For over 50 years Europeans have feasted on midweek continental club football. Last night’s pulsating Asian Champions League matches again confirm the fantastic potential of Asian continental club football to satiate the appetites of Australia’s football fans.
With the A-League season coming to a close and the finals around the corner, the ACL is providing a tasty counterpoint to our football palates as we watch our representatives take on some of Asia’s best clubs.
Adelaide United, yet again, admirably disrespected their abysmal home season and put on another fantastic performance.
Gamba Osaka, their 2008 ACL Final tormentors, were embarrassingly defeated 2-0. They were put to the sword by the rampant Reds at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The decline of Gamba Osaka was startling to behold. Their form leading into last night’s match was abysmal to say the least and their laboured, hesitant performance was a sorry testament to their current situation.
But this should not detract from Adelaide’s exceptional performance.
Tactically, John Kosmina has the team playing to their strengths. The Japanese made the crowded Adelaide midfield look as difficult to navigate as the Bermuda triangle.
Gamba’s brittleness and lack of application was exposed by Adelaide’s desire and robustness as they folded badly when dealing with set pieces.
Bruce Djite’s superb performance as a lone striker was aided by a supporting cast of the two feeble Gamba central defenders.
With six points already in the bag after two matches, Adelaide United are well placed to top the group. It makes what seemed like an impossible run to the ACL final now seem merely improbable.
The only disappointing aspect was the low attendance of 5112 at Hindmarsh Stadium.
I can only assume that jaded Adelaide United fans feared the worst. Let’s hope the Reds get five figures when Pohang Steelers come to town on April 18 as their performances in the ACL warrant it.
Meanwhile, over in China, Brisbane Roar garnered their first ever ACL point in a hard fought draw against Beijing Guoan.
Brisbane was excellent in the first half and if not for a diabolical piece of defending, when they conceded an early goal, should have gone into the break with a handy lead.
In the end Ange Postecoglou would be satisfied with the point as Beijing Guoan, spurred on a by a large parochial crowd, improved in the second half to make it a great contest.
It was not all positive for the Roar, as, Mohamed Adnan looked 20 degrees out of his comfort zone and Thomas Broich turned up slightly out of tune.
With Ulsan Hyundai and FC Tokyo drawing in the other Group F match, Brisbane are only three points from top spot. A good result away to Ulsan in their next match will leave them handily placed to nab a top two spot to progress to the knockout phase.
Unlike Hindmarsh Stadium, the match at Beijing’s Workers Stadium was played in front of over 40,000 enthusiastic fans.
It looked like an important sporting event and shows the true potential of the competition if the ACL is truly embraced.
Athas Zafiris is on Twitter @ArtSapphire
Bondy
Guest
I.C.A. Jesus was a distant figure last night .
clayts
Guest
Gee we are all laying the boot into the roar. Still play by far the best football in the a league in my opinion. Can't be going too badly if they're 2nd in the comp with a huge shot of actually winning it..
ItsCalled AussieRules
Roar Rookie
Add another draw for your CCM Mid, against the diving Grandpas. 2 wins, 3 draws and just 1 loss.. Geez they should have won though they were the better team and had a few chances to win it. Jesus was kept under control by WIlko and had an average game, by his own admission.
Athas Zafiris
Roar Guru
Thanks Melange. I did say in jest on twitter last night that Gamba was tapping up Luciano Trani :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Pohang lulled into a false sense of security, Bunyodkor stunned into a reaction, Gamba staggering along and Adelaide just beavering away, interesting group round!
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Not the start to the year they would have wanted, that's for sure, particularly losing a cross-town derby.
Melange
Guest
A correction! John Kosmina isn't the coach of the Adelaide ACL side, he isn't qualified to coach at this level, Luciano Trani is. Hopefully after these performances Trani gets the permanent coaching role over Kosmina :)
Nelson
Guest
Props to Adelaide for taking it to Gamba. Whilst the J-Leaguers are ridiculously out of form, the way Adelaide approached the game, whilst somewhat overly physical at times, their intensity was exactly what was needed against what is on paper a much better side. 4 losses in 4 games with 10 goals conceded for the former Asian Champions... re-building is looking to be a painful experience at Gamba.
jbinnie
Guest
Amazing range of comments coming in on what Ange needs to do to improve the Roar????. This weekend they are playing for the top award in their own competition and last night with some decent finishing would have gone in at half time at least 3 goals in front.So what is causing these comments, for, in some of them there is more than an element of truth,not in the system being played,or even the players playing it,but more in the frustration of seeing the team give away soft goals and having to fight their way back. Since Victory gave them a fright in the 9-man debacle the Roar's weakness through the back has been constantly prodded at by teams quite content to sit back and play the "break". Can it be fixed with the players at Ange's disposal,that is the question,for he is playing for prizes just now not next year. I have watched every Roar game this season and one thing does stand out,as others have pointed out, Paartlu and Adnan lack real pace to countermand fast breaks and this in turn creates spaces that can be exploited by fast moving attackers.What to do?,for Adnan and Paartlu are undoubtedly the best distributors of a ball in the Roar team,and there is little doubt distribution in this team is not of the highest quality so if the system is to be maintained or improved upon,AND the weakness blocked, why not play Jurman and Smith as dual centre backs and let Adnan do the" Paartlu role" in front of them.This would allow Paartlu to move forward and support the front men and, as he has shown before, big Eric can be a handful coming into the box from midfield and with the link up with Broich and Nichols they would be a formidable trio. This formation would cut down drastically in the area these 2 players would be expected to patrol so cutting down their exposure to "recovery" runs but it would provide support where it is most needed ,in that area between midfield and front third. Worth a try Ange. jb
Midfielder
Guest
Real Thanks you summed up my feelings... The Mariners have a leadership group with some strong heads to keep others clam... but those in the control group as you hinted with Smith at the Roar do not make many mistakes ... IMO this has been a lrage part of MV issues this year ... they had no obovious leader ...
cliffclavin
Guest
I think Malik looks to have found his position in holding midfield - after playing all over the park in the last couple of years (NQF, previous AU stint). Will be good to watch his improvement there in next couple of years.
Roarchild
Guest
Berisha also had a go at Meyer after one game but he's not alone in taking the angry pills. Henrique had a go at Adnan last night when he was lazy marking his man and then made a sloppy tackle to try and make up for it. Apparently Franjic and Theo had a bust up earlier this season. It's hard to know if it's a real issue or they are just competitive individuals since I bet even at the mariners there are some players who don't like each other.
Realfootball
Guest
Mid Yes, have had similar experiences with "star" players. My experience as competent, but not "star", player, is that these kinds of players are more trouble than they are worth in terms of the damage they do to team spirit. Like you, I have wondered about Berisha's impact on the team. From an outsider's perspective, he appears volatile to the point of instability. His performance with regard to N-Farran on the weekend was particularly concerning. I am no fan of Farran, but Berisha was completely out of line. It has been one incident after another with Berisha but Postecoglou is trapped, because as the Roar's only striker and major goalscorer he is undroppable, no matter what. Now it may be that Berisha isn't the problem, but what is obvious to me is that the Roar have a serious lack of onfield leadership. Smith isn't a natural leader - he's a back room kind of a guy, plus he's not actually a particularly good player - he makes some great tackles, but look at how often he turns over the ball with bad passes. I would argue that he is too slow and too short for the position he plays, and I predict that will be even more the case next season. I can't see Smith making the central defence of any other A-League team - nor Adnan, for that matter, which says a lot. Broich is completely wrapped up in his own personal struggles - an introspective artist rather than a leader. Partaalu - maybe he could grow into the role, but again I suspect he is too flawed as a player. Contrast this with the strong leadership figures at Mariners - and there are several, not just one. The Mariners play like a much more convincingly united group than Brisbane, who play much more like a group of individuals. It may be my imagination, but my impression from watching Brisbane game after game this season, is that this is a team afflicted by personality conflicts.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
But a guide on rocket surgery, that we could do!
Kasey
Guest
If we had miracle of miracles beaten Gamba 5-1 she just would have written about what a joke Soccer is that a team that finished last in the A-League could be the best in Asia. Wilson writing about football is like you or I writing a guide to brain surgery.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Interesting comments tend to agree ... but trying to play Baca at their own game normally leads to be thrashed .... style or result ... the old debate ... IMO depends on the score if you are being thrashed then you need a better style i.e. style can be park the bus because to do that well is in itself style...
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
Malik was key last night for Adelaide. His ability to break down structured attacking moves from Gamba was pivotal. Gamba are having a shocking start to the year with the new coach in charge, however as the last two games have demonstrated when the ACL is on Adelaide will come to the party (as does Al-Ittihad oddly enough; and they are looking ominous)
Midfielder
Guest
Real On the team spirit thing and using your experiene as a former player.... When a player bags everyone out over time it has an effect on the team as a whole in Hal 5, the Mariners had the start of the current side and a player called Travis ... he was maybe the best first touch player I have seen in the A-League with speed to burn... but with that lazy and a big mouth ... he almost torn the side apart he was just bad news.... let go and has never been able to get another contract...LM banded him from training towards the end of season.... I played in a grand final which we won but should have lost except they had one player who just kept bagging out his team mates... he was their best player but he was no where as good as he through himself... I wonder alound about the striker at the Roar he does give everybody heaps ...he may have equalled the scoring record but he look like he could be a real handful inside the dressing room... Your tho's...
Axelv
Guest
I'm so surprised on how well Adelaide are performing in the ACL once again. I don't know what it is with them and Asia but well done. They played really well last night and completely outplayed Gamba, congratulations on the win they did Australia proud! They're almost already out of the group as well, 1 win and 1 draw from 4 remaining games and they're through.
Futbanous
Guest
Increasing the speed of thought ,speed of movement, is essential if the Roar are to improve under Ange's MO. The question we are all asking now is can this be acheived with the present crop of players. My own thoughts are that no it cant & up against faster opposition (or as in the A-League some teams adjusting to our play) in Asia then we are being exposed. Mass was never IMO more than a substitute. Last night he was bundled off the ball easily because Beijing were too quick for him,particularly upstairs. What people overlook is that Ange has done remarkably well with what is overall a pretty ordinary set of players.. Can we honestly say that our squad is any better than Adelaides? IMO no. So why are they doing better? Simply because Kossie is playing to the teams strengths & I might add obviously very cleverly. Ange believes in his football style. So do I but in my experience he needs a faster player if we are to raise the bar to match it with Asian teams. Maybe he is using the ACL as a means to see where he & the team are really at .regarding success in the ACL. If so we should see new players on the horizon. If Not?