Big guns survive test of depth
Rarely if ever have so many players been missing from a single A-League round. Injuries aside, the Fifa international window meant an inordinate amount of players were absent over the weekend. The Socceroos claimed six A-League players, compounded by a further 12 absentees on Olyroos duty, while New Zealand took seven players. There was a time when more than three players on international duty meant an automatic postponement. Meanwhile, the likes of Sydney FC’s Marc Janko, who enhanced a growing international reputation by scoring against Liechtenstein over the weekend, and Melbourne Victory’s Daniel Georgievski, were also on international duty. Not for the first time this season, the value provided by squad depth in key positions was in evidence. Melbourne Victory, who suffered from five international absentees, weren’t at their best in dispensing with Central Coast but found enough quality in key positions across the field to claim all three points.
Sydney FC were able to replace Janko with goalscoring great Shane Smeltz against Wellington Phoenix. Most coaches in the competition would dearly love to have just one of that pair in their ranks, let alone two. Wellington, for their part, had six players absent on international duty, resulting in a predictable outcome. It promises to get even worse for the Phoenix with four World Cup qualifiers scheduled next season, which will of course also involve in-form Fijian Roy Krishna. Many might say such a situation makes for less of an “honest competition”, but the reality is there are few options. The season will not start until the AFL and NRL seasons have concluded so as to help the A-League gain early momentum in the media, while midweek rounds typically result in a significant drop in exposure and crowds.
Brisbane’s failure leaves questions to be answered
It seems Brisbane Roar’s campaign to reach the finals has suffered a killer blow after top-six rivals Melbourne City managed a 1-0 a win on Saturday. It leaves the latter eight points clear with four rounds remaining and, although the Roar have a match in hand, it is hard to see even the notoriously erratic City stumbling from this juncture. Brisbane, for their part, are set to achieve the rare feat of failing to finish in the top six despite starting the season as champions. The Brisbane Roar epoch that commenced with their first of three titles under Ange Postecoglou in 2011 is now well and truly consigned to the history books, and many will argue it is a death suffered at their own hand. Championship-winning coach Mike Mulvey, whose team were also runaway premiers last season – a considerable feat in a salary cap league – was dismissed just six matches after winning the league. Not even the most reactionary and trigger-happy club board in the wilder days of the NSL would contemplate that, let alone what had seemed one of the most stable clubs of the modern era.
Yet with numerous unlucky and/or narrow defeats, there was every reason to believe that Mulvey’s Roar were on the verge of turning their campaign around. Bizarrely the Roar brought in a temporary coach in Frans Thijssen, who hopefully added more technical input than he did raw outward passion for the cause. If Mulvey’s dismissal was due to results, then the Dutchman’s tenure must be considered a failure. Next season will inevitably see yet more change, however subtle, for the players to adapt to. And recent history in the A-League overwhelmingly indicates clubs rarely succeed with a first-season coach. Football culture means the blowtorch is readily turned on coaches, while decisions made by club management rarely comes under focus from media and fans alike.
No away-day blues for Sydney
Sydney FC retained their impressive away form which has now stretched to 11 matches after an emphatic 3-0 defeat over Wellington Phoenix in a top-of-the-table meeting. Both teams went into the match without their top-scorers – Nathan Burns and Janko – though in truth it was the home side who were more disrupted. Sydney stretched their goal return to 28 in nine matches since the mid-season break and proved their loss against Melbourne City last weekend was merely a stumble rather than a loss of direction. The Sky Blues maintained a dose of Graham Arnold pragmatism after a three-goal first-half and it ensured there was little likelihood of Wellington fighting their way back into the contest. Yet, Wellington went into the contest unbeaten in nine home matches, winning six and drawing three. They had conceded a league-low of just seven goals in those nine matches. It is likely to be a mere aberration for the ‘Nix but Sydney’s stocks continue to soar at the business end of the campaign.
Battle for summer ratings
Once upon a time, football’s rivals were the other traditional winter codes. In fact, pretty much everyone seemed an enemy for the “sleeping giant” which once was invariably a sport looked down upon with equal parts derision and disdain like some kind of long-haired non-conformist, or worse a “New Australian” for whom a suspicion of motives was the default position. Little wonder some within the football fraternity retain a sense of sensitivity. Now the summer rival is primarily cricket, and that has been brought into further perspective this summer by the World Cup which had its finale on Sunday.
Yet column inches and free-to-air television coverage were surprisingly slim in relative terms for a global tournament on Australian soil. Perhaps it was this that prompted FFA CEO David Gallop to deliciously prompt a media discussion by planting the idea that it is now the Socceroos, more so than other national team, which truly represent diverse 21st-century Australia. Cricket counterpart James Sutherland responded in kind though didn’t necessarily win the debate. Without doubt cricket and its headline players remain far more recognisable in the community, but Gallop’s general assertion remains accurate. Sixty-four nationalities have been represented in the A-League, and there is more cultural diversity in any single A-League squad than in the entire Sheffield Shield competition. Surprisingly just one indigenous player has represented Australia in a Test Match, and the sport’s “pale, stale and pale” moniker remains largely accurate. To their credit Cricket Australia have recognised their failings and are seeking to address them, but like the AFL’s claim on western Sydney, massive change cannot occur by mere money or endeavour. Cricket’s domestic Twenty20 competition is a massive rival for the A-League, although the sporting industry’s rapid expansion in recent decades means there is more of the pie to share than may have previously been the case.
Glory find winning form in the nick of time
Sometimes momentum can be everything in football. Perth Glory, perhaps, know that better than anyone. They ended a nine-match winless streak on Saturday with a 3-2 win over the visiting Western Sydney Wanderers. Yet their run of poor form immediately followed on from a 10-match undefeated run. On a different day Josh Risdon’s impressive late winner could just easily have skewed way wide of the target, but the luck ran their way on this occasion bringing with it the victory and the opportunity to rebuild momentum. Another failure to collect three points would have left a top-two finish highly unlikely and even a top-four position in the balance. Coach Kenny Lowe has been at pains to deliver the same mantra each week: that his team just need to remain confident and focussed on the long-term objectives. Subsequently little has changed with their playing style. With bottom sides Wanderers and Newcastle Jets among their remaining opposition, the Glory may have rediscovered their impetus with perfect timing.
