October 7th, 2013

The A-League begins this week!!! It’s a very exciting time for all. I for one am chomping at the bit for the Melbourne Derby this Saturday night at Docklands. I’m so excited I am already picturing all the different ways I am going to sulk if Heart pull off an upset!

Western Sydney Wanderers
Good – Kept all their great league winning players.
Bad – Not the new kids anymore, are now a target.

Central Coast Mariners
Good – Gained Marcos Flores and Matt Simon.
Bad – Lost Mathew Ryan, Bernie Ibini-Isei and Patrick Zwaanswijk and possibly Danny McBreen.

Melbourne Victory
Good – Gained some experienced strikers and a marquee defender, still got Postecoglou.
Bad – Midfield have a combined age of 14.

Adelaide United
Good – New coach Josep Gombau has promised to make them the Barcelona of the A-League.
Bad – Coaches invariably talk shit.

Brisbane Roar
Good – Regained some old favourite players.
Bad – That includes Matt McKay.

Perth Glory
Good – New coach has brought in a wealth of young talent.
Bad – This includes his two sons… not a joke.

Sydney FC
Good – Did a preseason tour of Italy, making much needed money for the club.
Bad – All of that money would have gone to Alessandro Del Piero and his fantastic collection of ivory back scratchers.

Newcastle Jets
Good – Retained goal scoring machine Emile Heskie.
Bad – Still owned by Nathan Tinkler, who is like Clive Palmer but with the money running out… so Bob Katter.

Melbourne Heart
Good – Signed Harry Kewell and fantastic Dutchman Orlando Engelaar.
Bad – Kewell hasn’t played football in 18 months and Engelaar has broken his leg.

Wellington Phoenix
Good – New coach Ernie Merrick has A-League winning experience, and he’s brought in Carlos Hernandez!
Bad – By the end of Merrick’s tenure at Melbourne Victory it was obvious he didn’t realize coaching tactics are supposed to be plural.

So who do I think will win the A-League? Well the Wanderers are an impressive outfit, but I just feel that this season will belong to Melbourne Victory. With the form they’ve been I just can’t see them dropping a single match. Sure that form was done on the playstation set to easy but with the oval ball finals on that was the only soccer coverage I could get.

This week’s best goal is also the worst camera work.