The Socceroos beat Nepal 5-0, the A-League is back in action tonight and life just somehow feels better when there’s meaningful football to be enjoyed.
It was a case of ‘job done’ for Graham Arnold’s men in Canberra, even if it was a ponderous performance at times.
The Aussies needed someone to step up and score goals and Jamie Maclaren duly obliged with a hat-trick.
In truth the Socceroos should have run up a cricket score, but they did enough to bag all three points and they’ll go into Tuesday night’s clash with Chinese Taipei in a confident frame of mind.
It was nice to see towering debutant Harry Souttar score on debut, and nicer still to see more than 18,500 fans turn up on a chilly evening at Canberra Stadium.
The sizeable contingent of Nepalese fans inside the stadium deserve praise for turning out in force and helping to drum up some atmosphere inside the ground.
And one topic that should be on the agenda for an independent A-League is the introduction of a Canberra team.
The absence of a team from the nation’s capital was a problem years ago – now it’s plain embarrassing.
And the sooner those controlling the game click into gear and get an expansion side in a city that actually needs one like Canberra, the better for us all.
Still, it’s hard to be unhappy when the new A-League season finally kicks off tonight. Hallelujah!
Will Australian fans ever warm to Graham Arnold? (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
It’s been so long between seasons it’s a surprise George RR Martin hasn’t banged out ‘The Winds Of Winter’ in the interim.
Civilisations were built faster than this. Besart Berisha took some time off for a backpacking trip around Japan and is still one of the A-League’s best strikers.
Adelaide United’s clash with Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium is the ideal way to kick off the new campaign.
Gertjan Verbeek may look like he moonlights in a Styx cover band but the Dutch coach might also have a trick or two up his sleeve.
His Reds outfit should be tough to beat at Coopers Stadium – particularly with Sydney FC missing Andrew Redmayne and Rhyan Grant to international duty – and it’s worth remembering Adelaide United started last season with a 1-1 draw at home to the Sky Blues.
Mind you, good on Sydney FC skipper Alex Wilkinson for suggesting it was “pretty average” to kick off the new campaign in the midst of an international window.
“I don’t think it’s a good thing at all,” Wilkinson told AAP.
He’s right. And to make things worse Adelaide and Melbourne City face off in the A-League in Round 2 and again in the FFA Cup Final three days later.
What should have happened is the FFA Cup Final should have been played at Coopers Stadium last weekend, and it should have been played on a Saturday.
Instead, A-League fans have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs for the past month, waiting for the season to start while other codes played their finals.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
This ‘clear air’ idea is just some nonsense a marketing executive has dreamed up as an excuse not to upset the status quo.
And the next thing that needs to get in the bin is scheduling a Melbourne derby in the first couple of rounds every season until the end of time too.
Can’t we football fans just have a normal random draw for once?
“Always the same” is how David Brent might describe my own approach to the new campaign.
Do something dumb and I’ll mention it. Do something good and I’ll mention that too.
But gee it’s good to have the A-League back!
Food tastes better. The air seems fresher. I personally have more energy and self-confidence than I ever dreamed of.
And it’s all because our homegrown professional league kicks off again tonight.
Well let’s start the insanity.
Nemesis
Guest
Listening to people who are football illiterate give opinions about football is as valuable as listening to science illiterates give opinions on Climate Change. Ignorant people giving opinions. Welcome to Australia.
Bluebagger
Guest
From what I have seen of the A-League, the traditional sports of Australia have very little to fear from soccer. The Euro-centric sport is great to watch at the highest level but looks slow and sloppy at the lower reaches. How long is it until the AFL starts again?
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Couldn’t disagree with any of that Griffo. I enjoyed RC on the sideline last night. I find the regular commentary team very dull at times and incredibly predictable. I sometimes switch off the volume just to get rid of the inane interjections. I suppose we watch games in different ways. When Kosta B scored last night, I was querying whether he was onside or not yet the tv commentary team were quite shocked it seemed to see it reviewed. I’m not arguing whether it was the correct decision or not, just that as we use VAR I thought it deserved a second look and that the visitors shouldn’t be too excited just yet. I can’t comment on anything post match. My habit is to switch off once the final whistle has blown. I occasionally tune in to the Sunday night wrap up but more often than not, switch it off after a few minutes as it irritates.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Funny thing is Muscat’s post-game interviews on FoxSports while coach were good - articulate and knowledgeable - while his side-line comments just appeared to be nerves. Last night’s A-League opener and Robby Cornethwaite was much better - perhaps he has already had some media stunts elsewhere. Interestingly it seems FoxSports have added an ex-player sideline commentator to the mix now? I thought the two co-commentators and 2x sideline commentators (Muscat and Slater) was too many for the Nepal game - a lot of Slater and Harper babbling, with Muscat not getting much word in, while Simon Hill has to butt in as the game flow changed. At times it was like a table of regulars at the local debating on who shoulda kicked what and when...
Griffo
Roar Guru
The only thing wrong with your prediction, Fadida, is the Jets don’t have the cashflow to pay out Merrick until May 2020.
Sydneysideliner
Roar Rookie
It's easy to see why FFA are hesitant to bring domestic football back to Canberra. The Cosmos had woeful support in their short existence, which might've had something to do with their terrible on-field performance, but they were poorly supported from the outset. Considering Raiders were regular finalists and Brumbies were brand new, you'd think pride in their sporting teams would've been at an all-time high at the time. Basically there'll have to be a huge change both on and off the field for the next Canberra team to be sustainable.
Mark
Guest
Sure, the Nepalese were noisy, but there was nowhere near 5,000 of them. 2k at absolute most, probably closer to half that. I was there.
Mark
Guest
You should be right for A-League games. ABC will not move the 7pm news under any circumstances. The game last night kicked off at 7pm in Brisbane, so you had to wait for the news to finish. A-League games on the ABC will kick off 4pm Brisbane time, so no danger of any clash with the news. That would be why the finals are delayed telecasts as well.
pacman
Roar Rookie
Mike, you state: "And one topic that should be on the agenda for an independent A-League is the introduction of a Canberra team. The absence of a team from the nation’s capital was a problem years ago – now it’s plain embarrassing." I am not embarrassed by our capital not having a top tier football team. Brasilia with a population of over 4 million suffers from the same shortcoming, but I don't believe Brazilians are embarrassed. Canberra and surrounds boast a population of about 10% of Brasilia's. What are the weekly aggregate attendance figures at NPL Capital Football matches? That will give a clue to the ability of the chances of an area with a population of 400,000 being able to offer meaningful crowd support, bearing in mind it is a rugby area.
Nemesis
Guest
Talk to any retailer in Australia whose revenue is 100% from sales of discretionary goods & services and they'll tell you a 10% fall Yr on Yr in the current Australian economy is an absolutely outstanding result.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Punter I can't wait to see Wanderland rocking an rolling, I want to Dimi Petratos sinking some long range shots, Can't wait for Big Blue. I want to see Matt Simon get sent off again. Football heaven bring it on
Nick Symonds
Guest
If memberships can recover and TV ratings don't decline again it'll be a success in that it'll set things up well for the next season. Broadcasting and associated news coverage on ABC could be the X Factor.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Plenty of people playing the "wait and see" game
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Amazing city. So lucky to have moved here
Nick Symonds
Guest
LINK: https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-faces-makeorbreak-season/news-story/61f1cda510c466d907ca9ed8bc180ae9
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
I have said it before and I will say it again the football generation are the Millennials. The days of the box on a box are gone. It's Fox who have been slow to work this out.
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS.COM.AU STORY: A-League faces make-or-break season "only one club has increased its membership numbers since the same point of last season" - PG - Up 23% SFC - Down 4% BRI - Down 9% MVC - Down 9% MCY - Down 10% WSW - Down 11% NCJ - Down 14% CCM - Down 18% ADU - Down 24% WEL - Down 27% WU - N/A
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Your mathematics are a little askew. 18500 in attendance minus a maximum of 5000 Nepalis equals 13500
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Fad What's not to like about Newy. Come on you Jaffas
Fadida
Roar Rookie
I can't seem to copy the link on my phone but there is a great excerpt from Emile Heskey' s autobiography on Optus sport. He is pretty glowing about the league, and especially the city of Newcastle. To add to the never ending argument about how the league compares to England, he rated the better sides as championship standard, the weaker as div 1. I'd argue the standard has moved on quite a bit from there too