Socceroos stalwart Mark Bresciano. Credit:Steve Holland There are consequences for a lack of performance. Teams drop into the relegation zone or are demoted, with the loss of money and cachet that brings. Relegation might also bring serious economic hardship for the whole club, threatening its existence and the jobs of its players. Players can suffer individually through poor team performance, as many clubs negotiate contracts that guarantee them a certain basic wage if they are in a particular division, and a lower one if they slide down the pyramid. Nothing concentrates the mind as well as the prospect of a pay cut. Sure, the technical level at certain clubs in League One and its continental equivalents might leave something to be desired, and players need more than toughness and athleticism to succeed in the highest class. But assuming the best of the locally based Australians have the skills and technique to force their way into Postecoglou's calculations, the coach is right to wonder about their mental strength, desperation and desire to make the best they can of themselves.

Hard man: Kevin Muscat playing for Millwall. Credit:Getty Images There is a growing feeling among several senior figures in the game that many of the younger generation simply are not as tough on themselves as they should be. After all, a young man in his early 20s can earn a very tidy living in the A-League, with the better players pulling down $150,000 or more without having to get out of their comfort zone by leaving home or exerting themselves in difficult and competitive foreign environments, the sort that invariably make them better players if they can get through the challenges involved. Compared with overseas competitions, the A-League is a doddle, as any of those Australians who have returned home after long careers abroad would admit. Not so much in the standard of play - there are some decent players and teams - but in the demands made upon individuals. Danny Tiatto in action for Manchester City. Credit:Getty Images The A-League season is only 27 games long, plus a maximum of another three if a team reaches the grand final, having finished anywhere other than top of the home-and-away table. There is no relegation and no real pressure. Failure is embarrassing, but hardly fatal. It is usually the coaches who pay the price, not the players.

Compare that with Italy's Serie B, where there are 22 clubs and 42 home-and-away matches before any play-offs are taken into account, or England's Championship, where 24 teams battle to get into the promised land of the Premier League or avoid the relegation trapdoor into League One. Championship teams play 46 matches a season in a marathon that starts in early August and finishes in May. Of course, something usually gives when such strains are put on players. They sustain injuries and cannot be expected to maintain high-quality levels over such a lengthy period. But it does test a player's mental fortitude in a way that the A-League, with its disappointingly short season and extraordinarily long off-season, won't. As Postecoglou pointed out, part of being successful in any walk of life is having a steely determination and a desire to be so. In sport, it's impossible to really succeed without talent, but the world is full of talented players who lacked the toughness, application and mental strength to prove themselves and didn't make the best of their opportunities. I have spoken to a number of coaches - both in jobs and out of work - in recent weeks who echo Postecoglou's suggestions, some much more vehemently than the national boss. So do player agents and those involved in dealing with clubs and administrations.

There is a reluctance to publicly criticise the mindset of many players because there is a fear that it will be seen to be bagging the game or damaging the A-League. The A-League has made a remarkable splash in its nine years, and no one would want to go back to the ramshackle days of the National Soccer League, where clubs often went bust mid-season, the sport was marginalised and players, even the best, earned peanuts and played in some stadiums that left a lot to be desired. Save for one facet: those were the days when Australia was producing players capable of establishing themselves at the highest levels. Through the 1980s, '90s and early 2000s, men including Eddie Krncevic, David Mitchell, Graham Arnold, Frank Farina, Ned Zelic, Paul Okon, Mark Viduka, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Mark Bresciano, Aurelio and Tony Vidmar, Robbie Slater, Tony Popovic, Danny Tiatto, Kevin Muscat, Zeljko Kalac, Mark Schwarzer and Brett Emerton, to name some of the best known, came out of the NSL despite its privations. They all had talent, of course, but also the right mentality to push themselves to the limit. If Australia is to replicate its successes in the 2006 World Cup, it needs the A-League to toughen up and start producing players not only with talent, but with a fierce will to win, the kind all those mentioned above possessed.