Are Perth Glory the best team in the A-League? Last season they led the grand final for more than half an hour and snuck into this year’s finals campaign on goal difference from Sydney FC.
The key result for the Glory in the run to the finals ended up being a 2-1 win over 10-man Sydney at NIB Stadium back in Round 23.
Including that match, they went on to take 10 points from a possible 15 in their final five games of the regular season, registering vital wins over Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory in the process.
So given that Perth reached a grand final last year and go into this year’s finals campaign in a relatively decent run of form, does that qualify them as the best team in the country? Probably not.
What about Brisbane Roar then? After coughing and spluttering their way through the regular season, in a run which included the unceremonious dismissal of coach Rado Vidosic, the Roar found some form towards the back end of the campaign to ultimately finish fifth.
They too beat Sydney FC in a vital match – the final game of the regular season – and likewise collected 10 points from the 15 on offer from the final five games.
And after winning back-to-back A-League championships, the Roar have already come out and claimed they are undeserving of the ‘underdogs’ tag given their recent experiences in winning the competition.
Last year’s grand finalists both face sudden-death elimination finals this weekend, as Perth travel to Etihad Stadium to face heavyweights Melbourne Victory tonight, while Adelaide United welcome the Roar to the atmospheric Hindmarsh Stadium for a Sunday afternoon showdown.
After much conjecture surrounding the relevance of both a six-team finals series and the format of the knock-out rounds themselves, suddenly both teams go into the finals with a genuine chance of being crowned A-League champions.
Glory go into their encounter against Victory as underdogs, while on current form the Roar will probably fancy their chances of knocking Adelaide out of the competition on their own turf.
The question is; is this not what finals football is all about?
Anyone who has ever spent time in the Japanese port city of Shimizu – and in Australia, that’s admittedly not many – knows there’s one topic around town which remains a sore point for most locals.
It’s explained in surprisingly gripping detail in a book by Jonathan Birchall called Ultra Nippon: How Japan Reinvented Football, in which Birchall ostensibly follows Shimizu S-Pulse around during their 1999 campaign in a bid to get a better understanding of Japanese football in the build-up to the 2002 World Cup.
Birchall could hardly have picked a better season to document, as S-Pulse and their prefectural rivals Jubilo Iwata slugged it out in an epic duel for J. League supremacy.
Back then, the competition was split into two separate stages in a mirror image of many South American leagues – in particular the Argentine apertura and clausura championships.
Jubilo won the first stage, finishing ahead of disappearing act Verdy Kawasaki and third-placed Shimizu in the standings.
But after a decent showing under their English coach Steve Perryman in the first stage, Shimizu suddenly took the second stage by storm, finishing top ahead of Nagoya Grampus and the newly-merged Yokohama F. Marinos.
And where did Jubilo finish the second stage? 12th.
The point is, though, that to decide an ultimate league champion, the J. League for years employed a two-legged championship playoff between the two stage winners.
And who do you think ultimately won the title decider on penalties in a two-legged showdown so gripping it’s well worth hunting down Birchall’s book just to experience the tension? Jubilo Iwata.
Fourteen years later, Shimizu S-Pulse are still waiting for their first J. League championship.
Finals football is all about handling pressure.
Whoever does that, in my humble opinion, deserves to be crowned champions of Australia.
nufcmvfc
Guest
A lot of people think and feel it should be different, but as it stands the top team at the end of the season are considered to have won a minor trophy - whether it is referred to as Premiership or minor-premiers, there are no winners medals and the Trophy presentation is a relatively subdued affair. The Grand Final winners are the official Champions and have won the main trophy which is used in Television and News images generally etc Have noticed some of the Sydney Football media are plugging the prominence of the Premierhsip a bit more and the idea that WSW the Premiers are in effect the champions. The cynical side of me says this is because of a proximity bias and they still want ot treat WSW like the champions if they don't end up winning. The optimistic side of me however hopes this is a sign of a more considered debate on the issue, as I think we have to give both Trophy institutions a roughly equal weighting
AZ_RBB
Guest
But you can see why commentators feel the need to boost the Finals as much as they can right? This is when they make a lot of their money and have the most to sell. For as long as the other footy codes call it the "minor premiership" football will have no choice but to go along with it.
hup
Guest
Philk,you are incorrect, Nick is right. Minor premiers are the winners after the regular season. If the minor premiers are to be champions, it is not fair on all teams. Don't you think the Mariners deserve a chance to run for a championship. Also to make WSW champs would be premature, as they are yet to prove themselves under finals pressure.
Nick Richardson
Roar Guru
philk
Guest
For your information, Nick, the FFA refers to the league winners as the Premiers...no mention of MINOR. If you really want to add something to the debate please do some research and then put forward a logical argument for your support of the grand final winner being nominated as champions and, please, none of this 'we always do it this way'. Logic over hysteria!! Thank you, Philk.
Nick Richardson
Roar Guru
Nick Richardson
Roar Guru
Philk, the finals series decides the champions, it shows how teams cope with pressure and if they are worthy to be champions. There is a reason why the MINOR premiership is called that.
philk
Guest
Mike, Which ever way you cut it the finals series is a cup competition and no more. The Australian champions have already been declared, it is Western Sydney Wanderers,deservedly so on the back of some solid build up earlier in the season and great composure in the run in to the end of the season. Well done Tony Popovic and all your team. I am sure most other Mariners fans feel the same. The circus that is called The Finals Series has no relevance in deciding the champions. Your reference to how the J-League championship was decided when the competition was split into two stages has absolutely no bearing on the current debate. Thanks, anyway, for keeping the 'pot boiling'.
nordster
Guest
+1 ...call the finals the A-League Cup perhaps...the toilet seat aka cup holder...once u add the National Cup it would make a nice set.
nordster
Guest
On an emotional level that doesnt always square with the rationality or "sense" of the financial imperative. It is fine to have both for all concerned really...those of us that like league Premierships seem happy to enjoy the finals as a cup tournament. Deep down thats how a lot of football fans see it. The current system is fine i think, i just dont like when some commentators degrade the Prem by calling it minor.
nordster
Guest
I like both...the slog of a Premiership AND the Cup or Grand final style excitement. It doesnt have to be one or the other. The traditionalists quite like both from what i can see ...its only the folks who prefer finals that refer to the League Premiership as a whimper. You sound like mike cockerill! ;)
nufcmvfc
Guest
The new format is certainly interesting and makes it more interesting as a more purely cup comp, is really cutthroat and everything ends on the night
nufcmvfc
Guest
I think Cup competitions are a good way to determine who can handle match-match type pressure Winning the league comes with different types of pressure, perhaps the Australian sports fan aren't aware of it, but if one follows first past the post leagues, there is an enthralling race between the top two of three which takes place outside of when they play eachother, eg not to 'lose points' or slip up against smaller teams, to maintain consistency over a long period of time, to be able to play and record emphatic victories in the Spring sunshine and grind out results in the winter mud, winning the league is a homage to the strength of perseverence and the winner has earned it, and frankly WSW and CCM and all the Premiers of seasons past have done this well bit it isn't recognised properly, just swept under the carpet as the so called "minor-premierhsip" Finals series are a Cup style pressure, which we all know is entertaining and engaging in itself, but frankly I think both have their merits and should be celebrated as they are, eg not just saying one is worth more than the other because that's how it's done in other Australian sports
AZ_RBB
Guest
Pretty certain if WSW or CCM make the grand final it will be at SFS. i hope the Super Rugby match the night before the GF is moved. Otherwise the pitch will be wrecked.
Peter Wilson
Roar Guru
If WSW, CCM, PG or AU qualify as grand final host, they don't have a home ground big enough for a Grand Final. MV and BR have a suitable grand final venue. If WSW or CCM host the grand final it will have to be at SFS, because ANZ is unavailable on that day. If AU host the grand final they are talking about playing it in Melbourne. It is still a mystery. Maybe FFA will look at having it at the same location every year or picking a stadium to host the grand final, before the start of the season, like the ECL.
West
Roar Pro
The new format makes it more of a mystery and teams 1 and 2 have slightly less chance to make the grand final with a one off knockout game. Home ground and fan support is very important. Parra Stadium is already sold out and the atmosphere will be fantastic. I can't see the Wanderers folding under pressure when they have won 11 straight. Its just a matter of who we play and where we are going to play the grand final.
West
Roar Pro
I hope we have another controversial grand final and dodgy penalties and refereeing decisions, it gets the most media attention. Like a round the world treasure hunt the location of the grand final is still a mystery.
Wurzelofoz
Guest
Finals ? Aka 2nd chance trophy. The real champions have already been decided. As exciting as a cup knock out competition can be, it is just that. The emphasis should be moved, IMO to the League winners. No need to scrap the finals, two trophies are better than one. However should for example Perth or Brisbane win it, are they really worthy if being called Champions of Australia ? No. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Of course it wasn't the point - the point was we got to watch football for six months :)
AZ_RBB
Guest
On paper I did prefer the old Finals system but taking into consideration the Mariners schedule this new sudden death method is fair. The A League has done the best it can to marry football tradition, that is to crown the league winners as champions and Australian tradition that is to have a grand final to determine the true champions. Earlier in the week Craig Foster was bemoaning the emphasis on the grand final winners, calling for a change in the name of the finals series. What he failed to realise is that all the name changing in the world won't change the way Australians watch their sport. What we have now is not ideal but it's the best for the game financially. Wanderers are taking good form into the semis so only have themselves to blame if they don't lift the 'toilet seat'. But aside from them Brisbane seem like the team to beat.