Franz and the Fury are young, skilful and passionate

 
Tony Tannous Columnist

By , 17 Aug 2010 Tony Tannous is a Roar Expert

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While the Perth Glory emulated the feats of the Central Coast Mariners a week earlier by bursting the bubble of a Melbourne outfit at their new home, it was the performance of another outfit that was undoubtedly the story of the second weekend of the A-League.

Of course, I’m referring to the North Queensland Fury, and primarily, their new Czech manager Franz Straka, he of the beige jacket and the infectious attitude.

Those of you who witnessed his and his team’s victory at home on Saturday to the reigning premiers and champions, Sydney FC, are likely to already be on the Straka Express.

To those of you checking it out for the first time here, or in the coming weeks, you’ll likely find it hard not to fall in love with the guy, especially if hi team of underdogs keep winning.

In a league that often struggles to get the widespread attention, especially at this time of the season, Straka’s positive attitude, coupled with his team’s flowing start the campaign, is exactly the type of story that should get people interested, and talking.

Whether it’s Straka’s rousing of the Dairy Farmers gathering late in the game, or his team’s “kangaroo hop” goal celebration, or the post-match European style victory celebration with the fans, there’s no doubt it’s passionate and downright engaging.

Written off by just about everyone in the pre-season and derided by some for hiring a foreign manager, the Fury are playing with the kind of “nothing to lose” attitude that makes them dangerous floaters.

Certainly, for all the off-field flair, the football dished up by Straka and his men in the first two weeks has been incisive and very functional.

Foremost, he has built a squad on an apparent shoe-string budget, giving lifelines to players like Chris Payne and Isaka Cernak and teaming them up with others that have a point to prove, the likes of Osama Malik, Chris Grossman, Justin Pasfield and Ufuk Talay, all deemed surplus to requirements elsewhere.

Throw in a couple of key visa men in central defenders Erik Akoto and Mark Hughes, and front men Eugene Sseppuya and Dyron Daal, and it’s an eclectic mix.

Foremost, Straka appears to have given them all the confidence to strut their stuff, a point emphasised by Williams in a post match interview with Fox.

That much can be told by the exceptional early season form of the likes of Malik, Payne, Williams and Cernak.

Malik, the former Adelaide youngster has hitherto been thought of as an attacking player, but here Straka is using him as a mobile central midfielder, partnering him alongside the equally mobile Gareth Edds in a 4-2-3-1 built around pace, youth and sound technique.

After starting away in Perth, Malik made way for skipper Talay from the start here, but once he was introduced at the break the Fury burst to life, dominating the second period, even if it was against the conservative tactics employed by Sydney (more on that later).

Payne, meanwhile, is playing in the number 10 role, in behind the striker, or at the head of the formation, as he did after Daal replaced Sseppuya. He already has three assists and one goal and is proving to be such a threat around the edge of the box, as he demonstrating by his skinning of Rhyan Grant with a nutmeg before drifting past Stuart Musialik and Hayden Foxe to tee up Grossman, and by his weighting of a delightful return-pass into the path of Daal for the winner.

Straka has already showed his ability to tinker on the spot. His moves against Sydney, introducing Daal on the left, shifting the brilliant Cernak into the number 10 role and moving Payne forward were all spot on, allowing the Fury to seize the initiative.

Straka and him men mightn’t go on to win the title or threaten in the finals, but with their passionate boss leading the way, they’re hell bent on having a ball and making many friends along the way.

Any team that underestimates them will be in for a shock.

It truth, it’s not clear Sydney did take the trip north lightly. In fact, Vitezslav Lavicka replaced the injured Mark Bridge by starting Grant alongside Musialik in a 4-2-3-1, an obvious sign of respect, as much as it was confirmation that Sydney need an additional front-man, and soon.

While Sydney’s problems were more to do with Brosque’s isolation and Lavicka’s use of the defensive minded Terry McFlynn and Scott Jamieson in the advanced wing positions, there’s little doubt they were beaten by the better side.

One team unlucky not to win on the weekend were the Gold Coast, who turned on a dazzling display in torrential conditions in Wellington. While they had to rely on an effervescent finish from pumped-up skipper Jason Culina, who grabbed a late assist and a text-book header to rescue a point, United were certainly good value for it.

In such trying conditions, it was a credit to both sides that they dished up such a wonderful spectacle, full of excellent technique, lovely passing and great movement.

Certainly, the game that followed it, in Newcastle, didn’t quite live up to it, but it did feature another comeback, this time from the fortunate Melbourne Heart, who are at least on the board.

In truth Branko Culina’s men might well have put the game to bed in the first period, when the front four of Michael Bridges, Jeremy Brockie, Ali Abass and Marko Jesic looked incisive but lacked the killer blow.

For the second week in a row they had shaded proceedings, only to finish the week a point ahead of the Heart, who are still to find any rhythm and had to rely on some good work from Simon Colosimo.

It was a similar tale in Gosford on Sunday where Adelaide dominated the opening period through some rapid transition from the likes of Lucas Pantelis and Mathew Leckie, who, for all his dynamism last season, is already looking a more refined player.

Whereas Graham Arnold drew plaudits for his work in playing Matt Simon in a defensive number 10 role on the opening day, he erred by starting him in the same role in a home match.

It wasn’t until the final third of the match, when he was moved forward, with John Hutchinson and Oliver Bozanic sharing the playmaking duties, that the Mariners got on top.

While a bit was made of Daniel Mullen’s late hand-ball in the box, there appeared little intention to these eyes, and little attention given to a similar incident by the otherwise exceptional Joshua Rose moments earlier.

Not surprisingly for these two sides, it was a little robust at times, and 1-1 was fitting.

Another side never afraid to mix it physically are the Glory, who has skipper Jacob Burns muscle up with some crunching challenges on the Victory that referee Gerard Parsons allowed him to get away with.

Particularly targeted was Carlos Hernandez, who was rarely allowed time to turn and face goal, and without the link, and with Mate Dugandzic controlled, the Victory struggled to consistently create. When they did, Tando Velaphi was supreme.

Tony’s team of week 2:

——————————–Tando Velaphi——————————-
———————————————————————————
Scott Neville—–Mark Hughes—–Jamie Harnwell——Joshua Rose
———————————————————————————-
—————————-Zenon Caravella———————————-
Isaka Cernak——————–Jason Culina—————–Dyron Daal
———————————————————————————-
—————————Chris Payne—————————————–
———————————————–Joel Porter———————–

Follow Tony on Twitter @TonyTannousTRBA
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