Five Things – Round 11
5 Things We Learned in the A-League this weekend
A cloud looms over Perth, City continue to lift for the Derby, and Burns shoots his way into Asian Cup selection – this is 5 things we learned from Round 11
All eyes on Perth
The Glory’s 4-1 demolition of Central Coast was clinical; men against boys stuff. Yes, Phil Moss will point to the first 30 minutes as evidence his team can compete, but once the floodgates opened, there was no turning back. Chris Harold gave Lowe a healthy reminder of his talents, giving the manager another quality option up top to supplement Keogh. However, and this is a BIG however, a salary cap scandal is looming. Watch this space, because it could have enormous implications for the club and the league ahead. By all accounts, Perth has a serious case to answer for.
City need to bottle Melbourne Derby intensity
There is a common expression for football derbies; “form goes out the window.” Mostly that’s rubbish, but it works for Melbourne City. Whatever it is about Victory, they seem to bring out the best in their cross-town rivals. Paartalu’s header in injury time was not a ‘smash-and-grab’ scenario; it was the culmination of pressure building over the 90 minutes. The referee missed a forearm strike from Jacob Melling on Leigh Broxham; a red card would have changed the complexion of the game. Either way, City has to use the result as a catalyst for the rest of their campaign.
Jets have the will to win
Jeronimo Neumann came back to haunt his old club in the biggest upset of the season. Adelaide, who were riding high on Tuesday’s FFA Cup win, entered Friday night as red-hot favourites. Although they dominated large parts of the contest, they were slightly off their game, and that is all you have to be in this competition to drop points. Newcastle countered with purpose while staying compact without the ball. Stubbins will breath a little easier over Christmas, but a lot of work remains ahead if they want to make finals.
Burns forces way into Socceroos
Nathan Burns. Ange Postecoglou simply could not ignore this man, deservedly earning a spot in Australia’s 23 man Asian Cup squad in January. His brace on Sunday to down Sydney FC was his 9th and 10th goal in 11 games. With all of the Socceroos deficiencies, of which there are many, goals are like gold. Ange needs firepower if the team is to progress through the knockout phases. Positioning will be crucial, Merrick has Burns cutting in from out wide, interchanging with Krishna. If Postecoglou can give Burns that much freedom, there is no reason why he cannot flourish for the national team.
Sydney lack cutting edge
Graham Arnold is experiencing his first tough spell in charge of Sydney. The 2-0 defeat to Wellington was far from a poor performance, but it was nothing close to a convincing one either. Janko struggled to find any rhythm, with the visitors well prepared to shut down scoring opportunities. Crosses from wide seemed to be the order of the day, but Durante and Sigmund were outstanding. The injury replacements for Abbas, Carle and Gamerio cannot come quickly enough at Moore Park, while a recent injury to Ognenovski will create even more issues for the team in sky blue.
How do you think Burns will go for the Socceroos? Are Perth the real deal? Can Melbourne City turn their season around? Or was there another major talking point that we missed this round? Let us know in the comments below!
Written by Blake Hampton – Twitter : @blake_1986
Image : theaustralian.com.au
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