Adelaide: virgin’ on the ridiculous

As Adelaide United reminded us again last week they can play a fluid, eye-catching brand of football. One that - how can I put this delicately - arouses the footballerati. I suspect Craig Foster, for one, watches Adelaide with a pillow over his lap. But then here’s the rub (settle); Foster, just like Adelaide’s fans, is ultimately denied satisfaction. For what does all of Adelaide’s good looks, pillow talk and smooth moves amount to without consummation? Adelaide thrashed Perth last week, yet Glory escaped with a 1-all draw. Does such a result undermine Adelaide’s aesthetic? How could it not? Especially when it mirrors what happened in each of Adelaide’s five losses to date this season. In all of those games —against the Mariners (Mariners!), Wellington, Newcastle (Newcastle!), Brisbane and Victory— Adelaide dominated completed passes and possession, with the 57.2% possession they enjoyed against Victory being the lowest, and the 66% they had against Newcastle being the highest (it was 63.1% against Perth). And in all but one of those games they’ve had more shots than their opposition, sometimes a lot more (17-9 against Perth). Yet in all those six games combined they’ve earned one lousy point. Yes, Adelaide are still just four points from first place but this is surely a worrying trend that Josep Gombau needs to address given there’s a competition to be won, not just charmed. And it may just need more than keeping his attackers back for an extra half hour’s shooting practice after training.

Brisbane’s resurgence under threat

Premiers Brisbane shockingly began the season with two wins from seven matches but since the sacking of 2013-14 double-winning coach Mike Mulvey in late November Brisbane have won four, drawn three, and lost two. And three of those four wins under Frans Thijssen have come in the past three rounds. Brisbane, of course, aren’t “back”, and never will be - if you understand back to mean where they were last season. The main reason for that is that they are not the same team, the off-season denuding them of some handy players, and players key to their structure and style. But Brisbane have certainly shown their reinvention under Thijssen has borne some fruit and, with the help of some key goals from Carlos Solorzano and the return to fitness and form of Thomas Broich, the Roar are in the top six for the first time this season —their 2-0 win over the Mariners last week seeing them leapfrog Melbourne City. Particularly pleasing for Thijssen and Roar fans is that their recent wins have shown evidence of spirit at the club. You don’t win consecutive games in injury time (Wellington and Newcastle) unless you’re in it together. But what an examination of their rejuvenation the Roar now face —and without the injured Solorzado at that. They have Melbourne Victory on Friday night (“Welcome Home, Besart!” the banners are unlikely to read) before facing Perth away the following week. And their Asian Champions League campaign gets underway on Wednesday night, not the best timing really for a team that needs to concentrate all its energies on the league.

Crunch time for City

Take down the bunting, put down the cake, Melbourne City’s effortful mid-season surge that garnered 10 points from a possible 12 is officially over. Since their year ending 5-2 bacchanalia against Newcastle, City have won four points from 12, and three of those were against the Wanderers so they barely count (imagine saying that last season?). City’s hangover hasn’t been helped —or perhaps it’s been triggered— by injuries to Ben Garuccio, Rob Wielaert, Erik Paartalu and James Brown and now it appears that Irishman Damien Duff is gone for the season which is a real blow for City. While that will spare us his scowling visage (has anyone looked as unhappy to be playing football for a living than Duff? It’s as if someone pissed in his pint 15 years ago and he’s never gotten over it) it will deny City his admirable industry and his link play with City’s forwards. And they need all the link play they can get. City’s slump has also coincided with a return to the kind of shooting that tests the durability of advertising hoardings more than it does goalkeepers. Just two goals in their past four games. He hasn’t had much time to get his eye in but Josh Kennedy needs to get his Jesus impression out again. And newcomer Kew Jaliens will need to hit the ground running (should he get clearance to play in time). Especially since City’s next two opponents are Perth and Adelaide.

Who’s going to fill the onion bag?

Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix are both going through a relatively lean spot, and their lack of wins corresponds to a lack of goals from their leading scorers Andy Keogh and Nathan Burns respectively. The league’s leading scorer, Nathan Burns (with 10 in 15 appearance), hasn’t scored in his past four games, the Asian Cup interrupting a very nice run he had going. Keogh is still third on the goal-scorers list (with 9 in 17) but his early season form has tailed away somewhat and he’s now scored just one goal from open play in his past six games. That’s as many times as he’s been arrested in the past week. He’ll be looking to make amends against Melbourne City. Keogh’s dry spell has allowed Besart Berisha to overtake him with 9 goals in 16 and who’d bet against Berisha scoring against his old team this weekend? And will he celebrate if he does? I hope so. The non-celebrating of goals against former teams is really a bit daft. I mean, sure, you shouldn’t drop the shorts and give it the old helicopter, but I really can’t see what is so provocative about a big smile and the classic raising of an arm. Any fan who takes umbrage at that is surely small-minded.

Culture wars

Sydney FC and their defender Seb Ryall sure have copped it this week. Since Ryall’s penalty-winning tumble in the Big Blue last weekend the flames haven’t yet died down and this week, before the FFA ruled that Ryall was not guilty of simulation (merely guilty of making the most of a slight tap which, when you think about it, would meet definition of simulation for many people) we had Victory’s Kosta Barbarouses throwing petrol into the mix with his comments that he’d lost respect for Ryall (who also took a swipe at Gui Finkler after picking himself up) and insinuating that Sydney’s culture was questionable. It’s a provocative dig, that, and it should make the next fixture between the teams worthy of a big bowl of popcorn.

But is Sydney’s culture questionable? Is Melbourne’s any better, for that matter? The stats don’t show much difference between the teams when it comes to cards, about the only way we can make some kind of a judgement. Sydney FC, for example, have earned 34 yellow and 3 red cards so far this season. Victory is only narrowly behind (or in front, I suppose) with 33 and 1. Of course the incident with Ryall (which led to Graham Arnold saying he’d give his charge a talking to and make him do the washing up for a week) came after two players were sent off against Perth and perhaps it created a false impression in Barbarouses’ eyes, but the stats certainly don’t paint a picture of Sydney being particularly ill-disciplined. That said, speaking of culture, one will be keeping an eye on Sydney this week when they host neighbours, the Central Coast Mariners. You’ll recall the Mariners club didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet when Arnold and his team visited Gosford recently. Will Sydney have the manners to forget about the Mariners’ indiscretion, as good etiquette demands when someone you’re chatting to accidentally spits in your face when talking animatedly?

Fixtures

Friday:

Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 7pm local (8pm AEDT)

Saturday:

Sydney FC v Central Coast, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 5pm

Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers, Coopers Stadium, 7pm local (7.30pm AEDT)

Sunday:

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets, Hutt Recreational Ground, Wellington, 5pm local (3pm AEDT)

Melbourne City v Perth Glory, AAMI Park, Melbourne 5pm