Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton dice for the ball in the A-League (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
“There’s no such thing as an exciting 0-0 draw” someone once told me, but they clearly possessed little understanding of the nuances of football. For if Melbourne Victory’s pulsating scoreless draw with Sydney FC is any indicator, this will be the most exciting season of the A-League yet.
Talk about living up to the hype.
Saturday night’s Etihad Stadium grudge match had everything but a goal as two of the A-League’s fiercest rivals went at it hammer and tongs in front of a raucous 40,000-strong crowd.
At times the frenetic pace left you breathless as the two sides traded near misses, outstanding goalkeeping saves, a missed penalty, a red card and a heated all-in scuffle in what was a fabulous advertisement for A-League football.
Brett Emerton was the biggest loser, as his scuffed penalty was brilliantly saved by an Ante Covic who had practically just stepped off the plane from Sweden after signing as a late injury replacement for the stricken Tando Velaphi.
Statisically speaking, Covic didn’t always have the best goals-against record during his time at the Newcastle Jets, but on his day the lanky custodian is one of the best shot-stoppers in the league and he was on fire against a determined Sydney strike force.
That Sydney played so well with their backs against the wall bodes well for the rest of the season, although Sky Blues fans will hope Emerton is not haunted by his costly penalty miss.
Of course, Emerton wasn’t the only star on show and Harry Kewell proved he’s not back home for a holiday with an industrious display full of intelligent running and the occasional shot on goal.
Nicky Carle also chimed in with several incisive touches for the visitors and some of the football on display at Etihad Stadium was a joy to watch.
Carle is just one of several big names still looking to make their mark on the A-League and one of the most underrated did exactly that in Saturday’s early kick-off against Melbourne Heart.
Newcastle Jets midfielder Ryan Griffiths essentially dropped off the international radar during his time in China, yet the talented sibling of twins Joel and Adam proved he’s more than capable of making a name for himself with two excellent strikes.
His first goal – a wonderfully taken left-foot free-kick – showed just how much technical prowess is filtering through to the A-League.
And while the rest of the goals in Newcastle’s absorbing victory over the Heart weren’t necessarily of the top drawer variety, there was plenty of great football on display to keep the purists enthused.
Mitch Nichols also impressed as his winner for Brisbane Roar saw off an outmatched Central Coast Mariners, and Nichols is another who will hope to make the step up from competent squad member to genuine match winner this season.
The Roar need to find a new go-to man now that Matt McKay is plying his trade in Scotland, and if Nichols can overcome his penchant for blazing wild shots over the crossbar and hitting impetuous passes into nowhere, his dynamic drive to get forward could prove a key component of the Roar’s title defence.
Put simply, there’s more than enough good football on display in the A-League to keep football enthusiasts glued to their seats and the joke is on those who insist the competition is not up to scratch.
It may have some way to go to match the heights of the region’s best leagues – see the improvement made by Shimizu S-Pulse star Alex Brosque or the importance of Nagoya Grampus striker Josh Kennedy to the Socceroos.
But if the quality continues to rise at its current rate, then the A-League is well and truly on the right path when it comes to providing entertaining spectacles for fans.
Midfielder
Guest
JB Mine from the FFA site http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/aleague/matchcentre/Melbourne-Victory-FC-v-Sydney-FC-Hyundai-A-League/2088
Jaceman
Guest
One game and one week do not a season make.
Kasey
Guest
Antonio, Why do you think you can just subtract the large MVFC vs SFC crowd figure from your flimsy argument and not expect to get called on it? Did those fans in Melbourne see a football game from a different competition to everybody else? Were they watching a different sport? No, so I expect you to now calculate the AFL season figure less the Collingwood figures because it is obvious(and admitted) that the AFL compromise the draw so the pies are at the MCG ever 2nd week, if not every damned week - thus boosting overall crowd numbers for the league. You don't get to make a judgement on what your opinion will be and then cherry pick the numbers that support your thoughts..that's not the way it works mate and for future reference, teams don't "vs" each other, they 'play' each other. Good job mate, in the one paragraph you committed a crime against statistics AND English...care to offer any analysis on the actual football played or is that beyond you?
Kasey
Guest
Just got back to radelaide after a detour to Sydney for the WCQ.. The Shed were in good voice, It goes to show the value of some terracing in a stadium and a bit of a roof to trap the sound in and push it back over the ground.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Antonio No insights to add about any of the technical or tactical aspects of the 5 games? Just crowd numbers - that's the extent of your football discussion? Wow .. you must really enjoy sports!
Antonio
Guest
To all those who responded to my remarks of poor crowds here are the facts. 1 the 13,467 who turned up for the Brisbane v Central Coast was the lowest grand final replay in the history of the A-league. 2 Take away the 40000 Melbourne v Sydney game and the average is only 9869. 3 the Gold Coast once again dragged the A-league closer to collapse with only 4113 turning up to watch the match. Crowd figures are key to the health of the competition and football in Australia, I guess we will have to wait to see if Sydney can beat the 20000 crowd mark in this round when they vs. the premiers to judge the start of the a-league.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Thanks for your perspective on this :)
gawa
Guest
It is also important to note from a Brisbane viewpoint that in previous seaons the opening fixture sees huge numbers of local junior teams get free entry into the game which inflates the attendances. Out of the 13.5k that did turn up nearly all had a real understanding of the game, that certainly was not the case 7 years ago.
j binnie
Guest
Futbanous - While agreeing with the overall gist of your comment I think once again it has to be mentioned that someone BEHIND the scenes at Roar is doing a far better than average job with young local players. Zullo,Sarota,Oar,Cerznak,Kruse & Nichols have all emerged from their youth system in the past 2 years to go on to bigger & better things not forgetting Mackay who is also a long time product of Brisbane youth football. jb
j binnie
Guest
Midfielder. As you have probably noticed I too keep figures for a hobby of mine. I have a request for you for in my opening round attendance figures I find mine and yours agree EXACTLY except for the "big one",where you show 40,357 but the figure I got from the TV attendance (at the game) was shown as 40,851.For the sake of accuracy could you please find out what figure is correct so that I may alter my figures if required. Thanks again jb
Chris
Guest
Interested to see the Mariners have "Voldemort" as their sponsor.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Johnno Which A-League game/s did you watch this week-end to form that opinion? And, I know you didn't watch the Sydney Olympic v Sydney Utd, so you are just making stuff up. Why do you persist in trying to denigrate the HAL when you don't even watch it?
Johnno
Guest
Fuss i'm always interested on dwelling on the bad news. eg old NSL VS New A-league. Not a bad weekend in A-league but , NSW state league grand final, sydeny olympic v sydney united was still more excting than any A-league match this weekend, could only imagine olympic and united with all the money of a a league licence, they would do well in Asian champions league to. But victory looking good with H K Kewell , he has not lost his touch.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
thanks jb You know me - I'm always interested in dwelling on the good news ... but, do get a tad grumpy and fragile when having to deal with bad news. ;-)
j binnie
Guest
Fussball - Comparing crowds. - Last year the best attended WEEKEND in the HAL normal season was probably the weekend 20/1 to 23/1.There were some unusual occurrences happened that weekend that did add to the overall figure but bear with me while I explain. Victory drew 32,230 to THEIR "derby" game on 22/1.Adelaide drew 10,986 to their Fury fixture on 21/1, CCM drew 10,650 v Sydney on 23/1,Wellington got 5,115 v Perth on 23/1 & GCU had their FREE DAY v Jets on 22/1 that pulled14,780. A 5 match weekend that pulled 73760 fans,albeit with 2 "unusual "influences. The weekend just closed pulled 80350 so we had a 9% increase on 2010's best weekend crowds.Thought you might be interested. jb
Titus
Guest
Syd v Mel rated 153 000 on Fox Was 5th for the week, not bad considering it was up against a big RWC match. Apparently it is the highest rating regular season a-league game of all time. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/10/pay-tv-ratings-week-41.html
Titus
Guest
I wouldn't call it an easy save. Unless you react straight away its too late and with the amount of dip and curl on it it initially looked like it was going high and wide or he had no chance getting to it. In the end it was well within reach but by then it was too late. Having said that, both Reddy and Covic would have stopped it on saturday night.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'm very familiar with the Eder goal, but it goes like a rocket just inside the post, the Brown shot nearly hits the keeper on the head!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Perhaps, we need someone with GK experience to settle this matter - apaway, please we need you assistance! From an outfielder's point of view, when you review the video replay from in front of the goal, I reckon Paston probably saw the ball too late and then it seems to swerve up and away from him and he's caught flat footed. Check out this goal from the 1982 WC - BRA v USSR. Eder scores a beauty - albeit with the left foot - from about the same area as James Brown and catches Rinat Dasayev flat footed. Daseyev was considered the best GK in the world and one of the best GKs of all time - he was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx9KMhX4lzo&feature=related
Midfielder
Guest
Q From the stats it looks like you won everything except the match... I read it is a very young squad ... my both joy and fear is they will play with no fear and with such engery they atke all before them or fall in a heap .... Miron will be tested for sure... How do you think they will travel ... '''he says as we play next week''' ... hoping m,yself to see too young and talented sides with good coaches ....