It All Starts Now!

The wait is over, the first match played and a surprise result already. Season previews and bookie odds are in tatters after a team most tipped to finish in the bottom three up staged last years premiers (and bookies favourite) to take the points in the opening match.

To be honest Victory hardly looked interested in the first half. It certainly didn’t help with the line up Ernie Merrick sent out onto the field. With the lead up comments to the game it was certain that Broxham was going to start but to start both Brebner and Broxham is a recipe for disaster and again last night it was obvious that Victory loses a significant amount of drive in midfield when both are on the field at the same time.

At least one of them should have been replaced at half time with Celeski who provides a much more creative option from the back. Victory looked a different side in the second half once he was sent on. And with the addition of Ward they suddenly looked much more dangerous going forward. I can only hope that both Celeski and Ward will resume their starting roles next week against the Roar.

But the biggest issue for Melbourne last night was the injury to Kevin Muscat. It looks like the gamble to go into the season short of central defenders has failed within the first 90 minutes. With talk of Muscat being out for at least a month with his hamstring, the Victory are going to struggle to contain opposition attacks.

The rest of the round has some enticing matchups; here are some of my favourites.

1. Gold Coast vs Brisbane
I think every A-league fan will be looking forward to this match. Clive Palmer and Miron Beilberg have done an excellent job of embedding their team into the media and have already manufactured a derby that should contain plenty of heat. Certainly United are fast making their way onto everyone’s most hated list.

As a neutral I am hoping for open and flowing game but I am sure Frank is way too canny to allow that to happen. I am tipping the Roar to take a very cautious approach and plan on frustrating United with what I believe will be the best defence in the League.

Either way though it will be a fascinating game (and wouldn’t we all love for Gold Coast to come tumbling down to Earth in their very first match).


2. Fowler vs Sydney
I won’t even pretend that anybody will be tuning in the watch North Queensland. All eyes (and pressure) will be on the performance of Robbie Fowler. Can he lift and score for the occasion? I am sure all supporters bar Sydney fans will hope so (and I suspect a few Sydney fans would also love to see him knock one in).

Of course with all the media hype surrounding Sydney’s build up to the kickoff they also need to get off to a good start and if North Queensland and Fowler do get the best of them they are sure to come under immediate scrutiny.

Last season Sydney seem to shoot themselves in the foot more often than not and I am sure they will start favourites here. Will they be able to deliver? We shall see


3. Newcastle v Wellington
Just about every pundit has these two teams missing the finals. With that in mind a good start for one of these two teams may go a long way to erasing some of the doubts that may be bouncing around in the minds of the players.

Confidence is a funny thing and the winner here just might surprise a few teams if they can get that first win under their belt.

Of course it works in reverse as well. A loss here could just reinforce those nagging suspicions and make it difficult to come back from. We are a long way from last chance saloon but both of these teams have everything to play for and nobody will want to walk away from this match the loser.

Enjoy the first round
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