30 Jan "Many technical mistakes": Sacked Wanderers coach slams "weak" A-League

Former Western Sydney Wanders coach Markus Babbel has slammed what he describes as a “weak” A-League with “many technical mistakes.”

The German parted ways with the Wanderers earlier this month having won just 10 of 41 games in a turbulent tenure that saw him cited twice for criticising Australian referees.

Speaking to German publication Bild, Babbel did not hold back when asked about the standard of officiating in Australia and the A-League as a whole.

“To be honest, weak. The pace is slow, there are many technical mistakes,” the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich defender said.

“You can see a good game from time to time but that’s more of an exception.

“What is going on here is gambling under the open sky. I was stolen eight points this season, it is incredible how bad the referees are doing.

“If you know our referees and see what’s going on here, that’s blatant. My mistake was that I publicly denounced it early on and then became the focus.

“But honestly, I did not understand until the end what they are whistling.”

Babbel also voiced concerns over the mentality of Australian footballers and the cost to play the sport at grassroots level.

“The level of the league suffers from the (foreigners) regulation because the result is that there are 19, 20 Australians playing in each club who can choose their clubs," Babbel said.

“There are 22-year-olds who are already playing at (their) fifth club. In general, the mentality surprised me a little.

“In my (playing) time, the Australians I played with were real mentality monsters, players like Mark Schwarzer or Mark Viduka. Today, these characters play football or rugby in Australia. Football is a rich sport for the elite here.

"The annual fee is easily $2,500 so the parents are already considering whether to invest it.”

The Wanderers are currently 9th with four wins from 14 games. They sit six points off the top six.