WITH a week off for international duty, little has happened on the Gold Coast United front this week- a first in quite some time.
I could talk about the fact that Shane Smeltz will be trying to do on the biggest stage of all what he's been doing all season for United, but there seems to be a bit of Kiwi saturation in football circles of late. Instead, I thought it might be an ideal time to review how the other 9 A-League clubs have been performing and how they shape up as championship rivals to GC United's ambitions.
Sydney
Position: 1st
W-D-L: 8-1-5
Head-to-head vs GCU: lost 1-2 @ Skilled, lost 0-1 @ Skilled
Sydney are leading the way on the A-League table, and GC United would be happy for that to continue. The two victories may've been narrow, but both were well earned. The early 2-1 win in particular was one of United's better performances, and it seems Miron Bleiberg's men lift when facing the Sky Blues. Sydney are a good outfit and play a similar style of football to Gold Coast. A finals match between the two would promise to be an A-League classic.
Melbourne Victory
Position: 2nd
W-D-L: 7-3-4
Head-to-head vs GCU: won 3-2 @ Skilled
The early favourites for the 2010 crown have been up-and-down this season, and have probably relied more on star midfielder Carlos Hernandez than they would care to admit. Played well in the only match against Gold Coast and deserved the win, but may've been lucky to get it with Muscat's penalty retake. The coming clash with Gold Coast at Etihad should tell a lot about both sides' finals ambitions.
Central Coast Mariners
Position: 4th
W-D-L: 5-5-4
Head-to-head vs GCU: won 3-0 @ Bluetongue
Beat Gold Coast comprehensively in the only meeting between the two sides, and have similarly embarrassed Brisbane and Melbourne this season to show they're more than a tribute to George Graham's Arsenal. Despite the good being very good, the bad is also quite bad for the Mariners. Still shaping up as a dark horse come finals time if they can time their run appropriately.
Perth Glory
Position: 5th
W-D-L: 5-3-6
Head-to-head vs GCU: drew 2-2 @ ME Bank, lost 1-2 @ Skilled
The two matches between Perth and Gold Coast have been hard to judge. Patches of particularly poor football by both sides have been balanced by some of the most entertaining football played by any team in the league this season. Most fans seem to agree that if they could find some consistency (and perhaps ditch their coach) they could be genuine title challengers but at present they'll be merely making up the numbers when the finals begin.
Wellington Phoenix
Position: 6th
W-D-L: 3-8-3
Head-to-head vs GCU: drew 0-0 @ Skilled, won 6-0 @ Westpac
Gold Coast are at this stage desperately hoping for the 'Nix to miss the top 6, because they really are shaping up as the real bogey team for United. The two matches so far this season were probably the two worst footballing performances for Utd, and the six goal embarrassment in Wellington was certainly the low point of the season so far. If they took 5 of the goals scored against United and distributed them evenly among their amazing 8 draws they could be 7 points clear on top of the table!
Brisbane Roar
Position: 7th
W-D-L: 4-4-6
Head-to-head vs GCU: lost 1-3 @ Suncorp, lost 0-1 @ Suncorp
The first half of the season-opening derby match provided entertaining football from both sides. Unfortunately, Brisbane have done little to entertain their fans since. Yes I know Frank Farina's antics and Josh McCloughan's own goal against Perth were entertaining, but only for those of us not emotionally attached to the Roar. Ange Postecoglou might be able to get them into the finals, but it's hard to see them getting far beyond that. Would a South East Queensland derby final at Suncorp draw more than 10,000 fans?
Adelaide United
Position: 8th
W-D-L: 4-4-6
Head-to-head vs GCU: lost 0-2 @ Hindmarsh
Adelaide and Gold Coast have only met once, and that was way back when Clive Palmer's crazy dream of an undefeated season was still possible. The Reds really need a win against GC Utd this Friday to get their season back on track. Bleiberg's side would do well to all but derail their season because Adelaide are just the sort of team that can grind out an upset win in the finals.
Newcastle Jets
Position: 9th
W-D-L: 4-4-6
Head-to-head vs GCU: won 1-0 @ EnergyAustralia
Neutral fans would suggest Newcastle have done well to earn as many points as they have this season. Putting an end to GC United's undefeated run in round 4 might well end up being the highlight of the season for the Jets, as they simply don't seem to have the talent to advance into the top 6. Michael Bridges is an extremely talented forward and might be able to turn around their fortunes, but they'll need significantly more from high profile players Vignaroli, de Groot and Abbas in support to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons.
North Queensland Fury
Position: 10th
W-D-L: 3-6-5
Head-to-head vs GCU: lost 0-5 @ Skilled, won 2-0 @ Skilled
A big win against Gold Coast in round 13 had the Fury temporarily off the bottom of the ladder. A week later, though, the Jets put them back in their place with a 2-0 win. The 5-0 thumping they received in round 2 showed just how fragile their defence is, and despite getting something from 9 of their 15 games this season most teams probably still view their fixture against North Queensland as the easiest 3 points on the calendar. Need to start playing with the confidence to win rather than hoping to sneak a draw to make a bigger impact this season. Also need to find at least 1 talented player who isn't Robbie Fowler.
So there it is; Gold Coast take on the rest of the A-League. Of course we already all know that the rest of the league views Gold Coast as overpaid bigmouths that roll over whenever put under serious pressure.
Luckily, this attitude has already allowed United to sit comfortably in the group of three teams starting to break away from the rest of the league. Hopefully, United can secure victories over Newcastle, Wellington, Central Coast and Melbourne in the coming weeks and ensure they've managed to beat every team in their inaugural season. This would certainly erase any doubts the players might have about facing Phoenix or Victory in the finals.
