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Central Coast Mariners might have pummelled Wellington on the weekend but today Sydney’s press will focus almost entirely on Sydney FC. Would any of that change if the Mariners won the title?
Sydney’s tense 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar yesterday was hardly a showcase of classic football but once again it highlighted what an asset Alessandro Del Piero is to the A-League.
There are rumours Del Piero might leave for a money-spinning final fling with Brazilian giants Flamengo, though Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata seems fairly certain the Italian will stay.
It’s not like Del Piero needs the money and it would be a surprise to see a player in such red-hot form turn his back on a ‘project’ which is supposedly dear to his heart, so expect to see the veteran midfielder in a Sky Blue jersey next season.
Del Piero was outstanding against the Roar, opening the scoring, having a hand in Peter Triantis’ winner, clattering the crossbar with a tremendous free-kick and generally looking like one of the best players to have ever graced Australian shores.
It’s a shame then that less than 15,000 fans turned out to witness a clash against the two-time defending A-League champions, not least because it seemed twice as many as that turned up at the airport or got themselves on TV to declare their undying love for Del Piero when he first signed.
At any rate, while yesterday’s lone encounter was a passable affair, the Mariners opened the round with a predictable 5-0 thrashing of the hapless Wellington Phoenix.
The Kiwi club’s form is so dire they might as well give Daniel Vettori a call and see if he’d be up for a game at left back, because at the rate they’re going it’s hard to see how they won’t win the battle with Perth Glory for the mantle of the worst team in the league.
The Mariners made the Phoenix defence look about as lively as some petrified planks of wood but, despite playing some superb football, it’s sometimes hard not to come away feeling bored stiff after watching the Gosford side in action.
Perhaps it’s all the sterile grey seats at Bluetongue Stadium or the fact that every so often a ball goes hurtling into the Brisbane Water rather than a sea of supporters (or the goal), but there can be something so underwhelming about watching Graham Arnold’s side play.
Maybe it’s just that after finishing as premiers twice and reaching the grand final three times and still failing to lift the A-League title, it can hard not to think of the Mariners as anything other than perennial losers.
And it doesn’t help that Arnold can come across as something of a whinger, perpetually grumbling about decisions going against his ‘little’ team and dismissing the importance of the grand final whenever it suits.
It’s unlikely they’ll dismiss the importance of a grand final should they finally win one and on current form that looks a probable prospect indeed.
But with Western Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United all locked in a ding-dong battle for second spot – if not first – the Mariners will find the competition fierce irrespective of who they play in the finals.
Adelaide’s gripping 1-0 win over arch-rivals Victory on Friday night was just about the most entertaining match of the round from a neutral perspective, with the bitter foes going at it hammer and tongs in front of a vociferous crowd at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Interim coach Michael Valkanis will have done his popularity with the Adelaide faithful no harm by getting himself sent to the stands, as tension boiled over in what was a highly entertaining affair.
It’s the sort of drama you sometimes wish would happen in Gosford, where for all their free-flowing football, the Mariners continue to trundle along as arguably the most beige team in the league.