Dyron Daal in action during the Newcastle Jets vs North Queensland Fury. AAP Image/Tim Clayton
In the first of a two part series looking at how all the A-League teams are shaping up a month or so out from the finals, I take at look at the bottom five, and, I have to say, it’s going to take something special for any of them to make an impression, even if they sneak into the finals.
At least there are bright points, like the form of Mathew Leckie in Adelaide and the fact kids like Adam Sarota, Tommy Oar and Michael Zullo are getting valuable development in Brisbane.
Adelaide United, 22 points (21 games)
Very unlucky not to take all three points away to the Gold Coast on Saturday, this was Adelaide’s best performance in a very long time.
They would need to produce the same energy and effort in every remaining game to have any chance of making the six, but their form has been scratchy all season, and it would be a minor miracle if they could sustain Saturday’s form the rest of the season.
A couple of recent shining lights have been the form of Michael Marrone in the holding midfield role, the return to regular football of Fabian Barbiero and the outgoing eye-catching development of Mathew Leckie.
Leckie was outstanding against the Gold Coast, both in attack and defence. On one occasion he made an 80 metre sprint to make a last-ditch challenge on Jason Culina, who looked certain to score. Inspirational stuff.
Soon after he was sprinting the other way, giving Bas van den Brink and co. headaches, and his heads-up play to suck-in Anderson and tee-up to Travis Dodd’s goal was something to behold.
Some player, and on this form is comfortably Socceroos material, even now.
A bolter for the Cup? Call me crazy, but, with breathtaking pace and power the likes of which we don’t have elsewhere, he certainly suits Pim Verbeek’s preferred counter-attacking style, causes panic every time he is one the pitch, and would be an unknown joker off the bench.
North Queensland Fury, 25 (22)
Good to see Jeremy Brockie back in a bit of form. Must be something to do with the World Cup on the horizon.
The rest of it is pretty grim for Ian Ferguson, so grim in fact that even Beau Busch has been featuring.
Robbie Fowler has gone off the boil, but the Fury are only two points outside the six, and have been impressive at home lately.
The pity is their away form, with Saturday night’s point in Gosford their first on the road since October.
Central Coast Mariners, 25 (22)
Saturday night’s home draw with the Fury was the most dour game of round 22 and one of the worst of the season, but at least the Mariners put the five losses in December behind them by picking up their first point since November.
Lawrie McKinna has been an angry man of late, and the squad look to be under immense pressure, and unhappy.
Perhaps more than ever the affable Scot is under pressure to remain at the helm, but his biggest problems remains a lack of creativity, the poor form of Matt Simon and a return to the troubles at the back that plagued his side 12 months ago.
Brits Michael McGlinchey and Nick Travis looked to have solved the creativity issue midway through the season, but have gone off the boil, while only three goals in seven weeks sums up the overall problems.
McKinna has chopped and changed, but it’s not coming together.
Brisbane Roar, 26 (22)
Successive wins against the Fury and Mariners suggested things were improving under Ange Postecoglou, but the Craig Moore situation looks to have rocked things in a big way.
Even before he left the Roar were leaking goals, with 10 goals now conceded in three games. Pieter Collen, as Andrew Durante points out at the bottom of this piece, has big shoes to fill.
Meanwhile, Tommy Oar is finding out that the most difficult thing in football is to maintain consistency, while Adam Sarota and Michael Zullo are also finding life tougher after a promising few weeks.
Still a chance of making the finals, but Collen would need to hit the ground running for that to happen, you sense.
In any case, the club has drawn a line in the sand, and you sense this year’s finals aren’t the only thing on the radar. This club is being shaken-up with the next couple of seasons in mind.
Perth Glory, 27 (21)
Played very well against Sydney on Sunday, and were unlucky not to bag a few, but the performance just about summed up their season so far, with Jamie Coyne and Jamie Harnwell missing a succession of chances.
The Glory have been promising to deliver, but only one win in their past six games suggests the distraction around whether their three Socceroos will stay or go in January is having an effect.
It hasn’t been well-managed by the club, and these things tend to infect the squad. Things looks disjointed, with players coming and going all over the place.
David Mitchell looks to be struggling to control it all.
In part two, I take a look at the teams more likely to be pressing for honours this season.
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