Blog: A Fantastic Pair

WHAT do Rachel Welch, Sir Alex Ferguson, Scarlett Johansson and Guus Hiddink have in common?

They all know the value of having a knockout pair up front.

Let's face it, we all know that a dangerous and eye-catching forward pairing can open doors, break down defences, distract you from your game plan and, well supported, can be a real handful.

OK, enough of the blatantly obvious double entendres, I'm here to talk about the fact that Adelaide United supporters finally saw two - yes, you read that correctly - TWO forwards playing on their team last Friday night.

Stripped of at least four first team regulars, Viddie decided to roll the dice. Did it come off? Well, you tell me. I think it didn't quite, but we saw enough titillating glimpses to suggest that we might be enjoying a fair bit more of these two bouncing off each other. (Honestly, I'm trying to stop!).

The injury to Lloyd Owusu may keep them apart this week but it seemed pretty clear that, with enough game time to get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, Cristiano and Hangtime will gel into a striking team that will get the smiles back onto Reds fans faces.

They may not be Cole and Yorke or even Drogba and Anelka, but the newly blonde Cristiano and the newly bandaged Owusu playing together allows us to dream about the possibility that opposition defences may not always know what we're about to do.

The one-up structure of Adelaide has been worked out by our rivals and it only really functions effectively when we have our very best team on the park. Something we very rarely seem able to achieve.

To be completely honest, some of us just want to see some more aggressively attacking football being played by the boys from Hindmarsh. Even if we have to lose some before we learn to win. (Did I really say that?)

I'm sure most of us trust Viddie and understand why he has chosen to play the brand of football that gave us such an amazing run last season but times change and the fans have been begging for a formation that looks like it wants to score. Believes it can score. Does score.

Owusu has brought a bucketload of braggadocio to the team and, for that to be turned in to legitimate swagger, we need to follow his lead and play as if we are dangerous.

It's a strategy with inherent risks certainly. Strangely, when we're ninth after five rounds, those risks now seem more worthwhile embracing.

So, will Adelaide start to play more sexy football? Should we? Over to you and Viddie.

And on another topic.

For the last two weeks there have been a nappy-bucket full of posts saying how 'unlucky' Fury and Wellington were against us. Bullshit. It's a professional game and it's also football.

One person's 'unlucky' is another's 'lucky'. It's swings and roundabouts. Over time it evens out and too much bitching and hand-wringing starts to get a tiny bit boring.

An undermanned and somewhat fractured Adelaide side fought out two draws when they could easily have dropped their bundle and conceded defeat. I'm not saying we were pretty. I'm not saying we were fantastic. Nor am I saying we were lucky. But if you want to beat us - score one more goal than us. Don't rely on luck.

(I acknowledge and admit guilt in relation to all accusations of sexism and gratuitous manipulation of words to try and get you to read this blog. OK? I apologise from the bosom of my heart.)