A-League needs to entertain more consistently

 
Mike Tuckerman Columnist

By , 27 Jan 2012 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

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While much of the focus was on former Sydney FC defender Mark Milligan, there was some symmetry to the fact it was ex-Victory defender Sebastian Ryall who proved the man of the hour in the “Big Blue” yesterday.

Ryall’s goal was symptomatic of the match: unexpected and scrappy, but thoroughly entertaining.

Not for the first time this season, Victory will view a draw as a loss and Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka will be relieved all the attention is not on him.

In terms of the latter, the Sky Blues might as well start planning for next season because they don’t have the personnel needed to put up a fight in the finals this time around.

They simply don’t have the pace to trouble any but the most panicked of defences and it was instructive that both of their goals against Victory came from defensive blunders.

Victory are a more interesting prospect, if only because they do possess the sort of players who can challenge for the title – not that Jim Magilton seems to think so.

He’s already brought in Mark Milligan on loan, but the Victory defence still looked all at sea against their bitter rivals, particularly when the bustling Bruno Cazarine lurked.

Victory’s campaign has been fascinating to watch but fans of the Big-V must be growing increasingly nervous as the clock ticks down on the regular season.

They’ve still got difficult away fixtures against Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC to come, as well as the derby and another difficult home clash with league leaders Central Coast, and so far they haven’t shown any signs of sparking to life under Magilton.

That shouldn’t take away from what was an entertaining clash at AAMI Park – the kind we need more of on a consistent basis in the A-League.

I watched Newcastle Jets draw with Adelaide United a day earlier and maybe it was the neutral surrounds of Carrington Park in Bathurst, but the whole encounter was a ho-hum affair.

It’s a shame pre-match showers evidently kept some fans away but so far these community round fixtures have been a real mixed bag in terms of intensity.

At times the clash between the Jets and the Reds had a social kickabout feel to it and it wasn’t until Newcastle started to throw everything at Adelaide over a frenetic finale that it finally started to resemble a genuine A-League match.

It’s been one of the few downsides of the A-League this season: the fact entertaining fixtures are often bookended by the sort of dreary encounter which leaves casual watchers turning off their TVs and has others thinking twice about attending a game.

It’s a shame there hasn’t been a little bit more consistency because the quality of football on display has generally been quite high.

We just need a few more games like “the Big Blue” and a few less like “the Big Bore” in Bathurst to keep interest ticking over.

There should be a bit of interest in this weekend’s fixtures and now that the rain has eased in Brisbane, it will be fascinating to see how the Roar fare without suspended striker Besart Berisha.

Adelaide versus Perth is always a feisty clash as well, and hopefully we see some high-quality football to go with the lusty tackling and buzzing atmosphere.

Because it’s not just big-name rivalries which gets punters through the gates and fans watching on TV.

It’s also entertainment, and that’s something we could stand to see on a little bit more of a regular basis in the A-League.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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