Yes, Really...

It's simply astonishing!

We're Going to Germany!

Card Watch

The following players are on 3 yellow cards and in risk of suspension for the final match before the December break (or the first game after Christmas) if they are carded again this weekend:

Adelaide - Ross Aloisi, Adam van Dommele, Carl Veart

Central Coast - Andre Gumprecht (pictured), Dean Heffernan

Melbourne - Steve Pantelidis, Adrian Leijer

Newcastle - Jade North, Allan Picken

New Zealand - Darren Bazeley, Sean Devine

Perth - Billy Celeski

Queensland - Michael Baird, Karl Dodd, Seo Hyuk-su

Sydney - Andrew Packer

Round Twelve Report

Australia's quest to qualify for the World Cup completely overshadowed the A-League this week, which featured few shining performances and little of outstanding merit.

Kazuyoshi Miura's appearance in a Sydney FC shirt came quite late in the second half, much to the chagrin of his fans and personal media crew, and he made little impact against the organised Roar defence. Unfortunately, Roar sweeper Chad Gibson's misdirected attempt at clearing Sydney striker David Zdrilic's meek cross-shot on goal proved very costly indeed. The Queenslander's are in quite an offensive rut about which Alex Brosque can do very little when he continue to be outmuscled in a striker role that his flying style doesn't very well suit.

Adelaide's stunning come-from-behind victory rubbed salt deep into the substantial wounds of the Central Coast Mariners. Starting the year so impressively by winning the (still nameless?) pre-season cup, injuries and suspension have derailed the campaign of Gosford's only professional sporting club competing in a nationwide tournament. Judging from current form and fortune, they'd do well to finish above the New Zealand Knights. Meanwhile, Adelaide continue to snatch three points from unusual situations. They won in the wet in Auckland and now with two goals in the remaining few minutes they've pulled off the most thrilling and satisfying reversal of the season. Some results like this indicate a good team, others think their luck is bound to run out at a critical point in the future. But I think we can say with some certainty now that Adelaide is (a) the surprise packet of the inaugural A-League season, and (b) almost certain to figure in the top four finals series.

Of the Knights, what else can one say? Perth Glory didn't have to exert itself too much in what may as well have been a walkover. Next week the Knights take on Adelaide and I'm going to do something I haven't bothered with since week one (because I suck) and that's make a prediction: a five or six goal win for the Reds is the final blow as Knights manager John Adshead decides to give someone else a shot at motivating his charges. This may not actually involve him stepping down, but rather allowing someone else to become more involved with taking charge of the team during training and/or matches. For once I kind of believe all the rhetoric about Adshead's job safety, at least until the December break.

Finally, Melbourne and Newcastle battled out a fairly exciting 0-0 draw, probably making Queenslanders happier about their lack of potency up front. For Melbourne, Rickey Diaco showed some class, but couldn't finish, and Daniel Piorkowski gave the gaffer yet another youthful option at the back. On days like this, Victory fans should probably remember that operations manager Gary Cole and head coach Ernie Merrick still have an ace up their sleeve in the form of one more available spot on the roster. It's incredible that they haven't felt the pinch in terms of depth, as have the Mariners and just about everyone else at particular moments in the season. What's more, Melbourne's bench has proven very useful, and they still have top players like Chris Tadrosse lurking about with intent. If they manage to sign a gun midfielder in the transfer window (wouldn't we love to see Paul Okon back in Australia?) then you'd have to think them likely champions this year or next. Wouldn't you? As for Newcastle, they remain something of an enigma. Superb when banging the goals in, they are suspect when under the pressure applied by the league's top sides. The Carle-Milicic combination is without a doubt the most vibrant and value-for-money going around, but something is amiss within this squad and I just can't quite put my finger on what it is. The gut feeling is that Sydney may well be the unfair target of the arrogance label, since between the aforementioned dynamic duo, Ned 'Call Me The Saviour' Zelic, Richard 'In Ya Face' Johnson, Liam 'My Haircut Is Ace' Reddy, Stuart 'That's Right, I'm a Bad Boy' Musialik and the rest (maybe not Jade North), it's a quality the Jets seem to have in spades.

The league table has finally started to show signs of substantive splintering, with Adelaide and Sydney looking the goods, Perth, Newcastle, Melbourne and Queensland duking it out for third and fourth, while the weakest teams in terms of numerical support, the slipping Mariners and the farcical Knights, are left to face their demons. Doubts must also be expressed about Queensland's capacity to really threaten the teams above when goals are so scarce. There's still nine rounds to go, and anything can happen, but at this point luck rather than form may be required to positvely determine things for those not among the top two.

A big big open-ended question is will the Glory Boys ease off on the Steve McMahon hatred if their lads manage to win it all? In so many ways, it's a question that sends shivers down the spine...

Best of Round Twelve:

Player: Daniel Piorkowski (pictured) - coming into the starting team in a difficult situation and keeping everything very tidy against the league's in form attacking unit (i.e. the Carle-Milicic demolition team)

U-20 Player: Nick Ward - forcing his way into the starting lineup in recent weeks and capping off a polished game by collecting Mori's low cross and finishing in style

Coach: Ernie Merrick - sticking to his principles and successfully fielding the youngest back four since the U-17 World Youth Cup

Match: Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide United

Referee: Craig Zetter

Goal: Fernando Rech - taking a rebound from a monstrous Beltrame kick upfield and thoroughly spanking a late match-winning half-volley over and around Danny Vukovic, who like Jason Petkovic early on is making a habit of getting beaten by the long ball

4-4-2 Team of the Week:

John Hutchinson - Shengqing Qu
Adrian Caceres - Carl Veart - Nick Ward - Richard Kitzbichler
Mateo Corbo - Daniel Piorkowski - Matt Horsley - Andrew Packer
Danny Vukovic

Subs: Jacob Timpano, Angelo Costanzo, Bobby Despotovski, Liam Reddy

A-League Takes a Back Seat

It's on! Australia vs Uruguay, 1st Leg. 7am Sunday morning. Where I'll be: Federation Square, Melbourne.

A little earlier than expected, due to the continual shenanigans of the Uruguayan football federation, but why should that stop us from cleaning up in Montevideo?

Round Eleven Report

What an astonishing week!

Ante Milicic, Sasho Petrovski and Damian Mori all notched up hattricks, after ten rounds with none. The league leaders were trounced at home, with Daniel Beltrame's woeful mistake making a mockery of my previous thoughts about goalkeeping quality in the league. At least the Roar's Tom Willis kept another clean sheet, his fifth in eight games! Meanwhile, the Knights discovered a lively home-based scoring partnership and bid Ronnie Bull farewell back to England, giving them some room under the salary cap come the transfer window. In the absence of Tom Pondeljak, Central Coast relied on the likes of Hutchinson, Brown and Spencer to little effect against a David Carney-inspired Sydney.

Once again refereeing decisions were put under the spotlight, detracting from desirable coverage of player performance, goals, and results. Elite defenders copped the brunt of the whistle blowing, with Muscat, Claeys and Beauchamp all seeing red. Each will be badly missed next week, as will Andrew Packer and Kristian Rees who both earned one-game suspensions following their fourth yellows. In the meantime, Nick Ward escaped unpunished for an elbow to the face of Adam Van Dommele, while teammate Billy Celeski picking up a yellow for bystanding! (Edit - actually, courtesy of a clip of the incident, Ward had nothing to do with it. Celeski received a caution for tripping Van Dommele after a simply unfortunate accident that saw Celeski clip Van Dommele in the head with his extended arm. The referees got everything perfectly right!) Make no mistake, the inquest vis-a-vis refereeing standards is in full swing.

Remarkably, just five points and a half-dozen goals separate the top seven sides. Sydney has not yet looked championship material, yet they share the summit of the ladder with Adelaide, which augers well for the rest of the season. While their form at home has irked some fans, they've actually recorded fewer losses on their home turf than any other club. Furthermore, they are the only team, along with Melbourne, to possess positive goal difference at home, which is quite incredible. Amazingly, every team besides Victory and the Knights have a positive away goals record!

Adelaide has been riding on its close victories for some time (e.g. round six versus the Knights). On road trips, they have escaped with five wins and no draws, while winning just one game at home where they now sustain a negative goal difference. Have the Reds been a tad lucky so far? Is the tide about to turn?

Of the rest, the Jets always look good when they're scoring freely. Their defensive frailties continue to be exposed, however. Glory's form oscillations are entirely unpredictable. Losses at home have hurt and there are question marks surrounding Mori's availability for the rest of the season. Queensland can't quite nudge their way into the top four on a consistent basis. Lack of production is a huge problem, but not for want of trying. Melbourne is in a spot of trouble over the coming weeks, with suspensions and the absence of Archie Thompson likely to exact a heavy toll. Home advantage against Newcastle and the Mariners before an away visit to New Zealand looks fairly comfortable on paper, which of course means nothing. Two of those teams, Central Coast and the Knights, probably have it even tougher. I'm expecting the Mariners to drop at least a couple of games before the December break. Life is just too tough without Pondeljak. Hopefully we'll get to see more of Leo Carle, who would be everyone's pick as a potential talismanic replacement within the squad. For the Knights, things can't get much worse so there should be improvement on the horizon. A long road trip to Glory next week doesn't help, nor does the followup excursion to Adelaide. But if Adshead can beef up the spirit a touch and continue to extract powerful outings from his local talent, who knows? Melbourne's visit to Auckland in late-November might be one to pencil in as a surprise.

Best of Round Eleven:

Player: Ante Milicic (pictured) - hitting top form at last, albeit against the hapless Knights

U-20 Player: Spase Dilevski - top show from the man with the speediest legs this side of Lance Armstrong (unless Kazuyoshi Mirua winds back the clock, that is); Dilevski has gotten so far forward this year that he's collected twice as many offsides as any other defender in the league!

Coach: Miron Bleiberg - executing a victorious homecoming, with a little help from Massimo Murdocca and friends

Match: Melbourne Victory vs Queensland Roar

Referee: Matthew Breeze

Goal: Ante Milicic - his third strike, a wonderful delicate chip around the body and over the keeper after bringing down a high ball just inside the area with the tip of his toes

4-4-2 Team of the Week:

Ante Milicic - Damian Mori
David Carney - Steve Corica - Noel Spencer - Massimo Murdocca
Remo Buess - Adrian Leijer - Karl Dodd - Spase Dilevski
Tom Willis

Subs: Simon Colosimo, Stuart Musialik, Kris Bright, Jason Petkovic

Our Goalkeepers

It's an open-ended contention one hears every now and then: Australian football has nurtured a disproportionate share of excellent goalkeepers as opposed to outfielders. For a short time, Mark Bosnich was among the top four or five 'keepers in the world. Mark Schwarzer has been a consistent presence in the upper echelons of the EPL for many years. In the same competition, John Filan has defied his advanced years and lowly reputation to help Wigan climb within sight of the Chelsea billionaires. Zeljko Kalac has been the first Australian to be sign for a true giant Italian club, and doesn't he like to make everyone aware of it? Then there's the likes of Jes Kedwell van Strattan and Nathan Coe, biding their time in Italy and Holland. We've even got great out of contract goalies like Michael Turnbull, who surely deserves a chance in the A-League if a roster spot happens to make itself available. And this is not to mention the numerous number one's, many of them unheralded, plying their trade in the lower leagues throughout Europe, in Spain, Greece, Turkey, England, Holland, Germany and elsewhere.

One of the arguments going around is that potential shot stoppers thrive in an Australian culture congested with hand-oriented sports. Perhaps the proliferation of 'handball' codes in this country has contributed to the accelerated development of hand-eye coordination among our sporting elite. It's an interesting assertion, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Some people might even find a problem with the original contention and argue that we haven't created many truly great 'keepers after all. Bosnich couldn't adapt to wealth and fame. They might claim that Kalac is merely Dida's training partner, or that Schwarzer has never secured a contract with a top shelf club. Or that simply Gordon Banks they ain't.

What do the current crop of goalies in the A-League suggest?

On close inspection, it's very interesting that out of the sixteen contracted goalkeepers (and one emergency ring-in: Adelaide's Nick Crossley in the fifth round), all but three have featured in the thick of the action so far this season. Milan Jovanic, Justin Pasfield and Andy Petterson are the unlucky trio who have been relegated to bench roles behind their uninjured, unsuspended rivals. But it's quite a startling fact that there's been a fair degree of revolution among those named at the top of the team sheet.

For the Mariners, U-20 starlet Danny Vukovic brilliantly filled in for regular starter John Crawley in round six and has since claimed the starting job.

Glen Moss put the pressure on Danny Milosevic with a great debut for the Knights in round five, and looks set to steal more quality time (irony intended) if Milosevic's recent hip injury continues to be a problem.

Michael Theoklitos and Eugene Galekovic shared duties between the posts early on for Victory, but that elusive winning feeling coincided with Galekovic's turn in the rotation and he has remained first choice ever since. You'd have to think a two or three match losing run would once again turn the tables.

Adelaide's Robert Bajic has deputised a couple of times for Daniel Beltrame. Ditto Roar's Scott Higgins for Tom Willis (pictured). On each occasion the backups performed admirably.

There certainly does seem to be a useful amount of depth at the position. Further down the line, state leaguers like Jacob Rex, Ben Moore, Stuart Webster and Lupce Acevski are also extremely competent goalies. It's quite impressive that there's no room for players like them in the A-League set-up. It seems that even a reformed Mark Bosnich would find it very tough indeed to crack into a starting lineup. What coach in their right mind would seriously consider Bosnich over Bolton, Reddy, Petkovic, Willis or Beltrame?

Our domestic 'keepers may have their detractors. They've made some clangers at times and we're probably yet to see a totally dominating performance from any one of them, but surely they stack up quite well in relation to comparative international standards.

Are our GKs proportionately better than our locally-based outfielders? Well, the reasonably high 2.6 goals-per-game average in the A-League suggests one of two things: (1) no, or (2) yes, but only if there is a further asymmetry, this time in the outfield between defense and attack.

So, do Australian football players attack better than they defend? Perhaps that's something to mull over while watching the next Kevin Muscat-inspired 5-0 whitewash or Alex Brosque-complicated 0-0 draw...