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We are now only two rounds away from finals, and while the top two are sorted, the remaining finals places are up for grabs, and hosting rights are there for the taking. All that and more in the round 25 A-League Talking Points.
Back to back premiers
And so it was done, with two rounds to spare, Sydney FC confirming their place as the premier team this season, wrapping up the premier’s plate by Round 25.
Last season, they finished the season 17 points clear of second, and should Newcastle suffer a catastrophic collapse to finish Rounds 26 and 27, a similar points difference could be on the cards again.
Think of this: including last season, and come season’s end, Sydney FC will have spent 49 of 54 rounds in first place.
It seems strange to think that as recently as last round, Sydney’s finishing top was in doubt, and who knows, if Newcastle hadn’t capitulated against Adelaide, and Perth hadn’t capitulated against Sydney, perhaps it could have been closer.
Don’t let the 3-2 scoreline from Thursday deceive. The match out in Perth on Thursday night was over at half-time.
The premier’s plate should hold further significance, particularly in football. The table never lies after the home and away meetings are done.
Sydney, granted, had one poor period over a fortnight that halted their dominance, but it was such a momentary halt that over the season, it barely registers as a “blip,” while perhaps the start to the season was not as strong as last. But Sydney very quickly righted the ship.
Well done Sydney, and let’s see if they can finish off the season with a grand final win, which shouldn’t be in too much doubt. Right?
Of course, last season, they were pushed to penalties in last season’s showpiece, by the team they finished 17 points in front of during the season.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Who was better?
Bobo, with two rounds to go, became the highest scorer in a single home and away season, with his 23rd and 24th goals of season 2017/18.
With two rounds to go, there’s little reason to think he won’t add to that tally.
In fact, Bobo now only needs two more goals to have the highest scoring season, including finals, ever.
If he does, it’s a tally that will stand for a fair while longer.
Bobo is scoring in a team that has been utterly dominant for two years now, and we are unlikely to see another like it any time soon.
Which begs the question, who was better: Fornaroli or Bob?
Sure, Bobo has the records and that cannot be taken away from him, at least for now.
However when Fornaroli set his record two seasons ago, he was not playing with a team anywhere near as dominant.
In season 2016/17, Melbourne City scored 63 goals in the home and away season, easily the highest scoring team for the season, out-scoring even the Sydney FC side of last season.
But Melbourne also leaked 44 goals that season, easily the worst defence in the top-six, and the third worst defence overall.
So, unlike Bobo, Fornaroli was single-handedly dragging his team into the finals, before scoring two more goals against Perth in the elimination final. Melbourne were steamrolled by eventual champions Adelaide 4-1 in the semi-final.
So that season, Fornaroli scored over a third of Melbourne’s goals to take the golden boot and set the single season scoring record.
Bobo so far has scored 24 of Sydney’s 60, and as I said, they still have two rounds to go. Sydney could out-score the 63 scored by Melbourne as well.
However, the difference? Sydney have only conceded 22, exactly half of what Melbourne conceded two years ago. Sydney have been utterly dominant, and strangled teams out of contests, mounting so much pressure that the sky blues have inevitably scored.
Fornaroli didn’t have that luxury two years ago.
Again, there is nothing to take away from Bobo’s Herculean effort, and that is not the point.
Alternatively, Fornaroli’s efforts are still just as Herculean. I would wager, just a little bit better.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Wellington need to prove they belong
Wellington currently offer nothing to the A-League.
They don’t offer competition, they don’t offer fans, at least, not when it comes to away fixtures, and their home crowds are nothing to write home about.
With no coach, and the absolute lock for the wooden spoon, Wellington at the moment are looking likely to be relegated in a competition without promotion and relegation.
Regardless of the point that they have nothing to play for, at least by way of this season’s competition, Wellington need to be better.
Whether it’s pride in their performance, trying to earn a contract, or just giving their fans something to be proud of, Wellington currently have no attraction.
It cannot be easy to get yourself up each week, knowing there’s no point.
But my argument is: make something up, and find a point.
Friday night was a poor advertisement for the game. Adelaide barely left second gear, and Wellington were profligate in front of goal, at best, but otherwise unprofessional in their performance at worst.
And the thing about playing badly is that if people don’t want to watch the league, it won’t matter how bad Wellington are, there won’t be any league anymore.
So Wellington owes it to the league that licenses them to perform better.
The same criticisms were levelled at Newcastle last season, and they made the changes that took them to second.
With the A-League struggling for any traction, performances by a team out in New Zealand like Friday night don’t just make life difficult for Wellington, they make life difficult for everyone associated with the A-League.
(Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
Newcastle should be nervous
What a difference the loss of your captain and centre-back makes.
Newcastle, to be sure, have not looked good since beating Sydney. They have in fact been ordinary.
Lucky to win against Wellington, completed destroyed by Adelaide, a home game against Melbourne City was just the opportunity they needed to switch back on for finals.
They did not take that opportunity, regardless of the result against City, the performance was sub-standard.
Lucky to only be 1-nil down at half-time, the second half was no better for them, and given that they may come up against either of those opponents come finals time, Ernie Merrick will be scratching his head.
Now granted, the loss of Boogard has, along with Nabbout, thrown the balance of the team out, as Kantarovski found himself in central defence.
But they host Perth next week, then finish the season away to the Mariners, and neither of those matches will be easy. Perth will be playing for their season, the Mariners playing for bragging rights.
Perhaps locking in a home final this early has worked against the Jets, who knows.
But if they don’t improve, and quickly, come four weeks’ time when they’re hosting that final, it won’t matter if they’re at home, their first finals campaign in 10 years will be a quick one.
It would be a shame for Newcastle to un-do all the good work they’ve done this season.
Here’s hoping they can find some form.
(Photo by Nigel Owen/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Mission accomplished, though little else to write home about
Brisbane finished the weekend inside the top six, but you would be hard pressed to say that after this round’s performance they are a lock to be there come the end of Round 27.
Granted, they beat the second–last team in the comp, and you cannot do much more, but you compare Brisbane’s win over the Mariners to Adelaide’s win over the Phoenix, and it’s fair to say that Adelaide’s was marginally more impressive.
Now, look, at the end of the day, Brisbane are one of only three teams to beat Sydney this season, and they are in a position to play finals, so you can’t be too critical.
But finals matches are not won on past form, and they are instead a test of how you turn up for the 90 minutes that matter.
And if Brisbane turn up to, say, Adelaide, in the form they showed against the Mariners, they won’t be playing many more than 90 minutes of finals play this year.
Of course, if we had a top four finals format, with a home and away semi-final series and the two winners going through to the grand final, it would be a different story.
But that’s a whole other talking point.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Life is too short to be waiting for the VAR
There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you’re still waiting for the VAR to make a final decision in respect of this match.
I would have loved to talk about Deng’s wonder-strike, in a similar fashion to when I decided to talk about Andrew Nabbout rather than the VAR.
But exhibit “A” in the People against the VAR, we present exhibit “A”, that is, the delay in decision-making was always going to be the problem with the VAR being introduced to football, which was too audacious to over-look.
I maintain my position: there is simply no place for video review in any sport, but in particular football.
If you don’t like an offside or penalty decision (the two most contentious rules in football), then tough. Deal with it.
This perpetual line about VAR only being used for the “obvious error” (i.e. the howler) is complete nonsense, because once you introduce it, the VAR now has jurisdiction over every decision.
And now, on Saturday night, almost 300 seconds after the occurrence of a questionable incident, the VAR made crucial decisions that not only Thwaite’s red card was justified, but that Barbarouses deserved one also.
Couple of thoughts on that.
Firstly, there was no need for the VAR to intervene in the first place, given that whether you agree with it or not, the referee was in a position to make the decision that he did about Thwaite, so we move on.
Second, but more importantly, the VAR, remember that off-field arbiter that is there to adjudge “obvious error,” made a call on Barbarouses that had never been referred to the VAR in the first place. The Barbarouses foul was not what the VAR had been asked to deal with.
So the VAR was not dealing with something that was an obvious error, but rather, intervening into the realm of decision making in the initial instance.
Essentially, and slowly but surely, the VAR is diluting the authority of the referee on the field, and with that, the referee, already largely treated with disrespect the world over in football, has even less integrity.
Get rid of the VAR I say – regardless of how long it takes on the field to get it right, the simple truth is, and this applies to every sport, if you want better decisions made, then make the on-field decision makers better.
And ultimately, it’s simply not worth waiting that long to get a single decision right. Instead, rather than simply saying to our referees: “don’t worry about getting everything, just review it after it happens,” why not train them better to see what’s going on.
That way, the referee correctly calls the Thwaite foul, the linesman correctly sees the Barbarouses foul, the game keeps flowing, and we are not all starting to turn grey by the time the call is made.
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