What a night it was on Friday. The A-League clash between two-time champions Melbourne Victory and the impressive top of the table Brisbane Roar definitely lived up to the hype, however not without its fair share of controversy.
What did we learn from the absorbing 3-3 draw?
The A-League is technically improving and is here to stay and Brisbane Roar is a formidable team in Australian football.
Melbourne Victory despite their mid-table mediocrity, has the potential to outclass any team on their day.
Finally, competent refereeing is still a major issue for the A-League.
With the heartbreak of the failed World Cup bid falling the way of Qatar, a minnow in the football fraternity, it was an extremely testing time for Australian football followers and indeed a hard pill to swallow.
If the USA bid had won the rights, the disappointment would still be apparent, however the acceptance of losing to them would have been much easier to acknowledge. There’s a difference between rightfully earning the World Cup and buying it.
Once again, Australian football was injected with a needle of pain and agony, nevertheless the A-League demonstrated why there is so much unmarked potential for football in this nation. The contest at AAMI Park exemplified how far football has come since the inception of the competition in 2005.
It was arguably one of the most technically sound, skilful, end to end and exciting brands of football fans have witnessed on our Australian shores for a domestic league fixture.
The atmosphere was electric, at times defining. It was an environment which is rarely portrayed by any other football code within our Australian market. It was a fabulous exhibition of football and revealed why the A-League is an important component on the Australian sporting landscape.
Amid attempting to secure the competition in the hearts of the Australian market, this contest showed why football can be such an exciting spectacle.
Brisbane Roar demonstrated why they are top of the table on Friday night. Their work ethic, technical playing style and workmanship are great attributes to desire. If they keep this form up, they will be a hard outfit to outplay for the remainder of the season.
Regardless of Victory’s mid-table mediocrity, the team has the ability to match it with any given team. The return of mesmerising wing-back Matthew Kemp and a fit in-from Archie Thompson – who is regarded as the most influential player in the squad – have energised an enormous spark throughout the camp. A possible return of workhorse Danny Allsopp within the coming month will also hearten the Melbourne faithful.
With Victory’s winning mentality sworn throughout the club, it’s hard to argue against the prospect of the club challenging throughout the finals series, assuming they qualify. If in form, teams will want to avoid a confrontation with Victory.
However, one of the major concerns from Friday night’s fixture was the apparent incompetent refereeing display from head referee Peter Green and his assistant Shaun Evans.
In the 92nd minute Brisbane goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos clearly handled the ball outside the penalty area. With avid protests from a stadium encompassed by passionate supporters, Theoklitos quickly disposed of the ball which subsequently broke down the Victory defence and allowed Matt McKay to beat Melbourne goalkeeper Michael Petkovic on his second attempt.
Decisions like this are a blight on the game. It’s simply not good enough at this level of football. As football fans we don’t want controversial decisions affecting the results of important matches.
A similar incident occurred during the Sydney vs. Newcastle fixture last month. Sydney’s Japanese import Moriyasu was seemingly over the line when he cut the ball in all for Cazarine to simply tap in. Consequently, Cazarine’s goal was deemed the winner as Sydney claimed victory 1-0.
Friday night’s encounter had everything; however despite the exceptional standard of football, it will be remembered for the unfortunate decisions made.
The fixation that is most baffling about the Theoklitos incident was that the decision was obvious to the blind eye; three blind mice could have seen the keeper handle the ball outside his area.
There is a major problem with the refereeing standards in the A-League. Too many games are being determined by incompetent, inexcusable and unforgivable refereeing decisions.
Yes, we all know that in football bad decisions are apparent; however they are happening far too often in the A-League. The standard of refereeing creates a negative image for the competition and doesn’t earn the league much credibility domestically amongst football fans and abroad.
There is simply not enough competition for the top referee jobs in Australian football. Competition for spots encourages a higher performance level and will subsequently improve the standard of officiating over a period of time.
Presently, there are only seven A-grade panel referees in Australia, they include: Matthew Breeze, Chris Beath, Peter O’Leary, Gerard Parsons, Ben Williams, Strebre Delovski and Peter Green. With five A-League matches per weekend and often mid-week fixtures every referee is almost guaranteed a stint each week.
Football legend Robbie Fowler expressed his opinion on the matter in his weekly column for The Western Australian. He believes referees are not being punished for poor performances unlike the players. “If players have bad games, they are dropped. Some of our mistakes are punished with red cards. It should be the same for bad refereeing performances,” Fowler said.
With the technical standard of the A-League notoriously improving each season, it seems as though the officiating isn’t heading in the same direction. Fowler is concerned with the standard of refereeing in the A-League after his team Perth Glory were deprived of two obvious penalty calls during the 1-1 stalemate with North Queensland recently.
“Bringing in overseas officials might be a good way of improving the standard of refereeing in the A-League. Apart from being a fantastic place to live, it would also give them a chance to help improve the developing A-League and pass on their experience to the referees coming through here,” Fowler stated.
Fowler raises a great point, the FFA need to be innovative and think outside the square. It is evident there has been an influx of inconsistency among the refereeing this season, obtaining creditable referees from Europe can only help the development of our locals here. Referees are an important resource to our game. The better training and development programs will only reap benefits for Australian football.
It is unjust for the clubs and more importantly the fans, who graciously provide their hard earned disposable income to support Australian football. We want our football games to be remembered for the fantastic goals, sublime passing, attacking minded philosophises and hard-fought contests, not the controversial decisions which in effect have a bearing on the results and accordingly gives no free-kicks to the code.
So, what did we discover from Friday night? Forgetting the controversy which marred the final result, Brisbane Roar are a force to be reckoned with. The Roar has the ability to obtain results no matter what the situation entails, an attribute which was evident throughout Melbourne Victory’s Championship campaigns.
From a Victory perspective, the Melbourne outfit flaunted their true football status within Australia, demonstrating why they are still a team to be feared in the coming weeks.
The refereeing debacle near full-time further illustrated the growing problems with the standard of officiating within the A-League. Hopefully the FFA can take a proactive approach and enhance the situation.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Dave - I've given my reason why I think the crowd is lower - but, you don't like that reason, so how about you provide your insights? What will make you happy - do we have to say: it's because people don't like football? They only like AFL and NRL and cricket? Fine, if that will end this constant discussion about crowds - I'll say that. Every time football fans try to discuss the actual Game that we love - someone wants to interrupt with inane and juvenile questions like: "why the poor crowds" - the same boring questions have been going on for the past 15 weeks ... and, thus far, no one has come up with a definitive reason.
Dave
Guest
11.8k but why? perfecty friday night against the top team yet MV dish up its 3rd lowest ever crowd? agree the football was good, but Australian football has always been good even in the nsl days and that never translated to crowds, a rather worrying trend i must say. i think its unfair to label the 30,000 that were watching MV few years ago as theatre goers, a lot of football fans have jumped off the bandwagon believe it or not.
Robbie Di Fabio
Roar Guru
Cheers for the feedback, much appreciated! There may have been some debatable decisions throughout the course of the game; however these happen in every football game. The incident with Theoklitos in my opinion was just plain shocking from the referee(s). Everyone in the crowd saw it, the commentators, media journalists have commented etc. Agree or disagree, however I thought it was quite evident that he had handled the ball outside his area. As a football fan, it's extremely frustrating seeing these bad decisions on such a consistent basis, we are witnessing this in the A-League a fair bit this season. There is nothing worse than watching a great game of football, only for the result to be influenced by a poor refereeing decision. I understand this can happen in football or sport in particular, although in comparison to some of the benchmark football leagues its happening far too often. Hopefully the FFA do something about it soon, overseas referees should help the situation. A couple more referees on the A-Grade panel could help the cause. Competition will hopefully encourage better performances from referees. It just seems as though referees don't get dropped if they have a poor performance(s). On a football note, the game was fantastic. Besides the controversy, it had everything a sport fan would endeavour for, exciting attack-minded football, great goals and heated clashes. Although the crowd wasn't the best by Melbourne's standards, the atmosphere generated was exceptional and really gave the game that extra hype. I'm sure this will be replicated in a superior fashion come the Melbourne Derby Saturday.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
11.8k fans on Friday night provided me with a better atmosphere than I've witnessed at other sports at the MCG when there have been 40k people. The game is all that matters to me. For me, it is far better to watch excellent football surrounded by 11.8k fans, who understand the Laws, tactics & technical aspects of football; than poor football being played in Season 3, in front of 30k fans, many of whom had a poor understanding of the Beautiful Game and were mere "theatre watchers", who attended Victory games in order 'to be seen' at the new big thing to hit Melbourne town. I could tell many of those fans were never going to be True Believers and I'm glad they've gone. However, I am at a loss to understand why 6.4k MVFC members didn't attend this match - that's a real concern. GCU crowds have been poor for their entire existence GCU's owner doesn't seem concerned - and, he's the only one paying the bills - so, why not sit back and enjoy their football instead?
ruckrover
Guest
A good game of football no doubt, but wasn't there something else a bit more worrying that the Roar v Victory match showed in the wake of FIFA's decision? In other words the crowd figure (11,800 odd) was rather low for a Melbourne Victory match particularly at the nice new state of the art rectangular stadium. Meanwhile only 1,600 odd turned up to see the Gold Coast United win over the Hearts. Was it a hangover effect from the FIFA decision?
roarsome
Guest
Exactly spot on. There is ABSOLUTELY NO clear evidence of the ball being out of the box. People hopefully realize that it doesn't matter where the feet are only the position of the ball. I also totally agree that ref's need to lift their game regardless...COME ON FFA! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Gate 21
Guest
Whilst some of the premise of the article is correct, everyone is using the wrong reasons to be fired up. All accredited referees at any level are told that if you cannot see it clearly and conclusively, don't blow for it. That's why England never got their 2nd goal v Germany, that's why Theo never got pinged for what STILL cannot be proven to be out of the area. The assistant couldn't rule on it, it's not a line he patrols (Square leg umpires don't call LBW's in cricket). The referee couldn't call it because he was in the middle of the field. Only the goal-line assistant as used in UEFA Europa League would have called it - and that is if he was looking down the line, and he would have been 100m away because they stand on the opposite side of the goal to the linesmen. The Fox camera behind the opposite goal is inconclusive because the camera is not looking DIRECTLY down the line. Therefore, when you draw a line from the edge of the ball to the line, you cannot say which PART of the line to reference it to. Even though you can say there is a probability it was outside the area, unless you have a view directly in line, or directly overhead you'll never know 100% for certain. Exactly the same as Liam Reddy v Roar in round 2. Ref couldn't conclusively say it was handled over the line: play on. The REAL problem is the inconsistent rulings especially for yellow/red card infringements and penalties. Since the Perez and Baird weekend, the penalties have evaporated like water in Qatar. Look at Fowler v NQ Fury. Refs are going out of their way to NOT give penalties, and unfortunately, it is detrimental to the league. Everyone is talking about the quality of the league this year. Well, playing the ball along the ground and dribbling around defenders can only go so far if heavy handed defending isn't punished accordingly. Dodd's red card v Wello was the most ridiculous red I've ever seen. Yellows are being dished out for the most innocuous reasons, but reckless and dangerous tackles that would be red cards in Europe get nothing more than a verbal warning here. FFA must make a policy and have all referees adhere to it. Are we playing in a technical league that rewards ball-playing teams and protects talented players? or if they are going back to the dark ages where anything goes?
mahony
Guest
Spot on! The result broke my heart - but some of our football was resplendant!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Eamonn We must have been watching different games. From my observation and based on the official statistics of the A-League, MVFC had more of the possession on Friday night. I never understand this myth about "boot it to Archie and let's all run like Fred or Kruse" ... I reckon all MVFC supporters would love to see Kruse running like Fred ;-) On Friday night, MVFC scored 3 goals. None - NOT ONE - of the goals was from a "booting it to Archie & Kruse". 1st goal: sublime through ball - on the ground - that split the Brisbane defence; then Kruse's finish was as good as any you will see in the best leagues of Europe 2nd goal: the ball is already in the box and chipped back towards the goal and Archie scores with a neat flick off the head ... Archie scoring with his head is a rarity, for sure! 3rd goal: brilliant free kick by Carlos is too hard to stop for even the best GK in the A-League, who parries the ball into the shin of Robbie and it loops in - bit lucky, but if Rossi, Rooney or Inzaghi does the same we would all marvel at the good awareness and positioning and say: "wonderful poachers' goal".
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Nice work, again, Robbie. I really enjoy your descriptions of the matches. Whilst I was disappointed and frustrated by the inexplicable non-decision with 30 seconds to play, I think we must also admit that the players, too, make lots of "decision errors" and "technical errors" during the space of 90 minutes. A quick look at our results this season, suggests MVFC has dropped 12 points from lousy defending - most often at set-pieces. To me one it is unforgivable for a football team to not at least have a good defensive structure at set-pieces - particularly, when the issue is being exploited every week. Now we have Melboure Derby v2 on Saturday night ... if we play like we did on Friday night, we will tear the Heart apart!
Futbanous
Guest
Good observation. Once this(ability to keep ball for long periods) is the norm for A-League clubs & matches then were cooking with gas.
zizou
Roar Rookie
Melbourne has also never had a full strength side to pick from in Asia as well.
Eamonn Flanagan
Guest
But Melbourne with their "style" has never produced in Asia - and with this form ie first 60 minutes they are doomed to fail again and again. Boot it to Archie and let's all run like Fred or Kruse. Won't work in Asia will it? Didn't on the last two occasions, why would it this time? That said twas a fantastic game but as Punter mentions Victory has individual brilliance, but are unable to keep the ball for long periods a la Brisbane, Adelaide, most ACL Japanese, Korean teams etc
punter
Guest
Great match, one of the best I have seen in the A-League. Brisbane without a doubt, the best team to watch since the begining of the A-League, they totally owned MV in the 1st half. Melbourne, the benchmark for the A-League, showed great individual brillance that is unmatched in the A-League in the 2nd half. It's great to see such high quality sides in the A-League, just wish Sydney was up there as well. But the football provided by Brisbane (especially), Adelaide, Gold Coast, CCM, MV (occassionly), Jets (sometimes) & Heart (without the pace) this year has been higher than in previous years.
punter
Guest
No foul on Kruse should ever result in a send off.
zizou
Roar Rookie
Or the foul on Kruse by DeVere that should have been a send off. But we will let you get away with that one.
JohnL
Guest
Don't forgot to mention the non-handball on Kosta that was given, which lead to a Melbourne Victory goal, or the free-kick given to Hernadez when he was fairly tackled, which also lead to a Melbourne Victory goal.