Brisbane 7 v Adelaide 1... match of the season.. Berisha is the best striker in A-League history

When Dario brilliantly hit the back of the net on 5 minutes it looked as if at last Brisbane's time had come. Broich had said earlier in the week that they had been lucky. Perhaps that had run out?

But no. On when the pressure. Fox had asked would Brisbane be able to chase this season, well yes. Time and again they picked off former Roar Susak. Steffanuto wide on the left flank, cut into the box and then across the goal, none there. Remonstrations all round.

Then Mitch beats everyone into the box, tackle from behind penalty. Where is my red? No only a yellow. Henrique does his long wait, run and stop, keeper dives then kick it in the other side. Then it is the Berisha show. This guy is the goods. Again it is the left flank and cut in with cross. Now we see what they where trying to do. Before Adelaide know it they are 4-1 down. Another penalty. This time Matt Smith, as captain, asks the ref Henrique was through and his legs taken out from behind - why no red card? Then 5-1. Two penalties to Henrique three premier league quality goals to Berisha.

In the second half, Brisbane were prepared to dominate. Adelaide where happy not to loose 10-1. Berisha got his 4th. Then Issy came on and got one.

Sorry Issy. Time to give Luke Brattan a go.

A-League: Helter Skelter - the battle for the top 4

One round to go and three teams are still vying for one spot. The focus is on Newcastle v Melbourne. Melbourne wins and its Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Queensland Roar with only the order to be decided. The order will determine who plays off for the home ground final.

Perth 3 - Newcastle 3

Newcastle scored in some wide-open spaces very early. And it looked like Newcastle were going to walk this one in. Perth coach and sometimes Socceroo assistant Ron Smith reconed he could have scored it. Then Jade North conceded his third hand-ball penalty this season and the teams went to the brake at 1-1.

Newcastle tired badly in the second half and played a defensive game. Not something we are used to seeing from a team that has at least matched results with Melbourne in the 2nd half of the season. Eventually, Perth put on two goals in quick succession and almost had a third. Then in the last two minutes of a four minute injury time, Newcastle - who had been looking badly beaten - sprung to life and it was Perth who looked done. Joel Griffiths scored twice in two minutes.

This draw means that if Newcastle beats Melbourne, the loser of Queensland v Sydney comes 5th. If Newcastle draws, by Friday three teams will have 28 points with Newcastle and Queensland on equal goal difference. Queensland must then draw with Sydney to gain a point and knock Newcastle out. If Roar lose their goal difference goes behind Newcastle and their out.

A-League: And it burns burns burns - the ring of fire... Adelaide 1 - Sydney 0

Defence didn't do the trick for Sydney tonight. Plus their two most feisty players, Milligan and McFlynn both copper their 4th yellows. Plus Alvin Ceccoli's 33rd minute injury puts a question mark over his next game.

Adelaide 1 Sydney 0
Fernando 89th
Crowd 14,704
Ref Matthew Breeze
Man of the match Daniel Beltrame (again a goal keeper)

So its Melb 45, Adelaide 30 - both in the finals. Sydney 28, Roar 28 and Newcastle 26 (with a game in hand). So unless Newcastle snags worse than two draws (which is possible given their last game is against Melbourne and which case we will know by Friday night), Queensland must beat Sydney to finish in the top 4.

The Sydney-side interest in the Adelaide v Sydney game was the absence of Sasho Petrovski (to the Japanese 2nd division) and the wait to the 77th minute for David Zdrilic. Zdrillic got a match saving save from Daniel Beltrame. Again Sydney played Terry's defensive game, and again we saw the problem. If the other team snags a goal - then that is it.

And for Adelaide we got an early look at their new Brazilian, Diego Walsh (68th Minute entry). Playing on mainly the left as an attacking mid-fielder, Diego won the goal by heading back towards goal and Fernando's legs, a ball that was heading out within feet of the left goal post. Fernando didn't know much, but Bolton knew less. And game to Adelaide.

However, the interesting point here is that the squad space for Diego seems to have been made by the cutting of Qu. Qu is said to have sustained a season ending injury. I remember Kossie commenting when Qu was sent off for head butting Chad Gibson what an expensive player Qu was and how much more was expected of him. Qu pleaded racism against Chad Gibson as extenuating circumstances - to which Chad rightly fired-up given his cultural background and family experiences of racism. We saw Qu once or twice more then he was gone. It highlights how much more ruthless Adelaide is as a club than the Roar. Qu recommended Zhang (pronounced Jang) to the Roar. But what the Roar didn't know at the time was that Zhang had a court case over his head for a maliciously car crash involving the team mate who replaced him. Actually I saw nothing that showed this possible side. The Roar also found Zhang to unsuitably fit. Frank Farina (at the time not the Roar's coach) wrote about this and pointed out the need to ask why a player wants to play. Zhang got a bit of airplay at the start of Frank's tenure but now sits in the stands. As it turns out it may be a pity the Roar was not able to find a replacement like Adelaide's Diego.

Anyway, barring a mishap for Newcastle at Perth. The top four will be determined by Queensland Roar v Sydney at Lang Park. Queensland will be without 2 of their best players, and Sydney without between 2 and 4 of their best (depending on how you rate Petrovski and I rate him highly and the progress of Alvin's injury). Foxtel and the Courier-Mail are predicting a huge crowd, maybe 30,000. Well that would be a turn-up given the Roar's home record and lack of matches up here - the last was a 0-3 lost to Newcastle on a tired old Thursday night.

A-League Mid Round 20: and four teams fight for three spots

Melbourne are in and are playing for their finals confidence and motivation. New Zealand and Perth now cannot make the finals.

And central Coast can only make it if... Adelaide lose to Sydney, and then CCM beat Adelaide by say 2.

So that makes the A-League top 4 just about as close as you can get. And this is despite the wide variety in the win - draw - loss and goal difference machinations to get there. 78 games and the next 6 all still make a difference. A quirk of fate means that every game counts even for Melbourne, Perth and New Zealand.

This is the fixture list:
Adelaide United FC vs Sydney FC
Perth Glory FC vs Newcastle Jets FC

Newcastle Jets FC vs Melbourne Victory FC
Queensland Roar FC vs Sydney FC
New Zealand Knights FC vs Perth Glory FC
Central Coast Mariners FC vs Adelaide United FC

Even 2nd placed Sydney with a goal difference of 11 must win one of its two games to make the finals. And the worst case lead up for Queensland would see Adelaide taking win or draw points off Sydney and with Newcastle drawing or beating Perth, this would leave Queensland in 5th and having to beat a desperate Sydney.

And the best case for the Roar would be a Sydney win against Adelaide and a Newcastle loss to Perth. Then a draw against Sydney maybe OK if Newcastle cannot improve its goal difference in its last match against Melbourne. And Melbourne have not lost away this year and they won't want to lose two in a row.

Really this is top draw stuff. Except in the the Top draw Manchester United or Chelsea will win and no-one else will get a look in. Chelsea have won the last two by ploughing in mega dollars and Manchester has the world's biggest sporting franchise. That's why the EPL need so many different cups - to give the other teams something for their fans to dream about.

Then again, Ernie Merrick said today that Melbourne could be the best club side ever to play in Australia. If that goes for next year and the year after.... well that's what new coaches and marque players are for (eh Sydney ;) ).

Roar beat Melbourne 1-2

Confidence plus motivation have re-engaged the Roar's talent. Sometimes confidence and motivation can be enough. Almost always lack of confidence and, or lack motivation will sink a team. The A-league seats have witnessed this from the up and down form of both Queensland and New Zealand, as well as the Central Coast front of goal efforts.

Melbourne 1 Queensland 2
Crowd 28,900

The early news was Spase's pinpoint pass to Dario who flicked for - Mori's fantastic turn and step into space for a bulging net and his first Roar goal (18th Minute). Mori then copped an elbow to the head from Steve Pantelidis and played the rest of his game (77 minutes) bandaged to look like he had tonsillitis. A little later Pantelidis got what I thought looked like a wack from the ball - but the ref called a foul by Mori. Anyway by the second half Pantelidis and Mori were fighting for every ball and wearing matching bandages. Great match up.

In the first half the Roar's midfield dominated. Their best performance of the season.

Into the second half, the Roar sat back behind the ball. Sinking lower and lower into their final third. They missed a chance to beat Sydney playing this game in round one (1-1). By the 70th minute their energy seemed drained. And Melbourne got closer and closer until Archie Thompson picked up a ball rebounding from Ben Griffin's knee and toed in from around the middle of the penalty box (80th minute). This awoke the Roar's attacking game. And after a few missed opportunities from both sides, Dario Vidosic ran onto a left side cross in 90 minutes plus three. And the Roar had won.

The man of the match was Perth training squad and Australian under 20 goalkeeper Tando Velaphi. Tando pulled off at least one world class, right sided punching, save and several brave stops. Frank said this was his opportunity, and expect to see him in the Perth line-up next year - unless the Roar can snaffle him. Seo also had a great game taking Muscat out of the game. Spase had moments of great passing and setting up opportunities as did Reinaldo. Of course Sasa was back and he made a difference.

There was some downside for the Roar. Josh McCloughan and Matty McKay both seem to have scored their 4th yellow cards for the season and will miss the final and critical game against Sydney at home next week. Ref Mark Shield seemed to lose control around the middle of the game handing out 7 yellow cards in total. Several for minor offences. Matty's for apparently wasting time at the end of the first half (thanks Jeccy - talking to Frankie). Matty may be off contract at the end of the season - so we keep our fingers crossed he will be retained (thanks Jeccy - commentators suggest he has signed for two more years).

This will mean Massimo, who played around 26 minutes at his speedy best, will be key. He narrowly missed a goal opportunity just after coming on.

Alas sir Terry… but that’s the trouble with the long ball game

... You don't need a star-studded team to play it.

Sydney 0 - New Zealand 1
(Che Bunce 16 minutes - flat foot in from a corner)
Crowd for Sydney's last home game - a disappointing 16,040.


New Zealand out-long balled Sydney win a corner and then score. But that is the problem with the long ball game. You may not need to run on with Sasho Petrovski and David Zdrilic but neither do the opposition. After scoring, the job for NZ was getting behind the ball - which they did very effectively. Still, some great long balls to release Canadian national team member Alen Marcina, Lelei Gao, and increasingly, toward the end of the match and soaking up time, Neil Emblen. Emblen is demonstrating that he is a very versatile player. If you need your striker (NZ played 4-4-1-1) to hold up the long ball, who better than a rugged defender.

All this and Sasho confirming he will join his former coach, Pierre Littbarski, at Avispa Fukuoka in Japan's 2nd Division. Maybe's to go include Clint Bolton and Alvin Ceccoli. Interesting to see home Sydney's Asia cup team emerges.

Quote of the day from Terry Butcher:

‘Get out of my face will ya.’ (to the Foxtel camera)

Again an earlier gem from Perth coach Ron Smith:

'I've always liked my teams to be well organised in defence but to play attacking football. Nobody wants to see a defensive team that pinches an occasional goal on a counter attack.'

A-League returns to the sand pit for one of the seasons best

Newcastle 1 - Central Coast 0

Newcastle returned to their sand pit just 4 days after the shambles against Sydney. This time water was liberally sprayed onto the pitch before the game and at half time. It did the trick. A great attacking game of football was produced and enjoyed by the crowd of nearly 15,000 Jet-sters and Marinaters.

On display were two of the three top coaches in the A-League. Gary Van Egmond and Lawrie McKinna were able to turn on a high quality fast moving match on a suspect pitch - without resort to a long ball game. This was a foil to Terry Butcher's winning performance there just days earlier.

Also on display were the A-League's two top goal keepers, Ante Covic (Jets) and Danny Vukovic (Mariners). In contrast to earlier games, Vukovic had little to do. This was particularly the case in the second half. Meanwhile, Covic demonstrated why he is in the Socceroos squad. Covic saved Newcastle. The first half was fast and close and highlighted by Milton Rodriguez's winning goal for Newcastle. The second half was dominated by Central Coast attacking runs - and unfortunately for them - Covic's acrobatics.

And after the turmoil of Newcastle's early season, opening the squad with only one goal keeper, 19 year old Ben Kennedy, and then Kennedy's season ending injury, Covic's return from Europe makes Newcastle a title contender.

While Newcastle made the finals last season, by year they looked spent. This year they started poorly but have built both squad and confidence. And while the dismissal of Nic Theodorakopoulos was the results turning point, a winning attacking team that could challenge Melbourne and Sydney's dominance was in place. Perhaps Nic represented too many issues in the club, who would really know that detail. Perhaps the real credit should go to chair Con Constantine - for holding face when crowds dipped under 5,000 and for stumping up for Milton and Ante Covic.

Last night both teams played attacking football. More the remarkable was that this was quite a different Central Coast team. Injury has hit them hard. And the coaching team of former National Soccer League stars, Lawrie McKinna, Ian Ferguson and Alex Tobin, have proved their worth in developing young local talent - able to step up and be competitive in one of the toughest games of the season.

However, Central Coast miss Damian Mori. His 6 goals in 8 games put Central Coast in contention. He wanted to stay and they wanted to keep him. Alias, under the 4 week striker for striker (defender for defender) injury rule he could not. And unfortunately Nik Mrdja only lasted 256 minutes before succumbing to injury again (if Roar hadn't pounced Mori could have been back). And despite Frank Farina's implications, it has nothing to do with long balls. Central Coast created up to 15 real chances last night, crosses, heads into space into space in the 6 yard box... What was missing was a player locked into the 6th sense of the team to be in the right place at the right time to bang it in. Only Mori has shown this for Central Coast. And as much as he looked like that person, bolted on at the front for Central Coast, he has not looked like it for the Roar. It is little wonder that he is now talking about retirement - perhaps central Coast will pick him up next year?

Hey Sydney FC, you wanna come play in the sand...

What happened to the Newcastle ground staff?

I couldn't believe the condition of the pitch yesterday. After the match, an emotional Nick Carle said 'The less said about the pitch the better... but Sydney played in the same conditions and well done to them.' Yes but. I recall Nic Theodorakopoulos complaining about the poor state of New Zealand's home ground and recounting that one of the principles of the A-League was to be quality stadiums and pitches. He'd be rolling on the turf now...

This was the game of the season. And the Newcastle crowd knew it with almost 21,000 turning up for a local record. It was the A-League's best attacking play verses its best defensive game. Clearly the sand helped Sydney's defensive, long ball, approach. Meanwhile, Newcastle's usually deft passes were - stuck in the sand.

Terry Butcher still looks a little isolated despite his winning run. His goals came from the two players he has stuck mainly on the bench. For me, Alex Brosque was one of the A-League's great prospects in 2005-2006. Yet he has been starved of game time. Now he has had two starts in two matches and two goals. And Sasho Petrovski, apparently still vocalising his hurt from lack of game time, showed that he is the master of Butcher's long ball game, heading down a Sydney defensive clearance and left-footing in from almost 30 metres. Two kicks for almost the length of the pitch.

The threat of a loss of three points unified the Sydney players, but did it draw them to their coach and his tactics? Perhaps.

Well as Wayne said the loss means that the round virtually did not happen. Lawrie McKinna certainly looked happy in the stands.

Coaching's links to modern management theory: Part 1

It seems the game is about possession (to set-up scoring opportunities and frustrate the opposition) and taking the scoring opportunities with percentage shots.

This is the 'total football' philosophy of Dutch football. There is a direct link there to the American quantitative management expert Deming, total quality management and the Japanese industrial performance from the 1950s - and what is now known as the business excellence framework). Which in turn has a parallel with Deming's bitter rival the German qualititaive sociologist Drucker - who first defined management by objectives and the knowledge worker (among many other things). Druker was for individual excellence and people, while Deming was for the team and no hero performance - deming believe variation and therefore errors could be eliminated through analysis of their route causes. So Dutch football is about error less team performance (always stretching the possession stat), and Brazilian football, and in a different way, the English Premier League, is about the individual as a hero.

The team I'd play as coach...

As version one drew to a close, the Roar promised a rebuilt team for version two. A team that would take us to the finals. The players of next year would be better than this. During the off-season we saw Miron searching the globe, we saw him eating egg and chips in Israel with a fighting striker from the EPL, who scored a goal and got a better deal from his club. A midfield genius from the Bundesliga. A young Scottish striker. And later, a Chinese David Beckham.

As round one of version two materialised, and other teams solidified and their new players like Milton Rodriguez and Carbone turned games around, what happened? The team that was there, was glimpsed, that showed promised, did not shine through.

The team that Queensland needed to gel and make, and win the finals, was there. Why did it stay hidden?

Fitness was given as an early reason, sorry I don’t buy that. This is clearly the fittest team in the league. Too fit. Key players have too often been injured at training rather than on the park.

Too attacking - could be, but in the 0-0 in the first round with Adelaide they missed 24 sitters. Under coached, yes I am coming round to this view. Certainly in the second half of the season the defence has been layed bare. And Ognenovski’s training injury was partly responsible.

Surprisingly, the players don’t appear to expect to have their tactics layed out for them by the coach. But if not the coach then who? We are told a captain is not that important and we have seen Gibson, McCloughan and McLaren in the role. McCloughan was the winningest but none were particularly spectacular. How about throwing the arm-band to Matt McKay? Of all the players, Matty seems to have a plan.

Version two is tougher than version one and several players are not up to the standard. Under the new coach that had to be proved all over again.

So who is this team?

For me, it needed to be Milicic as the leading goal scorer. Which, as of last night, he is (with Dario) with four goals. I am not sure why he starts on the bench. He needs to be front and centre. Ante has proved, that for the Roar he can put the balls in front of goal in the net. Alas, Mori has not proved this for us.

Centre forward number two - in the team the Roar needed to be champions - had to be Zhang. He needed to live up to his reputation and, as it turns out we needed, and could afford, to give him the game time he needed to learn the Australian way. The reality has been surely slow and dogged by lack of English, but some of the ball placement has been sublime (but his back-heel air-swing in front of goal still haunts).

Striker number three, and in behind the other two, is Reinaldo. He has scored three cracker goals including a penalty that I watched Miron insist he take. And he set up three more plus many others missed by his striking partners (as well as missing a share of his own). In recent weeks he has been sat on the bench or starved of play time till the final minutes. A shame, a waste.

The attacking mid-field should not be controversial. On the left, and of course team captain (every week and calling the plays - like Muscat does to win for Melbourne), Matt McKay. On the right, but destined to be everywhere and trying to get every ball, is Dario Vadosic. Dario needs to be given the lead in the game plan. No player should be left to make it up as he goes along. Particularly not one not used to being goals down.

The central mid-field should be making the Roar the top team in the competition. They should be keeping the ball from the opposition and directing pinpoint passes to set-up the goal scoring plays. Of which there should be less. But resulting in more goals. We have seen glimpses of Spase Dilevski as the best player in Australia in this position. He has scored from a free kick and pounded a couple into the cross bar. But they have been fleeting and marred by time off through injury. And why is he starting off the bench? Marcus Wedau could have delivered the Roar their season. Really he hasn’t played poorly, it is just we have not seen the brilliance. Supposedly he is now injured, will we see him again this season? Like Zhang I hope so, and like Zhang, he had to succeed for the Roar to succeed. Their replacements were not going to have the experience, and probably skill, to carry the required weight.

In defence there are three outstanding players. They have the determination and energy to beat the league’s best strikers. Packer, McCloughan, Ognenovski. A wall of defence with Packer adding strike power options.

In goals I would have Tom Willis. Last season he had the best record in the league. This season a fluke led him to be second keeper. A dispute in Newcastle that drew in a rugby league legend and whose logic had disappeared by mid-season. Tom deserves better. He could take us to the top.

The bench would define this side. Massimo Murdocca promised so much. He had rhythm. He never gave up on a ball. His presence through the season could have made the difference. Simon Lynch offers pace and attacking options - he does not seem to be able to make the most of his skills for 90 minutes. Ben Griffin is an exciting new find. He is of the new breed of versatile players, like Dario and Andrew Packer, that can run over the whole park and score goals. Seo is perhaps a surprise exclusion. However, in this ideal the combination of Matty, Spase, Macus and Dario should be un-best-able. I admit I would rather see Seo cross or chip the ball for the strikers than shoot from 30 metres. And finally, McLaren for squad support.

The coaching spot is critical. It needs an active participant. To be in the players ears at training. Talking to them at the game, shouting if necessary. I don’t like to see them throwing things. That is going too far. But yes I like to see them showing an interest off the pitch as well. Getting to know the players, if only for the 21 rounds of the year. Getting to understand their strengths and weaknesses and their motivations. Using the team he has. Making it work. Getting everyone 100% committed, 100% of the time. Don’t leave them alone. Not even at Christmas. Give them a game plan, get them rhythm. The priority is 1. Develop and lead team spirit. 2. Develop the captain and the game plan for each team - there is only 7 to beat. Know them and how to beat them - backwards. A great frustration is the extent to which the players seem to be left to themselves. What is the point of the focus on fitness without an individualised, for each player and each opposition, game plan? 3. Develop skills, building plays, set pieces and shooting. Aim to have 60% possession. Possession wins games (last night NZ had 60% possession and the Roar had 21 shots). Then ensure they score when it counts.

yesterday, all my troubles..

I have heard the FFA say a number of times ‘someone has to come last’ and someone has to come second last. And when there are only eight teams, 25% of fans are going to find their teams coming last or second last, and 50% are going to find their team not making its promise of finals football.

Fans love their team winning. And winning teams make more fans. Losers can please themselves. Their fans find another team or another sport.

Perth Glory were first by 6 points in 2003-2004. With a team that included Jade North, Pondeljak, Harnwell, Bingley, Despotovski, Mrdja and Mori. The year before they came second in the league but won the final. Harnwell and Mori scored the final’s goals in front of 38,111 at Subiaco. Perth hasn’t seen a football crowd as large as that since. Glory’s team had also included Colosimo, Tarka and Gumprecht. This time North and Pondeljak had been playing for the losing side Sydney Olympic. Another year back to 2001-2002, Glory were first in the league again - by 13 points - but lost the final to Olympic Sharks 1-0 in front of a Perth crowd of 42,735.They were third in 200-2001, and first in 1999-2000 - with a Perth crowd of 43,242. Perth had become Australia’s home of soccer - players were drawn west to play in a winning team.

And so it goes. Perth Glory were the superstar team up until the A-League. They were viewed as the model team for the new league. But in the reduced league size, from 13 to 8, they lost a few players and were not able to find gems in overseas players. In version one they missed the finals by two points, and this season they look like pulling up seventh. At the end of version 1 the owners handed back the franchise and the FFA has been on the verge of an announcement since. Star in the making Nick Ward was lost to Europe and retiring socceroo Stan Lazaridis signed up - but hasn’t made an impression. Former socceroo technical manager Ron Smith took over as coach and the team has looked disciplined and well behaved - picking up few yellow cards.

Well behaved and disciplined until tonight when the highlight of their 0-0 result with Adelaide was after the match when Foxtel caught Perth’s NZ international Adrian Webster (who was subbed on in the 75th) throwing right hooks at Jamie Harnwell before being pulled away by Ron Smith. Something happened before the camera arrived. But there is tomorrow’s headline - not the stuff of building for next year. As 8,226 fans watched Perth’s 2006-2007 season hope close out.