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Gold Coast players react after Jason Culina scored in the 59th minute to put the Coast 2-0 up during the 1st round A-League football match between Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast United at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
A third of the way in, the AFL and NRL seasons over, the shadow punching done, the ladder as tight as ever, the national under 20s campaign prematurely over, Danny Tiatto back in the headlines the only way he knows how, and Sydney hitting top spot for the first time in what seems an eternity.
Then there’s Kevin Muscat propelling Melbourne to second on the back of three straight wins, better signs on the crowd front in most places this week (Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney), a top of the table blockbuster in three days time.
It’s tempting to say that A-League season five is finally up and running.
Better late than never, one might say.
I’ve noted it previously, but for all the off-field disappointment about crowds and the lack of positive noise around the season so far, the on field standard is far better than it has ever been.
If only that point had more mainstream support.
One way to measure this improvement is to try and pick your team of the season at any one point, and cast an eye over the quality of the players that you can’t fit in.
So for those of you yet to take in any A-League action this season, and the rest of you who can’t quite get enough, here’s a formation that has caught the eye in the opening nine rounds;
The goalkeeper
It’s great to see Vukovic back in the mood at Gosford. Ditto down the F3, where Bolton, after a nervy start, is displaying some of the consistency that has been missing for the past two seasons. Slow starts for Henderson, Vanstratten and Moss, but they are warming up nicely.
Meanwhile, in a poorly performing team, Galekovic has been dynamite, rescuing so many points for Adelaide. A natural selection here.
The fullbacks
On the right, Cole has developed into a handy defender under Lavicka, Sukha has taken to life in Australia nicely, Fitzsimmons did a super job in the first few rounds, while Nigel Boogaard has moved seamlessly between right back and central defence.
Middleby’s experience has helped the Fury. The left side has been even better, featuring a couple of star defenders in Traore and Heffernan, while Kemp has also caught the eye.
Byun has also had some solid displays, while Sekulovski is in career-best form. Heffernan and Sekulovski are the unluckiest to miss out, with Traore just shading them thanks to some neat integration with his attack.
On the other side, I’ve tinkered by shifting the adaptable Thwaite from midfield, mainly to accommodate the bevy of brilliant attackers.
The central defenders
Every team has strengthened in this area, and there have been some brilliant defensive displays so far. Muscat has come back into the Melbourne team and, along with Leijer, has turned the team around. Colosimo and Keller have been very solid for the league leaders, the former on the ground, Keller in the air.
Meanwhile Wilkinson, Doig and Boogaard have plugged the gaps that were so evident for the Mariners earlier this year, while Todd and Chris Coyne are building a lovely partnership out west.
Hard to leave Keller and Leijer out of this selection, but it’s Todd and Colosimo for now.
The holding midfielder
Bojic might need to refine his passing, but there’s no doubt he’s added steel to the Mariners defensive shape and made a reasonable fist at filling the Jedinak role. Meanwhile, Tiatto may be nuts, but makes it difficult for Farina to leave him out by doing a job.
McFlynn, when he is in, makes such a difference for Sydney, while Broxham and Musialik have shown better signs of late.
Talay got the Fury firing and instantly struck a rapport with Fowler, Burns has been busy at Perth and Adam D’Apuzzo has been neat for the Jets.
Thwaite though has been the best holder to date, but has been moved to right back in this team in order to accommodate team-mate Culina.
The attacking central midfielders
This is the area which highlights just how difficult it is to fit all the excellent performers into the team. Hernandez, for his set pieces and general class, has to be in the team.
The same could be argued for Miller, who has been exceptional at finding space and linking with Henrique, but that would mean that I would have to leave out Song.
I can’t.
The little Korean, whether playing wide or more central, has finally adapted to the physicality of the league, and is fulfilling the potential he showed in his early days.
Patafta has also done some nice things, while another little fella, Caravella, caught the eye before injury beset. Meanwhile, in Gosford, a pair of British schemers have been impressing, McGlinchey and Travis adding much-needed subtlety.
Srhoj has also had plenty of good moments in Perth.
The wide attackers
Like the central attackers, it has been difficult the narrow the cast down to two. Ifill, for example, has added much quality to the Wellington attack, while Abbas and Leckie have shown good signs in the past few weeks.
But it is impossible not to have both Bertos and Henrique in the mix, even if it means shaping up with only one striker. The pity is that we won’t be seeing much of Henrique in the second third of the season.
The striker
Again, there are some unlucky players, including Porter, Fowler, McBreen and van Dijk, who have all been doing a great job. Others like Thompson, Haliti and Jelic deserve a mention, but so far Smeltz has been the stand-out finisher, despite a couple of recent quiet ones.
Here is my team of the season at the end of round nine, in 4-3-3:
————————–Galekovic————————-
—————————————————————-
Thwaite———–Todd——–Colosimo———-Traore
—————————————————————–
—————————–Culina——————————
—————Hernandez————Song———————
——————————————————————-
Bertos————————————————Henrique
—————————–Smeltz—————————–
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