This is shaping up as a cracking round of football. Big Blue rolls back into town and despite the average form of both teams I am really looking forward to this one. Fowler may have missed his flight back to North Queensland to face the music but two teams that can really turn on some flowing football in Raw and the Jets face off again. Then there's the little matter of the unbeaten Adelaide facing fellow in-form team the Gold Coast United.
The only thing that could take the shine off this coming round is the temporary loss of the league's most creative player in Marco Flores. I was really looking forward to seeing him create a lot of positive play for Van Dijk to send blazing over the cross bar. It could very well be that for the next couple of weeks the Reds will be at their most vulnerable. I sure hope Mathew Leckie has strong shoulders and a straight spine because in the absence he will likely have to carry the team unless Dodd can find some magical form over their next three games.
Of course the league has been on international break allowing the new look Socceroos a training run leading into the Asian Cup and I was well impressed with Jason Culina's game and his strike from outside the box. It seems he is revelling in his new attacking role and I hope to see him try that out on Eugene this Sunday. The other newsworthy football story happened to be the A-league's first "true" derby on Friday gone. From a neutral's view it was a good game and entertaining. I checked Centerbet for the odds of a flare in a Melbourne game but the odds came back as 0.5 to 1, still too high I thought. The only way I can bring all that back to my team is it kept Victory below Gold Coast and two games ahead of us so a healthy little margin to have.
As someone who spends his time writing about Gold Coast United weekly it seems an oddly quiet week as Miron and Clive have not made any outrageous claims or unbelievable acts. As a fan though it has been pleasant to not see my football team in the paper for something unrelated to football. In fact the only news from GCU this week is they are training inside seeing as South East Queensland is underwater. I would worry that this weather will keep the casuals away but I am yet to be convinced anyone is telling them a game is on.
Anyway, football is back. My team is playing - your team is playing. The Eurosnobs have crawled out to watch Australia and slunk back into the darkness remarking "It was good, but not Manchester United good - care for a scone?" Leaving us to support the teams in the cities we call home. It's time to get out there and support your team, take a mate and if he won't come then take his wife. If you live in Brisbane or North Queensland you better be taking every under 15 you can find because in this day and age a free ride is few and far between.
Good luck and may the best teams win.
