A-League: The Highs and Lows of Round 1
Roar Guru By langou, 9 Oct 2012 langou is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- A-League, Adelaide United, Alessandro Del Piero, Dario Vidosic, John Aloisi, Shinji Ono, Tom Rogic
I was lucky enough to watch all five games of the A-League this week and have put into words my thoughts on round one.
Langou’s Gold Star
The performance of the week undoubtedly goes to Adelaide United for overcoming a gruelling travel schedule to win away from home. Having had six months of talk about six day breaks vs. seven day breaks, it was refreshing not to hear a single complaint from anyone involved with Adelaide. This was despite facing off in a mid-week match (that went to extra time) and taking 33 hours to get from Uzbekistan to Newcastle. Arriving only 24 hours before kick-off, the Reds didn’t play the best football of the week but as far as pure determination goes, they don’t come better than this.
Other Highlights
1) The Crowds: A record attendance for round one and the second biggest crowd ever for a regular season game. Well done for those that rocked up and well done for those who have supported the league from the beginning, helping us get to this point.
2) WSW: A good effort by the Western Sydney players for securing a point in their inaugural match. An exceptional effort from the administration for building a club within such a short time frame and for engaging the community to such a large extent. The results were obvious with over 10,000 braving terrible weather conditions, creating an atmosphere that could be felt even by those of us watching at home.
3) Wellington F.C: Once again they start the season underrated. With their strongest squad on record they are going to be extremely difficult to beat at home and if they start pinching away points they will find themselves with a genuine premiership chance.
4) Refereeing: Newcastle fans may disagree but overall I thought the standard of refereeing was excellent. I’m sure as the season goes on, mistakes will be made and over the top articles claiming a crisis in refereeing will be written but for now the boys deserve to be praised.
5) John Aloisi: He looked suave, he refused to sit down all game, and he celebrated every goal like a fan. He also won the tactical battle against Australia’s best manager by pressing high up the pitch and not allowing Victory the opportunity to run the ball out of defence. Well done John.
6) Tom Rogić: The kid must have been pinching himself as he rocked up for a NSW-based photo shoot to help promote the A-League. Standing quietly next to Del Piero, Heskey and Ono, it’s fair to say his 13 game A-League career probably wasn’t the main talking point of the day.
Not so Good
1) Flares: They are becoming more prevalent in this country. It is an ugly sight and one a majority of fans don’t want to see. Whether the media is overly harsh towards the code is debatable but bringing flares only gives them ammunition.
2) Sydney F.C. players not called Del Piero: A very disappointing display from Sydney. While Del Piero looked everything like the million dollar player he is, his teammates looked out of their depth playing next to him. At times they even looked nervous about being on the pitch with him. On the other hand Shinji Ono seemed to gel instantly with his WSW teammates.
3) Wellington having to play next Saturday: With a rule stipulating that a majority of Wellington players must come from New Zealand, it’s extremely unfair of the league to expect Wellington and the All Whites to play at the same time. Wellington will be forced to sign players on one match contracts just to have a squad available for next week. I would like to see the A-League have a complete break during internationals but at the very least they should allow Wellington the chance to play mid-week.
Holger’s Heroes
Dario Vidosic must be close to a recall to the Socceroo squad with another great display from the attacking midfielder. Following on from a strong champions league campaign, Super Dario gave the Reds the energy boost they needed when he scored within the first minute. He then went on to have five shots on goal, was involved in the play that saw the red card and finished the game with an assist.
The Big Question
Are we going to heckle Del Piero every away game?
The cries of “What a waste of money,” and “Who are ya?” were as predictable as they were unnecessary. This may be wishful thinking but I am hoping this stuff dies down and opposition fans at least wait until he does something offensive before unleashing the abuse.
October 9th 2012 @ 8:59am
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | October 9th 2012 @ 8:59am | Report comment
To be fair the Wellington fans sing “Who are ya” to every player taking a corner in that end of the ground.Del Piero ain’t gonna lose any sleep over it,if he gets going no-ones gonna get chanting what a waste of money either.Im not sure flares are a massive concern around the grounds,they are for the Glory though.I’ve been going to Glory games since i was a teen in the late nineties and cant recall seeing flares,yet the last three homes games for us they’ve made an appearence and some yob caused a scene in Leederville with one.I have no doubt its the same people bringing them in hopefully they will be weeded out.
October 9th 2012 @ 10:26am
langou said | October 9th 2012 @ 10:26am | Report comment
Seeing the flare at the Glory was what got me thinking. I have also been a Glory fan since the late 90s and a member up until I moved to Melbourne three years ago and I can only ever recall seeing one flare set off by some kids in front of the Shed, and the Shed got stuck into them.
Incidentally my first ever Glory game was against Northern Spirit led their new recruit Robbie Slater, back when the Shed was literally a shed and we used to get there early so we could stand as close to the Shed as possible because we were too young to be allowed in. Good times
October 9th 2012 @ 3:28pm
Nathan of Perth said | October 9th 2012 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
Still mostly the kids. There’s a particular little mob of them whom I doubt could name half the starting XI and never show up in team colours.
But I digress.
October 9th 2012 @ 11:00am
Nathan of Perth said | October 9th 2012 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Yeah, heard there was one at the West Leederville train station – getting some conflicting reports on that, but some people are saying the bloke did try and apologise and manned up enough to wait for cops, though others are saying he beat it shamefully. Hopefully he did the right thing.
As for flares at the home games, I cannot honestly say I dislike them. Smokies only, though, no f’ing pyros!
October 9th 2012 @ 5:58pm
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party said | October 9th 2012 @ 5:58pm | Report comment
Yeah look for the odd big game a smokey is ok but we can’t have em coming in every week.
October 9th 2012 @ 10:49am
Titus said | October 9th 2012 @ 10:49am | Report comment
I think if Dario can somehow manage a move to the Middle East, he may be in-line for a recall to the national team.
October 9th 2012 @ 12:11pm
Shoulda said | October 9th 2012 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
Interesting read but I think you are being overly kind to the referees, they had a howler in the Newcastle game. Mark my words by the end of the year they will make a mistake that costs a team finals, fans cash and the code credibility.
October 9th 2012 @ 12:24pm
Nathan of Perth said | October 9th 2012 @ 12:24pm | Report comment
What, the Birghitti decision? I can’t blame the ref for that, when you have your arms out like that making yourself as wide as that, you’re already halfway to writing your own express ticket to the showers.
October 9th 2012 @ 3:21pm
langou said | October 9th 2012 @ 3:21pm | Report comment
I think they are a bit sensitive up Newcastle way. At the very least it was a 50/50 decision and as far as howlers go it was the Jets who made the howler by putting the keeper in that position..
October 9th 2012 @ 5:41pm
John Stone said | October 9th 2012 @ 5:41pm | Report comment
Nice piece Langou (and pseudonym).
What was the coverage like on Fox Sports? They deserve a lot of credit for the ongoing development of the league, don’t you think?
And how was Heskey’s debut? It was all the talk around the water coolers out here in Brentford.
October 10th 2012 @ 11:27am
langou said | October 10th 2012 @ 11:27am | Report comment
Thanks John,
Foxtel has been sensational for the league.
It would be interesting to hear what the Jets fans thought but for mine Heskey looked better as the game went on. He seemed to lack a bit of match fitness but will be better for the run. I think we are all looking forward to watching him play against Sydney this week.
October 15th 2012 @ 10:48pm
Weltz said | October 15th 2012 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
Great Comments Langou, well written and some great points. What’s your thoughts of Glory’s chances this season? If they can pack out a shrivelled nib stadium and create some real home town atmosphere hopfeully they can turn it into Fortress Glory with the Shed adding that passionate charm. Then it will come down to eeking out some away results.
Would love to see the young’uns Marakounas, O’Neill & Makeche? really instilling some youthful bite & speed into the Glory machine this year. Also looking forward to the Japanese import putting on a show.