The Tackle: Concerns for Adelaide United, City and Victory must lift
Adelaide United’s loss has posed the question whether the Reds are title pretenders while City and Victory need to lift ahead of the Melbourne Derby. Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde talk the big issues in The Tackle.
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Adelaide United’s loss has posed the question whether the Reds are title pretenders while City and Victory need to lift ahead of the Melbourne Derby. Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde talk the big issues in The Tackle.
Red alert for disappointing Adelaide
Adelaide United’s home loss to Newcastle has raised alarm bells that the Reds might be nothing more than title pretenders, rather than serious contenders.
While they remain in second spot on the A-League ladder, the Reds froze on Saturday night at Coopers Stadium when they had the chance to keep pressure on competition leaders Auckland FC.
While the Jets had a good win over Melbourne Victory the week before, it’s doubtful they would not have seriously troubled the Reds in Adelaide if the Carl Veart-coached team was a legitimate title threat.
However, the Jets showed that the Reds are still very far from being the real deal.
Adelaide was again exposed defensively, and the decision to start with Ethan Cox between the posts rather than James Delianov again proved costly.
Cox struggled a couple of weeks ago in Adelaide’s 4-1 loss to Sydney FC, and his failure to save the shot from Newcastle’s Clayton Taylor that gave the Jets a 2-1 lead showed he’s not ready for A-League level.
While Delianov is also not the complete product, his greater experience makes his recall a must, particularly considering the Reds’ next two opponents – Western United and Auckland.
Both of those matches away from home, but the Reds will probably be pleased about that given their ordinary form at Coopers Stadium this season.
If Adelaide wants to prove critics wrong, wins over Western United and Auckland would be a good way to do so.
However, if their performance against the Jets is any indication, the Reds will struggle in both of their upcoming matches.
Jets turn corner
Let’s hope internal issues don’t ruin the progress the Newcastle Jets seem to be making.
Showing their 3-0 home win over the Victory was anything but a fluke, the Jets backed it up with a 2-1 defeat of Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
And they now seemingly have the perfect chance to secure a hat-trick of wins when they host A-League cellars dwellers Brisbane Roar at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
Jets coach Rob Stanton seems to have unlocked the key to potential Newcastle success.
That’s despite a leading club official trying to influence the Jets’ football department with unwanted advice about tactics, recruitment and team selection.
On The Attack last week revealed the internal problems that are threatening to derail the progress Newcastle seems to be making.
It’s understood that the situation has led to Jets assistant coach Damir Prodanovic telling the club he is leaving at the end of the season, while Newcastle’s general manager of football Ken Schembri is also losing patience because of the interference.
Should Schembri also leave, it will further isolate Stanton, and there are sources suggesting that he too might decide to part ways with the club at the end of the Jets’ 2024-25 campaign if the situation doesn’t change.
It would be a shame if that were to happen, with the Jets having seemingly turned a corner in recent weeks under Stanton, who has brought the best out of in-form forward Lachie Rose.
The recent recruitment of classy Japanese attacking weapon Kota Mizunuma has also paid dividends for a Jets side that has shown it can hurt teams from anywhere on the park.
Melbourne teams need to lift for derby
Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory will need to lift their performances if this Saturday night’s derby at AAMI Park is to be a spectacle.
While both teams will take winning form into the match, neither side was overly convincing in their weekend wins.
City struggled to get the better of one of the competition’s worst teams, Perth Glory, in a 1-0 win at AAMI Park on Saturday.
However, it at least ended a run of three successive losses City had suffered, but Aurelio Vidmar’s team has only scored one goal in its past four matches.
That’s hardly form that would suggest City is going to threaten for the title.
The Victory were a little bit better in beating Wellington Phoenix 1-0 at AAMI Park on Friday night, but it still wasn’t a performance to remember.
Defensively, it was a good response to the previous week’s 3-0 loss to Newcastle, although Wellington has hardly been an attacking threat in what has been a disappointing campaign for the Phoenix.
City and Victory fans will hope their respective teams can step up a couple of gears in the derby, while neutrals will want both sides to lift to ensure it’s a game to remember for the right reasons.
Perfect response from Auckland
Auckland FC has again shown there should no doubting of its standing as the team to beat the season with a 2-0 weekend win over Western United at Ironbark Fields
It was just the response Auckland coach Steve Corica wanted after United’s 4-0 thrashing of the Black Knights in December.
It was an extremely professional performance in difficult conditions from Corica’s men, and the perfect preparation for this Saturday’s New Zealand derby against the Phoenix.
For United, the loss was a good learning curve for the host of younger players in the squad.
However, it was also a concerning indication that without star midfielder Angus Thurgate, who was suspended, United isn’t as dangerous.
Team of the week
(4-1-3-2): Alex Paulsen (Auckland FC); Gabriel Cleur (Western Sydney Wanderers), Roderick Miranda (Melbourne Victory), German Ferreyra (Melbourne City), Francis de Vries (Auckland FC); Jordi Valadon (Melbourne Victory); Kota Mizunuma (Newcastle Jets), Lawrence Wong (Melbourne City), Clayton Taylor (Newcastle Jets); Lachlan Rose (Newcastle Jets), Guillermo May (Auckland FC). Coach: Rob Stanton (Newcastle Jets)
Player of the week: Guillermo May (Auckland FC)
Originally published as The Tackle: Concerns for Adelaide United, City and Victory must lift
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