A-League Men Round 17 Sliding Doors: Sydney rise, Auckland fly, and several teams collapse

From dominant performances to second-half collapses; Round Ball Australia keeps you up to date with all the big story lines from Round 17 of the A-League Men competition, with Sliding Doors.

Brisbane Roar

IF Zadkovich is subbing in three defensive players whilst trailing 1-0… 

THEN what does that say about him as a manager?

There’s no getting away from Brisbane’s sub-par performances this season. At times, they’ve been a train wreck, and the fans have simply had enough. 

Yet all that falls onto one man; the manager Ruben Zadkovich, who somehow still finds himself as the Roar’s manager despite no direction and a lack of identity. 

In the loss against the Wanderers, the most shocking part was the subs of three defensive-minded players appearing in the second half despite requiring a goal to get back into the contest. 

Corey Brown, Scott Neville and Walid Shour all appeared in the second half, with the latter two entering the pitch in the 77th and 82nd minute. What does that tell you about Zadkovich’s ability to adapt tactically when his side are in desperate need of a goal? 

Funnily enough, it was this exact same fixture last time out when Zadkovich was accused of telling his players to fake injury so that they could walk out of Commbank Stadium with a point. 

Christian Montegan

Western Sydney Wanderers

IF finals football is any possibility… 

THEN they need to use their win against Brisbane to continue the momentum in the final stretch.

Albeit against an incredibly disappointing Brisbane Roar outfit, this was still a must-win game at all costs for Alen Stajcic if finals football is still in the equation. 

You can only play who’s in front of you, but the way the Wanderers managed this game from start to finish being away from home was the sign of a mature side. They could’ve easily stooped to Brisbane’s level, but didn’t. 

Now, a massive Sydney Derby awaits before clashes against Macarthur, Central Coast and Perth. 

If the Wanderers are serious about this season, they must pick up a minimum of seven points from those fixtures if we are to treat them with any relevancy. 

With Juan Mata seemingly settled in at long last, despite his injury concerns, and the likes of Bozhidar Kraev and Nicolas Milanovic continuing to lead with their top performances, we may well be looking at a dark horse come finals, if they get there. 

Christian Montegan

Auckland FC

IF Adelaide’s dropped points against Sydney are anything to go by…

THEN we’re almost in “their Premiership to lose” territory for the Black Knights.

Convincing without being comprehensive against the Bulls this time out, Auckland are turning Mount Smart Stadium into a very happy hunting ground indeed.

Now sitting five points clear atop the table, it’s the largest lead we’ve seen since their remarkable winning run to the season concluded against Western United.

With the bye this weekend, they’ll lose their game advantage to Adelaide, but will at least allow a pausing of the ‘ifs, buts, and maybes’ that comes with an uneven games players tally.

It’s all setting up for what has the potential to be one of the most remarkable first seasons by an expansion club in A-League Men history, as they hope to equal the Wanderers’ efforts over a decade ago.

Lachie Avil

Macarthur FC

IF Macarthur are one of the A-League clubs with the least resources going around…

THEN their transfer activity sure isn’t showing it.

A disappointing late goal against Auckland aside, things are looking a lot more positive in Campbelltown than a week ago.

Losing star winger Jed Drew was the final straw in a run of outward transfers that would have had Bulls fans seriously worried about the remainder of their season in what is turning out to be a very competitive tussle for finals positions.

Yes, Ariath Piol and Oliver Jones (plus the release of Dino Arslanagic) didn’t have as much on field impact as Drew, but the sheer quantity is bound to affect any A-League team, but also goes to reward Macarthur for the emphasis they’ve put into their academy setup.

What’s perhaps even more impressive is how they’ve gone to replace these players.

Korean-based Australian Peter Makrillos and internationals Kévin Boli and Saîf-Eddine Khaoui are opportunistic signings that whilst are all unknown to the A-League, show a decisiveness to get on with things despite the window being open for another week and a half.

The Bulls know every point is going to matter in the run home toward finals, and they’ve recruited with that in mind. What happens on the pitch? Who knows?

Lachie Avil

Sydney FC

IF Sydney can keep that physio room empty…

THEN the sky (blue) is the limit.

Smooth, silky, and reassured. This was a Sydney performance that was much closer to their ceiling than their floor, two places that they have been bouncing between with neck-breaking inconsistency this season.

Although the defence is still very much a makeshift one, put together to hold for just long enough until new signing Alex Grant is ready for a starting spot, they handled a dangerous Adelaide attack with ease and allowed a near full-strength attack to flourish.

Sky Blue fans would be feeling optimistic seeing Douglas Costa making a 10 minute cameo late on in this game, but he wasn’t required to make an impact in this game.

When you can bring Jaiden Kucharski, Adrian Segecic, and Douglas Costa off the bench, it highlights the strength in your starting attackers.

Those three players who made an appearance off the bench would likely form the starting attack if they were all to be plying their trade for any other team in the league.

A Sydney FC with a full cohort of players still look like they would comfortably beat anybody in the league, but the challenge is keeping them all fit at the same time.

Will Booth

Adelaide United

IF the Reds keep relying too heavily on scoring bulk goals… 

THEN expect to see more results like this.

Yes, Adelaide are sitting second. No, they did not look good against Sydney.

There is absolutely no problem with setting up a side to be aggressive, score goals, and beat opponents purely by putting the ball in the net more frequently. There is a problem with that being the only way a side is set up to win.

The defence this season, even with Bart Vriends coming in and Pana Kikianis looking amazing, has been close to wooden-spoon worthy. Hovering just under 2 goals conceded per game, while title rivals Auckland are below 1.

When the forwards are in form all is happy and well, prolific finishing papers over the cracks. But when the forwards can’t finish a happy meal – you get a result like this one. With even a league-average defence Adelaide may have come away with a point for their efforts. 

Serious questions again need to be asked of ownership for their defensive investment (or lack thereof), and the coaching staff for their repeated neglect of the defensive systems and structures – such as defensive set pieces – that keep hurting this side.

But, they’re still second. So better not complain too much.

Jacob Stevens

Central Coast Mariners

IF they can only fix one problem at a time…

THEN it will likely be one problem to many if they are to make finals.

Undefeated in four, have the Mariners found their mojo again? The answer is no. They have been good at finding solutions to their woes this season, and over those past four games have seemingly worked out a way to put the ball in the back of the net at last.

But when one thing is solved, another issue pops up. And this issue looms large as it saw them drop two points at the end of the day.

Goal scoring has seemed to come a bit easier to the side, but something that needs to be patched up is the leaky and error-strewn defence that has given goals away and allowed opponents back into games on too many occasions.

Seeing out games when they are the better side or have found themselves in front has cost them four points over the last two game weeks, and for a side that sits in ninth place on the table, these are points that they cannot afford to be giving away.

Will Booth

Newcastle Jets

IF they can find a way to play the second half of the F3 Derby every week… 

THEN they may make their way out of the race for second last.

Newcastle finally got the memo in the second half at Gosford, some grit, determination and effort combined with having your most capable players on the field will deliver some delight (admittedly a draw is as much delight as they deserved).

The Jets at their best in the second stanza were threatening in attack and showed poise and class in key moments, qualities that have clearly been lacking thus far.

Rob Stanton needs to continue to press the Jets to deliver their blue collar ethos of hard work and grit, and then combine this with getting his best eleven on the paddock. This week’s game clearly showed that eleven at a minimum includes Lachie Rose & Kota Mizunuma, and likely also requires Clayton Taylor & Charles M’Mombwa.

If the Jets can hit this potentially mythical combination, taking three points from matches will most certainly become a much more common occurrence in the Hunter.

Chris Macpherson

Perth Glory

IF Perth started having visions of being a decent football club…

THEN this loss will serve to ground them.

They are nowhere near as bad as they were earlier this season, and their recent run of form, even with two recent losses, is evidence that the squad is starting to come together.

However, fans, pundits, players, and coaches need to steady themselves a little. The Glory are still a long way off most of the other teams in the league, let alone finals spots. There’s a lot still to do to get this team into a position where they can at least jostle for mid-table positions.

That being said, there were still positives to take away. The opening portion of the game was promising, and they looked to have the Victory rattled. Fans turned up in great numbers again, suggesting the support for the club is still there, too.

And besides, perhaps a moment to contextualise their recent run, bringing themselves back down to Earth, will boost future performances. Let’s hope that is the case, because Perth have been great entertainment – on all parts of the spectrum – this season. 

Jacob Stevens

Melbourne Victory

IF they bring in that lack of intensity at the beginning of the second half for the remainder of the season… 

THEN the top sides will punish them. 

Historically, away trips to Western Australia have always proven to be challenging for the Victory. You just have to look at their last away fixture in Perth where they managed to scrap a 3-2 win. 

In the end, as the 2-0 score line suggests, it was a rather routine showing. In saying that, they were underwhelming in patches. 

The way the Victory came out in the second half was frighteningly bad, with Perth’s lack of quality up front (apart from Adam Taggart, who should’ve scored 20 seconds after the restart) is what ultimately saved them from falling behind. 

Perhaps it’s a harsh take, but they looked extremely rattled in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but the positive to take from it is that they steadied the ship and wrestled back the match on their terms, with Zinedine Machach a key contributor. 

They can get away with lapses in concentration against a side like Perth or Brisbane, but not in finals football. 

Christian Montegan