This week in the A-League saw the end of Brisbane Roar’s winning run, and the start of the regional fixtures. With plenty to talk about, The Beautiful Game reviews the highs and lows in week nine of the A-League.
The weekend started with a bang, four of them in fact, as the Mariners took advantage of a weak Adelaide to post their most convincing win of the season.
The Central Coast put their off-field woes behind them and demonstrated their impressive on-field credentials, which pose a serious threat to the runaway leaders, Brisbane.
With four separate goal-scorers, the Mariners displayed impressive teamwork, and it is unlikely that a team will be able to shut them down by isolating a single area of play. Opponents must find a way of combating the team as a whole.
The Mariners are serious contenders, and their clash with the Roar on the 17th of December will prove to be as intense as any.
Penalties were a talking point. Three were awarded this weekend, making it 10 for the year.
This unfavourable statistic is a worrying sign for the league, and can be interpreted two ways: it’s either a matter of poor defending or poor refereeing.
Regardless of the reason, the standard of the league must be improved to reduce the number of penalties.
In the regions, the number 2951 represented the total attendance at Melbourne Heart’s clash against Wellington at Morwell.
In the first of a handful of regional matches this year, a figure so far beneath the A-League average is one of disappointment and concern.
It is clear these fixtures are not scheduled to pull huge crowds, but rather to spread the game and even out a lopsided 27-round fixture. That said, one must question the choice of venue, and hope the FFA learn to play future games in areas that maximise football exposure, and allow regional excursions to be financially viable.
Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
In the Brisbane Roar’s case it took 36 competitive games to build their piece of history, and about 36 seconds of the next game to consign it to history.
Dimitri Petratos’ first-minute goal signalled the beginning of the end of the Roar’s incredible run, and left football fans speechless. As mentioned in previous articles, the run was bound to come to an end. It is how the Roar follow it up that will ultimately define their team in the history books.
Now is the time for the Roar to show they are more than just a good run of form.
It is bound to be an interesting few weeks in the A-League as the table takes shape and teams answer the questions asked of them. Week nine’s midweek fixture will be addressed in next week’s talking points.
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Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
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