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On Sunday afternoon, accompanied by the informative tones of Simon Hill, we caught a glimpse of a second A-League side on Channel Ten in the form of Adelaide United who were taking on the current WA State Cup holders, Floreat Athena.
On Tuesday evening, despite some initial technical issues, we got a first glimpse of how domestic Australian football will look in its new home on Channel Ten.
Unless you’ve been living on a different planet, you will have heard the news that arguably the greatest player to grace the game is moving to Ligue 1 to join Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Gigi Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi and Marco Verratti, in what will become the most expensive team ever assembled.
There used to be a joke told in England whereby you would ask someone playing at left-back what position they played in, and already knowing their answer your response would be “what, left back in the changing room?”
As a fan of the Bundesliga, you’d be forgiven to questioning why Marco Rose got the keys to the Borussia Dortmund dressing room after an underwhelming domestic campaign that saw the side finish in a disappointing eighth place and get knocked out of the German Cup by his future employers.
Mikel Arteta has just done the non-negotiable, that is to win the North London Derby on his third attempt.
With both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo enjoying high-profile competitive streaks, it’s hard to believe anything but a fierce and fascinating rivalry is due to emerge in Italy in the next nine months.
The final Saturday of September 2020 saw the first of the State NPL grand finals being played, with ACT being the first federation to conclude its 2020 competition.
The recent news announcing the creation of the Championship – a national second tier in Australia – is long overdue.
Much of the discussion over the last weeks and months has been centred around Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
If you are the kind of person who groaned at the end of last season when Munich and Juventus won their seventh and eighth respective league titles, then this weekend’s Serie A action would have had you cowering behind your sofa.
Almost two months have passed since the K League became the first major football competition to kick off post-COVID, and while the Bundesliga came next, it has now closed its curtain on the 2019-20 season.
When Jurgen Klopp left Dortmund on April 15, 2015, it was a seismic shift in terms of what he had built at the club.
On Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Australia) the two biggest clubs in Germany go head to head in a game that has been given the tagline of ‘Der Klassiker’, but has only really recently developed into a fierce rivalry.
The Pohang Steelers side in tonight’s K League clash against FC Seoul features an Australian A-League champion and Socceroo.
Last Friday night saw the K League put in front of a global audience for the first time.
Tonight eyes all over the globe will be tuning in to the K League, and hopefully the folks in South Korea will put on a show.
According to the stats, this Melbourne Victory side are the worst in club history.
It finished 4-3 in soggy conditions but it is unlikely that many will remember Sunday’s game.
Wondering why Unai Emery needs to go? The answer is in the headline.
Great match report from a great cup tie.
The one advantage of the restrictions is that we get to see each tie on channel ten
Floreat Athena almost cause an upset in the FFA Cup round of 32
100% agree with Waz initial response.
Western United are what they are but South Melbourne have basically made themselves look pathetic. We all want to see a club like South Melbourne back at the top of the Australian game but acting petty is not that way to do it.
I disagree with some of your points about the Bulls, my sense is they’ve been much more of a success and at least they represent (and play in) a specific area, although not being Sydney based, maybe I’m oblivious to the issues with the fans.
Western United not playing in the West is a huge contradiction and they should have negotiated with The Knights, Munich helped out Dortmund when they went under but the short sited ness of Australian clubs is unbelievable. WU, Knights, South all helping each other will only make the rivalry more interesting rather than trying to put each other out of business.
Football Australia needs to acknowledge two big mistakes
Great info, I’ve tried to follow the TAS and WA league this year on YouTube, and there has been some great drama unfolding with the collapse of Floreat and Devonport after having decent leads. Last time I looked Adelaide City looked high and dry so was surprised to see from you that they have also collapsed.
These NPL leagues are great as it really hard to sustain a lead and momentum is so important.
You are spot on with the part about travelling to the grounds and getting different foods, there some absolute gems around. The Greek food at Oakleigh Cannons in VIC is so far my pick of the bunch!
Am I right in saying that the 2nd tier in SA you mentioned contains the former NSL powerhouse West Adelaide?
Last round drama in the NPL
Agree with your article and also the points made by Grem and Tim Carter.
The points on him not demanding a six figure salary are also valid, you would hope the Jets management would be sensible enough to structure the deal as a pay per play deal with a lower base salary
A fit Jack Wilshere is worth a six or maybe even a seven figure salary, but if he only plays 4 games, then obviously not.
People forget he ran rings around Xavi and Iniesta in 2011, he could be, fitness permitting, as good as Diamanti
Is Jack Wilshere on his way to the Newcastle Jets?
Nice read!
Having Rushden on Australian TV is a huge asset.
As knowledgeable as they all are, the comedy between Rushden, Bozza and Fozza is as worth getting up for as much as their football expertise
'You can't bluff football fans': Rushden makes Stan debut alongside Bozza and Foz as UCL kicks off
Agree
Network Ten/Paramount+ had better get this right as football in Australia depends on it
I’m waiting until domestic football appears, after googling paramount+ myself there is literally nothing enticing me in terms of content on the platform.
Stan have brought in Max Rushdon, while the content that Sports Flick are offering mean that these currently seem more appealing if I was going to add something else to my Optus & BeIN plans!
Network Ten/Paramount+ had better get this right as football in Australia depends on it
One of the most eagerly anticipated ties. If it ever happens!
Good to see Floreat return to winning ways yesterday
FFA Cup Round of 32 preview: Floreat Athena are WA’s best chance for an upset
Nice summary.
Having the FFA cup final before the A-league season starts and after the NPL season finishes gives it much more prestige and focus as well as making it a cleaner format
I found it very weird having it one month into the regular season.
FA's 2021-22 calendar is the best thing Australian football has seen in decades
I wouldn’t call Pavard & Hernandez dominant in 2018 (despite Pavards wonder goal) & Cedric/Guerreiro for Portugal in 16 were good, but I also wouldn’t describe them as dominant.
But I agree Lahm, Thuram, Maldini, Cafu, Brehme and of course Facchetti to name a few have been crucial over the years.
I’m not saying left backs have always been bad, I’m pointing out more that it’s not just the winning side that has them and they’re becoming increasingly more important tactically and appreciated.
Plus this year, aside from Dumfries for the Netherlands, it’s very left-dominated.
'Who's laughing now?': The surprise shift changing football
I’m well read on Facchetti from the Azzurri & Inter, but he was an extremely unique player that the team was built around. There were attacking Brazilian full backs around at that time, and he did come up against the Yugoslav Fazlagic in the 68 final. But these were exceptions rather than the norm.
The English full backs were not up to much at the time
'Who's laughing now?': The surprise shift changing football
Love the article, and timely
I’ve been having arguments myself on this matter all day, the over-reaction to Immobile is unbelievable.
Why a cycling commentator feels the need for this reference is lazy
But it’s driven by this strange underlying ‘us vs them’ / ‘soccer vs non-Soccer’ attitude in Australia
It didn’t take long for some anti-football talk to creep in at SBS
Yeah, by “breeze past their ro16 opponents from the weakest group in the tournament” I am talking about group C, who the winner of group A will play so we’re saying the same thing
Turkey playing in Baku is close to home advantage so will be hard for Wales to get a result there with the quality that Turkey have
Euro 2020 preview: Are the Azzurri the dark horses?
They are my bet for the finals, they’re in a tough group but I expect them to breeze past their ro16 opponents from the weakest group in the tournament
Euro 2020 preview: Are the Azzurri the dark horses?
So using your logic China has the scope to have 11x the professional clubs that Japan has
I don’t think the equation is as simple as population being a factor
The rise, fall and rise again of Japanese football that we should have learnt from
Very nice read
It gives Australia some hope
The rise, fall and rise again of Japanese football that we should have learnt from
Great article
Surely APIA are on the list?
Also not including Marconi is interesting, I went there recently and while it’s really difficult to get to , there is still an aura about the place.
Nothing from Canberra?
Preston and Sydney Croatia over Melbourne Knights is also interesting
The 12 teams that should form the A-League's second division
Nice article
There is hope that the ESL will basically be a glorified version of those nonsense pre-season tournament
An ode to the game we love
Forget about all the glaringly obvious bad stuff here.
Who really wants to watch Real Madrid vs Chelsea ten times a year. Even the El Classico has lost its appeal in La Liga without Messi v Ronaldo…imagine watching that match for the 10th time in a season.
A European Super League is elitist, arrogant and criminal
I enjoyed this write up, good to hear what’s happening not just on the pitch but how the whole matchday experience goes down in the NSW NPL
The NPL NSW season kicks off in Sydney
Great summary
The Mariners continuing your narrative last night
Ureña is a great ‘under the radar’ buy.
The man who put Cavani and co to the sword in 2014
No more excuses - it’s time to talk about the A-League ladder
Without a doubt a side on the up!
But if Bayern (or Liverpool) had their strongest line up, I’m not sure they would come close just yet.
They did lose 3-0 at home to Lille after all!
But this young team could be a force in Europe for the next few years
AC Milan are the best team in Europe and it’s not even close
It would be great if Willock can become the focal point of this side
Three and easy as Arsenal qualify for knockout stages
It has to be success this year.
He declined the chance to build for the future by letting Tonali go to Milan, and instead signed players like Vidal and Kolarov, who would fetch higher wages than younger prospects.
Therefore he’s putting all his eggs in success this season, anything but a Serie A title will be a failure.
Will a silverware-less season spell the end for Antonio Conte at Inter?
I think you’ve nailed it, Hill and also getting Robbie Thompson from France is a bonus.
You’ve listed the annoyances, inability to pause & rewind, too slow to post replays and the 10play app is substandard on fetch TVs. I’d also add the userbility of the 10play app is rubbish on the phone also.
But overall the cast of pundits and presenters is good
How do you rate the A-Leagues' new broadcaster so far?