A-League Men Sliding Doors: Crazy in Campbelltown

From Victory’s striker conundrum, Brisbane’s struggles at the bottom of the table and the still perfect Auckland FC; Round Ball Australia keeps you up to date with all the big storylines emerging from Round 6 of the A-Leauge Men’s competition, with Sliding Doors.

Adelaide United

IF being undefeated is a supposed sign of a team’s quality…

THEN Adelaide are really testing that theory’s legitimacy.

Yes, the Reds remain undefeated after six rounds of football. No, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that will continue.

The side has looked defensively weak all season, even with the inclusion of Bart Vriends at the back. An average of two goals conceded per game so far, including shipping two goals to a Perth Glory side many regard to be the worst team in the competition, has only been overcome through dynamic attacking football.

Dylan Pierias was again a key playmaker for United, finding plenty of success in his tailor-made width holding role. Zach Clough, meanwhile, continued his fine form with a goal and assist.

It was again a fast start for the Reds, dominating the Glory in the first half, without a shot on target, mind, but mid-game tactical adjustments brought Perth right back into it, and a close-fought, transitional second half saw the sides share the points.

So, Adelaide may be undefeated, but the rate that they continue to concede is a worrying sign, and one that the coaching staff can ill-afford to ignore for a fourth consecutive season.

Jacob Stevens

Perth Glory

IF a point away to Adelaide is a good result for any team…

THEN Perth will be super frustrated to have possibly thrown away the win.

Perth have not been good this season. They’ve struggled to score goals, and have conceded for fun.

But, Perth weathered the first half storm, and headed into the break the better side, buoyed by an Adam Taggart goal.

A slow start to the second half didn’t help, conceding twice in two minutes, but the Glory talisman struck again to equalise, and brought his side right back into the game.

In fact, Perth generated arguably better chances throughout the game than the Reds, and had every opportunity to steal a winner, with Taggart blasting a possible hat-trick over the bar later in the second half.

Head coach David Zdrilic will be frustrated to have potentially dropped points, given the way his side has started the season. But beggars can’t be choosers, and a point away to Adelaide is a solid result for even some of the league’s stronger sides.

At least the Glory have shown some signs of life. They’ll need to figure out how to stop conceding so many goals, mind you.

Jacob Stevens

Auckland FC

IF the first Kiwi Clasico established the first piece of the rivalry…

THEN the second is set to blow it out of the water.

With their 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets, Auckland will now enter the Kiwi Clasico v2 still without a loss, dropped points or even a goal conceded!

The Black Knights are breaking records all over the place, and oh how Chiefy’s Phoenix would love to be the ones to stop them in their tracks.

The Blue and Black were tested in this game, perhaps more than anything simply by the ticking of the clock over 80 minutes with the scoreboard still at 0-0, with the weight of expectation all around them.

But they came through and kept their streak alive. Quite extraordinary stuff. Bring on next week in front of another sell-out crowd.

Lachie Avil

Newcastle Jets

IF games were 80 minutes…

THEN Newcastle would narrowly miss finals.

An inexperienced Jets side did all the hard work against ladder leaders Auckland keeping them scoreless for 83 minutes.

However conceding two goals in the final seven minutes plus stoppage time saw a familiar result for the Jets as well as a get out of jail free card for their rivals.

There were glimpses of positives for Newcastle with Ben Gibson again looking impactful while Justin Vidic was close to capitalising on an attacking raid in immediate response to Auckland’s first goal, but for being marginally offside.

Newcastle coach Rob Stanton certainly leant into the positives post match.

“Last week we were close. Today, again, I felt there were good moments there,” Stanton said.

“I’m pleased with the performance. I am obviously disappointed with the end result, but I can’t be too down on the players. It was a tremendous effort.”

It will be back to the drawing board for Newcastle as they head home in Round 7 for just their second game on home soil of the season, and the task doesn’t get any easier as they take on the other undefeated side in Adelaide United.

Chris Macpherson

Melbourne City

IF that’s how City perform at home against one of the worst defences in the league…

THEN Aurelio Vidmar better hope that the sluggish effects of a 20-day break was the true culprit.

Before the match, Vidmar said the extended break had “been a little bit tough” and that perhaps they’d lost a little bit of momentum after the comprehensive win over Perth Glory.

Call it momentum, energy or fight; City lacked in spades on Saturday afternoon. The Wanderers’ mid-block quite successfully stalled a lot of City’s passing play through the mid, but still should’ve been able to put a few away when the opportunities presented.

There are of course, some extenuating circumstances in terms of personnel that perhaps can forgive many of their missed chances, but that’s the hand they’ve been dealt.

When you reflect on the nine points they’ve earned so far, the three wins they have earned were all against bottom four sides. The fourth of which, Brisbane Roar, they come up against away from home on Friday night in somewhat of a no-win scenario.

Either just another win against a low-ranked team, or a slip up on a banana skin. Tough week to be a City fan.

Lachie Avil

Western Sydney Wanderers

IF the Wanderers’ defence was improved…
THEN would they be a title threat?

Arguably the biggest issue plaguing the Wanderers coming into the season was the loss of Marcelo and the lack of leadership in the backline. 

Lawrence Thomas’ recent comeback has been a welcomed addition for Alen Stajcic, and the whole defensive unit against Melbourne City was in sync and for the first time this season, actually looked reliable. 

We know the quality that this team possesses going forward, (Juan Mata is even struggling to get minutes), and they can beat anyone on their day. But the question is can they do it regularly and find the right balance between defence and attack without exposing the midfield? 

Christian Montegan

Macarthur FC

IF Macarthur can not be a cohesive unit…

THEN a top six spot is well out of reach.

This one may not necessarily be Macarthur’s fault, as they have been dealing with injuries throughout the year so far and can not keep their best starting side on the field.

The drive and tenacity was there for Mile Sterjovski’s side, exhibited by the second half comeback from the Bulls, but they gave the lead back to Brisbane very late and were unable to close out what should have been three points.

With both Jed Drew and Jake Hollman making second half appearances and looking like they have recovered from their injury setbacks, Sterjovski should be able to get the starting side together again soon, and maybe Macarthur can fulfill their potential if/when that happens.

Poletti

Brisbane Roar

IF the Roar can hold onto early leads…

THEN they can potentially challenge for a top-six spot at the end of the season.

For the second week in a row, the Roar took a very early lead and gave it up, falling 3-2 to Adelaide last week at Unite Round, and this week coming back to draw 4-4 with Macarthur FC late in stoppage time.

The talent is clearly there on the pitch for the Roar, who have a very solid squad, but they are struggling to make good of some quality goalscoring up front and manage matches.

Coach Ruben Zadkovich said that he was both disappointed because of the goals and lead they gave away, but also proud because of how his side fought back to get the draw.

He also talked about how hard the team and staff are working and that he is a firm believer in the idea that working hard leads to more luck, and that the tide will turn for his side.

With five games already in the books for a single point, Zadkovich will need to hope the tide turns soon if the Roar hope to play finals.

Poletti

Western United

IF that was how John Aloisi spoke to the media after their 3-1 loss to Melbourne Victory…

THEN I’d hate to be a Western United player on the training park this week.

The first line of Aloisi’s post-match press conference was the example of the kind of one-liner every coach wishes they could walk in, drop, and exit just as quickly after a loss.

“I don’t think we were good enough today, so that’s why we didn’t win, we didn’t deserve it, they deserved it,” he said.

But when pressed on his side’s issues, he expressed his profound annoyance in the way his team played.

“I’m disappointed, because we can lose a game, but not like that… we’ve shown in the first five games of the season that, I don’t care who we put out there, we’re matching it with everyone.,” he said.

“Five really good performances, that wasn’t a performance that we’ve shown all year, that’s the reason why I’m angry.”

Seems like the Western players are in for a tough week out in Tarneit as they prepare to host the Bulls.

Lachie Avil

Melbourne Victory

IF Vergos becomes more composed in front of goal…
THEN he will make life much easier for Victory.

When Greek import Nikos Vergos arrived from his native country, there were mixed feelings about the signing. Was he going to be one of those disappointing foreigners, or would he be the real deal? 

The 28-year-old notched up his second goal of the campaign thanks to a stroke of fortune from an incredibly tight angle to nutmeg the goalkeeper.

But there are other times when he seems wasteful in multiple games throughout his short stint thus far.

With Bruno Fornaroli scoring just two minutes after coming off the bench, perhaps it’s the kick up the backside that Vergos needs to perform consistently — because without him contributing his fair share of goals, Kisnorbo’s men are going to suffer from the same problems they faced last season.

Christian Montegan