On the ball: A-League Round 1
What we learnt from A-League round one including Thomas Sorensen's impressive debut, the Wanderers struggle continues and has Graham Arnold unearthed another star?
Sorensen the “key” for City
Alessandro Del Piero, David Villa, Dwight Yorke have been seen as the perfect marquee players in the A-League clubs across the country, but is it time for international goalkeepers to leave their mark?
Thomas Sorensen made a spectacular A-League debut in Melbourne City’s 1-1 draw against Sydney FC this weekend pulling off seven vital saves to well and truly keep his side in the match.
The Danish goalkeeper was all that stood between Sydney FC running away with the match in the second half with two amazing saves from the boots of Ryan Grant and George Blackwood with his side only recording one shot on target for their sole goal.
City is set to welcome back a number of stars to their side in the coming weeks.
But the experience of Sorensen, including 409 appearances in the English Premier League and 101 for Denmark, could take City a long way towards the title this season.
Wanderers a work in progress
Time is needed for a fairly new Western Sydney Wanderers squad to improve on their poor season last year.
Wanderers started their 2015/16 campaign with a disappointing 3-1 loss to Brisbane Roar at Pirtek Stadium.
Although glimpses of impressive football was shown during the match, it was their defensive frailties that let them down.
As predicted in our A-League season preview last week, two fairly inexperienced goalkeepers could also land them in trouble.
Andrew Redmayne got the nod ahead of Dean Bouzanis for the Roar match, with the former easily being beaten for the opening goal by Jamie Maclaren after he wildly came out of his box.
Conceding two scrappy goals from corners will also worry coach Tony Popovic.
The Wanderers will definitely get better with time as the side gels.
O’Neill the real deal
Brandon O’Neill made sure he will no longer be a surprise selection for Sydney FC this season.
The 19-year-old midfielder was chosen ahead of Michael Tavares in his side’s opening A-League fixture and was a clear standout, playing a perfect through ball for captain Alex Brosque in the lead up to their goal as well as screening the Sydney defensive line.
Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold is known for having a keen eye on youngsters and looks to have nabbed himself another star after brining O’Neill to the harbor city from Perth.
“Brandon is aggressive and one thing that probably is underestimated with him is how good his passing ability is with both feet - right and left,” Arnold said after the match.
“He just sits there and breaks things up, and that's exactly the player that I need. I thank Perth for letting him come.”
Surprise of the week
Newcastle Jets victory in windy Wellington was a huge surprise to kick-off the A-League season.
After a tumultuous end to last year the Jets had been earmarked for another season at the bottom of the ladder.
David Carney looked to be in great form with a sneaky headed goal to open the scoring for the Jets before setting up Serbian striker Milos Trifunovic for their second.
Despite not being a complete performance, new coach Scott Miller is glad to have the first win off his back.
Team of the week 4-3-3
Goalkeeper – Thomas Sorensen (MC)
Right Back – Paulo Retre (MC)
Centre Back – Osama Malik (AU)
Centre Back – Daniel Bowles (BR)
Left Back – David Carney (NJ)
Midfielder – Fabio Ferreira (CCM)
Midfielder – Brandon O’Neill (SFC)
Midfielder – Mitch Nichols (WSW)
Forward – Filip Holosko (SFC)
Forward – Mitch Austin (CCM)
Forward – Jamie Maclaren (BR)