Round 2 Kicks off Friday night when Perth Glory take on the Jets at Members Equity Stadium. I’m hoping that there will be a few more goals than last round. 5 goals from 4 matches is nothing to rave about to the average AFL/NRL fan we’re trying to convert to the real football this summer.

Friday 22 August 2008

Perth Glory vs Newcastle Jets

7.00 PM Members Equity Stadium

Hard to see the Glory get a win out of this game…or any game for that matter with the way that they are playing so far. They have an awesome defense but no point having that when you cant get the ball down to the strikers and crack!

Nikita Rukavytsa and the rest of the glory forward line need to show a bit of testicular fortitude and do what what we know they can… score goals! The Jets lost heaps of key players in the off-season, however they absolutely dominated the Coast and were unfortunate not to ripple the net until the final minutes. Jin-Hyung Song looks to be a real talent, creating space and providing for the strikers, they constantly get into the right positions just hash it, hopefully they can do a bit better tonight.

Prediction: Jets 2 vs 0 Glory

Saturday 23 August 2008

Central Coast Mariners vs Sydney FC

7.00 PM Bluetongue Stadium

There has been a massive amount of history between these clubs with players moving from one side to the other. Last year there was the cracker of a game where Sydney won 5-4 so i’m defiantly hoping for exactly the same this time around, but it is the beginning of the season after all so they’ll still be rusty. Probably think that Sydney will probably come away with the win only just. Sydney have improved their squad with players like Aloisi, Bridge and Colosimo and i don’t see that much improvement in the Mariners squad. Stuart Musialik and Mark Bridge come back into the squad for this one and will provide extra depth in quality. Defiantly backing Sydney to take this one.

Prediction: Mariners 0 vs 1 Sydney

Sunday 24 August 2008

Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory

5.00 PM Westpac Stadium, Wellington

It’s the Victory’s turn to make the trip across the tasmin to take on Wellignton. 2 away games in a row at the beginning of the season will not go down well for Melbourne and i think they will struggle at least int he first half. The Phoenix will be going all out to get the 3 points out of this game and after their performance against the Roar, they’ll be confident. Victory played some very good football last round and got into many goal-scoring opportunities. With the Nix’es defense being so vulnerable, i don’t see them holding out players like Fabiano and Lopez so for me its Melbourne in this one.

Prediction: Phoenix 1 vs 2 Victory

Queensland Roar vs Adelaide United

5.00 PM Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Match of the round!! Adelaide and Queensland were the two best sides last week and i think that this game will be the most attacking match of them all. Both sides will move forward will free flowing football. Agostino, Diego and Christiano will continue to build their brilliant forward partnership with Travis Dodd belting down the wing. However Queensland have an equally good forward line with youngsters Robbie Kruse and Michael Zullo providing new import Sergio Van Diijk. This is another must see match with (hopefully) plenty of goals. I cant really split them at the moment, i think it will just come down to which team has the better attack

Prediction: United 2 vs 2 Roar

On the other hand Sterjovski and Kennedy goals were brilliant. love Miles cheeky voley over the keeper. You need both precision and timing for that and Sterji came up with the goods.

Seems to have a decent run out but there was a lot to think about as drawing with South Africa souldnt be acceptable, friendly or not.

Not in the mind of SA coach Joel Santana however. He came up with this beauty:

“South Africa are similar to Brazil in the way they play - my players treat the ball with love and care”

“That’s why we play football. I would never want to play the way Australia play - my players don’t have those characteristics.”

alright mate, you draw with Aus and you compare yourself with Brazil… cant think of you guys doing anything in your history.

For an all out report of the proceeding check out the Aussie World Cup Blog

Even then a few players have been left out of the squad. Verbeek has decided not to call on Michael Beauchamp, Brett Emerton and Harry Kewell. Harry’s getting settled into his new club so i can understand why he was allowed to have a rest.

Not too worried about Beachy not coming down, but wouldve liked to have seen Harry and Emo torture the SA wingers. If you guys didnt catch it, Harry headed home a brilliant cross on his debut for Galatasaray. heres a link to the vid, this guys going to light up that league (barring any major injuries).

Players Brought in
David Carney, Bruce Djite, Richard Garcia, Mark Milligan, Nicky Carle and Matthew Spiranovic are the non regulars that have been brought into to the squad by Pim Verbeek.

I’ll start by getting something off my chest…. ahem…. WHY the hell does Mark Milligan get called up to this team? The guy is clubless for god sake! I would choose frigin Mclenahan before i choose this guy… at least he plays, allbeit in English league 5 or whatever. I cant for the life of me understand this love affair with this guy whos main goal in a game is to hoof it out of defense and up-field!

And Holman… How many mistakes does that guy have to make before he is excluded from this squad for God sake!

Anyway with 2 negatives come 4 positives. Love the fact that Nicky Carle, Matty Spiranovic, Bruce Djite and Richard Garcia have been brought into this team. Each and every one of them thoroughly deserve to be there. Nicky’s skills cannot be questioned. If Pim lets him, he will run the attacking midfield possie for us. Spira showed us at the Olympics that he is a confident, solid defender who is not affected by the pressure. Richard Garcia has topped off a week to remember as his Hull side won their first game in the prem.

And Djite… You frigin legend! is in the squad! This guy was left out of the Olympics by the doosh Graham Arnold and didn’t let it affect him. Hes put his head down and got to work at his new club in Turkey and has been ripping it apart there ever since! He recently score the winning goal to give gencler….(whatever the name is) the pre-season cup. A future superstar of the Socceroos and would love to see him get a run.

The others are pritty much regulars. This seems like its a pritty strong squad, most likely because its played in London so it will be a good gauge on where we are at leading into the World Cup Qualifiers.

Prediction
I predict that the game finishes 2-0 to the Socceroos. The players Pim has brought sort of leans towards the roos playing some good football, especially with the names Bresciano, Carle, Grella and Cullina running the show in the mid. Hoping that Scotty McDonald can show all of Aus what he is capable of and bag a goal for us, he needs to put one away in a game like this to get the Aussie media off his back. Hope to G.O.D that Pim puts him and Djite up front! that would be a troublesome forward line but i think that Holman will get a run which will spoil my wish.

Should be a great game though. I think that South Africa will be the ‘decent’ opposition that the Aussies need to come up against before the qualis.

SOCCEROO SQUAD
Mark Bresciano, US Citta di Palermo, Italy
Nick Carle, Crystal Palace FC, England
David Carney, Sheffield United FC, England
Scott Chipperfield, FC Basel, Switzerland
Chris Coyne, Colchester United FC, England
Jason Culina, PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands
Bruce Djite, Genclerbirligi, Turkey
Richard Garcia, Hull City, England
Vincenzo Grella, Torino FC Spa, Italy
Brett Holman, AZ Alkaamar, Netherlands
Josh Kennedy, Karlsruhe SC, Germany
Scott McDonald, Celtic FC, Scotland
Mark Milligan, uncontracted
Lucas Neill, West Ham United FC, England
Michael Petkovic, Sivasspor, Turkey
Mark Schwarzer, Fulham FC, England
Matthew Spiranovic, FC Nurnberg, Germany
Mile Sterjovski, Derby County FC, England
Carl Valeri, U.S. Grosseto FC, Italy
Luke Wilkshire, FC Twente, Holland

Cummon Aussie!!!

Congratulations are due for Adelaide skipper Travid Dodd for tearing the back of the net apart on his 100th game for the reds!

In other news, the squad for the Socceroos clash with South Africa has been anounced here… no major suprises just the fact that Djite is int he team… bahh arnold!

Here are the highlights and the reports for matchday 1.

Newcastle Jets 1 vs 1 Central Coast Mariners Match Report

Sydney FC 0 vs 0 Melbourne Victory Match Report

Wellington Phoenix 1 vs 1 Queensland Roar Match Report

Adelaide United 1 vs 0 Perth Glory Match Report

Round1
Friday 15 August 2008

Newcastle Jets FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC 8.00 PM EnergyAustralia Stadium

Saturday 16 August 2008
Sydney FC Melbourne Victory FC 7.00 PM Sydney Football Stadium

Sunday 17 August 2008
Adelaide United FC Perth Glory FC 4.30 PM Hindmarsh Stadium

Wellington Phoenix FC Queensland Roar FC 5.00 PM Westpac Stadium

isn’t it ironic though. The two players that would’ve made a difference (Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite) were left out. Not for any reason remember, just because Arnie felt like it. His excuse was that they wouldn’t have been able to take the climate. What a pathetic excuse. Now look Graham.. now look at our Olyroos being bundled out because they were utter shit up-front!

We could’ve beaten Serbia and Ivory Coast! I think we could’ve smashed them! But now the Aussies are taking the first Qantas 747 back to Aus. I hope the Aussie media give it to him!!

Olyroos 1 vs 1 Serbia

This was a pathetic excuse for a game! They did terrible with the only thing interesting being Zadkos hairdo. The team did really badly, Topor-Stanley couldn’t settle into the defense, the midfield couldn’t string two passes together and the attack was shameful… but there was good points though. Federici has an awesome game in between the posts not letting anything past him, until the goal which wasn’t his fault. Spiranovic was also a great presence in defense. I played against this guy at high school and he ripped us apart and hes clearly showing his worth for the Olys. Our striking pair of Thompson and Nikita never really got much service, but when they did get the ball they were hashing it and were terrible to watch. The goal was decent, Zadko slotted it away well but besides that it was a very dreary match.

Australia line-up:
1.Adam Federici (gk), 2.Jade North, 4.Mark Milligan (Capt) (16.Billy Celeski 66’), 5.Matthew Spiranovic, 6.Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 8.Stuart Musialik, 10.Archie Thompson (15.Kristian Sarkies 76’), 11.David Carney, 12.Trent McClenahan, 13.Ruben Zadkovich, 17.Nikita Rukavytsya (9.Mark Bridge 88’).

Yellow Cards: Matthew Spiranovic 50’, Trent McClenahan 60’.

Olyroos 0 vs 1 Argentina

Now this was a little better, Coming up against an immense Argentina side featuring players like Messi, Mascherano, Gago, Riquelme, Lavezzi, i must admit i thought we were going to get absolutely owned! But it wasn’t that bad. I mean we put absolutely everyone behind the ball at times and this really frustrated the Argies but we had our chances too. I was very happy with the performance of boys like Celeski, Federici and everyone else in defense as they naturalized the threats. Messi absolutely ran rings around us at times but he couldn’t get a shot off which frustrated them more. This allowed us to play some good football in patches however when it got to Archie Thompson nothing came out of it. Archie needs to start on the bench next game, for an overage player who is supposed to bring us experience, hes becoming a liability (typified when he absolutely hashed a one on one with the keeper). When Arnie chucked on Ruka, a spark was created up front until the Argies scored. Then us sitting back watching them pass the ball round their back four for the duration of the match.

Was a fairly impressive performance after our last game against Serbia but in the end the Argies had too much quality and Prevailed, although we did very well to keep them at 1 goal.. we should be proud.

After the two games it appears that we have a solid defense, a solid midfield but our forward line is shocking. surprise surprise Arnold! If you took your head out of your arse and brought along Djite and Burns (OUR MOST PROMISING YOUNG STRIKERS!) we might have had a chance for a medal, but it looks like we might not be able to get out of the group barring a win against the strong Ivory Coast. Don’t know if we can do it with this forward line.

Oh and Channel 7s Coverage… ABSOLUTELY SHIT! the matches are played delayed as hell, commentators are ridiculous and they cut to 5 minute ads ever 10 minutes. Nobody screws football like seven! get them off!

Sports Minister Kate Ellis confirmed that two payments of $16m will be made to the FFA over the next four years, upon certain conditions being successfully met. These conditions being that the FFA establish a football league for women and that the league be televised.

You thought that was big? ohh no. On Monday, the FFA and Westfield announced an agreement in support of women’s football.

The Westfield Group’s support involves women’s football ranging from the Westfield Championship for Girls, the establishment of a new national women’s league known as the Westfield W-League, and the national women’s team to be known as the Westfield Matildas.

The Westfield W-League will comprise teams from each of the seven Australian Hyundai A-League clubs as well as Canberra, and will kick off at the end of October.

What an exciting point this is for Women in this country. Finally they can aspire to play regularly in front of crowds Australia wide and get the recognition they deserve.

Personally i think that this is absolutely massive for not only the Women’s game but Football in this country in generally. If the FFA can negotiate a television deal that will show games on Free-To-Air television, it could have the same effect on women’s sports as Netball did. For those who don’t know, until recently, Netball hadn’t been on the forefront of a lot of peoples minds. However after a FTA deal, people have been watching and flocking to the courts!

I believe the same thing can happen with women’s football. If we can get this onto FTA television, believe me people will watch, sit up and take notice. We will see people coming along to the games and give aspiring footballers a chance to be professionals and earn a decent wage!

However to do this we need to keep the game on FTA channels ABC or SBS. If 7,9 or 10 get a hold of this league we will see its quick demise. The anti-football culture is still rife and if either of the big three FTA channels get a sniff of the game they will do all they can to drive it into the ground with bad commentary and fuked up midnight replays of the games. Trust me it will happen, if you don’t believe me just watch the way channel 7 is going to disgrace the Olyroo coverage a this years Olympics.

At least we will be safe with SBS and ABC. SBS is a renowned football station and will show it to the best of their ability as would the ABC who are owned by the government and would not want to see their millions go to waste.

A landmark point in Women’s football will only work if money is poured in and people like you and me get behind it.

First of the blocks is Perth Glory, the Oldest team in the League. Perth Glory is the only team that survived from the old NSL (National Soccer League). The Glory were the team to be reckoned with, they absolutely ripped that league apart winning 3 minor Premierships (1st on ladder position) and 2 Grand Finals (including the final NSL title) from 1997 - 2004. However since the inception of the A-League, the western side has been a bit of a shambles coming 2nd last in the past 2 seasons. Crowds have dwindled with the excitement and flare of old has all but gone..

Strengths
With a squad like this the only strengths it can possibly have are the players that have come in over the Off-season (Eugène Dadi, Adrian Trinidad and Amaral). Amaral is the one i am most excited about personally. The Brazilian possesses an impressive list of former clubs, Parma, Benfica, Fiorentina to name just but a few. Amaral brings to the squad what was missing last season and that was quality and experience in the midfield. He will more than compensate for the loss of Simon Colosimo to Sydney FC. The only thing that is a little worrying is his age. Being 35 who knows if he’ll be any good or just a Romario, it remains to be seen. The other players brought in are pretty awesome as well bringing in a bit of talent to a forward-line that failed to impress last season.

Coach David Mitchell looks like he at least looks like he knows what hes doing mixing youth and experience in a team which needs to impress in this season or risk losing its fan base forever.

Weaknesses
Look when a defender is your top-goalscorer you know something is going wrong. I don’t think it was too much the strikers fault as Jamie Harnwell and Nikita Rukavytsya know how to put a ball away. I think it was the midfield…. its just so….light. and now that Leo Bertos and Simon Colosimo have gone… what is there really in the midfield? Perth Glory fans really need to pray that these new players coming in are as good as David Mitchell says they are or Perth is fucked!

Key Player - Nikita Rukavytsya
This is a youngster that needs to put bags of goals away for Perth in season 4. Nikita has the skill, speed and finishing to make any defense in the A-League tremble in their studded boots. With the call up to the Olympic side, the 23 year old will have re-newed confidence in his own abilities and hopefully with renewed supply from the midfield, will be able to put teams to the sword!

Prediction - 6th
This should be a good season for the team in Purple. The team already had a strong back line headed by Nikolai Topor-Stanley and a forward line to be reckoned with, however it was the midfield that needed some serious attention. Dave Mitchell seems to know what hes doing though. These new players brought into the midfield and attack seem to be exactly what the team needed. Id like to see the team use some South American flair and win a lot of games with flair and determination. As many A-League sides found out recently, injecting “older” Brazilians rarely works, but it needs to in this case as this season looks to be the Glory’s last chance to win back those loyal fans!

Fantastic goalkeeper, played for Man Utd, Chelsea and was touted as the best in the world when he was in his prime. Then it all went downhill from there, Mark tested positive for cocaine and has never hit the field since… until now.

Now after training at QPR, we now find Bozza (36 years old) on a trial at Central Coast Mariners. Seems almost poetic the way its all turned out. The Mariners need a player to cover Danny Vukovic’s suspension and Bozz is ready and willing.

I opened the paper the other day and saw in massive letters “Bosnich aims for the Socceroos”. Thats when all the buterflies left the building! Hes frigin 36 and he hasn’t played a game of football in years! and now just because hes decided that he wants to come back into the game he thinks he can fight his way into the fold for a Socceroo spot. I mean give me a break! Once again hes 38 and just coming back from looking like Jabba the hut from Star Wars! I don’t care how good he was he deserves possibly a guest stint at the mariners and nothing more!

Bozza im sorry but your time has past, although it was unfortunate that Australia missed out on having one of the greatest players in the world reach the heights he could, we have all moved on. It makes me sick how reporters and the such have a hard one about this!

If we let him continue playing in the A-league and (god-forbid) get into the Socceroos what is that saying about this league and the national team?? That we are so crap that we have to revive old has bins to fill spot. Nup this should just stop. Bozza you were great but you screwed it up for yourself and its just too late.