The Tackle: All the talking points from Round 4 of the A-League
John Aloisi wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe what he was seeing when an obvious missed penalty cost his side dearly. And the A League has to respond.
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Western United coach John Aloisi summed it up perfectly when asked about the shocking decision not to award his side a second-half penalty in its 2-1 loss to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.
With scores locked at 1-1, Adelaide United’s Ryan Kitto clearly fouled Western United substitute Abel Walatee from behind as he was about to give the visitors the lead.
Maybe he didn’t see it properly, but referee Daniel Elder didn’t point to the penalty spot.
That can happen, which is why the VAR is there – to correct a clear and obvious error made by the referee.
But, somehow, the VAR, Alex King, regarded as the A-League’s top referee, and assistant VAR Adam Kersey, didn’t correct Elder’s clearly wrong decision.
“Alex King and Adam Kersey were in (the) VAR (roles), and they’re top referees and they didn’t see it – I don’t get it, I don’t understand,” Aloisi said.
“It was so clear and obvious.”
ðŸŽ™ï¸ "That's two penalties ... he must've been on smoko, I think the same happened to me in a Grand Final once"
— Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) November 9, 2024
Roy O'Donovan weighs in on the contentious no-call against Abel Walatee in the second half#ADLvWUN post-game continues on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/KyN6juOPDV
It’s not just Aloisi. No one can understand the decision not to award United a spot kick, a decision that had a huge impact on the game’s result.
Western United’s director of football Steve Horvat took to social media to express his frustration.
“Enough is enough. Can someone at @aleaguemen please explain this because I don’t understand. I’ve been in this game my whole life but this standard of refereeing is killing our game, and if VAR can’t make this decision then it is broken as well,” Horvat posted on X.
“Killing our game” might be an exaggeration, but you can understand Horvat’s discontent.
We will soon find out the mettle of Football Australia’s new referees’ boss Jon Moss.
If Moss is fair dinkum, King and Kersey shouldn’t get a game, either on-field or in the VAR box, in the next round of fixtures.
Elder should also be benched for a week for missing the foul.
BRUNO’S A CITY SOLUTION
Don’t rule out the possibility that Bruno Fornaroli will return to Melbourne City.
Clearly no longer in the plans at Melbourne Victory following Tony Popovic’s departure and the appointment of Patrick Kisnorbo, Fornaroli returning to the club where he started his prolific A-League career in 2015 isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, despite his bitter split with City five years ago.
City is in desperate need of some attacking reinforcement after the season-ending knee injury suffered by Andrew Nabbout, and Marco Tilio’s absence for up to two months with a torn hamstring tendon.
Those setbacks came on the back of injury problems affecting Mathew Leckie and Max Caputo. Throw in the off-season departure of the A-League’s all-time leading goalscorer, Jamie Maclaren, and City’s attacking stocks have been severely dented.
Fornaroli looms as the solution.
Despite being 37, the Socceroo showed last season when he scored 18 A-League goals that he remains one of the A-League’s best strikers.
However, Kisnorbo doesn’t seem to think so, with rumours that he wanted to get rid of Fornaroli in the pre-season persisting.
It’s understood that Western Sydney was keen to sign Fornaroli, but could only do so if the Victory was willing to complete a player swap by signing the Wanderers’ Swedish marksman Marcus Antonsson, who has been underwhelming since arriving in the A-League last season.
Perhaps understandably, Kisnorbo wasn’t interested in Antonsson, so the Wanderers had no room for Fornaroli.
However, City does have the room for him, at the very least as an injury-replacement player for Nabbout.
Whether City would have to wait until January’s transfer window to sign Fornaroli, even if the Victory was to immediately terminate his deal, is up for debate due to the sometimes complicated machinations of the transfer market.
However, even if City had to wait, January isn’t that far away. Adding Fornaroli to its squad even at that stage would be anything but a silly idea.
A few hurdles might have to be overcome following the striker’s controversial and messy exit from the club in 2019, but with then coach Warren Joyce no longer at City, nothing is impossible.
MATA FOR DEBATE
Western Sydney coach Alen Stajcic can point to his side’s 4-1 thrashing of the woeful Newcastle Jets on Friday night to prove that he made the right decision to leave Spanish star Juan Mata out of his starting side and only bring him on with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Stajcic has seemingly made the decision that he’s not going to change that way he wants the Wanderers to play to suit Mata’s style.
Therefore, the question must be asked – why did Wanderers sign the former Manchester United and Chelsea star?
For an A-League club to sign a player of Mata’s calibre, surely it must be to showcase his skills and adopt tactics that suit him.
Otherwise it’s a huge waste of money, as well as an indication that Stajcic wasn’t overly keen to bring the World Cup winner to Western Sydney.
From all reports, Mata’s professionalism means that he hasn’t spat the dummy about the way he has been used so far, and continues to work hard and be an example for the club’s younger players.
However, if he continues to be given token minutes, the situation is heading for a messy, and premature, ending.
LESSON FOR YOUNG GUN
He might have been selected in the Socceroos squad, but young Sydney FC defender Hayden Matthews let the Sky Blues down badly at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Two rash and needless first-half fouls by the 20-year-old centre-back on Macarthur FC winger Marin Jakolis rightly resulted in him being sent off, leading to Sydney having to play with only 10 men for more than a half of football.
Hopefully it’s a lesson for Matthews, who can’t afford to get ahead of himself.
No doubt he will be reminded of that by his club coach Ufuk Talay, as well as national coach Tony Popovic when he enters his maiden Socceroos camp this week.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: (4-2-1-3) Jack Duncan (Melbourne Victory); Jason Geria (Melbourne Victory), Bart Vriends (Adelaide United), Tomislav Uskok (Macarthur FC), Sam Sutton (Wellington Phoenix); Luke Brattan (Macarthur FC), Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory); Zach Clough (Adelaide United); Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix), Hideke Ishige (Wellington Phoenix). Coach: Giancarlo Italiano (Wellington Phoenix).
Player of the week: Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Originally published as The Tackle: All the talking points from Round 4 of the A-League
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