On the Ball: A-League Round 9
From fan boycotts going too far to horrible kits clashes, poor surfaces and a new leader are all in this week's edition of On the Ball.
Fans going too far with boycotts
Football fans must return to the stands as soon as possible as their boycotts are only hurting the game they claim to love.
Protests have led to Football Federation Australia reviewing their policy concerning the banning of fans from matches, so why is this continuing?
Fans must remember that this all came to a head after a newspaper report two weeks ago exposing what the author thought to be violence in football.
The sad thing is that fans are failing to see that article plus the domino effect after it have given the author and many others what they truly wanted – football to be way out of the mainstream.
Understably the banning process is a complex issue, but all football fans have to do is cast their memory back to the years when there was no major football competition in Australia before the A-League.
The more the stands are empty, the more sponsors will fall away as will the game.
Kits clash, poor surface creates NZ fiasco
An ugly kit clash coupled with an extremely poor playing surface at QBE Stadium in Auckland has shown how unprofessional FFA can be at times.
Despite being in the midst of fan boycotts, the FFA made a monumental error before the two teams took to the field in relation to their kits.
Wellington had chosen to wear a one-off silver kit whilst Melbourne Victory players found their all-white strip laid out when they entered their dressing rooms, only for the referee to tell them to wear their home kit due to the clash.
FFA officials then stepped in to overturn the referee’s decision.
Despite the FFA since apologising for the incident and announcing the approval process for the strips would be subject to an operational review, it is simply too late and is something that should not happen in modern day football.
Away from the strip debacle, the surface at QBE Stadium was well below par with Melbourne Victory defender Leigh Broxham saying he had to throw his boots out after the match due to “a pitch that was basically just painted green”.
Something definitely must be done for both of these issues to never come up again.
Are the Wanderers of old back?
Western Sydney Wanderers fans are rejoicing after their side has finally found its feet after a disastrous 2014-15 campaign.
There are many similarities from their Asian Champions League winning side to this season with a tight defensive unit complimented by a hard working attack led by an in-form midfielder.
Question is however, can this continue for Western Sydney?
There has been lapses of concentration in their game which has cost them goals, but luckily for them Mitch Nichols has almost single handedly given them all three points of late.
The question should definitely be answered this weekend when they take on Melbourne Victory.
The champions are coming off a disappointing loss to Wellington and with a chance of retaking the lead at the top of the ladder will be hungry for a win.
So that defensive line must fill those small gaps quickly to keep a hold of Besart Berisha, Kosta Barbarouses and Fahid Ben Khalfallah in what is shaping up as the biggest match of round 10.
Team of the week
Goalkeeper – Eugene Galekovic (AU)
Right Back – Scott Neville (WSW)
Centre Back – Dylan McGowan (AU)
Centre Back – Matt Jurman (SFC)
Left Back – Alex Gersbach (SFC)
Midfielder – Mitch Nichols (WSW)
Midfielder – Aaron Mooy (MC)
Midfielder – Roly Bonevacia (WP)
Forward – Bruno Fornarolli (MC)
Forward – Roy Krishna (WP)
Forward – Jamie Maclaren (BR)
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