If you were not satisfied with the passion, skill and contest on display last Saturday night when Western United knocked off the Victory to advance to the A-League Men grand final, you are incredibly difficult to please.
Rather brilliantly, things played out in just as thrilling a manner on Sunday when Melbourne City booked their spot in the decider, coming from behind against the now-heartbroken Reds, who for a minute looked like stunning the champs.
Those results set up a perfect David and Goliath situation in which City, with all their talent, class and backing, go up against a potential fairy tale. A physically wounded, oft criticised and homeless club dares to defy the odds and claim the biggest prize in the Australian game.
There is indeed something magical about the current run that coach John Aloisi has his Western United squad enjoying, full of an emotion, passion and steel that proved too much for a favoured Melbourne Victory to handle over two legs.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Aloisi has silenced any lingering doubts over his coaching abilities even with key players out injured. The charge to the final match of the season has built up a tangible sense of an underdog overcoming considerable odds.
Momentum is snowballing and the more calm and poised opponent is no doubt fearful of being unable to ride out the wave of emotion heading its way.
The current wave is powerful enough to provide a host of logical reasons as to why Western United can get the job done on Saturday and claim a championship that few pundits probably though possible.
Jamie Young continues to block, parry and tip expertly in goals, the balance that Connor Pain, Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Lachie Wales, Jerry Skodatis and Neil Kilkenny are providing in the midfield is impressive and with a true talisman in the form of Aleksandar Prijovic up top and scoring freely, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that United can hurt City and hurt them often.
Throw in stability down back, with Leo Lacroix and Josh Risdon again utterly superb in the 4-1 second leg win on Saturday night, and the case is only strengthened.
In simple terms, Western have the weapons to score and the defensive discipline to make the opposition efforts to do so problematic, something a free-scoring and attacking-minded Victory found out in spades across the two legs of the semi-final.
(Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
After what we have seen thus far in the knock-out phase of the season, there would be few stunned should Aloisi’s men mount the surfboard one more time and ride the momentum all the way to the victory presentation.
Yet things could well play out in a far more predictable and pragmatic manner, with the best team in Australia across the last two seasons more than capable of closing United down and using the 90 minutes on offer to secure yet another piece of silverware to add to a burgeoning trophy cabinet.
For long periods, Adelaide United did appear to have City’s measure across their two semi-final matches and seemed to have them on the rack with just 20 minutes remaining. The big names in blue were urgently required to change the momentum of the contest.
Of course, City eventually managed it with the skill and resilience that has become part of their DNA in recent years. Marco Tilio and Jamie Maclaren found second-half and extra-time goals to snuff out any flame of hope the Reds still held, with patience, pressure and persistence eventually forcing open the dam wall.
Mathew Leckie was simply everywhere in the front third, Maclaren was a constant threat and Andrew Nabbout was at his feisty best, providing superbly from wide areas on more than one occasion.
(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
There was little panic from City at the back, Tilio and Rostyn Griffiths added impetus from the bench and Adelaide’s emotional run was conquered in a manner typical of the way champion teams normally operate: by remaining cool, poised and full of nothing but the belief that things will eventually turn their way.
Plenty of money will be invested on the likelihood of City producing something similar this weekend against Western United.
The absences of Alessandro Diamanti and Nikolai Topor-Stanley, as well as lingering injury concerns for Steven Lustica, have many convinced that the stretched United squad and City’s bench depth will translate into another championship for Patrick Kisnorbo’s team.
That logic will be pitted against the emotion of the green and black run. It is a run that most A-League Men fans will be hoping continues.
Yet City fans will be desperate for the mood to calm during the week so they can efficiently get down to the business of claiming the title they feel they deserve.
The fact that we can see both teams winning makes this a fitting grand final.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I’ve no doubt we’d sell out suncorp stadium if we hosted the Grand Final - but that’s not the problem!
Mark
Guest
Have to explain that one. Football Australia don't run the A-Leagues anymore so I'm not sure how a Melbourne City win v a Western United win assists them, or indeed the APL who I'm sure would like to see WU competitive anyway thus vindicating their decision to allow them in three years ago and build on their base of supporters with a win.
Bumblebee Man
Guest
Western United winning is what the A-League needs. But, Melbourne City winning is what Football Australia wants. :football:
Full Time NSD
Guest
You are really are the Brainstrust. Well said. I think Corica is the perfect canary in the coal mine in terms of where the A League is going to go. Brattain came from City a couple of seasons ago and gets resigned but Talbot goes to City. This is probably the most interesting narrative for next season. Popa will just do popa stuff at Victory. Adelaide will be forever mid table due to scheduling, budgets, east coast bias etc. WU who knows? Maybe Newcastle and Mariners will play some attacking football. WSW will probably stay where they are with Rudan. Perth who knows.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
It'd be interesting to see if the Roar could draw anywhere near 27k again...
Stevo
Roar Rookie
still on about that point! Sheesh :shocked:
Stevo
Roar Rookie
"coaching city allows him to buy any player he wants" Not true by any stretch. CFG investment in Melbourne City is commensurate with the status of the A-league. It's not going to hand Mbappe or Messi to PK - which is what is implied by your statement. On whether PK is a good coach, agree, very debatable including amongst City fans.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The only thing the mouth for hire wants is a sugar daddy but he has ended up with Veart. If it was the City group that hired him there would be a totally different tune being played.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
Dude, its a salary capped league :laughing:
Mark
Guest
Capacity at AAMI park is actually 30,050 seats. Record is 29,871 for a game between Wallabies v England in 2016. So 27,000 would be pretty high ask. Tickettek has opened up the top rows on both wings. There is only about 20 seats left in the river end (city active end). The northern end (where WU active are based) has around 200 left which is pretty good, don't know if they're exclusively WU, or City, or Victory or neutrals but that's great going. At a guess looking at ticket sales now would not be surprised if over 20,000 turn up.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The salary cap was cut by a million for the start of the 2020-2021 season thats why Corica couldn't sign anyone, then somehow the whole thing was forgotten. Corica dug his own grave by bringing back Bobo and La Fondre once it was forgotten. I dont think Kisnorbo is a good coach but he has good brains at the City group driving his recruitment Talbot was looking great at the end of the season. That Sydney hasn't valued him as much as City is very worrying. Corica has given Brattan 2 years but let go other players with injury issues, Brattan single handed lost the grand final gets a knee injury and then rewarded with 2 more years. Old man lovers Corica and Aloisi are good coaches with a fatal weakness and will never outperform a Kisnorbo with old men even with equal budgets.
Waz
Roar Rookie
27,000 is “capacity” …. Unless you’re rugby and you make up an additional 3k :stoked:
Mark
Guest
That is as succinct an explanation as warranted. You either want a form of socialistic sport, where everyone is on the same budget and same profits and same level of player or you want a capitalistic sport, where some teams can pay more and obtain more. Salary caps, draft systems play a role in a socialistic approach, such as AFL, NFL, NBA etc to try and generate competitiveness. Transfer Fees are the way a capitalistic sport tries to generate competitiveness in a capitalistic sport. Why for the life of me was a Transfer Fee system not in place when the A-League commenced? This needs to be fixed up as a priority above everything else.
Full Time NSD
Guest
Pretty harsh to deem 26,999 attendance as a failure. Why 27000?
Waz
Roar Rookie
… and some help with fixturing, especially early in the season.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Melbourne’s self-proclaimed “sporting capital” will be put to the test this weekend - anything less than a 27,000 crowd will be a failure.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Sorry to see Talbot go as he was a good young back. If he was offered a better contract then I don’t blame him. I’d move workplaces to earn more money too. As Danny Townsend said – it’s great that Sydney’s academy is producing a lot of talent and they won’t be able to keep them all. There will be new, young talent next year that hopefully gets some good game time. Sydney is a win now squad and I am quite happy supporting that sort of club, especially when they are also producing young players like Tilio, Devlin, Talbot, King, Yazbeck, Teague, Pepeunion etc. I also enjoy watching Adelaide, Central Coast, etc as I’ve mentioned before. And I love your scoops – Danny Townsend would not confirm Caceras’ departure or Penha’s arrival during his farewell address to supporters.
Full Time NSD
Guest
There are many teams with better cheque books all over the world that still can’t yield the results. If your argument always comes back to money than it’s up to the owners to make the budgets bigger. At the end of the day this a competition and not a participation sport.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
I hope melbourne city wins
jbinnie
Guest
According to the vast majority of comments on here it is a pity we cant just get Patrick and John into a strip and boots and play a game of something or other but with no "buses" involved. It always amuses me somewhat to see that description used to describe a team's play since it is now some 55 years since the "master's" of the game .Inter Milan, were forced to re-think the tactics they had used so successfully for many years, a tactic which not only worked, but demanded a huge amount of discipline, organisation, fitness, and application, from players while at the same time boring the football lover to tears with it's successes. Having seen the tactic used any comparison between that and the games played by our grand finalists is laughable. Patrick and John have put together 2 groups of players who play a modern style of football better than most other teams in the ALM and that's why they have reached the final. Sure the aficionado will pick flaws in the team structure that could be improved but we have to wait till next season to see if the coaches themselves believe improvement in required. That will be a true test of their ability as manager/coaches, not the outcome of the meeting between the two finalists, there are many factors on the day that will decide the outcome of the game. Actually both teams are made up with players with very similar career histories so that at this point in time it could be the game that will go either way with that old furphy, "the bounce of the ball" probably affecting the outcome much more tha analysing both squads. Cheers jb.