Five Things We Learned In Week 19

Here’s what we learned a round of surprises …

1. El Zorro Has Returned
“King Carlos,” Brenton Speed? No, no, no. This was the strike of ‘El Zorro’! Oh yes, ‘El Zorro’ is back, at least if his thumping, pinpoint goal to level the scores between Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners on Friday night was anything to go by. Hernandez’s howitzer eventually proved the catalyst for Victory’s toppling of the league leaders, a result which will renew confidence of a meaningful finals campaign for the two-time A-League champions. Now sitting in eighth and only two points off sixth placed foe Melbourne Heart, Victory boss Jim Magilton will be delighted with the re-emergence of El Zorro (in all instances from now, ‘El Zorro’ refers to Hernandez’s in-form alter ego) as he plots a Blue and White resurrection. Indeed, it was one half of his new central-midfield pairing which supplied the Costa Rican’s leveller as the repositioned Mark Milligan showed positivity in possession, ultimately opening the space for Hernandez. With the promising pairing of Socceroo Milligan and the man with the coolest name in the league, Jimmy Jeggo, behind him, El Zorro may now have the supply to help blast Victory into the top six – and Magilton into more Muscat-head-grappling celebrations.

2. Midfield Thrust a Missing Heart Must
If it wasn’t enough for the startlingly revitalised Newcastle to brush the freefalling Heart aside on Saturday afternoon, the home side’s fluidly functioning midfield will have served as a blunt reminder of what might have been for John van’t Schip. With captain and playmaker Fred still waiting on a green light for his return to action and the exceptional Matt Thompson expected to miss at least another week, Heart’s overwhelming lethargy in their 3-0 loss at the newly renamed Hunter Stadium – not to be confused with Harlen C. Hunter Stadium, Missouri – will have driven the departing Dutchman to breaking point. Newcastle’s attacking midfield trio of Griffiths, Jeffers, and left-wing sensation Tarek Elrich, operating around the industrious Wheelhouse-Pepper platform, followed up their five-goal work last start by again validating Gary van Egmond’s methods, and providing a sharp contrast to a Heart three unable to penetrate. Until the aforementioned Red and White stars return, van’t Schip will have little option but to sit and watch the Jets soar away under the tutelage of his faux-countryman.

3. A Marquee Has Been Made
Brett Emerton is a more than worthy A-League marquee: fantastic player, beloved Socceroo, willing community and media contributor and, from all reports, a great fellow. For a number of reasons, though, his suitability as a marquee has just not yet translated into matchday performances befitting of his quality. Come the 54th minute of Sydney’s 2-1 win over high-flying Perth on Saturday night and the marathon man may just have announced himself by ramming the Sky Blues into an unprecedented home lead. The 91-cap veteran followed up that effort by supplying a must-score dink from the back post for Bruno Cazarine to seal a crucial Sydney win. In stark reality, Sydney’s squad is far from possessing title-winning quality. Alternately, in Brett Emerton they possess potentially the best player in the league. He will need to be just that over the next six matches if Vitezslav Lavicka’s farewell is to be memorable.

4. Third Time’s a Teaser
Way back in November 2011, around the time a nine-man Victory gallantly held on to a 2-2 draw against Brisbane, “parking the bus” replaced “losing 7-1” as the new and rather more effective way to blunt the champions’ natural attacking game. Of course, the tactic grew out of its indie roots to become mainstream popular when Wellington Phoenix travelled to Suncorp Stadium and nicked a hard-earned point through Tim Brown to reward their stout defending. Skip forward to mid-December and, setting out in a similar counter-attacking setup, Wellington went two points better by seizing a 2-0 victory over the Roar in Dunedin. Finally, in their last meeting of the regular season, Brisbane managed to undo the Phoenix gameplan on Sunday to exact revenge with a reverse of the last meeting’s scoreline. Knowing the two are likely to meet in the finals, Ricki Herbert must now decide whether his current Brisbane plan is viable for future success. The most pressing point for the All Whites national coach will be whether he sees Wellington’s created chances as enough encouragement to continue in the set trend. If there is a man to find a solution to a troubling predicament, it’s Herbert.

5. Take Your Chances, Save Your Season
“Will those missed chances come back to haunt them?” – words uttered by English speaking commentators around the globe, and probably non-English, too, but a Google Translate search for every football-playing country is too exhaustive to be certain. Inevitably, and with a knowing nod from every supporter who has suffered the harsh consequences, the answer is yes. This anomaly, however, usually only extends to a single match or a small stretch at the most. Not so for Gold Coast United, who have wasted just a few short of seven thousand goalscoring opportunities in their eight home matches this season, of which they have won only two. In different circumstances they might well have beaten Adelaide United on Sunday afternoon – instead succumbing to a 2-1 loss – just as they should have secured far more than nine from a possible twenty-four points on offer at Skilled Park thus far. Instead, with their finals hopes evaporated and dreading the prospect of four more matches on the Glitter Strip, Miron Bleiberg’s young troops will have learned that wasting chances can define a season. But that’s football, eh?