The Stress at Melbourne Heart (My 1,000 post thank you)

Watching the last 20 minutes of the Heart v Sydney FC game last night one thing was clear, the Heart players are not enjoying their game.

They are stressed. Perhaps even broken hearted. A goal from a corner - that van't Schip rightly pointed out wasn't a corner - and its is a draw. A 1-0 win from a quality goal from their new Brazilian signing is relegated to 1-1 and a 10th match without a win. And the home crowd, around 6,000, made their feelings clear. There is a problem.

I was very surprised at how they played. John van't Schip is the A-League's direct connection to Ajax - the club that brought us the style of football we have all been told to play - 4-3-3, attacking, dominating. But most of all entertaining.

What I saw was long ball. And once they were ahead, panic and running to the corners and fouls. The entertainment value?

What irony that Brisbane, under the coach that Heart considered and rejected, are now playing the modern version of the Ajax style of play. Maybe the resume of the coach is not the whole answer. Maybe there is more. Like how they deal with pressure.

Not the pressure of failing before a large audience but of failing before a very small one. 

Maybe that is why van't Schip chose to attack the A-League and the quality of its players and style of play in Holland in the pre-season. It is interesting what you can say to the media if you aren't a coach from Fury or the Roar.

There are now two very high quality Australian coaches with quality outcomes in the A-League waiting for a new challenge. Both left the A-League for reasons other than their teams' on-field performances. Time to give them a go. The face of one is still promoting the game.

Culina and Farina.