A-League's form guide is a confusing read

Kazama you make a good argument regarding Adelaide playing a attacking game, you're right in that we have nothing to lose so Vidmar should go for it. I doubt he will though because our ACL campaign was built on solid defence and cautious play so against a team like Gamba Osaka, Vidmar will probably retreat further into his shell than play an attacking game.......but as they say, "time will tell".

Well, that was another couple of years shaved off my life. dasliva, I too felt ill for most of the match and I honestly thought as you did that we'd lose on penalties. IMO, a woefully inept display from United that will have probably turned off a lot of new viewers from the A-League. When we needed a showcase of the positive steps the A-League has made we were instead shown "Australian soccer gets a reality check" episode number 597. Very disappointing, and I agree with the comments from Fozz et al after the match that we have further evidence Australian players are incapable of breaking down packed defences. Perhaps a short term solution to this problem, as far as the A-League is concerned, is to increase the number of visa players a team can have from four to five, or maybe only half or 3/4s of the wages of imports count towards the salary cap. The longer term solution of course is up to coaches around the country. I agree with the comments above that Sarkies is not up to the standard of the A-League. This is not a recent revelation to me. I think you can also safely say that Younis isn't either, and Spagnuolo has gone missing, but he's leaving anyway. The jury is still out on Alemao for me but right now I'd rather have him playing than Sarkies. I think Dan Mullen has made the right back position his own - he's clearly a lot more comfortable there than Cornthwaite. I think by the end of the season, assuming Vidmar allows Mullen to continue starting, Dan will improve a lot and will be as effective down the right as Jamieson is on the left. Speaking of Jamieson, I am surprised based on his free kick last night that he doesn't get more opportunities with the dead ball. He was easily man of the match last night and I hope that as long as he keeps performing he is given the opportunity to pull on the Green and Gold during the Asian Cup Qualifiers. Robert B - I agree with both your points regarding why Adelaide lost to Gamba. Indeed, you have done a much better job than Francis did! I'd like to see us go on the attack against Gamba. I doubt Gamba would have the same problems breaking down a deep defence like we did last night. And, there's no shame in us losing to Gamba so why not go for it?

Hopefully its one bad one they had to get out of their system and they won't play that bad again for a while. I can't see AU going all out in attack this time - they are not looking for away goals or to play catch up football and leave themselves exposed. They will do a Waitekere job on Osaka and hope to steal a counter attacking goal or draw and go to penalties. AU need to put Gamba under intense pressure in midfield, hold their shape in defense and capitalise on any Gamba mistakes and free space in defence with their own counter attacks.

Vidmar said at the post-match interview that Diego has a 50/50 chance to play. IMO if Diego can't get up to play, then depending on Viddie's tactic the choice should be between Alemao and Salley. Alemao - attacking. Salley - defensive. 2-1 win. I'll take it. It was disappointing that we couldn't better use our domination of play more creatively to produce solid chances on goal, but nevertheless we are through to play Gamba Osaka. Tonight's game really illustrated to me how much we missed Cassio, Diego and Sasa. The jury was still out on Sarkies, but I believe now it's time for a verdict: "Your honour we find the defendant GUILTY!!". Sarkies is junk. Playing him in the middle is such a liability to the team, he can put in an okay cross from time to time but from now on Alemao (if Diego can't recover in time) should be ahead of him. Les Murray was asking Francis Awaritefe for his thoughts on reasons why Adelaide could play really well against Kashima Antlers (the J-league champions) yet get demolished by Gamba Osaka who finished 8th in the league. It was really annoying watching, because Francis struggled to give an answer when there were two clear points I would've put forth had I been in his place. 1. Fatigue and injuries - the schedule + economy flights and general trip from hell to Uzbekistan really hurt Adelaide's preparation for the Gamba Osaka matches. We didn't have our strongest squad through injury and did not look fresh. Not to say that this is the single reason why we lost, but it does pose an intriguing argument. 2. Gamba Osaka's playing style and general class - Gamba focused more on winning the ACL campaign and importantly their style of play compared to Kashima. Kashima DID NOT press us as much as Gamba. If you look at the games with Gamba they used what I call, "the swarm tactic". What I mean is that Akira Nishino (Gamba's manager) knew we didn't have the confidence in our technical ability to play short passes under pressure or be able to play out of that pressure and be creative without being reduced to the long ball and hence giving them possession. So when an Adelaide United player had the ball, 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 Gamba players would swarm upon us and force us to lose possession (whether through winning tackles, stripping the ball from us or forcing us to go long up to Cristiano, marked by 3 defenders) and quickly attack with numbers. They knew getting 2+ men to force a AU player to give up possession would not hurt them because we don't have the technical quality to make them pay for committing those extra men to one player. So what does Vidmar do? Does he play Salley and get him to man mark Endo or run around and try to break up the play? Or take the game to Gamba and play an attacking game? I just hope we have a fit squad to choose from and at least Cornflake will not be played as a RB.

man that was awful When the Waitakere United scored the goal. I felt physically ill. Luckily Adelaide equalize soon after. In the last 20 minutes I was convince that Adelaide was going to lose the match through a penalty shoot out and I felt sick. Luckily we escape that match which was a great great relief. I find it hard to believe the same side that played so well against Wellington played so rubbish against Waitakere. Then again it's seems that all side in the A-league are capable of playing champagne football that fozzinho can be proud of. The problem is that they can't do it consistently. Sarkies show that he is completely rubbish again. Set piece specialist? hah. Give the dead ball to Jamieson or Reid. I'm praying for Cassio, Diego and Ognenovski recover quickly or I'm afraid we will get hammered again by Gamba Osaka.

James, they made it and a rematch with Gamba. But they've got to play better than that to have any hope against Gamba.

Well that's a bit better.

NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Go the Reds! They can't lose this surely.

Yeah it's a great competition - very even - as my crappy tips and disappointing fantasy team show. Can't wait to see the Reds in action. As a fan without Foxtel I'll enjoy not having to hit a pub or my mates place.

Joe FC RE: The risk of losing - Well, obviously. I was just trying to make the point that if we lose this game it'd be an absolute disaster for the A-League in terms of public opinion and credibility. First time an A-League club has been on FTA TV and we want it to show a new audience that Australian football is alive and well. Losing to a bunch of part-timers would not send this message. It'd say to these people that all of the football haters out there like Rebecca Wilson are right, that football is dead in this country. Remember the crap that was written after Adelaide lost to Gamba, a superior team? Imagine what would happen if we lost to an inferior one. There's a hell of a lot riding on this game tonight, and we don't need things to get 'interesting.' We need Adelaide to wipe the floor with the Kiwis. Towser and Joe FC Well, that'd be great for Sydney FC and Gold Coast, but what about the rest of the league? IMO the problem with having a league without a salary cap here is that these teams haven't been around for very long, not as long as the English clubs anyway. So if only one team is winning the league every season, there's no family history of support or loyalty or what have you to keep the fans attached to the clubs. If they see straight away that their club, which they have only supported for a couple of years has no chance of finishing higher than 6th why would they keep going to games? Perth Glory have been around longer than any club in the A-League and look at the 'loyalty' of their support in tough times. Bolton Wanderers fans might be happy with the season's goal being avoiding relegation but the fans here won't settle for anything less than the goal of winning the championship, and a salary cap allows for that environment. So, IMO, Australian fans wouldn't follow an EPL with Sydney and Gold Coast dominating and the others making up the numbers. Australian fans are much more fickle and demanding, and there's plenty of other distractions here to take up the time and money they are currently giving to football.

Towser I can appreciate your point. You of course can recognise better than most of us the fundemental differences between football in England/Europe and football in Australia. History, culture & tradition are the themes I'm thinking of. I suspect that during what we might call the embryonic stage of the HAL various artifical constraints are necessary in order to provide the best chance of survival and growth. Further down the track however we may be in a position to be more adventurous. Lets hope so.

Joe FC All of me would love to see it. SFC will never meet their expectations of their market unless they can spend more money. Their operating like a provincial club in a big city market. Like asking ManU or Liverpool to replicate Bolton.

Kazama it would certainly be disappointing if Adelaide lost tonight but as has previously been said if we enter a competition we run the risk of losing. Your earlier post raises an interesting topic i.e. the salary cap and its impact on the HAL. Would we still have a close competition without a salary cap? And if we didn't ( no cap & no close competition ) would it matter? Would Australian football fans follow an EPL version of the HAL? I don't know the answers but there is a part of me that would like the chance to see it.

As for my tips: 1. Melbourne 2. Adelaide 3. Queensland 4. Central Coast just edging Sydney Melbourne - so many games at home and still a great side. Sydney is the dark horse.

According to the World game site - Likely Adelaide XI v Waitakere: Galekovic; D Mullen, Cornthwaite, Costanzo, Jamieson; Dodd, Reid, Barbiero, Sarkies, Spagnuolo; Cristiano.

As long as 'interesting' doesn't become 'humiliating.' The last thing the A-League needs is for one of its teams to lose to a semi-professional outfit on free to air TV. Evil Bec and her vultures will be circling.

The Reds are already like the walking wounded in Japan with three players out with the flu tonight. I think the Japan trip will have a negative effect on their form at home especially with all the extra games. Saying that though they have the best team in the league