Slater: A-League rivals must pounce on Melbourne City slip-up

Melbourne City’s shock home loss Newcastle Jets has upped the ante for the rest of the A-League clubs battling for a top-six spot and a place in the finals.

Melbourne City’s Max Caputo attempts a header. Picture: Getty Images

Socceroos great Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde tackle the biggest news and issues in the A-League, including the aftermath of Melbourne City’s shock slip-up to Newcastle Jets.

TEAMS MUST POUNCE ON CITY’S SLIP-UP

Melbourne City’s shock home loss Newcastle Jets has upped the ante for the rest of the A-League clubs battling for a top-six spot, including Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory, who meet in the game of the round on Saturday night.

City should be kicking themselves after losing 1-0 to the Jets at AAMI Park on Wednesday.

The hosts dominated the contest but it amounted to nothing, and they blew the chance to jump into second spot on the ladder and slash Auckland’s lead at the top of the table to four points.

And with City having a bye this weekend, they could be as low as fifth come Sunday night.

With City having opened the door, Western United, Adelaide United, Sydney FC, the Victory and the Wanderers will want to pounce in the race for a top-six berth.

Newcastle’s Noah James makes an incredible save of Harry Politidis’ shot for Melbourne City. Picture: Getty Images

For the Wanderers, it’s a huge chance to jump from sixth to as high as third.

Many assumed that having a bye last weekend would hurt Western Sydney’s momentum following a run of three straight wins.

However, On The Attack spoke this week to Wanderers coach Alen Stajcic, and he welcomed the break, saying it came at a good time with some players carrying niggling injuries.

Therefore, expect the likes of Brandon Borrello, Zac Sapsford and Nicolas Milanovic to come out firing on Saturday night in front of what’s hopefully a sizeable crowd at CommBank Stadium.

The Wanderers must deliver a positive result against Victory to capitalise on City’s slip-up. Picture: Getty Images

There’s a good feeling around the club at the moment, and you can sense that Wanderers fans are ready to come along for the ride and truly get behind their team by turning out in force this weekend.

A good atmosphere should contribute to a high quality contest.

While the Victory haven’t been in outstanding form, they are on a four-match unbeaten run and also take winning form into the contest, after defeating Central Coast Mariners 3-0 last Saturday night.

It will be interesting to see how Victory coach Arthur Diles uses his French star Zinedine Machach against the Wanderers.

Wanderers coach Alen Stajcic relished the break. Picture: Getty Images

Machach was left out of the Victory’s starting side last weekend, but responded with a cracking goal after coming on as a substitute during the second-half.

It was definitely the response Diles was looking for after benching the star midfielder, who has put his hand up to be a starter again.

There’s no doubt that when Machach is firing, it’s a given that he’s in the Victory’s best 11.

THREE POINTS ESSENTIAL FOR SKY BLUES

Sydney FC must start stringing some A-League wins together and can ill-afford anything but three points from their game against Wellington Phoenix at Allianz Stadium on Sunday night.

If the Sky Blues lose to the Phoenix, they could be as many as four points outside the top six depending on the weekend’s other results.

That’s not good enough for a club of Sydney’ stature and for a squad that contains the likes of Douglas Costa, Joe Lolley, Patryk Klimala and Anthony Caceres.

Douglas Costa’s Sydney FC must start stringing wins together. Picture: Getty Images

While Sydney will be backing up from Thursday night’s AFC Champions League Two home clash against South Korean club Jeonbuk, that shouldn’t be used as an excuse if the Sky Blues fail to fire against a Phoenix team that has lost four matches in a row.

There is enough talent and depth in the Sydney squad to be able to play two games in 72 hours at a good level.

The A-League did Sydney a favour by pushing the games against Phoenix back to Sunday to give them an extra day to recover from the AFC Champions League Two commitments, and the Sky Blues must make the most of it.

A-LEAGUE TALENT SET TO SHINE IN QATAR

Proof of the emergence of a host of young players in the A-League this season has been emphasised in Australia’s under 23-squad for an upcoming four-nation tournament in Qatar.

Of the 23 players selected to represent Australia against Croatia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar at the Doha International Under-23 Cup ­– which starts on Wednesday – 22 are playing for A-League clubs.

While some overseas-based players are unavailable, Australia’s under-23 coach Tony Vidmar is excited with the “quality” of the squad, and acknowledged their improvement from playing regular A-League football this season.

“We’ve brought together a squad who are getting plenty of minutes at their respective clubs and are performing well,” Vidmar said.

“We want to continue developing these players individually and building depth across the age group.

“I’m excited by the quality both within this group and on our extended monitoring list and am looking forward to connecting with the players and staff to lay the foundations for the year ahead.”

Originally published as Slater: A-League rivals must pounce on Melbourne City slip-up