The Tackle: All the talking points from Round 2 of the A-League

Sydney FC is counting the cost of two losses in four days, with a pair of their best playmakers in doubt for a serious chunk of the season. Catch all the talking points from Round 2 in THE TACKLE.

Sydney FC is about to face a true test of its title credentials after a horror few days.

Forget about the results. Losses in Japan on Wednesday and Auckland on Sunday can easily be overcome so early in the club’s Asian and A-League campaigns.

What’s more of a concern is injuries that star wingers Douglas Costa and Joe Lolley have suffered.

Costa, one of the A-League’s two prized additions this season along with the Wanderers’ Juan Mata, injured his hamstring in Japan and didn’t play in Auckland, instead having a scan on Sunday.

And things got worse for the Sky Blues when Lolley limped off in the first-half of Sydney’s 1-0 loss to the A-League’s newest team, not to mention a similar fate suffered by midfielder Corey Hollman soon after.

The Sky Blues will be sweating on the fitness of the trio, particularly Costa and Lolley, two of the team’s matchwinners.

Douglas Costa de Souza injured his hamstring in Japan. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

It’ll be a crying shame for not only the Sydneysiders, but the entire A-League, if Costa and Lolley are sidelined long-term.

All of the team’s travel in the past week wouldn’t have helped either player, who are both on the wrong side of 30.

If they are out for a number of weeks, Sydney’s depth is going to be tested, but coach Ufuk Talay was always going to need a deep squad with his team playing in continental and domestic competitions.

Time is definitely on the Sky Blues’ side, but that will be of little consolation if Costa and Lolley are on the sidelines indefinitely.

‘SOMETHING DEFINITELY WRONG’

It was good to hear Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar not mince his words after his team’s “horrendous” start in Saturday night’s derby at AAMI Park.

Vidmar, and all of City’s fans, had every right to be filthy with the shambolic way the team started against the club’s arch rivals.

While the Victory was good, they were allowed to dominate by a timid City outfit, who for whatever reason, couldn’t lift for a match as big as the Melbourne derby.

“If you can’t get up for a game like this, there’s something definitely wrong,” Vidmar said.

The game was over after just 25 minutes with the Victory leading 3-0.

After such a huge build-up to a game that attracted more than 20,000 fans, City should have been switched on from the opening whistle.

Melbourne City head coach Aurelio Vidmar. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

Instead, they offered nothing until the result was well in the Victory’s keeping. It was far too little, and far too late.

“Christ, do we need to cop three goals before we actually turn up?” Vidmar said.

There needs to be plenty of soul-searching at City ahead of next Monday night’s battle, which is another derby, this time against Western United at Ironbark Fields.

Let’s hope that Vidmar keeps faith in young gloveman Patrick Beach.

Superb in City’s first-up 1-0 win over Newcastle after being given the nod over veteran Jamie Young, Beach gifted Ryan Teague the Victory’s third goal in the derby with a schoolboy error.

However, it wasn’t Beach alone who cost City the match, and he deserves a chance to redeem himself.

ELECTRIC ELI

Brisbane fans should be asking why Queenslander Eli Adams isn’t playing for the Roar after his superb performance for Newcastle in the Jets’ surprise 2-1 win over Macarthur FC on Friday night.

The 22-year-old midfielder scored two great goals as the Jets overcame a 1-0 deficit at Campbelltown Sports Stadium to secure their first win of the season.

Eli Adams filthy nutmeg #MACvNEWpic.twitter.com/C3SNzbkz9A

— Evan Morgan Grahame (@Evan_M_G) October 25, 2024

Adams was part of the Roar’s youth team and made eight A-League appearances for the club before leaving in June 2022 to accept a scholarship deal with the Victory rather than stay in Brisbane on a youth development agreement worth about $100 a week.

The Toowoomba product made 15 top-flight appearances, most of the bench, in two seasons at the Victory, who were keen to keep him.

However, there was considerable interest in Adams’ services from other clubs.

The question remains, however, how much interest the Roar showed in bringing Adams back to the club.

The Roar continue to sprout that they want Queensland’s most talented young players at the club, and surely Adams is one of them.

It’s understood that while the Roar “tried” to sign Adams for this season, they didn’t make a firm offer to his agent Nathan Gaynor, knowing that they couldn’t match what the Jets and other clubs had offered.

Eli Adams of the Jets. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.

However, there’s a suggestion that Adams might have come back to the Roar for less money had Brisbane put a formal offer forward.

The Roar didn’t do that, and now one of Queensland’s brightest prospects is playing for Newcastle, who could also very well profit in the future from a potential overseas move should Adams continue his rise.

“It’s been really easy to settle in (at the Jets),” Adams told Paramount Plus after scoring his brace.

“The boys have been super welcoming, the coaching staff are very nice – it’s made coming into the environment really easy.”

Jets coach Rob Stanton tipped Adams’ confidence to grow after his all-round performance ­– not just his goals – against Macarthur.

“It’s just going to give him a boost,” Stanton said.

“He did a terrific job defending from the front. He stepped up, he was aggressive, he got into challenges … and I said to him that will lay the foundations for the good stuff that you’re capable of doing.

“You’ve got to do the hard work, and he showed he did the hard work.

NO GLORY FOR ZDRILIC

David Zdrilic deserves a lot better than what his Perth Glory team is giving him at the moment.

Thrashed 6-1 last weekend by Macarthur FC away, the Glory needed an immediate response in front of their own fans against Wellington Phoenix.

And while their 2-0 loss at HBF Park wasn’t as damaging on the scoreboard, Zdrilic’s men showed next to no spark, created very little in attack, and again defended poorly.

Glory coach David Zdrilic. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images.

The Phoenix produced an extremely polished performance away from home, but were allowed to do so but a Perth side not showing enough desperation.

It has been a baptism of fire for Zdrilic, who arrived at the Glory in the off-season with a very good reputation as an assistant coach.

However, now he’s in the hot seat, and hopefully he’s not too much of a good guy to give his players the rocket they deserve.

MORE TIME FOR MATA

Juan Mata did enough in his hour on the park in the Wanderers’ 1-1 draw with Western United on Sunday to suggest he will be an extremely important player for Western Sydney this season.

Having come off the bench to play the final half an hour of the Sydney derby the previous weekend, the 36-year-old former Manchester United and Chelsea star started against United at Ironbark Fields before being replaced about 15 minutes into the second-half.

While frustrated at times not to be given the ball to his feet, the World Cup-winner kept his side composed in the middle of the park.

United dominated the second-half, with the Wanderers missing Mata’s poise after he went off.

Hiroshi Ibusuki’s equaliser for the hosts, who had trailed after a first-half goal from Wanderers forward Brandon Borrello, ensured United grabbed a deserved share of the points.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

(4-2-1-3) Ryan Scott (Newcastle Jets); Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Scott Wootton (Wellington Phoenix), Nando Pijnaker (Auckland FC), Francis de Vries (Auckland FC); Alex Rufer (Wellington Phoenix), Louis Verstraete (Auckland FC); Eli Adams (Newcastle Jets); Brandon Borrello (Western Sydney Wanderers), Nikos Vergos (Melbourne Victory), Reno Piscopo (Melbourne Victory). Coach: Rob Stanton (Newcastle Jets).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Eli Adams (Newcastle Jets)

Originally published as The Tackle: All the talking points from Round 2 of the A-League