Round Four Report

We learned an awful lot this week. Sydney, for all their off-field dramas and on-field tantrums, are still in the top four and lurking with dangerous intent. More than just top four prospects, Melbourne and Queensland are officially title contenders. New Zealand face another long and disappointing season. Central Coast's status as underdogs seems to have finally caught up with them. Newcastle are nowhere near as bad as their form so far this season indicates -- once they string together a few matches at home, a successful run mirroring Adelaide's over the past two weeks could easily follow. The arrival of Milton Rodriguez, two-goal hero on the weekend, can only help. Finally, the standard and pace of the league is measurably superior to last year.

Just look at the running of the Queensland forwards in the build up to Matt McKay's first goal against the Knights. Or Adelaide's desire to move the ball as quickly as possible, as evidenced by the one-touch lay-offs around the box and the immense speed of the Reds down the flanks. Check out Nick Carle's burst down that left that leaves the Sydney defenders grasping at thin air while Milton Rodriguez announces himself to Australian spectators. Perhaps the speed of the match caught up with Paul O'Grady, whose mind and legs couldn't react fast enough to whip an innocent cross out of the box, resulting in a woeful attempted clearance, a wild deflection and a goal. Perhaps it's just me, but I'm starting to feel tired just watching the vast amounts of energy expended on A-League pitches. The high tempo game attracts the fans, maximises the athletic ability of our most gifted players and leads to both exceptionally skillful and bizarrely horrible situations. How a 35-year-old striker who hasn't played in five years can be expected to contribute to such a league is beyond me.

Best of Round Four:

Player: Milton Rodriguez, Newcastle (pictured) - a huge impact off the bench, even more so then Dario Vidosic in Round One who didn't have to rescue his team from two goals down

U-20 Player: Alex Vrteski, Perth - starting to dominate this category, but may not hold out Jason Petkovic for much longer

Coach: Nick Theodorakopoulos, Newcastle - could have gone to winning coaches John Kosmina or Miron Bleiberg, but Nick Theo gets it for his cautious handling of Milton Rodriguez -- holding him back ala Hiddink/Kewell vs Uruguay, firing him up, before throwing him on to pounce all over an unsuspecting Sydney

Match: Adelaide United vs Perth Glory

Goal: Travis Dodd, Adelaide - a powerful, dipping, swerving, admirable strike from just outside the box, Dodd gleefully capitalising on the lack of closing down from the Perth defence

4-4-2 Team of the Week:

Milton Rodriguez - Archie Thompson
Matt McKay - Fernando - Marcus Wedau - Travis Dodd
Daniel Piorkowski - Rodrigo Vargas - Angelo Costanzo - Greg Owens
Michael Theoklitos

Subs: Alex Vrteski, Josh McCloughan, Simon Colosimo, Jason Spagnuolo

Team of the Year - Until Now:

Presented every so often, a run down of the form players in the league, concentrating on regular starters and consistency rather than single-game wonderkinds. One of the big surprises: Greg Owens, whose adaptability has seen him cover acres of territory from the centre of midfield, to the left flank, to the right fullback position.

Archie Thompson - Daniel Allsopp
Matt McKay - Simon Colosimo - Kevin Muscat - Leo Bertos
Alvin Ceccoli - Rodrigo Vargas - Sasa Ognenovski - Greg Owens
Michael Theoklitos

Subs: Alex Vrteski, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Fernando, Joel Griffiths