“Isn’t it great to end the weekend talking about the football?” said Simon Hill on the back of Perth Glory’s thrilling 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory.
It sure is, Simon. Although it’s probably not a game Victory fans will want to chat about in a hurry.
Perth Glory may have got lucky with their opening two goals at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon, but they got themselves into the right positions to benefit.
Joel Chianese would have been offside for Glory’s first had the ball not bounced off Victory midfielder Terry Antonis, while Victory’s defending for Andy Keogh’s goal was nothing short of calamitous.
Even Chris Ikonomidis got a bit lucky when Lawrence Thomas could only parry Chianese’s shot into the one-time Wanderers midfielder’s path, but Ikonomidis kept his head to coolly side-foot home the winner deep in stoppage time.
And the whole thing was a fabulous spectacle to watch from start to finish.
There’s a real European quality to Melbourne Victory home games on Sunday afternoons.
But there wasn’t much European quality on display from German defender Georg Niedermeier when he literally ducked out of the way of Tomislav Mrcela’s long-range header to allow Keogh to nip in behind and lob the stranded Thomas.
Niedermeier presumably got a call from Thomas to leave the ball, and it’s clear there’s still plenty of work to do from Victory’s new-look defence.
But the real story was Perth and the fact they look like being one of the toughest teams in the A-League to beat this season.
Tony Popovic has made a positive impact on the Glory already. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
They snapped up the chances that fell their way at AAMI Park, and they’ve got quality all over the pitch – even if they conceded a couple of sloppy goals.
How Brisbane Roar didn’t concede to visitors Wellington Phoenix in their scoreless draw at Suncorp Stadium only Steven Taylor will know, after the former Newcastle United defender hit the post from an absolute sitter.
In Taylor’s defence, the ricochet from Jamie Young came at him quickly and with Jack Hingert threatening to close down the space in which to slot home.
Nevertheless, the former Premier League star should have buried what looked like one of the easiest opportunities he’ll ever get, in what was otherwise a bit of a ho-hum encounter in Brisbane.
Phoenix goalkeeper Filip Kurto proved his worth with a good save from the Roar’s impressive Spanish midfielder Alex Lopez in stoppage time, but on the whole, the game was nothing to write home about.
It wasn’t helped by a Suncorp Stadium playing surface that was so sandy in parts players were taking divots out of the pitch.
Brisbane Roar have worked hard to reconnect with their fan base and the more than 15,000 supporters who turned out was an impressive attendance – it’s just a shame the team rarely seems to run out on a decent surface at home.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Don’t mention the VAR! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it alright.
What else can we say about the Sydney derby?
The worst thing about the decision to chalk off Roly Bonevacia’s goal on the hour mark for the Wanderers was that it completely took the sting out of the game.
Instead of watching a thrilling final half hour with the score locked at 2-1, we were treated to one team retaining control and the other looking demoralised.
And while referee Chris Beath deserves credit for fronting the Fox Sports cameras and explaining the decision, some questions still remain.
Beath said after the match that the goal was ruled out because Jaushua Sotirio was in an offside position, yet he originally signalled for a foul on Michael Zullo.
And even if Sotirio was in an offside position, was he interfering with play?
The way VAR is being used in the A-League is contrary to the spirit of the game.
That was a decent round of football. It’s just a shame we’re all still talking about the Video Assistant Referee.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Yeah I know, mine too and I’m about 6km’s from sunny-Corp. Assuming we’re not getting told the truth (as usual) my guess would be they tried to grow summer grass early and the weather undid them. Whatever the reason the pitch is extremely poor. It’s no joke but it will be nice to see Roar play on grass for the next few weeks.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Nem, sorry you are wrong, the AR doesn't flag the offside all the time, they only flag it when the player becomes involved in the play. You see it every game, a player offside but makes no attempt to play the ball, even when they are near the ball the AR only flags it when they become involved. Sorry you are wrong
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
You are assuming the AR missed it, he was about 15 meters away, that is a big assumption. Maybe he like any reasonable person adjudged (like he is supposed to) Sotirio was not in play therefore no need to raise the flag
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
My prdeiction for average attendance at the end of this season. 10,784
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Last post on this. As it happens, I went through a period when I was keeping tabs on all attendances and ratings and writing regular articles for the Roar on this subject. I still have the 2014 figures. So... Attendances from Round 1 to Round 9 averaged a healthy 16,414 (clearly it didn't end up there by the end of the season). From Rd 10 onwards, or mid December, the decline sets in. Rounds 10 to 13 the average attendance is 13,580. Similarly, the TV ratings go from an average of 75k (first 9 rounds) to an average of 60k (for the next four rounds). It's actually interesting looking at those figures from four years ago, the decline four years on in ratings is quite stark. Even with the attendances, it's unlikely in the extreme that we will match that average of 16.4k over the first 9 rounds of the season.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Waz If the first few rounds are sky high, and the season's average always ends up well down from those figures, how on Earth can attendances go up during the holidays? The attendances never reach again the opening rounds. You talk of the 9/9/9 split. Clearly, the evidence is that the first 9 rounds represents the highest trimester, and the decline is already evident in the middle trimester - and that's where the holidays are.
Nemesis
Guest
I think you both are correct. Resolution 2 that was passed unanimously with 10 votes out of 10 says - a New League Working Group (NLWG) will be established to propose an alternate ALeague Governance Model for Professional AUS leagues, comprising: ALeague, WLeague, NYL - the NLWG will include all interest groups from the FFA Congress - the NLWG must report by 31 March 2019 with recommendations - to implement the NLWG recommendations. the FFA Board must approve the model and then put the recommendations to a Congress Vote for approval. - this Congress vote will exclude PFA & ALeague clubs. Only State Feds & Women's Council (not aligned to PFA & HAL clubs) will be allowed to vote on the New League Model. - included in the New League Model will be a reduction in the voting on FFA Congress for ALeague clubs So, there you have it. If the Clubs want a New Independent ALeague, the model must be approved by State Feds. If State Feds want to get more power on FFA Congress & reducet the voting power of HAL clubs, they need to implement a New Model. A perfect situation where both parties have incentive to get an outcome.
jbinnie
Guest
Mr F -the figures I supplied were simply to point out that over the last 7 seasons the aggregate average figure over all HAL matches played showed a steady decline when checked over a full season. The variables when applied to each team are too wide and varied to detect a definite pattern emerging. A classic example on one of those variables are Brisbane Roar who last season saw a decline from a first 3 home game average of around 11,500 down to a 14 home game average of 9,206. (they struggled into the top six). Obviously someone at the club has been doing some work in the close season,the team posting an average of 15,000 when playing against two of the HAL's recognised "lesser lights" in their opening games. Now in these 2 games the Roar have not shown any great improvement in their play so it will be interesting to note if this continued improvement in crowd numbers will be maintained. Cheers jb.
Waz
Roar Rookie
In the A League the VAR has been re-refereeing the game. The rest of the world is probably using it to eliminate “clear and obvious” errors. People in Australia have been focussing on whether a decision is right/wrong which is not what VAR was about.
Waz
Roar Rookie
That’s what I mean, you don’t get it. The A League clubs have fought a war to gain independence from the FFA. If the Board design the model it’s not independent lol. P/R and a second division are NOT part of the model. Both are independent factors to the operational model.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I like that response. I spent four days in Brisbane a few weeks back when it rained all weekend in Brisbane and Sydney. When I got home my grass was at least a foot higher than when I left!
Waz
Roar Rookie
Mr F You do this all the time, you start a discussion (argument) and then change tact half way through. jb’s figures do not validate the point you made nor the point we were discussing. You said “the holiday season in itself has traditionally meant lower crowds” ... no it doesn’t and that’s not what jbs figures show at all.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Waz I believe I am quite aware of what’s been going on and its not been 100% about an independent Hal. Yes we are on our knees but not because Hal owners are not running the show we have been in a state of constant civil war now for close to 3 years that has had an effect. Unless I am going mad, fans have been calling for a second division and P & R and for FFA to be more responsive to media attacks. If the existing clubs run a league that ignores a second division and P & R then we will go into war again. So IMO the FFA board along with the clubs will create a model…
alexgibb
Roar Rookie
All other major leagues using VAR have released data that suggests VAR is working for them. When will the A league do the same? Is it because it highlights our referees are not using it properly? I don’t like how the VAR has been used in the A league but is it the technology or our application of it?
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS: Football Federation Australia (FFA) today launched AusBid2023.com - the official website for Australians to #GetOnside and submit registrations of support for Australia's FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ Bid. https://www.myfootball.com.au/news/ffa-media-release-australians-urged-getonside-ausbid2023com-launched https://www.myfootball.com.au/video/ffa-launches-ausbid2023com
Nemesis
Guest
"linesman may have missed the offside"? He didn't flag. So he missed it. Linesman's job is to flag when a player is offside. Ref's job is to assess if the offside was interfereing with play/interfering with an opponent/gaining an advantage. The linesman doesn't make the offside decision. He just provides a flag if a player is offside. This incident was not re-refereeing the match. A goal was scored. An attacking player was in an offside position. The offside was missed. It's game changing. It's exactly what VAR was designed to do. We're all getting upset because the goal was disallowed after reviewing VAR. Without VAR, if the linesman ssaw the offside, he'd raise his flag & Beath might give the offside call. We'd be outraged for 30 secs then we'd forget about it.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
B51 - doing point 1 would drive the game down a long dark tunnel. I can’t begin to imagine the added complications of having one set of rules for the ref and a different, looser, set of rules for the VAR. You’d still have to define strict boundaries for the loose version of the rules, such as your ‘50% of the body offside’. All you would do is create a second set of edge cases for everyone to argue about. You’d also have to have a loose rule to cover every possible situation, like dives, fouls, handballs. Maybe not for mistaken identity... Aargh!
Brendo51
Roar Pro
Yep they re-reffed the game What should have happened. VAR looks at tape, sees that the linesman, may have missed the offside player interfering with play. At this point they don't know, it might have been the case that the refs have seen the offside but decided it was fine. VAR should then have a quick chat between themselves on whether it is definitely interfering or maybe open to interpretation, decide they there is some doubt, clear the goal.
coolncold
Roar Rookie
Yes, var has done anything to improve the game so far. Would the FFA consider to stop using it next year?
Waz
Roar Rookie
They’re saying the grass didn’t grow due to the month of rain and lack of sun leading up to the season.