Another interesting week in the A-League. With the champions on the slide, the league is heating up. And a number of teams are stepping up to show the league is no longer a one-horse race.
When will Brisbane bounce back?
This appears to be the question on everyone’s lips. After three consecutive losses, Brisbane’s under the pump.
The Roar’s championship credentials have been seriously questioned and the club must respond quickly and decisively to answer their critics. Have the roar been found out? Can they bounce back?
Though the club hasn’t hit crisis level, they must perform against the Central Coast Mariners to prevent emerging concerns from precipitating into something more serious.
F3 derby action heats up
The Central Coast decisively defeated rivals Newcastle on the weekend.
The 2-0 win highlighted a few things about the league’s two regional teams: Newcastle continues to struggle away from home and Central Coast is the real deal.
Led by young guns Bernie Ibini-Isei and Mustafa Amini, the Mariners have hit their stride showing that the Gosford-based team isn’t just about defending but attack and flair.
Heart finding their rhythm
Melbourne Heart’s starting to creep out of Victory’s shadow to assert their dominance on the pitch by finally being able to string together a run of good results.
Winning four of the past five matches, the Heart’s jumped up to third on the A-League table, while competitive matches against the Roar and Mariners have proven that Heart can mix it up with the best.
However, what makes the Heart’s run truly astounding is the fact the team hasn’t played a game in Melbourne for almost a month.
The club’s mammoth road trip ends in Perth next week before the club returns to Melbourne for the fifth Melbourne derby. Bring it on!
Another draw at the Docklands
It’s five draws out of five matches for Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium.
Not a good statistic for the Victory, who find themselves in eighth – well below what was expected of them. However, the draw with Adelaide also saw the Reds left behind in ninth spot.
With both Rini Coolen and Mehm Durakovic under the pump, a draw wasn’t a desirable result for either club.
Time will tell if the clubs are able to turn their seasons around, but time isn’t on either clubs’ side with the table beginning to take shape.
A tale of two Sydneys
Last week the Sky Blues defeated the mighty Roar; this week they couldn’t score against Gold Coast United!
They undoubtedly have the potential to pose a serious championship threat, but, on the other hand, it will be no surprise to many should the team miss finals. The roller coaster ride that Sydney FC is riding must come to an end.
The team must find form and consistency while Brisbane is down and the ladder is tight, otherwise a premiership may slip out of reach.
Philip
Guest
Dean, you're right and you're wrong. Sure, mathematically there are loads of point still to play for. But do you think the season will end with Gold Coast first, Adelaide second and at the other end CCM second last and Brisbane last on the ladder? By your reckoning, with 17 games to play, it's possible - and yes it is possible, but I am sure its not going to happen. The season IS taking shape. The cream rises to the top and the dross settles to the bottom. I think that the next 3-5 games will probably tell if AUFC and MVFC are going to make a move toward the top four or if a bottom to mid-table battle is the best they can expect.
Dean
Guest
People have been saying the same thing about MVFC since the loss in Round 2. Everyone was writing of the Nix 4 weeks ago - they had 6 points from their opening 7 games; but have 9 points from their last 4 and are flying. When it comes to the ladder it's all about points. There are 3 points for a win and there are 17 games to play. An 8 point differential in nothing - particularly when you have two more opportunities to play each team that is 8 pts ahead.
Soccerlogic
Guest
Do you think Victory or the Reds have a chance if they continue to play as they have? No way! They need to start getting results now while the league is STILL close. One off week could set Adelaide 13 points back and Victory 11. The two teams need consistency in playing style and results to slowly start to creep up the ladder, they can't count on erratic movement displayed recently in the form of Brisbane Roar. At the start of the season MV were asking for time to click, it's been 10 weeks now. If they don't start finding form now when will they??? If not now it may very well be too little too late.
Dean
Guest
Re: MVFC & AUFC "Time will tell if the clubs are able to turn their seasons around, but time isn’t on either clubs’ side with the table beginning to take shape." I nearly fell off my chair! Are you being serious? We've got 17 games to play and MVFC is 8 points behind the team that is flying. You are correct in saying MVFC's results have been below expectations but if you've followed any football league anywhere in the world you would know of the folly of making end-of-season predictions with 17 games remaining. Can you imagine any football fan overseas (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, etc.) thinking "it's too late" if a team that is 8 pts behind the leader with 17 games to play? And, we know the HAL is one of the most even football leagues in the world. Just the past 3 weeks has shown how quickly things change - Brisbane, who didn't lose for 36 matches and were being handed the 2011/12 trophies by naive fans & pundits are now facing 4 losses in a row; Nix & Heart were struggling early in the season, now they're flying. If a team is behind the leader by 8 points with 3 games to play then they've run out of time but 17 games - you're kidding yourself if you think the ladder is taking shape.