Shut the gate, the horse has bolted. Sydney FC will win the premiership in a canter and they’ll be the first team to go through an A-League season undefeated.
The most impressive aspect of Sydney FC’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory last night was certainly not their performance. It was the fact they found a way to win despite being up against it.
When James Troisi slotted home a textbook counter-attack just before the 20-minute mark, it looked like Victory would be the first team to take the game to the Sky Blues in weeks.
That they duly did – only for Victory to give away a couple of sloppy goals that ultimately cost them.
You simply can’t afford to give players of genuine European pedigree like Milos Ninkovic and Filip Holosko so much time and space, although oddly enough, all the European pedigree in the world will never be enough to make Alan Baro an adequate replacement for Matthieu Delpierre.
When James Donachie found time to get himself sent off with just under 20 minutes remaining, it signalled the end of Victory’s spirited attempt to get the better of their most bitter rival.
Some might argue that Donachie’s dismissal could have gone either way, but in reality his lunging challenge on Alex Brosque was both late and reckless.
If we want our referees to stand tall in key moments, then Jarred Gillett was fully justified in showing Donachie a straight red card.
There was still time for former teammates Danny Vukovic and Besart Berisha to produce a heated exchange at full-time, with Vukovic seemingly accusing Berisha of refusing to shake his hand.
Vukovic said little about the exchange in a post-match interview with Fox Sports, but it’s clear there was no love lost on the night – with Berisha typically niggling throughout the entire proceedings.
It was hardly the greatest advertisement for A-League football, but an Australia Day crowd of 30,000 was decent given the tennis was also on in the city, even if the only fans you could hear inside the ground were visiting supporters.
It’s a shame the North Terrace continues to boycott Victory home games – the resultant atmosphere is dire – and surely the club must sit down at the negotiating table to try and entice their most vociferous fans back.
Mind you, a lack of atmosphere was not the only problem last night, with the pitch best described as diabolical.
The drop-in cricket pitch used for Big Bash League fixtures rendered the playing surface unplayable in parts, with the ball visibly bouncing off the edges of the cricket square.
And while Victory’s long-standing deal to play several games a season at Etihad Stadium might make sense from a commercial perspective, it’s hurting them on the pitch – and arguably at the turnstiles.
AAMI Park is a superior venue in every sense and if Victory had their time again, I wonder if they’d prefer to play only derby games at the larger Etihad Stadium.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC now have ten games in which to avoid defeat and become the first team ever to go through an entire A-League season undefeated.
They have all the tools at their disposal to do it, not least a coaching staff who simply will not allow complacency to set in.
And while several tricky fixtures remain – including another Sydney derby – the Sky Blues will romp home to the Premiers’ Plate even if they lose a game or two from here on in.
That’s bad news for the chasing pack, including a Melbourne City side eager to make up ground on their city rivals as they line up against the Newcastle Jets in Coffs Harbour tonight.
Yet no one will reel in Sydney FC. The season’s most consistent outfit are starting to resemble Ange Postecoglou’s Brisbane Roar of old.
Maybe they’ll become the Invincibles after all.
Arto
Guest
Whilst I agree with you in arguing for a Salary Cap bonus for the Premiers, what many fans and coaches tend to forget is that recruiting (poaching?) the players from the last season's best teams/s is not just a matter of splashing the cash - they have to fit the team culture, style of play and off-field environment as well. For every Berisha, there's a Hersi, Flores & Smeltz, and to a lesser extent Nichols, Reddy & Vukovic. So the successful teams start with the advantage of being able to offer a proven successful environment in any bidding war.
Pauly
Guest
If anything it seems more people are turning up. Still miss them though.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
Thats why we need to get a 12-16 team league with a balanced home and away fixture and get rid rid of the finals. Whoever finishes top of the table at the end of a balanced regular season is the best team.
Pauly
Guest
Almost as bad as Melbourne Heart
The Doc
Roar Guru
Love your work Mike - generated plenty of opinion. I have watched melb victory at AAMI, etihad and supported the team from the northern and southern terraces at Olympic and now AAMI park. There is not a shadow of doubt that the atmosphere at AAMI is vastly superior due to better acoustics and the crowd is packed in closer to ground level. Etihad has poor acoustics and chants just dont reverberate around the ground the same way they do at Etihad. The atmosphere is pretty terrible for AFL too (regardless of crowd size). As for the loss of the NT collective, even despite their loss, the northern terrace has been very well attended and they have been chanting just like they always do. I am not sure MV have lost much, the number of flares lit has been minimal and the a-league is getting press for its football rather than crowd behaviour. Until their NTC behaviour can be better managed (and yes just a small minority ruining it for everyone) by the simply not lighting flares, they are a liability for the club both on the field and financially off it. Unfortunately etihad is the only viable stadium that can hold more people and with the attendance > 30000, the decision and financial windfall (im not sure of contract) is worth it, not to mention their record is excellent and very similar to their good record at AAMI (as per previously mentioned stats). Pitch quality with the BBL presents a problem and with more BBL games scheduled next year, it will be a trickly schedule to balance. as for the football, pretty tight game and not much in it until the red card. sydney may not play with the panache and style of the title winning Brisbane Roar but must be appreciated for the excellent pressing and defence. Disagree with talks about the quality and recruitment of Meblourne victory. They gave up stalwarts in Finkler and Barbarouses to Wellington and brought in Rojas and Troisi. I was a bit wary about these decisions but they have been completely justified as they are probably the best winger and number 10 combination in the A-league. Delpierre was impossible to replace, but the new combination of baros and donachie has taken a bit of time but have been excellent up until their recent 3 game losing streak. Donachie is an excellent ball playing central defender and has certainly assisted our build up and passing play. Broxham at LB is out of position but was a replacement whilst Georgevski was injured. His stability allows Donachie and Geria to push further forward. Agree with R king - it is a much greater feat to win the premiers plate than the GF. WInning the premiers plate isnt celebrated enough but we need both. In the absence of a promotion/relegation system and in the australian sporting market where finals series are huge, the current system celebrating both achievements is best.
R king
Guest
Sadly for SFC they only have to lose the GF and all this talk of how good/lucky/bad they are will be forgotten. No one will acknowledge just how tough it is to go through a whole league season without tasting defeat. Even now I'm of two minds, which is the greater feat, winning a GF from 6th spot or going undefeated for the whole league season?
Buddy
Guest
Nemesis....did you mean posers or posters? I confess I am never sure what we face on here from some contributors. Sometimes there are the weird and wonderful. The subject Mike touches upon is an easy one to get your teeth into without anyone becoming involved in cross code bashing or worrying about FFA, refereeing decisions, trends in attendances etc etc. its an opportunity to either look at the situation objectively, or give it some thought from the viewpoint of a partisan supporter. What I would love to see is a face to face gathering...pub style with a whole evening of debate...make that a weekend conference! Chaired by....well that would be fun just coming up with a chairperson we agree on! Rules of debate and etiquette to apply...I reckon it would make a great weekend's entertainment during that long boring break!
Cool and Cold
Guest
Good answer. Two weeks is 14 days. However, they played 4 matches in 13 days. They are too tired.
Geoff
Guest
I love how cocky Sydney are! It's great! Keep it up! It would be smart if it was the premier league. But it isn't. Who cares who finishes first? You can win every game but if you don't make and win the grand final it's a failure!!! Only an arrogant idiot like Arnold would talk about "invincibles." It would be about third or fourth division in the premier league. Arnold would be smarter to take the pressure off and say it's about the journey not individual results. If he doesn't win the grand final it will be the usual excuses from Arnold. Dumb tactics . He obviously has never heard about playing it down.
Josh
Guest
It was their greatest source until WSW started keeping them.
Swanny
Guest
So the only junior they have is wilkinson in the current squad . He is having s great season Bonnyrigg ... Western Syd Bundaberg. Etc. not in n s w All those others are from western Sydney Anyhow no big deal. Enjoy your success
Nemesis
Guest
Extraordinary. Over 100 comments. A certain group of posers conspicuously absent. Incapable of discussing anything to do with the sport of Football. And for that I'm extremely grateful.
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
I wouldn't say they are playing poorly or in a slump. Don't forget they have lost their 2 central defenders in the last few weeks and are blooding in a new central defensive pairing. To remain undefeated is a huge effort. Its a long season too - 27 weeks, so they need to pace themselves, not explode all over the place.
Fadida
Guest
Agree, many a sour grape
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
Alex Wilkinson - Ryde City/Manly / Mariners Vukovic - Bonnyrig White Eagles / Mariners Brillante - Bundaberg/ Gold Coast O'Neill - Perth Glory So Brillante was not a Jets junior either. Mariners have a policy of stealing Sydney Juniors, fattening them up and selling them off. Its their greatest source of income. Lots of very good Sydney juniors end up at the Mariners, Rogic, Amini, Bosnich, Matt Ryan, Duke, Djite, Burns etc etc. They have an Academy and a Football High School as well so they get them young.
James
Guest
Indeed - sorry I just had to get it off my chest in any case the Victory have had a rough draw so may be excused for yesterday - anything to give City equal rights in the Melb capital - Good luck to mariners but I fear for the future of the regional sides with Gallop push for more big city sides..
Michael Mills
Guest
Vukovic is the best goalkeeper in the league this season. Victory played very well last night, and they are a good team. But to say the dominated ignores a lot of the good things Sydney did very well last night. Berisha was anonymous for the whole match, and Zullo did a good job considering how difficult it is to contain Rojas. For the first 30-35 minutes Victory were on top, for sure. Sydney's starting team doesn't have a lot of pace out, especially without Grant as an outlet, so Victory were able to defend in a narrow formation and really gave the Sydney midfield no time on the ball. It was very effective, and Sydney were too often coughing up possession in bad spots and passing to a man with two-three markers. However, they eventually found some space and worked their way back into the match. They saw out the rest of the half pretty comfortably and started the second half as the better of the two teams. After Calver was told to stay back, Fahid Ben Khalfallah was nowhere near as effective. After the 55-minute mark, the momentum swung back again, and Vukovic had to make some key interventions. Victory were on top again. However, Ibini's introduction gave Sydney the chance to widen the play and open up a lot more space. Sydney were fairly comfortable from then on. Obviously, the red card didn't help Victory for the last 20 minutes, but that did happen after Ibini had scored the second goal and while the Sky Blues were on another counter from a turnover in the middle of Sydney's half. Who's to say Sydney weren't going to finish the last 20 on top against 11 players. As a Sydney fan, I'm thrilled and proud we got such a great result against a very good team who played well. Victory are of course good enough to beat Sydney, but to say Sydney's play wouldn't bother Muscat et al is ridiculous.
Garry
Guest
Yes, how dare someone post an irrelevant reply to your irrelevant comment.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
"I thought the Generals were due!"
pauly
Guest
4 over a 13 day period - two consecutive which were at polar opposites of the competition's geographic reach.