A-League Men Sliding Doors Round 15: Adelaide are back on top

With an Original Rivalry that lived up to the hype, a shock upset, and cracking goals; Round Ball Australia keeps you up to date with all the big story lines from Round 15 of the A-League Men competition, with Sliding Doors.

Western United

IF Noah Botic can keep striking them from distance like that…

THEN Western United are a dangerous proposition deep into the season.

Still in the early stages of his career, Botic is stepping up to show he could become the talismanic goal scorer that a side like Western United need to put an exclamation mark on a campaign.

Botic’s long range goal, his second in the clash, was a strike that would have more than challenged even the most skilled goalkeepers around the world.

With six goals this campaign including his brace in Round 14, Botic hasn’t found the net as much as the followers of Western may have liked, however both of his finishes on Friday would warm the hearts of said followers.

If Botic can leverage this brace and start to become a more consistent threat on goal, the sky could be the limit for the men from Tarneit.

Chris Macpherson

Newcastle Jets

IF Newcastle can’t make any significant moves in this transfer window…

THEN the calls will continue to mount for Rob Stanton’s future.

Flat would be a generous description of the showing Newcastle put on at Tarneit. Defensively they were scrappy at best and well below par at worst. On multiple occasions the defenders of Newcastle were out-positioned and out-worked and showed their lack of cumulative experience.

At the other end they created chances but inefficient finishing saw Newcastle out of a contest that they had some rights to be in, an all too familiar tale.

The side lacks at both ends of the pitch currently and are left wanting in plenty of clashes. Some experience to settle things down at both ends could be enough to see the Jets nip at the heels of the top six.

A failure to sign quality and experience means more of the same for Newcastle and will heap more disappointment onto their fans.

Chris Macpherson

Western Sydney Wanderers

IF we don’t talk enough about the difficulty of travelling to and from Perth for an away day…

THEN the Wanderers gave us the perfect example of how hard it can be.

Fair dues to Stajcic and his team as they continuously stayed away from using the travel as an excuse, but it was clear to see that the effects of a red eye flight back from WA in midweek were being felt.

The loss here to the Mariners shouldn’t give take too much away from their recent up-tick in form, especially in a season where the top eight or nine teams are usually all genuinely competitive with one another.

What should be taken away from this game is the clear impact of Juan Mata. He’s been playing a maximum of 60 minutes and would’ve felt the travel more than most, so this is in no way a slight against his non-selection as he probably needed some rest.

But his pinpoint ball for James Temelkovski’s maiden A-League goal was another example of the World Cup winner’s class. The quality is clear to see by all, and hopefully we see him back against Auckland at the weekend.

More defensive reinforcements are definitely still needed. Hopefully for Wanderers fans, at least one of their rumoured targets in Thomas Deng and Milos Degenek can be acquired in the upcoming weeks.

Lachie Avil

Central Coast Mariners

IF there was a way to bounce back after a humiliating loss to Sydney FC…

THEN the Mariners achieved it with victory in Western Sydney.

After a meek performance in the previous round against Sydney FC where the Mariners looked like a side that had zero ideas going forward and were making simple errors leading to goals at the back, taking any points off Western Sydney Wanderers away on Friday night seemed like a tall order.

But what we saw was the most dominant and well-rounded performance from Central Coast this season, and although the pressure was put on late from Western Sydney, it was a game in which the Mariners never looked like losing.

The Mariners wounds this season have often been self-inflicted, with Trent Sainsbury remaining some distance away from the player that the club were expecting him to be. Brian Kaltak is performing way below his level this year, and is uncharacteristically shaky on the ball, losing his steady presence that saw the Mariners go so far over the last two seasons.

When things go right for this side, they retain the ability to beat anyone in the league. However, there haven’t been many of these days this season. Luckily enough for Mark Jackson, Friday night against Western Sydney happened to be one of those days.

Will Booth

Auckland FC

IF the Black Knights were brought back down to the chasing pack with their recent run of away fixtures…

THEN at least they’re taking full advantage of the games on the home side of the ditch.

Mt Smart Stadium is becoming somewhat of a fortress for Auckland – if it wasn’t considered one already.

As Perth and Wellington have taught us across the first two decades of the league, whilst persistent away travel comes with significant difficulties, the flip side of the coin presents the opportunity to turn your home patch into well oiled, three point machines.

It seems that Auckland are well on their way to doing that with Mt Smart. Dismissing (at the time) top of the table Melbourne City 3-0 in the first half alone puts an exclamation point on that notion.

Like their isolated counterparts have so often experienced, their away form has to improve if they truly want to compete for silverware at the end of the season, but the knowledge that you have such a solid home base to return to makes that flight home all the more easy.

Lachie Avil

Melbourne City

IF the reinforcements are finally starting to make their way to the front lines…

THEN City fans should still feel optimistic about what they can achieve this season.

Aurelio Vidmar wasn’t happy with the way his side were dismantled in the first half, nor should he be. But, inconsistency is synonymous with young and inexperienced football sides.

Combine that with what is proving to be a daunting away day to Auckland and the City faithful shouldn’t be too dismayed.

The City kids have proven they have the quality about them over the last few months, and have pushed Vidmar’s side into quite the comfortable position on the table, as the litter of injured players start to regain match fitness.

Matthew Leckie represents what is hopefully the first of many. 15 minutes isn’t much, but it’s a start. As we all know, truly being successful in the A-League means being in your prime when the calendar ticks into May.

As long as Vidmar can provide gentle introductions for the likes of Tilio, Caputo, Cohen, Lopane and even Jeggo if he’s ready in time for finals, then City should still be considered among the most likely to be present on the final day.

Lachie Avil

Sydney FC

IF Sydney FC fans were looking for consistency in their side…

THEN they have unfortunately chosen the wrong team to support in their current iteration.

Proving their pre-season predictions about the team correct, Sydney are a team that are always in any game they play. This was most obvious in their game against Brisbane Roar who led 4-1 late on in the game, but were given a scare by a resurging Sydney FC who were able to peg it back to 4-3 and keep the punters in their seats for the full 90 minutes plus stoppage time.

But at what point do you lose the fans? Sure it was entertaining, but how on earth were this hopeless, and winless until this match, Brisbane side able to get themselves a 4-1 lead? It is an indictment on Ufuk Talay’s principles of play, and Ruben Zadkovich got the set-up right in order to exploit this.

A Thomas Waddingham-less Brisbane Roar should not be putting four goals away against Sydney FC, and the fact they did it without Waddingham shows how many chances they would’ve been handed in order to score that many.

The transfer window is open and with Hayden Matthews reportedly on his way to England to join Aussie FC (Portsmouth), the defence needs urgent addressing. The Rhyan Grant centre back experiment has failed, and other signings must be made to bolster that back line, who at the moment look like they are going to concede every time the opposition attacks.

This is not just down to the individual quality in players not being there, but the way Talay has the team playing on a knife’s edge. He has been tweaking with it all season, but the balance has still not been found between breathtaking and bewildering.

Will Booth

Brisbane Roar

IF last week Roar management said they support Ruben Zadkovich “at the moment”…

THEN Brisbane’s first win of the season came at the most hilarious time possible.

Speculation suggests that around a month ago, Zadkovich’s job was under serious consideration. Consideration that whilst he survived, left him on a knife’s edge.

Then the run of losses continued, including the Glory, Jets and Mariners at home. Kaz Patafta then interviewed with Channel 10, using deliberate language to leave the door wide open for his impending removal if results didn’t improve.

And just as they looked like they were going to pull the trigger after what seemed like one of the most certain defeats of the lot, a clinical performance in front of goal – after the sale of Waddingham – handed them their first victory in nearly 300 days.

Credit to Zadkovich where it is due for instructing his team to press hard early against the tired Sydney to perfectly exploit their travel arrangements. It worked perfectly.

I can ring the bell again if you like, but coming off just a two-day break from playing in Wellington made things very difficult for the Sky Blues.

Not that the Brisbane players or fans will care. A win is a win. One they needed desperately. Replicating that result becomes the next challenge to build some semblance of momentum into the back half of the season.

Lachie Avil

Adelaide United

IF home form was the only thing holding this team back…

THEN beating the old rival in front of a massive crowd at Coopers should settle nerves.

Five games without a win at home is unheard of for Adelaide United. Throughout this season they’ve just been entirely unable to put things together at Hindmarsh. Until now.

It was an absolute classic of an Original Rivalry – goals, fouls, and a great crowd. And it was Adelaide’s sheer bloody-mindedness that saw them over the line.

Quick responses after conceding, effective substitutions, controlling the tempo in the latter half of the game: the Reds did everything right.

Ethan Alagich bagged the winner, his second goal in as many games at home, Stefan Mauk didn’t stop running the whole time he was on the pitch, and Ben Folami had one of his best games of the season.

If there is any game to get the boys up for, it’s an Original Rivalry. But we’ve seen this Adelaide side fail to turn up in big home games.

So it seems the side has turned a page, and just in time to host second placed Auckland midweek. 

Jacob Stevens

Melbourne Victory

IF an away win against the old enemy is the best possible way to put a five game winless run behind you…

THEN the Victory and Arthur Diles have left a massive opportunity on the table.

Nothing gets an away section of Vuck fans going like a goal at Hindmarsh stadium, which got the night off to a very positive note when Ryan Teague slotted home.

But, defensive lapses have consistently cost the Victory at key moments this season, and it happened again in the most important away day of the campaign.

Josh Rawlins gets half a pass being thrown in after the departure of Jason Geria in the transfer window, but fluffing his lines to play Stefan Mauk in behind was the first strike.

The second, a miscommunication between Miranda and Hamill to play the ball into their own net.

The third and final was much more of a collective effort as majority of the Victory players seemed more concerned with a miraculous goal line clearance than actually marking any of the incoming Adelaide players to slot home a cutback.

Victory have improved their efficiency of scoring this season, but the last month has really exposed the departure of Damien Da Silva, both in quality on the ball and in organisation.

They’ve already slipped outside of the finals positions. An extremely balanced season leaves their door open for a recovery, but they better get about it quickly, and none more so than the under pressure Diles.

Lachie Avil

Macarthur FC

IF the Dynamic Duo of Jed Drew and Jake Hollman can continue to light it up…

THEN Macarthur will be competitive in every game they play.

Jed Drew now has 12 goal contributions for the season, notching up his sixth assist as he fed the ball to Jake Hollman, who smashed it beyond Albert Kelly-Heald to open the scoring for Macarthur.

The two have developed a strong connection this season, and are two of the bright youngsters who continue to impress week after week for the Bulls.

Every attack seemingly goes through either Hollman or Drew, and if their form continues, along with being able to bring the likes of Chris Ikonomidis (who made his Macarthur debut on Monday night) and Harry Sawyer off the bench, Mile Sterjovski’s side will compete for the rest of the season in every game they play.  

Poletti

Wellington Phoenix

IF Wellington can get their January recruitment right…

THEN they might just get their season back on track.

Wellington have lost key pieces in the current window, with the likes of Oskar van Hattum and Mohamed Al-Taay departing, as well as the loss of David Ball who did not play at all for the Nix this season.

Giancarlo Italiano’s side had a strong performance on Monday against Macarthur, led by Albert Kelly-Heald at the back, who despite conceding the first goal, came up massively for the remainder of the contest.

The Phoenix are a side rattled by injuries and having to play a lot of academy and scholarship talent.

If Chiefy can get in some of the talent he wants in the window, with the coach identifying in the post-game press conference that he wants a number 10 and also indicating that he would like to use the visa spot they have available, the building blocks are there for his tactics to work and dominate teams once again.

Poletti