It’s been the most anticipated season in the eight-year history of the A-League and the 93,500 fans who came through the turnstiles over the weekend were not disappointed.
The A-League has had a habit of shooting itself in the foot in recent years but if week one was anything to go by, this could be the season where the code can finally capitalise on the opportunities that have previously foregone.
One swallow does certainly not make a summer, but figures released by the FFA yesterday certainly give cause for optimism.
Along with the highest-ever aggregate attendance, the round also marked the highest-ever television audience in a single round with average audiences of over 100,000, with online traffic also up markedly from last season.
Of course, continued success will largely depend on the performances of the A-League’s flagship clubs, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC, and only time will tell how the key markets fare.
Nevertheless, it’s a great start for those of us who have grown accustomed to mismanaged competition that has often failed to deliver.
Here’s a few of the things that caught my eye from week one:
Winners
Western Sydney Wanderers crowd
With pre-match predictions tipping the crowd to be in excess of 15,000 the official crowd of 10,458 could have earned the crowd a spot in the losers section. But hey, it’s week one so let’s take the glass half full approach.
Fact is, the Western Sydney project has been rushed together in a few short months and we should not underestimate the mammoth task the club has had, and will continue to have, in uniting fans in such an expansive geographic area.
The solid if somewhat unspectacular crowd, who turned up in trying weather conditions, should be viewed as a great start. If the club continue to show the same application and commitment on the field as they did on Saturday night, this figure should only continue to grow.
John Aloisi
The new Heart boss looked like he was cut from Melbourne’s best Italian suit cloth on the touchline on Friday night’s Melbourne derby, and his fashion sense drew more than a few comparisons with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
The energetic performance that his side displayed in pressing high up the pitch mirrored the approach of Guardiola’s Barça, and the tactic denied the Victory the space to play out comfortably as Postecoglou’s old Brisbane Roar side loved to do. Smart football.
There were murmurs about the Heart after a quiet preseason but Aloisi looks to have reinvigorated David Williams and Dylan McAllister and if he can continue to get the same effort, the Heart could turn out being one of the most potent attacks in the competition.
Liam Miller
We saw enough of Liam Miller last season to understand the former Celtic midfielder’s importance to the Glory but Sunday’s display tells me we might not have seen the best of him yet.
Miller was imperious in the first half, displaying impressive composure and vision in what was at times a heated 45 minutes.
It was a classy display and put the Glory well and truly on the way to collecting the three points, and a small slice of revenge from last season’s grand final defeat.
Notable mentions: Aaron Mooy, Adelaide United, the potential for South American duo of Flores and Finkel.
Losers
Sydney FC midfield
Nobody needs to be told where the focus on Sydney FC was on Saturday afternoon following the decision to start Alessandro Del Piero and by the look of the performance of some his his teammates, so was theirs.
In trying conditions, Terry McFlynn and his midfield colleagues were as abysmal as the weather, and Wellington ran all over their half-hearted attempts to try and pass the football.
From a neutral perspective it was cringeworthy to watch Del Piero try and deal with such inferior footballers. Ian Crook must be praying that Tony Pignata moves heaven and earth to try and sign Jason Culina.
Gary van Egmond
Since the former AIS coach began acquiring a slew of young, athletic players from around the country, Jets fans have been hearing how their side would be playing high-tempo, high-possession football.
They must have been rubbing their eyes on Sunday as that went largely out the window. His team continued to hoof long balls at, around and over new number nine Emile Heskey for the majority of the 70 minutes he was on the pitch. The result was a largely impotent performance that barely managed to draw a save out of Eugene Galekovic all afternoon.
Adelaide had travelled 33 hours back from Uzbekistan and many expected the Reds to wilt on a sunny afternoon at Hunter Stadium. But they were comfortable all afternoon as the indecisive Jets continued to throw away possession.
It was dumb football and van Egmond should wear the responsibility for that.
Notable mentions: Melbourne Victory’s deadwood, Wellington’s weather.
gumpy
Guest
Substitute Allsopp for Foschini, more like. But yes, the sooner Leijer(how/why exactly is he captain again?) and DJ Broxy are shunted away from the starting XI the better. 'Tis a shame(the loss on Friday) b/c all in all, we demonstrated more improvement as a playing unit in those 90 minutes than in all of the preceding 3 seasons. IN ANGE I TRUST
C'monJETS
Guest
at the game, we were still tingling from the kick off, hardly got comfortable in our seats.....goal goes in, obvious defensive communication breakdown, crowd very quiet whole game after that, reflecting probably, we, the crowd never had a chance to get back into the game and ended up picking on the ref for what turned out to be a reasonable red card. Poor energy from the crowd, as we were not 'energised' by the game. ADP v EH this weekend, as much as I want to win, I just want to enjoy the football............please dont give the ball away cheeply, please play to EH feet, please.
Villa_B
Roar Guru
Thanks for that Fussball. Irrevelant as usual.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Sorry, but I simply cannot take anyone seriously when "muppet" is part of their vernacular. What is going on? In last week's US Presidential debate, Mitt Romney tried to take a cheap shot at "Big Bird" and today, this poster Villa_B is talking about "muppets". Quite odd behaviour.
Villa_B
Roar Guru
I know Postecoglou still has not finished cleaning the joint. Some players he is stuck with but that muppet Fussball doesnt understand this.
daniel
Guest
Experts should in theory have a far greater understanding of a players capacity than punters, but they are not immune to mistakes. As an example: Hiddink decided to play Spider ahead of Schwarzer against Croatia. Anyone could have told him it wasnt going to work out well. When you are that close to the team, it is understandable that you may not see the forrest for the trees. Tunnel vision effects all of us. Sometimes an outsiders perspective is the best. Some coaches are also a bit inflexible. This stands out especially when they inherit a team they havent put together
Kasey
Guest
I think they are an opportunity to get a few good wins on the board while everybody else is still a bit rusty, but I question the mentality of the players and the coaches wisdom sometimes(We've all seen teams reduced to 10 men lift and take it to the opposition in the first leg after dominating Bunyodkor;Nige Boogaard was marched for a professional foul and the Reds just dropped their bundle, from that moment on, Bunyodkor bossed the game and it was only a matter of time before they scored. In the 2nd leg we were very lax at defending set pieces. I don't think we have the squad to make a realistic charge at the dunny seat, but boy I'd love to be proved wrong:)
Kasey
Guest
You don't have to be the best player, but you should definitely be in the best XI. I felt Coolen dragged Jon McKain along last year. A normal non-capt player would have been dropped to regain form in the NYL and its shown how much he has improved since Dec2011 when he doesn't have the captaincy issues to deal with. Eugene is a great capt. He is arguably in the best 2 'keepers in the league so he can take charge without anyone questioning his position.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
14,058 is our largest crowd of the A-League era if you exclude the massive pommy exp-pat loading Fowler got for his first home game (and which was almost never seen again). So this was all about coming to see the Glory. Yes, big match, a lot of emotion, sure, but mainly it was getting people to come see PGFC for the sake of PGFC. As in, they are Glory supporters, not Fowler watchers. I fully expect we'll max out the reduced capacity nib stadium during the year, get a good 12k+ at the next Subi game against West Sydney and if this season continues in the way we hope we'll have finals just as the new stands are commissioned. Last year we turned a corner on the field, this year I think we're turning the corner off the field too.
Villa_B
Roar Guru
I completely agree, but sometimes and on many occasion coaches are sacked thanks to bad decisions they make on the field. So if Ange suddenly put Archie Thompson on the bench and put Allsopp ahead of him, you would agree with that decision. I'll tell you one thing Billy Celeski is better than the bunch of them and Ange didn't play him. In a season's time Postecoglou will have the team he completely wanted.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
For Friday night's match, Ange had a full squad - no injuries. He chose to play Broxham ahead of Jeggo. I was surprised because, based on what I've observed, I didn't rate Broxham at all and I rate Jeggo highly. But, Ange watches these guys - every day for the past 6 months. When experts, who have access to far better information than I, make decisions or offer opinions - in the absence of conflicts of interest or personal biases - I will always put the expert's decision & opinion ahead of my personal views.
AVictory
Guest
Exactly! It's nice for the biggest cities to have the bigger support, but the league doesn't depend on them winning. For every winner, there is a loser. Seasons 1, 3 and 7 have all been failures for Victory, but they've still had good crowds, in fact I believe that season 3 is their record crowds. Melbournians love football, and that will never change. The bandwagon supporters will always be a bandwagon, the league doesn't rely on it. Spare a thought for how many seasons in a row that Perth have been the losers, would be massively frustrating and testing for the fans to be tolerated somewhat thick coaches and player choices. It's a breath of fresh air to see Perth to finally turn the corner and I think your fan base will also slowly recover.
Villa_B
Roar Guru
I don't think he could get rid of every player he wanted out straight away Fussball. More deadwood will leave at the end of the season. Surely Danny Allsopp cant last much longer.
AVictory
Guest
When he initially came back from overseas, he was sensational. Although he had Muscat with him. Last season was a disaster for everyone involved, not a single player did their job except Covic, Milligan and Archie, and even Archie struggled to find the net in the second half of the season. He was also struggling with injury last season and was carrying it, I think Ange + game time will fix him up :)
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
The crucial nature of those teams is somewhat overstated (and probably informed by local bias of the media/hq inhabitants). I agree that big teams from the big city can be big moneyspinners for the league but the experience of the NBL with the Sydney Kings (desperately trying to force them into success to kick start the league and ending up doing serious damage to the rest of the league) should warn us against meddling too deeply. Strong MV/SFC are good to have, (much as a strong Perth or Brisbane are good to have) but not mission critical. They'll sort themselves out soon enough, though.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
He had a few of those brain fades versus Glory, which is part of why I think he's never made a great impression on me as a talent. Begs the question, who gets the better impression of a player - the supporters who seem them week in, week out but may be blinded by love of team, or the opposition supporter who only sees the player three times a year plus whatever neutral games they watch? I ask myself this a lot when the topic of Jacob Burns comes up.
AV
Guest
Also, I think last season has proven that you don't need a successful Victory or Sydney for the A-League finals. The world still spun without them and produced an amazing finals series. The only that that is important is that these teams succeed off the pitch and keep their support. In Sydney's case they have the ADP Circus so they will want to capitalize on that, but things are looking bad at the moment, to me Crook looks like he has zero clue.
AV
Guest
In defense of Leijer, he has been injured all off season and looks a little rusty. Give him time to get back into things. I think his biggest problem last year was the lack of discipline and pretending to be like Muscat to the ref's which always got him into trouble for his aggressive talking, just be yourself!
AV
Guest
Indeed Kasey, Adelaide impressed me the most on the weekend of all the sides, they look like they will be title contenders. Credit must go to Kosmina, he had a lot of doubters.
Villa_B
Roar Guru
They had to spend a whole 90mins watching their team play hoof ball.