Grand final preview?
Few could argue with the entertainment on offer as Melbourne Victory saw off Adelaide United by the odd goal in five on Friday night. The match was played at a fierce tempo especially in the opening half, occasionally at the expense of quality. Generally however, and in a marked difference to the early years of the A-League, the players’ technical ability was able to match the pace. Kevin Muscat was certainly impressed with his own team, saying: “I thought our first half of football was as intense football as this country’s seen in terms of pressing and attacking.” Muscat was less enthusiastic about the refereeing, and there was more than a hint of Muscat’s ‘game face’ in his post-match TV interview as he bemoaned the penalty awarded to Adelaide, yet failed to mention the decision which saw an Adelaide goal ruled out for an infringement that seemed harsh in the extreme.
One Adelaide media outlet suggested pre-match this was a grand final preview. Seemingly Adelaide coach Josep Gombau disagrees with the view that Melbourne are the team to beat, saying: “I don’t have the feeling that Melbourne will win the league easily.” Adelaide’s record in Melbourne is disastrous and now stretches to just one win in their past 17 visits. Given their luckless double-own goal opening – including Nigel Boogaard’s A-League record-equalling fourth – it was impressive that Adelaide pushed the home side so close. Somewhat unusually, both teams will take many positives from the match.
Brisbane’s new old look
They say the change of a coach brings about a change of fortune but A-League statistics bely that claim: 16 such instances have resulted in just three wins. This instance, however, is not a normal state of affairs given Brisbane, results aside, were generally playing at a good level. At least no worse than can expected given they had lost arguably their two best players during the off-season, as well as influential goalkeeper Michael Theo to injury. It was perhaps little surprise that Brisbane’s playing style, formation and line-up was virtually unchanged under new coach Frans Thijssen. One barely had to read between the lines of comments from Brisbane’s head administrator Sean Dobson to understand that football manager Ken Stead has been a major influence over the past week, as well as the events of last weekend. “Kenny is the guardian of the football knowledge and the guardian of our philosophy,” said Dobson on Monday amid countless references to “philosophy” at Thijssen’s unveiling. Brisbane just about deserved their draw against leaders Perth Glory in the visitors’ latest trip to the ground where they suffered their contentious 2012 grand final defeat. Early indications are little has changed for the Roar other than the coach, a damaged brand plus a chunk of disillusioned fans.
Atmosphere outranks bean-counters
Parramatta’s version of the Sydney derby is “not the biggest derby” said Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold in reference to the venue’s capacity in comparison to a full house at the Sydney Football Stadium. However, Saturday night’s Sydney derby at the home of Western Sydney Wanderers again proved that the compact venue and the subsequent atmosphere generated is part of the appeal. A move to the Olympic Stadium would be a massive gamble and risk unravelling part of the magic. The Wanderers insistence on playing the Asian Champions League final at their smaller Parramatta venue suggests their position would lean towards remaining at Pirtek for future home derbies, until the stadium is enlarged over the coming few years. Print media coverage in recent months suggests that this is virtually the favourite topic of the NSW Government. No doubt the government have done their focus group research ahead of next year’s election.
On the field, the emotion matched the passion in the stands. Perhaps Sydney FC’s Ali Abbas was an indirect casualty of the twitching nerves with the Iraq international, not for the first time, suffering under line-ball treatment from Iacopo La Rocca. The overall performance indicates the Wanderers are ever-so slowly rediscovering their form. This was a match Sydney FC would surely have lost last season under their previous administration. Despite remaining last, the Wanderers could bizarrely find themselves in the top six on Wednesday should they claim their first win of the season in the grand final rematch against Brisbane. A forward line of Tomi Juric, Nikita Rukavytsya and Romeo Castelen offers much promise. However, the upcoming breaks for the Club World Cup and Asian Cup might just be too much disruption for a team still trying to find momentum.
Phoenix rising
Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick said this was the year for a New Zealand team to make a statement in the A-League. The first two months have offered some promising signs and their emphatic 5-1 win over Melbourne City suggests they might be ready to make good on Merrick’s wish. Their under-rated attack was in sparkling form at times and their five-goal haul means the Phoenix are now the league’s second top scorers. A rare feat indeed for the Phoenix over their seven-year history, while Nathan Burns’ hat-trick was the first in 194 A-League games for the Wellingtonians. Burns, one of many to wear the “next Harry Kewell” tag in his younger days, seems to have finally found the right platform. It would be a surprise if he is not earning numerous mentions in Ange Postecoglou’s little black book ahead of the Asian Cup. As for Melbourne City, their porous defence is surely John van ’t Schip’s biggest challenge.
Brothers in arms
Australian sport has perhaps never known a week like it. Tears lay in ambush all week for even the most poker-faced of sports fans following the tragic passing of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes. For once the word tragic was appropriate in sporting parlance. For many, solace was found in the communal displays of mourning and respect. It was heart-warming to see the strong levels of respect and engagement by sports aside from cricket, with football among those leading the way. Engagement was high and universally respectful in the A-League and W-League from a pre-match minute’s silence to applause in the 63rd minute, to numerous banners of support and Sam Kerr’s post-goal cricket shot for Perth Glory in the W-League.
