A-League Round 1 musings: Moyes, new kingdoms and Musky magic

Well, the Bunnings chairs were still out in force, and the referees still managed to make a few inevitable blunders, but overall Round 1 of the A-League was an entertaining affair.

The crowds were impressive if not mind-blowing, with the overall attendance sitting at just over 90,000 – definitely nothing to sneeze at – and SBS received healthy viewership numbers. Funny what happens when you put football on your main channel, eh?

There were some classy finishes from the forward stars, with old boys Archie Thompson, Corey Gameiro and Bruce Djite joining new boys David Villa and Andy Keogh with some cracking goals.

And while it may only be Round 1, a distinct line was set between the contenders (Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United) and pretenders. More on the disappointments later, but at least Perth Glory showed all the haters that they aren’t a side to be underestimated, and are a good bet to make the finals.

There were enough talking points in the Sunday evening Brisbane versus Adelaide game alone, but let’s cast the net a bit further and look at the whole round.

The king is dead, long live the king?
Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar produced the most entertaining game of the round, which was kind of inevitable. As Matt Smith said, “that’s what you get when two teams come out to play football”.

But it was the Reds who came through with the goods, and the royal orange side may just be witnessing a slide down the hierarchy.

Ivan Franjic’s departure has hurt the Roar just as much as Besart Berisha’s, and despite some nice interplay from their midfield trio of Thomas Broich, Matt McKay and Luke Brattan, a feisty Adelaide unit put them to the sword.

At the centre of Adelaide’s new 3-4-3 formation was Isaías Sánchez, who was just about everywhere. It was hard to determine what position he was actually playing, given his coverage of the pitch. Utilised as a holding midfielder, the little dynamo was often found covering the right side of defence and in the second half regularly dropped between Nigel Boogaard and Dylan McGowan.

The number of times Isaías broke down Brisbane’s forays forward before they’d even begun was impressive, as were his lightening quick balls behind the Roar defence.

Adelaide played a high line and pressed with the ferocity of Borussia Dortmund. Forget Barcelona, Josep Gombau is forging his own mix of Catalan influence with the directness of the German model, and it’s looking pretty neat so far.

That said, Brisbane could be counted unlucky to have lost. That can be firmly pinned on Matt McKay, who in an otherwise masterful performance woefully let down his teammates with some despicable dummy spitting.

Musky’s set piece magic
There were many aspects of Victory’s dismantling of the Western Sydney Wanderers, who were punished for their conservative line-up and tactics, including the glorious combinations between Kosta Barbarouses and Gui Finkler.

But the most eye-catching aspect were the team’s dead ball moments.

I don’t know who’s responsible for them – I’m reluctant to praise Kevin Muscat too much – but they were bloody brilliant. Of the four corners they had, all involved some intricate play that bamboozled those in red and white hoops.

Compared to the Jets’ seven corners, Victory’s set pieces were in a completely different league. Training ground work, tick. Now we just need to see end product.

No one likes them, but they don’t care
Ah, the awkward and completely unnecessary occurrence of the half-time chitchat with A-League players gasping for air. It’s never been good, and it never will be.

First of all, telling Roar captain Smith that his side has been dominated in possession (a false analysis to start with) is not really going to squeeze out the most receptive response.

Second, interviewing Adelaide’s Spanish assistant coach, when he’s obviously still getting to grips with the horrible Australian version of English, isn’t likely to produce enlightening answers.

Fox Sports do a great job with coverage, but they’ve got to punt this pointless exercise.

Jets’ graveyard resurrected
While Adam Taggart and Josh Brillante were two undoubted success stories from the Newcastle Jets last season, the number of emerging stars that failed to push on far outnumbered them.

Craig Goodwin, touted as a future talent since his Melbourne Heart days, almost went backwards after a breathtaking start to life in Newy. Now he’s looking reinvigorated with his role as a left wingback with Adelaide, and his performance against Brisbane was impressive.

Although the final ball is still missing from his game at times, neat combinations with his new teammates will give the man a massive confidence boost.

Meanwhile, former teammate James Brown produced more in 10 minutes for his new club Melbourne City than he did during his entire time with the Jets. The 24-year-old with a penchant for hipster glasses cracked a controlled shot off the crossbar and released Aaron Mooy with an exquisitely lofted ball.

Granted, he had a multitude of injury troubles at the Jets, but this was an assured and confident performance.

And the Jets’ other maligned winger, James Virgili, also put in a solid shift against the Central Coast Mariners. The highlight was a precise first-time ball for Jonny Steele, whose cheeky lob had just a little too much curry.

What the hell did Gary van Egmond do to these poor boys?

Is David Moyes in Oz?
It’s early days yet, but Sydney FC were well below par against Melbourne City. Graham Arnold promised free-flowing football, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Reports of the club’s preseason were impressive, but they were hardly electric in the FFA Cup against Sydney Olympic, and they were mind-numbingly predictable in Round 1.

How they escaped with a draw is anyone’s guess. Hang on, that’s on you, Mate Dugandzic.

Sydney were missing a vast array of stars, and yes, it is only one game. But could Graham Arnold prove to be the David Moyes of the A-League? Great under the pump in financially difficult circumstances, not too flash when it comes to managing one of the big boys. Either that or he will turn out to be Australia’s Sir Alex Ferguson…

New boys light up
To finish on a high, the A-League’s new boys were extremely impressive. Matthieu Delpierre, apart from a blip during WSW’s goal, was a solid presence in Victory’s back line. He’ll prove to be one of the signings of the season.

Andy Keogh started strongly at Perth, with a clever glancing header to open his account. What are the odds of the Irishman claiming the golden boot?

Then there’s Malick Mane. Who wasn’t excited with his play? What a find he could turn out to be. He’s reportedly targeted 15 goals, and based on his performance against the Jets he could well get there.

The Senegalese-born forward made some incisive runs throughout the match, and was the only good thing about the Central Coast in the first half. He’s greedy too, which bodes well if he gets on a scoring run.

A mention for Mensur Kurtisi is warranted as well. He’s no Berisha, and was largely anonymous in the second period against Adelaide, but he played his role to perfection in the first half.

The Albanian looked comfortable receiving the ball under pressure, and layed off possession to teammates flawlessly. He may not bring those moments of individual brilliance, but he’ll prove to be a vital cog in this Roar machine.

That’s it for Round 1, what were your major talking points for the weekend’s action, Roarers?

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