The two most entertaining games this weekend both kicked off in the evening, so why does the A-League continue to punish players and fans by persisting with afternoon fixtures?
Let’s start with the positives.
Perth Glory’s 2-2 draw with Melbourne Victory was the most entertaining fixture of the round, with Glory twice fighting back to salvage a point thanks to a belated first start and goal of the season from Nick D’Agostino.
It’s amazing what young Australian players can do when given the chance in their own national league.
But when Ola Toivonen and Bruno Fornaroli score the sort of goals they rattled home on Saturday night, it’s hard to argue that foreign imports don’t bring a touch of quality to the A-League.
Sadly, quality was in short supply on a weekend that produced some dismal optics.
Do Melbourne City know how to defend? They were dreadful at the back in their 3-1 defeat to Adelaide United, in the only other fixture that produced much entertaining football.
And you know what the two late games on Saturday had in common? Neither of them kicked off in the blazing heat of mid-afternoon.
Who could possibly have predicted Newcastle’s clash with Western United at McDonald Jones Stadium – where temperatures nudged 41 degrees Celsius before kick-off – would have finished scoreless?
Visiting coach Mark Rudan criticised the decision to start the game at 5pm, as did Fox Sports analyst Mark Bosnich, but as usual nothing was done because no one appears to be in charge of the A-League right now.
At least viewers tuning in on the ABC were spared having to watch the whole 90 minutes, since by all accounts the broadcast cut out before the game had even finished.
And exposing players and spectators to the hottest part of the afternoon is now just par for the course for a competition that has apparently lost the plot.
That must be why yesterday’s clash between the Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers kicked off at 3pm in Gosford, when every other Sunday this season has featured a game kicking off at the more practical time of 5pm.
Perhaps A-League officials and broadcaster Fox Sports were mindful of going head to head with the Australian Open, but it meant once again that a fixture started in searing mid-afternoon heat.
And the high temperatures and energy-sapping humidity ensured the game was played at the same plodding pace that plagues most fixtures played over the height of summer.
A few weeks ago I wondered whether a winter season in the A-League would even work, but it’s hard to see how kicking off at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon in February is a smart decision either.
Then there’s the finicky, overly-officious refereeing we see every week.
Let’s call a spade a spade: the penalty awarded to Sydney FC in Kogarah on Friday night looked like one of the softest decisions of the season.
But one of the changes VAR has had on the game is ensure that referees are happy to blow the whistle at the slightest transgression, safe in the knowledge that if they’ve made a howler, their decision will be overturned on video replay.
What was Scott Neville supposed to do when Adam Le Fondre blasted the ball at him from a metre away? A-League officials will claim Chris Beath merely followed the letter of the law, but Neville’s second yellow card left the visitors to battle on with ten men for more than 35 minutes.
It all evened out in the end, because the Sky Blues were denied another cast-iron spot-kick minutes later when Kosta Barbarouses strayed offside by the width of a fingernail.
This is what football is now.
It’s more frustrating than fun – especially when even the spectators are sweating through it.
jbinnie
Guest
Hermes - Just a couple of things to consider re. the gist of your article. I think, after viewing numerous "Australia v Asia" games at different levels it is very obvious that in many aspects of the game, mainly in ball skills, the Asians have already passed their Australian counterparts, and, if their "learning" continues at the same rate ,we will very soon become the "second raters" in Asia , if we are not already there. While following your logic re the standard of football being played in different areas around the world I feel it is wrong to link that progress with the movement of migrants populations. The standard of football has a history of moving from place to place as the years go on and in my lifetime alone I have noted many country influences, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Holland, France, and over all that time your Anglo Celtic populations have always been there or there about when it came to the distribution of major silverware, like the World Cup or European Championships. The South Americans long ago learned the benefits of raising a marketable commodity, ie players, and if anything it is in this area Australia is sadly lacking and has been since the turn of the millennium. That brings us back to coaching practices at the important level of 6 -12 when players are taught ball skills, or are they?????. Cheers jb.
anon
Roar Pro
They love Australia and don't want to live elsewhere. Best place on Earth.
Nemesis
Guest
Aussie Rules players are proven to be mentally fragile. Want to go running back home whenever they get homesick. They wouldn't last 1 week in Europe, or even on the ATP Tour. That's why they stick to suburban sports in Australia, where they know they'll only be tested against other suburban Aussie kids & can hop on a plane back home when things get too tough. Australian swimmers, tennis players, basketball players would all have the mental toughness to succeed in football than any Aussie Rules player.
anon
Roar Pro
Agreed. Soccer is a winter sport for a reason.
Kanggas2
Guest
Africans have certainly added tactical nous to World Cup winners France . That stereotype has been blown to Smithereens .
Hermes
Guest
It probably cannot. I suspect the socio-economic, ethnic, historical backgrounds of the current cohort of young football players differs significantly from those that were maturing in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The earlier period included the first generation children of southern, south-eastern European and Latin American migrants and the knowledge transfer regarding skills, tactics and simple passion for football that came from those pre-existing sophisticated football backgrounds. Most second generation children of southern, south-eastern European and Latin American migrants are now aspiring accountants, builders and lawyers. The diminishing pool that live and breathe for football will only have limited contact with their grandfathers if they are still alive. Further, the migration intake of Australia over the last 20-30 years later is very different than before and most migrants hail from places where football is relatively unsophisticated or almost non-existent compared to Europe and Latin America. The larger intake of Africans might help a little in negating the lack of athleticism but will probably not make up the deficit in tactical nous. As for long-standing Anglo-Celtic Australians, they have been nurtured in a 'kick and hope for the best' football culture or other sports where we can expect not much to come out of that cohort. Unfortunately, people fail to notice that the dearth of young Australian football talent is structural. It is not going to go away unless there is a major conflagration in southern Europe and Latin America and Australia is a recipient of hundreds and thousands of new migrants or there is a massive transfer of football knowledge to south and east Asia. However, even in the best case scenario, this will take many generations.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
Why would W.U even be back next season? The game at the western oval looked pathetic. You'd think the imbeciles who run the club could just find a suitable rectangular stadium close to their so-called base. How hard could it possibly be? Anyone else think we wont even see Macarthur FC, me thinks they'll do a u-turn similar to Kaufland.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
That's a great suggestion Higgo. I've never been there but a little bit of common sense would make the world of difference.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
Wow, when Nemesis starts talking like this...you know the game here is stuffed. Who's the twat who's in charge Nicklou, Nickou...have you ever seen this disgrace of a CEO on any sports show, A-League broadcast ever...EVER. Absolute Ghost. Now with the news about Hyundai......forget it.
Nemesis
Guest
Let's hope this means A-League will soon start producing NSL level of players. That would be fantastic.
Hermes
Guest
Huyandai seeking to pull the plug on their sponsorship. Foxtel not interested. Last week's average crowd was less than 7,500. As predicted, A league is heading towards NSL levels of interest.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
22 is too few
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Let's say 12 teams next season = 22 games each, Home and Away + these 'split rounds', probably as long as it normally goes for.
Neil
Roar Rookie
Chris Beath had a brain fart with the penalty and send off. It is pretty rich Foxtel commentators complaining about playing times, Foxtel set the viewing times.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
I’d say Sun 6:30pm. And how long would the season go on for then.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Yes, we still miss Fuss ...
pacman
Roar Rookie
Yeah AG. Lived in Gosford for 3 years, and the humidity in summer is unbelievably oppressive. To do with the local geography.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Reuster, I agree with most of your points. However the A-League or whoever schedules games at these stadiums and times can so easily fix the problem. The game at Whitten Oval was quite a success in all honesty, way better than what playing in Geelong has ever offered. Crowd looked okay, 6,000 for a new club on a footy ground isn’t too bad. I’d suggest Western United play most of their home matches next season at Knights Stadium. Has a nice 3,000 seated grandstand, it’s a proper soccer pitch AND there is an opportunity to build a good relationship with one of the best NPLVIC clubs. Sure they’d only get 5-7k but it would look decent in that stadium, it can only had 15k which is all Western United need, even against City and Victory. Games in Ballarat at Mars Stadium can stay, it was pretty good the last time they played there. Also, I do think the A-League should move to winter BUT if they want to keep playing in the summer, why don’t they just have one round over the course of 2 weeks? Like a split round. Game 1 7:30 pm Friday night, Game 2 Saturday 7:15 pm and Game 3 5:30 pm Sunday, then do the same the next weekend, round X completed over two weeks and this scheduling should fix most of the weather problems.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Greg O'Rourke must be related to Gallop. Just like Gallop he's never seen, never heard of and shows no drive to stand for the game to improve, to raise the profile to communicate strategy development. Another wet paperbag happy to sit back and collect the pay packet
AR
Guest
It seems odd that this article about match scheduling made virtually no mention of the fact that it is Foxtel, not the FFA, that schedule the matches. Fox want all games to be separate - ie not overlapping - to ensure maximum tv ratings. Last week’s “Big Blue” drew 17k nationally on Fox, so it’s not exactly working for them.