A-League 2012/13 Season Discussion Thread

[Andrew]

Tonight the A-League kicks off at Etihad Stadium in what is expected to be a near-full capacity crowd with Melbourne Victory taking on Melbourne Hearts.

I will be at the game, hoping to grab a Level One General Admission seat but I reckon I'll end up on Level Three. As long as I'm behind the goals I am fine. Even though I support Sydney FC, I am hoping Victory gets a win here because Hearts had a shit pre-season losing 7-1 to Wellington.

 

[Andrew]

Went to the game. 42,094 people were there so it was near full.

Hearts won 2-1. Victory had poor defending and played absolutely crap, I must say I fucking hate Leijer. Not because I used to play soccer with him but he's the worst defender in the league by a country mile, Victory has a new goalkeeper I believe, he also sucks.

I am surprised Hearts won after a disappointing pre-season. However, Sydney plays today!

VIVA SYDNEY!

 

[Aniking]

I think it's strange the teams play each other in pre-season matches. Gives too much away before the season.

I watched the first couple of weeks of the A-League last season, but after Brisbane's streak ended I just couldn't bare to watch it anymore. Brisbane were by far the most entertaining team to watch, but then they had a bad couple of weeks and I got disinterested. Only watched the Grand Final after that.

Last night I decided to watch and I thought the game was exciting. There were a fair few individual mistakes, but that's what I've gotta get used to as it's rare to see any of that in the Premier League. The first half between the two was exciting, with Heart the more threatening going forward. Victory were shaky defensively all night, and although they dominated possession, especially in the second half, I think Heart were worthy winners.

Not a bad game so I'll watch the two today.

 

[Andrew]

Shattered SYDNEY lost 2-0

del piero was Sydney's best player. BBall movement too slow..

 

[Andrew]

Western Sydney Wanderers drew with Central Coast 0-0 in other news.

 

[Troy]

Pretty disappointed with the crowd down at Wellington, first game of the season plus Del Piero debuting and they could only manage 12k.

Adelaide had a good start with a 2-0 win over Newcastle, we looked good throughout the game even though the players had only arrived back in Adelaide a few days before. Good way to open the season.

 

[Troy]

How good was the Sydney/Newcastle match! Great action from both teams and the star signings from each team scored a goal. Del Pierro's free kick was fantastic and the reaction from the crowd was incredible. Was great hearing 35k people cheering as one. Heskey managed to score as well to help Newcastle win 3-2.

Adelaide won again and this is the first time they have started the season with two wins in a row.

Melbourne Victory have the super coach in Ange but they are right at the bottom of the table after a 5-0 loss to Brisbane. Not sure what is going on there at the Victory.

 

[Aniking]

That Brisbane victory was an absolute masterclass, especially the second half. They're by far the most entertaining team in the league, they play the best football as well, and they're definitely the only team that'll once again keep me watching the A-League. They crushed Victory and it was just an amazing watch from a neutral's point of view.

In saying that, the Sydney/Newcastle game was a good game to watch too. Del Piero and Heskey scoring was great, although I still find it funny they mention Heskey in the same league as Del Piero. I get they're big stars from Europe, but Del Piero has always and always will be a notch above Heskey.

Apparently if a team has won their opening two games of the season, 5 out of 7 have made it to the Grand Final. If that continues, that'd be good news for Adelaide.

 

[Troy]

I agree that Del Piero is on another level but Heskey signing with the A-League in any other year would have been a huge signing. He is just unlucky that he arrived the same year as Del Piero. Still it is good seeing both actually perform, would have been terrible if they came across and struggled to begin with.

Adelaide are looking a lot better this year and seem to have figured out a forward combination that works.

 

[Andrew]

I missed all A-League games this week, was absolutely shattered Sydney lost once again.

The A-League has just started but it's sure been interesting already!

Round 3
Melbourne Victory v. Adelaide United
Newcastle Jets v. Central Coast Mariners
Western Sydney Wanderers vs. Sydney FC
Perth FC vs. Melbourne Hearts
Wellington Phoenix v. Brisbane Roar

Killer week for A-League this week, sucks I'm going to be missing out watching once again due to a 21st party but I'm going to try see if the pub is screening it to catch NCJ/CCM & WSW/SYD

 

[Troy]

I am pretty confident that Adelaide will be able to beat Melbourne this week. Unfortunately Melbourne Victory are a bogey team for Adelaide and Thompson will probably score a couple of goals.

 

[Troy]

Damn Melbourne Victory, Adelaide just can't beat them, went down 2-1 this week. No goals from Archie Thompson as he was busy scoring for the Socceroos. So disappointing that once again Adelaide fell to the victory.

The marquee signings continue to perform with Heskey and Del Piero both scoring again to lead their teams to victory.

 

[Troy]

Another week of games and another week of goals for both Heskey and Del Piero. Heskey got a double to lead Newcastle to another good win and then Del Piero (and Emerton) gave Sydney a 2-1 win over Perth. Adelaide were good this week with a 3-1 win over Wellington although they were very lucky with the refs. That dive was ridiculous and he should be banned for that, it was a clear dive and that needs to be stamped out of the game here.

 

[Andrew]

Sydney lost 7-2 yesterday.

Apparently no Del Piero, but shocking, shocking score.

 

[Troy]

It was a great performance by Central Coast, poor by Sydney though because a team like that, even without Del Piero, shouldn't be losing by that much.