Positive reactions as the quality amps up

Melbourne Victory’s Tomislav Pondeljak tackles Brisbane Roar’s Charlie Miller, during round 2 of the A-League Season, played at the Ethihad stadium in Melbourne, Saturday, August 15, 2009. After full time, Victory drew with Brisbane Roar 3-3. AAP Image/Joe Castro

If you listened closely to then Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink in the run in to last seasons, he often spoke in awe of his team’s ability to react positively. He was talking, of course, about Chelsea’s mental strength, and ability to rebound from adversity during, before or after a game.

And about their ability to respond to his mental prodding.

They didn’t always get it right, as Drogba so infamously demonstrated when he fronted up to a camera. But more often than not they showed the right will to win.

Cast any eye over a pulsating second round of what is already shaping up as a vastly improved A-League season, and we saw positive reaction in abundance.

In five intriguing games, four of them offering entertainment and quality of a very high order, including a collection of world-class strikes, we witnessed some wonderful reactions from players and managers alike.

Let’s start with the F3 derby, probably the least enthralling of the games.

The Mariners were criticised loudly last week for what many perceived was a negative game plan against the champions.

How did they react? By dishing up some delightful first-half football.

So much for the long ball, their play in the opening period was precise, built up, and had a lovely flow, with McGlinchey proving a useful pivot.

Of course, Newcastle, who started the game with the same 4-4-2 shape that worked against Wellington, were totally outnumbered in central midfield (three on two), and had to resort to pumping the ball long to Petrovski.

Talk about role reversal. Long-ball-Lawrie had his team playing on the deck, while ball-on-the-deck-Branko had all his avenues blocked and had to go long.

But Culina reacted at the break with a master-stroke which evened up the numbers across the pitch. Into midfield went Milicevic, across from the left came Matt Thompson and up front went Song.

Formations neutralised, a quick goal each, and both teams reacted like teams content with four early season points.

Fast forward to Matchday Saturday, and after some nice lighter touches from Santo Cilauro in Fox’s new pre-game programme, including a wonderful tale from the world cup in Germany about our then Socceroos skipper’s obsession with The Late Show, it was time to cross to the first match-up of the new teams.

North Queensland should have been fairly happy with their first up effort against Sydney, but a sneak peak at Ian Ferguson’s team-sheet suggested he wasn’t.

Among the puzzling selections was the benching of the impressive right-back Kaimoto and pre-season leader Kohler, and more A-League game-time for Beau Busch (what on earth have Kosmina and Ferguson seen?).

Was it an over-reaction? A sign of panic, even?

It was certainly the work of a manager searching for answers.

Perhaps he was given a shoe-string, but the construction of almost an entire squad of bit-part players and the number of players that have come and gone, even in the past fortnight, suggested worrying times lie ahead.

Right now all involved must be thinking “if only we could have our time again”.

The reaction from now will be intriguing.

Over to the other rookie. While the many empty seats and the state of the Skilled pitch was worrying, and might have distracted weak minds, the reaction of the Gold Coast hierarchy was the stick to the plan, and haven’t they dishing up some eye-catching early stuff.

Once again the tempo setter was Jason Culina, but right across the pitch they had players willing to stick to the quick-ball-movement, short-passing, bodies-in-motion, total football template Miron Bleiberg is what to produce.

The amount of times defenders Traore, Rees and Thwaite were seen inside the Fury 18 yard box lends support to this argument.

Thwaite, Traore, Smeltz, Porter and Caravella all demonstrated this team is far from a one-man-band, while Culina’s reaction in missing a late chance to make it six-zip proved standards won’t slip too easily.

Perhaps having seen the Coast set the early benchmark and knowing they couldn’t afford to drop their opening two games, the Victory and Roar produced a thrill-a-minute classic filled with some of the best strikes you are likely see.

Early on Melbourne lent support to those claiming they didn’t have the requisite back-up for Muscat and that Merrick was nuts for thinking Kemp could be a central solution and Ward a right-back.

Later on he admitted his errors by replacing Ward and shifting Kemp to his rightful spot, on the right.

In and around all that back-four confusion, Merrick’s players reacted with some swashbuckling attacking football, and Brisbane certainly did well to hang-on, and even offer their own odd chance late on.

With the game stretched as both teams defended on their 18-yard-box, it was little wonder there was so much end-to-end action. Space was everywhere, the midfielders were spent, and in the end, anything could have happened.

It was a classic, and certainly featured the best collection of goals in an A-League game, but right throughout it you wondered about the logic of both teams defending so deep and allowing each other so much space.

Yesterday’s match in a cold and wet Wellington had a similar stretched feel and, with both teams also coming off losses, produced some wonderful entertainment from desperate sides.

It was clear early that David Mitchell had given his men a tongue-lashing after their below-par first effort, and they reacted with an up-beat beginning.

But the Glory can’t take a trick at the moment, and, after going ahead, suffered further injuries to Chris Coyne and Sikora. They were ragged for the remainder of the first half.

Wellington had their own round one demons to conquer, and Ricki Herbert reacted positively by introducing Diego and re-jigging the shape from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1, which had Ifill, Diego and Bertos buzzing all over the place behind Greenacre.

Perth couldn’t live with the mobility in the first half and had to rely on some brilliance from Velaphi to keep them in it.

Again, the reaction from Perth after the break was top-shelf, and with young substitutes Jukic and Howarth chipping in, Srhoj pulling the strings and Sterjovski stirred into action, it was only the crossbar which denied them a go-ahead.

The Phoenix looked gone, but reacted to the promptings on a wonderful crowd and atmosphere with an absolute bomb from Bertos, via Burns’ knee.

The Glory, having yet to play at home, must now react in the right way. On the evidence of this game, they must keep their heads up, for they have plenty of quality.

Meanwhile, in the final game, Sydney and Vitezslav Lavicka had to show they could handle the pressure that comes with the expectation around the Sky Blues, and they reacted with a very professional, high-tempo performance that was built on the even contribution from all involved.

Danning, for example, was getting whipped by Jamieson in the early going, but reacted by getting on top of his man.

It was the mood of the match. Adelaide lived with Sydney in the early going, and offered plenty, but as the minutes ticked by Sydney gained control, and with a probing pre-season behind them, they were always likely to finish stronger.

In the end it was a superb piece of play from a man with a cause to react, Bridge, which grabbed three deserved points.

Lavicka would be delighted he got his reaction from Bridge and that his team is responding to his manifesto so professionally.

Elsewhere, across the league, there are other positive reactions.

Groundsmen have responded to the calls for better playing surfaces, and while Robina’s cow-paddock didn’t stop the likes of Culina, Traore and Smeltz from expressing their stuff, the rest of the surfaces were in fine condition, but for a patched-up centre bounce area at Etihad.

The SFS, touched up with a European style sprinkling a few minutes before kick-off, an excellent move in my mind, was in great knick.

Now it’s over to the fans for a reaction on the improved quality being dished up.

Tony’s team of round 2 (4-3-3, manager of the week, Vitezslav Lavicka)

——————–Velaphi—————-

————————————————

Byun——DeVere—Colosimo——Traore

—————————————————

——————-Thwaite———————-

———-Culina————Hernandez———

—————————————————-

Danning—————————–Henrique

——————-Smeltz————————

The others; Tiatto, Bertos, Ifill, Howarth, Neville, Milicevic, Berger, Porter, Rees, Caravella, Bolton, Kennedy.