gonna say, but something that I like it's not that it's specifically for a training, but something I take every morning is like a peanut butter toast. dismaff everything. Yeah. Yeah. Peanut butter on some sourdough
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, you're right. That's what you that's what she said. Love it. You g You guys know each other quite well. I love it.
John Iredale: Yeah.
Jani Schmidt: to to bring the conversation into the the the last part, obviously you you're in South Korea, you're now twenty seven years old, you're performing, you're scoring a lot of goals, the season is going quite well. Obviously there's then always that question around okay, is there another chance to maybe come back into the national team? How do you feel about that? What do you see it's happening with the Socceroos at the moment? do you see yourself coming back into that at some stage in the future, maybe again?
John Iredale: Yeah, for sure, that's always what I wanna be. I wanna be back with the national team. but I kind of was letting the ambition to play for the Socceros kind of guide me too much in the previous years. and I found that the more I tried, the worse I was performing. Maybe by putting too much pressure on myself. So maybe a couple of years ago or a year and a half ago stopped worrying about the national team and thought that it is going to come when I deserve it the most. and I first need to focus on my current form, my current club, and then everything will compound from there. So I am definitely thinking about it more now that I'm playing K one and doing quite well. But obviously I haven't worked with Tony Popovich before. So I'm not going to be here and say that I deserve a call up or anything. I'm just going to continue doing my thing. And if I can help the national team, then I hope that I'm you know, in talks with with the the coaching staff that I will be selected, but that's only if I can help them and they believe that I can help them, then I'm always going to be ready for a call up.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, hundred percent. And I think that's the the one part that nowadays is is the beauty with like with football that you can see everywhere across the world what players are doing. And I would hope that like the Australia football staff are looking at like a Kayleigh one and say as well, like hey, this is good level now, there's good players there. There's a lot of players going overseas to bigger leagues and bigger teams. So John must be doing something right over there if he can score goals and ultimately in your position that's what is needed, right?
John Iredale: Yep. Yeah, I hope so too. I hope they're keeping a close eye and then the you know, the Asian Cup is coming up in January. Unfortunately, Mo Tour is gonna be injured for quite a while right now. for Australia it'll be so important that he's fit for the Asian Cup. But if he's not prior to that, like, you know, obviously I'm I'm hoping that they're watching and that I'm putting in the performances to get a to get a look in, but If not, I'm always gonna be cheering on the socceros and I know a lot of the boys in that squad and I'm good mates with a few of them, so I'm always cheering them on no matter what.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, perfect. We already talked about like South Korea now. I'm gonna lead into one of my first questions that brings that conversation towards the end. What is the most unexpected place that football has taken you so far in your life?
John Iredale: South Korea. South Korea?
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, what do you in South Korea?
John Iredale: Yeah, I mean, I hadn't thought about South Korea at all, really, until I moved here. until I had the first conversations with my my old club in South Korea. but I'm really glad that it has. Like it's it's an unreal experience to be here. The the quality is amazing and the people I'm meeting, I've also got all their different stories. Even the foreigners are all from different places and here for different reasons. So it's definitely been an amazing experience so far.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I love it. And I hope it it continues to be. definitely definitely on my list of of places I want to travel to now now as well. next question for you. If there's that's football related, if there's one moment in your football career so far, if you could relive it, which one would it be?
John Iredale: There there are a couple that come to mind. Both one's individual and one's a team. So the team one would be the moment that we at Vies Baden got promoted to the second Bundesliga. This this feeling, this internal feeling of achievement as a team is just it's like the pinnacle of football really. it's the best feeling ever. you work so hard for so long and you achieved the goal that you guys have had as a group for the whole season. it's really unreal. So we got promoted then to the second Bundesliga and that was an unreal experience. And the more the the personal one was the moment where I scored for the Socceros, my my first goal for the Socceros was in Canberra. I had family there and I had obviously family watching the game. it was probably I think it was my first touch actually off the bench that game. you know, when I saw the ball coming, Patty Azbek was going down the lean, put the ball in, I just knew I had to be there. and that well yeah, I think it brought me to tears if I look back at some of the videos from that goal because you know, it's a it's a dream come true really and then to be able to score as well is very special.
Jani Schmidt: Especially on home soil, right?
John Iredale: Yeah, exactly. Even better with family there in the stands as well. very special.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, love it. I think two two are definitely two amazing moments. I'm gonna lead directly the next question into the topic of of Germany. what is the best thing about German football that maybe Australian football could take on as a role or copy?
John Iredale: that's a tough question because I haven't been involved in Australia football for quite a while. so I actually don't know what they have included in into the system now. but one thing that I do know is the the layered system of the leagues. as I mentioned and I touched on it before is that Germany is like a is a ladder. everybody knows what level you're playing at. in whatever league you're in. and this is really special because you have players are playing in the fourth league when they're younger, the third league, that are able to move up to make massive careers. I remember when I was playing in the third league, Nick Woltemade was the best player in the season on the third league. And, you know, three years later he's playing for Newcastle in the Premier League. this doesn't happen in Australia
Jani Schmidt: A national team.
John Iredale: bec you know, a national team striker. Now he's at Juventus, so like That's from the third league in Germany and and I think at the moment there's a lot of things stopping Australia from having this ladder system. but you see more and more of the NPL ty the NPL sides pushing to get involved and to have promotion relegation and I think by having a ladder system you have less players that fall through the gaps. and I ultimately wish for Australia that we, you know, had a had a system where everybody had an opportunity to to move up. And to progress.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I'm totally with you. I think that's a big conversation happening at the moment. I think there's a lot of people to that are trying to push for that. Let's see how it goes. it's another call for a lot of people that are listening now just to still, support the A League. also support the Australian Championship is starting now as well. I think there's amazing football to be shown with like South Melbourne winning the Australia Cup. I think there's you can tell that there's good level, there's good level footballers that probably could play overseas as well in professional environments. So I think there's there's good football to watch. you've already mentioned a lot of different names, a of players that you played against with in like lower leagues and then made up a top career. But this one is now you have to pick one player. Who's the best player that you ever played against and why?
John Iredale: Okay, played against.
Jani Schmidt: doesn't need to be like he doesn't need to have to be to be a defender. It can also be just in the team where you were like on the pitch with the player and you're like, Okay, wow.
John Iredale: Okay, there was there was one that really stood out that like maybe it's a scarred memory, that's probably why it's the first one that comes to mind. when I was at Sydney FC in the in the youth I actually played with the first team in a friendly game against Arsenal. So Arsenal came out to Australia that preseason. And I was playing on the wing and you know, I kind of tucked in to defend and and Mezit Ozil got the ball. This guy is unbelievable with the ball and all I can remember was Don't let him n not make me. Like I was just closing my legs,
Jani Schmidt: Mm-hmm.
John Iredale: just trying to make him pl pass the ball backwards and then he could go back into his bishop and away from me. 'Cause, you know, watching him play before I came on, every time he touched the ball was like just pure magic.
Jani Schmidt: So then did he manage to not make you or no? Because he said you were scared?
John Iredale: No. No, I was scarred at the thought that what it would look like if you did not make me, but no, you didn't.
Jani Schmidt: So then who is the best player you ever played with?
John Iredale: Yeah, I've mentioned a few names already before, but the best player I played with has to be Martin Hodegaard. it was in the days where he was the wonder kid from Real Madrid and he was on loan at Esteher Invane. so I trained with him a lot there and played you know a few friendly games with him. Unbelievable. Even at at that stage, he wasn't kind of like hitting the top of his career like he is now, obviously. But you could see already he had un unbelievable skill and and talent. you know, he was one of the players he stood he stayed back up to every single training to improve something of his game and now you see he just won the Premier League with Arsenal as their captain. So like he is definitely the best player I've played with before.
Jani Schmidt: And then on the on that topic, when you watched him, what was a particular part about the way he played the game that you were like, Okay, wow.
John Iredale: It just seemed like he saw everything in slow motion. You see some of these players at the top level where they make decisions that you're like, how did he even realize that that was a possibility right now? some players play and they receive the ball, then try to figure out what to do next. some players see one option and you know they they take that as the best option. But it just it always looked like he knew three options every time he received the ball and you know, that's talent. But it's it's also a lot of hard work to to have the quality to to take the first touch and to move the ball in the right direction and and make the pa the final pass as well. So that was something that stood out every time that he he touched the ball.
Jani Schmidt: and nowadays there's a lot of videos about him where they show how high his scanning frequency is. And I think he's one of the players that scans the most in a game and also in the time frequency. So some players tr scan every three seconds. I think his in one game was every every second second or something. He's like scanning for space and the ball is like, yeah, unbelievable. so that would be probably in this episode my advice to a lot of players to practice that part, especially in the young ages, just to make it a habit. To come to a close of this episode, now I ask you for your best piece of advice for every young footballer out there trying to make it to the professional level.
John Iredale: would probably give the advice them from a quote that I've lived by my whole career is that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. You know, you play against players that are better than you probably your whole career. but the further that you go is based on how much effort and how much hard work that you put in. how much time you put in to improve your weaknesses and how much time you put in to improve your strengths as well. So this is something I live by and this is something that I would always always tell young players to to focus on because not everything is just gonna come to you, you have to work for it as well.
Jani Schmidt: And as we discussed in this episode, make sure that you understand your body and the physical preparation that is required to reach the next level.
John Iredale: That is also very important, yes.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, perfect advice, John. Thanks for that. Last question, because obviously the A League season is starting. I know that you're not completely across the A League and the teams and the players that are now assigned into the to the different teams. But if you had to pick one team in the A League men's, I know who your choice would be for the A League Women's. That's gonna be Wonders because Sammy's playing there. But who who's the team in the A League men's that's gonna win the the premiership this year?
John Iredale: That is a tough one because I've seen a few clubs make a lot of transfers this window. and some and some clubs are, you know, pretty much the same team. in my opinion, I'm going to have to split it between Sydney FC and Melbourne City this year. you know, victory
Jani Schmidt: Okay.
John Iredale: did ri Victory did really, really well to make the the final of the the cup. But I think there were maybe a few teams of the A League that were just not ready early stages of that cup. So victory will be up there, but I'll probably go with Sydney FC this year.
Jani Schmidt: Okay. Home phone club as well.
John Iredale: Yes, maybe my youth youth bias still showing there.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Perfect. John, thanks a lot for for coming on. I'm looking forward to seeing you back in Sydney in your next break. until then, good luck with the next games. Keep scoring your goals, and I'm sure then Football Australia will be watching and especially the listeners of of this podcast will have your name on their radar once it it pops maybe up again for like a Socceroos selection, which I hope will happen in the near future.
John Iredale: thank you. I'll keep doing everything I can and yeah, hopefully it comes my way. But I appreciate the time and it was good to have a chat.
Jani Schmidt: Thanks all man. Cheers to South Korea. Enjoy your day.
John Iredale: Likewise. See ya.
Jani Schmidt: Ciao. Ciao.