A-League Men Tackle: Likes and dislikes from round 8

A lack of cameras made it impossible to tell whether a goal should have been awarded on Saturday night, and a similar incident in a grand final could leave the league red faced. Likes and dislikes here.

Angel Torres Quinones of the Mariners and Tolgay Arslan of Melbourne City have a disagreement during the A-League Men round eight match between Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park, on December 17, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The A-League Men action for the weekend is over after a thrilling clash between City and the Mariners on Sunday.

There is still one more match remaining in the round on Monday night between Wellington and Macarthur, but Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde have covered the events of the round so far in the A-League Men tackle below.

DISLIKES

CAMERA-SHY A-LEAGUE

There’s no doubt that Melbourne Victory deserved their ‘Big Blue’ weekend win, but Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay had a point when lamenting the lack of television cameras in operation and whether it cost the Sky Blues what would have been the game’s first goal.

The Sydneysiders, who lost 3-0 at AAMI Park on Saturday night, thought they had taken an early lead through Jake Girdwood-Reich.

However, referee Adam Kersey ruled that the ball hadn’t crossed the line due to a miraculous save from Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo.

The VAR checked, but with lack of camera angles available, there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest that the ball had crossed the line, so the referee’s initial decision stood.

The match officials don’t have goal-line technology at their disposal. Picture: Getty Images

“It definitely would help the officials if there are more angles,” Talay said post-match.

The sad thing is that there would be more angles available if the Australian Professional Leagues, which pays for the broadcast production costs, could afford them.

Goal-line technology ­– which includes having a chip in the ball, as is the case in some of the world’s top leagues - would also have cleared up the matter, but that too isn’t within the APL’s budget.

Unfortunately, these are the confines that the APL are forced to work under as Australian football suffers from a lack of money.

Let’s hope that more cameras and improved technology are part of the competition in future years, and that the current restrictions don’t end up leading to a mistake that costs a team the A-League title.

SYDNEY SEARCHING FOR GOALS

Technology and lack of funds aside, Talay and Sydney FC still have plenty of work ahead of them ­– particularly in attack - to return to the top of the A-League pile.

Hired to replace the sacked Steve Corica after the Sky Blues lost their first three games of the A-League season and failed to score in any of the three defeats, Talay has guided Sydney to only six points from a possible 15.

The Sky Blues have scored eight goals in Talay’s five games in charge however five came in one game and three came in another.

Therefore Sydney has failed to score in six of its eight matches this season.

It’s an alarming statistic for the club that has won the most A-League championships ­ - five – since the competition’s inception 18 years ago.

Sydney were well beaten by Melbourne Victory. Picture: Getty Images

As this column has stated previously, the Sky Blues got their off-season recruitment wrong, particularly in finding a replacement for veteran striker Adam Le Fondre, who is now at Scottish club Hibernian.

Brazilian striker Fabio Gomes has so far struggled, and it means there’s too much pressure on classy English winger Joe Lolley to produce match-defining performances every week.

Gomes should be given more time to adjust, but Talay must still use next month’s transfer window to sign a forward that’s going to score regularly otherwise the Sky Blues can forget about challenging for this season’s title.

LIKES

REMATCH TO REMEMBER

If only Sunday’s Melbourne City-Central Coast Mariners six-goal thriller was last season’s grand final between the two teams.

The rematch of the 2022-23 decider, which was won 6-1 by the Mariners over a humiliated City – was a fantastic advertisement for the A-League in terms of entertainment and excitement.

Full credit must go to Mariners coach Mark Jackson for the way he has turned around Central Coast’s form in recent weeks.

There were many members of Australia’s football fraternity, including the The Tackle, who were questioning Jackson’s appointment as Nick Montgomery’s replacement after the Mariners started the A-League season with four successive losses.

The clash between City and the Mariners was a beauty. Picture: Getty Images

And while the Mariners still have a lot to do, they have picked up eight points from a possible 12 in their past four A-League games and have also topped their AFC Cup group.

Having lost so many players from last season’s grand final-winning team, as well as coach Montgomery, the Mariners’ were always going to take some time to find their feet with a host of new faces.

One of them, Angel Torres, showed his class with a hat-trick in Sunday’s 3-3 draw, and he’s only set to improve as the season goes on.

CUP CAPERS

Injuries and the lack of game time for some players have given national coach Graham Arnold some untimely headaches ahead of this week’s announcement of the Socceroos’ Asian Cup squad.

Six players ­– Brandon Borrello (Western Sydney Wanderers), Awer Mabil (Grasshoppers), Nick D’Agostino (Viking FK), Ryan Strain (St Mirren), Gianni Stensness (Viking FK) and Bailey Wright (Lion City) – won’t be considered because of injury.

Midfielder Ajdin Hrustic and defender Fran Karacic are also not under consideration because of their lack of football. Hrustic has not played for his Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona all season, while Karacic has been without a club since leaving Italian outfit Brescia at the end of last season.

There is also now a huge doubt that Melbourne City star Mathew Leckie will be available due to the hamstring injury he suffered less than a week ago.

Arnold must decide whether he can afford to carry Leckie in his squad and save him for the latter stages of the tournament.

The Socceroos coach is facing similar calls with Mat Ryan (AZ Alkmaar), Riley McGree (Middlesbrough), Nathaniel Atkinson (Hearts) and Mohamed Toure (Paris FC), who are all racing against time to prove their fitness for the Cup.

Captain and goalkeeper Ryan is expected to have sufficiently recovered from a fractured cheekbone to be chosen for the squad.

And in an ideal world versatile attacker Leckie, midfielder McGree and right-back Atkinson would also be in the 23.

The Tackle has picked its Socceroos squad for the Asian Cup, and there aren’t too many surprises.

Bruno Fornaroli is pushing for a Socceroos call up, but he’s not in Robbie and Marco’s Asian Cup squad. Picture: Getty Images

As well as veteran Victory striker Bruno Fornaroli is playing, he’s not in our squad, with Arnold needing to find the balance of trying to win the tournament but also plan for the next World Cup.

We’ve listed whiz-kid Jordan Bos among the defenders, but he is also an option as a left-winger.

If Leckie, McGree and Atkinson are ruled out, Jamie Maclaren, Denis Genreau and Milos Degenek are the next best options for the squad.

The Tackle’s Socceroos squad for the Asian Cup ­­- Goalkeepers: Mat Ryan, Ashley Maynard-Brewer, Joe Gauci; Defenders: Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Alessandro Circati, Kye Rowles, Aziz Behich, Jordan Bos, Lewis Miller, Nathaniel Atkinson/Milos Degenek; Midfielders: Jackson Irvine, Keanu Baccus, Massimo Luongo, Aiden O’Neill, Connor Metcalfe, Riley McGree/Denis Genreau; Attackers: Martin Boyle, Sammy Silvera, Craig Goodwin, Mitch Duke, Kusini Yengi, Mathew Leckie/Jamie Maclaren.

TEAM OF THE ROUND

(4-2-3-1): Paul Izzo (Melbourne Victory); Josh Risdon (Western United), Marcelo (Western Sydney Wanderers), Damien De Silva (Melbourne Victory), Jack Clisby (Western Sydney Wanderers); Josh Nisbet (Central Coast Mariners), Daniel Penha (Western United); Zinedine Machach (Melbourne Victory), Tolgay Arslan (Melbourne City), Daniel Arzani (Melbourne Victory); Angel Torres (Central Coast Mariners). Coach: Tony Popovic (Melbourne Victory)

Player of the round: Angel Torres (Central Coast Mariners)

Originally published as A-League Men Tackle: Likes and dislikes from round 8