The numbers tell the tale. Eighty-three and seven: 83 minutes of contentment and 7 minutes of bollocks, or for those of a darker shade of blue, the reverse. Three points lost and one point gained all around.
The big blue just gets bigger and better every match. The simple take would be that it was all about the mistakes but that would diminish what was, for the neutral, a pretty decent A-League match. There is not much that Sydney and Melbourne don't know about each other, but the need to play for the full 90 minutes seems to have slipped a few people's minds. Familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt.
----
Other than the two remaining big blues, some of the most intriguing battles this season will take place on the sidelines. Analysts are going to cut the coaching debate every way possible over the next 29 weeks. Expect multiple foreigners v Australians articles - most of them predictable bunkum. Undoubtedly someone is going to contrast the Dutch influence at Heart and (yes) Mariners v the Czech influence at Sydney and Fury. There will be the usual KRudd soliloquy from fifty-buck Branko where he asks himself about value of highly paid foreign coaches (and presumably highly paid less-foreign ones like Miron - timing is everything) in an SBS interview that you could pretty much script right down to the round of sage nodding from the usual panel, picked up by the midsentence cut-away to camera 3.
The coaching battle between Straka and Lavicka is going to be most intriguing. It's no secret that Straka sought out Lavicka's opinion about coaching in Australia. Lavicka's response is telling: In Lavicka's view, Straka would be surprised how exciting it is to live and work with players in Australia.
The media have been quick to draw parallels between the approach of Straka and Lavicka, but the themes of "team" and "unity" come through strongly; not just from both coaches but much more tellingly from the players they are coaching. Players like Corica, Talay, Daal, Foxe - who have been around the footballing block once or twice yet on this point are all on message, in agreement, every time.
Channelling Branko, I ask myself why? It is a Czech thing? A Sparta Prague thing? Just basic good coaching that seems to have been lost in the debate over the correct location of midfielders and the optimal distance for them to pass the ball? What I do know is that the themes of "team" and "unity" emphasised by Lavicka and Straka resonate. Players get them. Fans buy into them. Pundits run out of adjectives to describe them, before they run out of "Czech" based word plays. These values are fiercely Australian; a good reflection of our otherwise derisible tall poppy culture. That two Czech coaches have succeeded in drawing these quintessentially local values out of clubs that were in crisis prior to their respective appointments is beyond my ken. But it is, as Lavicka noted, exciting.
Fury are going to be dangerous opponents this year. I doubt that Sydney will underestimate them and will certainly not want to lose concentration for even a second. Therein lies the key to winning. Fury have some good players (take a tip and put Williams in your fantasy team), but Sydney have just that little extra quality that should see them through.
