Brattan is an All Star, but I don’t care.

Josep Gombau has been named coach of this year’s A-League All Stars, and I couldn’t give two flying firetrucks.

That is to say, I care about it to an extent, but in the same contradictory way that I care about Justin Bieber’s behaviour; I hate him, but paradoxically, I couldn’t care any less about the fringe-donning Canadian infant.

I love the fact that Gombau is the All Stars coach, I even voted for him, but oh look, Seinfeld is on TV.

The thing is, as little as I really care about the plight of the A-League All Stars, the A-League All Stars cares about me. And I don’t hold that against it whatsoever.

Attacking the All Stars concept for being plastic and gimmicky is akin to criticising McDonalds for being cheap and fast. There’s a place in this world for such things, and in fact, the All Stars are designed to find this corner in the Australian footballing landscape and fill it like a proverbial ball in a proverbial net.

So while many would argue that the Wanderers or Sydney FC would be better opposition for Juventus, which might very well be the case, the FFA could care less (in the same indifferent way I don’t care about Bieber, or Josep Gombau).

The fact is, the FFA brought in Juventus to play the A-League All Stars and not the Wanderers, or Sydney FC or the Blacktown Spartans. These clubs can always make efforts to bring in teams too, like Melbourne did with Liverpool last off-season.

I’ll go and watch the All Stars play, and enjoy to some extent the idea of Broich, Carrusca and Del Piero sharing the midfield. The last thing I’ll be doing is waving my fists angrily at the FFA; because controversially, I have a life to live.

If you’re one for pure, unadulterated Australian football, with as little plastic as possible, you shouldn’t even be following the A-League – there’s plenty of NPL teams who’d love your support.

At the very least, the All Stars concept is a way of recognising and rewarding outstanding performers throughout the season. I’m sure that many players would greatly appreciate the chance to play against a massive club like Juventus, as they did Manchester United last year (undoubtedly, the All Stars planted the seed which has flowered in the Red Devil’s failure this season).

Recognising one such outstanding performer is exactly the aim of this piece. He doesn’t have a fancy foreign name, an intimidating beard or the towering demeanor which would characterise most potential All Stars – but he deserves a place in the side regardless.

Luke Brattan has been the standout performer in the centre of the park this A-League season; the engine behind the Roar’s consistently outstanding performances. The twenty four year old has started every single game for the newly crowned premiers, missing only 115 of a possible 2250 minutes.

He has completed 1674 passes, almost one hundred more than Isaias at second best (1594). The Roar’s attractive, fluid passing game has been built around Brattan’s comfortable feet and tactical awareness.

At the same time, Brattan leads the competition in tackles (84), indicating his immense defensive work ethic through midfield; helping to break up play and regain possession in Brisbane’s crucial press.

Brattan is the Roar’s second highest crosser of the ball too, behind Broich and ahead of Franjic; he unfortunately could not beat Berisha for red cards, but not many can.

And if that hasn’t been enough to convince you, Brattan’s three goals and three assists can not be ignored. His wonder goal against the Wellington Phoenix secured a late three points which was crucial in the Roar’s premiership pursuit, whilst his last minute rocket against the Victory secured it.

His sometimes floppy blonde hair, and energy through the Roar midfield has drawn comparisons to Mitch Nichols; but key differences between the two are both work rate and importantly, attitude.

Mulvey describes, “This is what I love about this kid, he’s so humble,”

The twenty four year old has been a part of two Brisbane championships, but never played a large role in either. This year, however, he has led them to one.

“There were times that I questioned my career… but I came in every day and trained as hard as I could. Words can’t describe how lucky I was training with a bunch of players like that, even this season I learn something new every day at training.”

If there is any player you should be selecting in your All Stars lineup, it’d have to be Luke Brattan. He deserves his name alongside Broich, Carrusca and Del Piero. Embrace the triviality.

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