sidelined

Apologies for the mini-hiatus, got a bit distracted by a shiny bit of foil in a tree. Hours of productive time were lost.

Here’s my summary of the last two weeks: Round 3 was completely stuffed by poor scheduling. That was crap. Expect more of it as FFA haven’t the guts or the muscle to shift Olyroo-affected matches around. Round 4 was traumatic for entirely different reasons, largely to do with Sydney FC totally sucking. Oh and what’s with all the draws? It’s not like most teams have a rock-solid defence…

23/9/07: Now with updates

Round 5, Season 3

(2) Newcastle Jets vs Melbourne Victory (2) 8pm AEST, 21/9/07

The battle of last season’s firecrackers looked all but over in the first twenty minutes, as the Jets sprung an early lead through Adam Griffiths and Stu Musialik, who cracked Victory’s shaky backline with a tap-in off a corner inside five minutes followed by a searing long-range shot from midfield. This isn’t however, the Newy of last year; despite ample chances they weren’t able to seal it (though Melbourne had something to say about it, Theoklitos’ parry of Bridge’s screamer was amazing) and Mario Jardel and Denni have yet to prove adequate replacements for Carle and Rodriguez.

I’m not sure what Melbourne will take out of this match. Their defensive performance in the first half was shocking, and Muscat’s performance was definately worrying from a southern perspective — the broken arm is obviously having an impact and I don’t know wether his leadership is enough justification to keep him on the field. In the second half there were flashes of brilliance, Leandro was a menace on the flanks all night, and Caceres’s off-the-bench goal was inspiring in it’s determination and confidence; both things a certain team in pastel blue could do with, but this is the fifth draw in a row for last year’s Doublers and Archie Thompson’s 63rd goal was also remarkable in that it was his first all season.

(2) Wellington Pheonix vs Adelaide United (2) 5pm AEST 22/9/07

Can Pheonix banish the NZ Knights with a win over Adelaide United? Should I even be making the comparison any more after last week? Probably not. The Nix should have an unchanged squad for the third game in a row while Vidmar has some reshuffling to do, Nate Burns is being rested so Agostino and Djite will pobably be upfront and Sarkies will debut for the Reds in midfield. Ross Alosi gets the pleasure of captaining against his old team. Watch for the Karl Dodd – Bruce Djite match up and the joy of Felipe spinning Alagich and Pantelis like LPs.

2-1 Adelaide, but football will be the winner. (Sorry)
Update: Pretty dull game for most, though the first pair of goals seemed to wake both sides up a little. Djite’s second was massive — that guy has a great future ahead of him in the Green and Gold — Cassio and Felipe were again strong for their respective sides, and rumours of Nathan Burns’ death appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Reds fans must be feeling gypped, conceeding the equaliser thanks to a goalkeeping blunder, but credit to Wellington for sticking in there to the very end.

Queensland Roar vs Sydney FC 7pm AEST, 22/9/07

This is probably Branko and co.’s toughest assignment this season, Suncorp isn’t quite a fortress but Roar fans put on a massive show and the atmosphere’s always lively, as are the opposition. Roar have Murdocca back while Sydney’s injury woes continue with Popovic and Middleby out for a week and Mike Enfield gone for the year with a knee injury. Terry McFlynn and Adam Biddle rejoin the squad in their place. Neither side has been particularly impressive at goalfront though both teams have shown potential, but Sydney’s vaunted midfield has been trailing off of late, I’m giving Roar the edge here. The one ‘upside’ for skyblue is Popovic’s injury might be a blessing in disguise, as it allows Milligan to slot into the backline, giving some much needed pace.

Realisically this is Queensland’s game to lose. Here’s hoping they do .

Update: Well. I knew we were in for something when I saw the formations come up on screen. A 4-3-3 with Corica forward, Patrick on the bench, Zadkovich in defensive midfield and Mark Milligan with the captain’s armband. Branko, you crazy bastard, it somehow worked. This was a very scrappy game, with aggressive enforcement from McFlynn and Roar’s Tiatto closing down play, and a lot of stray passing, particularly from FC. For all this, Queensland were fluid and probably have the best rnning game in the comp; they were prevented from 3-1 or more by astonishing last-ditch efforts from SFC’s backline, including three wondersaves from a reborn Clint Bolton and a masterful tackle on Lynch from Mark Rudan, shutting down what would have been a certain goal. Branko’s subbing on of Patrick for the flagging Ufuk Talay proved inspired, seconds later Zadkovich and Corica set him up for an elegant tap-in, his first touch for the night. Roar, with ten shots on target to Sydney’s one went home the loser.

Central Coast vs Perth Glory 5pm AEST, 23/9/07

Until this week you would have called this a field day for the Fisherfolk, but Perth have a lifeline with injuries to Sasho Petrovski and Nik Mrdja leading McKinna to call upon grizzled Aussie football ronin Damian Mori to be the Seven Samurai to their imperilled village. Glory scored a goal, finally, last week and the toothless Dragicevic will likely be replaced by James Robinson (who snatched that 93rd minute header for MVFC in the preminary final against Adelaide earlier this year) but I still can’t see them winning this.

1-0 Mariners

Update: 1-0, Petrovski, 80th minute. Pretty turgid game by the sounds of it.

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