Derbies are the new black
A-League Sydney derby version nine was one for the ages. Even by derby standards, Saturday evening’s match will go down as an instant classic. Goals, drama and more. Parramatta Stadium was another visceral reminder of the unique atmosphere football can provide. Surely few 20,000 crowds around the world surpass a derby in Sydney’s west for sheer colour and movement. Many non-believers, both in the media and sporting public, have opened their mind to football as a result of the A-League’s various all-local contests. Little wonder FFA supremo David Gallop is keen to find ways to build on one of the A-League’s greatest assets. On the park, it seemed one of those games where the volatile environment played a role in creating a chaotic unconstructed match. Sydney’s defensive form has suddenly fallen apart – much to Graham Arnold’s undoubted horror given his constant eulogising about defensive solidity – but at the other end of the park the Sky Blues are suddenly scoring goals for fun and reaping the rewards on the ladder. They have now scored 19 in five games, more than other team in A-League history during a five-match block. The result is, of course, yet more pain for the Wanderers, but their fans can take positives about the character on display, one that resembled something more akin to that witnessed during their glory period.
Another milestone for Archie
Take away the veneer of narrow-minded club fandom, and there are few players as widely loved as Archibald Gerald Thompson. Ticking off milestone achievements have been a constant for Thompson ever since he visited Coffs Harbour in Easter 2001 for a certain Socceroos match. Now, following his second-half cameo against Wellington Phoenix on Sunday, Thompson is the sixth member of the A-League’s 200 club. Thompson plays with a rare, almost child-like, joy. Even now in his mid-30s there is little sign of that waning. So too, off the field he boasts an endearing natural charisma invariably absent from modern sport. Clichés and vacuous news-grabs so popular among 21st century footballers and their gated-community lifestyles are not for Archie. Equally a tear in the eye captured by the television cameras pre-match on Sunday, as the fans acknowledged his latest milestone, spoke volumes. Thompson of course is one of a dying breed in more ways than one – he is one of the last connections with Australia’s semi-professional era. He famously trialled in the Morwell Falcons’ gravel car park for legendary coach Frank Arok like a child dancing for money in the window. Raised by a single mum, partly in the rural NSW town of Bathurst, Thompson was washing dishes in the local Chinese restaurant when a TV clip from England featuring one-time peer Harry Kewell was his epiphany. Against that backdrop, and in contrast to today’s expensive middle-class academy system, it is little wonder Archie is a dash of colour in sometimes monochrome sporting world. His headline achievements – a world record 13 goals in that Coffs Harbour World Cup qualifier and five goals in an A-League grand final – will surely never be surpassed. But he was, and is, much more that. The scorer of Melbourne’s Victory first A-League goal, his name is synonymous with the club having been there for all 10 seasons. A character with substance and one the A-League needed, both then and now. Archie Thompson will be missed when he is gone.
Good touch for a big man
Melbourne City seem to be doing just enough to stay on the tails of the leading pack and in the hunt for a top-six berth. A 3-1 win over Adelaide United is a strong result in the midst of a typically erratic season for the club. They have one of the league’s form players in Aaron Mooy, and now in Josh Kennedy they have a much-needed threat in the No9 role. Following his maiden Melbourne City goal on Saturday, is Kennedy the missing piece of the jigsaw for John van ’t Schip’s side? The scorer of the goal which sent Australia to Brazil last year, Kennedy remains a partly under-rated figure. A one-every-other-game player over five seasons in Japan, he offers an obvious threat in the air but his ability to hold the ball up in attack is a valuable complement to Van ’t Schip’s Dutch philosophy. The untimely injury to Damien Duff reduces, in theory at least, the amount of quality balls in from the flanks. The challenge will be for City to not overplay the aerial delivery, as they have done on occasions during the past few games. The Socceroos in their final two Asian Cup matches barely chose to deliver a ball onto the head of Tim Cahill, and his globally famous aerial ability. A balance somewhere between the two extremes is the challenge for the league’s under-achievers.
Perth need to rediscover glory
Following a strong and imposing start to the season, Perth were always likely to come back to the pack. The Glory have now pulled in just four points in the past six matches, their prolific striker Andy Keogh hasn’t scored in open play for seven matches, and they have conceded 10 goals in their last four home matches. Prior to that, they had let in just six in six at home. Quite incredibly, despite their poor string of results, the Glory remain top of the A-League, and counter-intuitively they even extended their lead over the weekend. To their credit, and that of unfashionable coach Kenny Lowe, it has impressively taken a long time for the slide to start. And now their confidence-denting run of results is in danger of becoming a malaise. Lowe, however, continues to talk with unfailing positivity, like a politician publically trying to maintain confidence in the electorate despite the flagging poll results. In the first half of the season the Glory were often dominating teams during matches, now they seem more like a team aiming to stay alive until the latter stages of a match before then trying to collect a result. On the positive side they have a depth of creative players fully fit, and that hasn’t always been the case, with the likes of Chris Harold, Jamie Maclaren, Mitch Nichols and Daniel De Silva available. The Glory will undoubtedly feature in the finals, but making a real impression in the post-season will likely depend on best utilising these players, and revitalising the team’s self-assurance.
The present is Asia
The A-League resumed its AFC Champions League interaction this week (the Mariners’ low-key preliminary match aside), as Australia seeks to further develop a football relationship with the world’s biggest continent following the success of the Asian Cup. In truth, few A-League clubs have fully embraced the competition in totality, be it in terms of fan engagement or even a football sense. It cannot be a coincidence that the two most successful A-League clubs in Asia – Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers – are the historical exceptions. Now is the chance for a new chapter to be written. What a week looms with the Wanderers hosting arguably Asia’s wealthiest club in Guangzhou Evergrande, managed by World Cup-winner Fabio Cannavaro. As was the case last year, the aristocrats of Chinese football may again find themselves in an unwanted street fight if they fail to take an early ascendency. Once again the Wanderers proved in midweek, with their left-field triumph over Kashima Antlers, that the competition set-up is a good fit. Much like Liverpool in the Rafa Benitez era, it seems the nuances of continental competition with its home and away tactical mentality, currently suit the Wanderers more so than the weekly grind of the domestic competition. Brisbane, meanwhile, visit the J-League’s most popular side Urawa Red Diamonds at their storied Saitama home. The Roar could do with a dose of the Wanderers’ luck after their hugely unfortunate last-minute defeat against Beijing Guoan. The Roar are, of course, a work in progress. As is normally the case the Australian representatives are far from the A-League’s best teams. The timing of the two competitions, and the rapidly-changing nature of the A-League, mean this is unfortunately likely to remain the case more often than not.
