Here are some of the key talking points from this week’s episode of the Official A-Leagues Podcast, where Daniel Garb, Robbie Cornthwaite and Amy Chapman are joined by Melbourne Victory midfielder Jake Brimmer.
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Is Bozanic playing his way back into Socceroos contention?
He’s been the ever-present cog in the Mariners’ machine throughout the duration of the club’s recent transition back toward the successful days of old; the days Bozanic featured in himself before his initial departure from the club in 2013.
His return in late 2020 coincided with a change in fortunes on the Central Coast for a club letting local talent shine. His 100th Mariners appearance came on the weekend, when the central midfielder scored a stoppage time free-kick to seal his side’s 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
On this week’s Official A-Leagues Podcast, host Daniel Garb asked the panel why Bozanic’s name isn’t mentioned in Socceroos conversations, especially given Australia are still searching for a consistent solution in the defensive midfield role.
Chapman responded: “I’ve always enjoyed watching Ollie play, I think he’s only had a few Socceroos caps in his time but I think he’s excellent.
“He’s a real leader on the field again. A bit of a weekend of excellent free-kicks, and Ollie’s was one of those. A super free-kick on what was his 100th (Mariners) cap.”
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Bozanic earned three votes in the Alex Tobin Medal count after his goalscoring performance against the Wanderers. The leadership he provides to a number of young Mariners academy products working cohesively under head coach Nick Montgomery is what stood out to Cornthwaite, who marvelled at the power of the unified identity which stems throughout the Mariners – and starts with Montgomery and his captain Bozanic.
“What this highlighted to me, and it’s kind of a theme across the league, is that teams that have an identity regardless of who is in their squad, how strong or weak it is, seem to do well,” he said.
“The Mariners, they’ve almost gone back to that underdog, hard-working coastal town team that we knew in the early days. Look at the back four: Farrell, Rowles, Hall and Miller, they’re no household names, they’re no stars. They’re up against Petratos, Antonis, Hemed, Troisi, and it was light work for them because they know what their role is, they know what they’re all about.
“Bozanic, he epitomises that to perfection.”
‘It felt like finals football’
It could have been a grand final preview. And if you didn’t know the context, you might have thought it was the Isuzu UTE A-League’s ultimate decider.
But it wasn’t. It was a Round 5 clash between two sides aspiring to make it to that very game by the season’s end; two bitter rivals who showed just how good an A-Leagues game can be.
“I loved everything about this game,” Chapman said, analysing the captivating clash between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory which ended 2-2 on Saturday night.
“It was probably one of the best A-League games I’ve ever seen, aside from finals football but even then it felt like finals football. it was unbelievable atmosphere. This is what the A-Leagues is all about.
“The noise, I wasn’t there but you could barely hear the commentators because the noise was right there which was actually quite cool.
“Looking at City, they have a stacked group of players to choose from. I’m not sure (City head coach Patrick Kisnorbo’s) got the mix quite right yet, but Marco Tilio coming in, he was unbelievable, he got the most minutes he’s had so far, Nathaniel Atkinson gets man of the match, and these players have barely been used so far as assets for City.
“(Melbourne Victory’s) Nick D’Agostino, he could be one of the best super subs in the game right now. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be a super sup, he wants to start, but he’s so effective when he comes on. I love the way his aggressive, fast-paced style he plays. I’m always entertained watching him.”
Cornthwaite added: “The thing that stood out to me was that late flurry of chances and blocked shots. Knowing Popa and what he’s like, he would have watched that on replay 400 times.
“I hope I can say this – he probably gets off on watching that sort of replay. Forget about the beautiful passing, he wants to see that desperate defending, blocking shots
“Overall it was a chance for Victory to test themselves against the competition’s very, very best last season who have maybe been slightly off the pace so far this year, but they more than stood up to the test. There’s a lot to be excited about with both of these teams.”
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Three Liberty A-League teams ‘breaking away from the peloton’
Just three rounds into the 2021/22 Liberty A-League season, three sides have pulled clear as the early front-runners as one of the league’s former titans returns to contend with the current heavy hitters.
Melbourne City have enjoyed a resurgent start to the new campaign, winning two of three games to end Round 3 in third place on the table. Above Rado Vidosic’s side come Melbourne Victory (second) and Sydney FC (first), the only two teams to collect nine points from nine to start the season.
“They are sort of breaking away from the peloton as such,” said Chapman of the three teams leading the way after Round 3.
“I really am looking forward to Sydney playing these other in-form teams. Sydney have had a relatively easy start (compared) to the other teams so I want to see what they’re like when they don’t have as much possession, when they don’t have as many opportunities on goal. They’ve got the points and done pretty well but they haven’t been really clinical.”
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The Sky Blues won 3-0 over Wellington Phoenix in Round 3 after defeating Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets in their first two hit-outs of the season.
Melbourne Victory, meanwhile, won 3-2 over Brisbane Roar thanks to a brace from United States import Lynn Williams, who showed in her first 90-minute appearance for the club just how lethal she can be in the Liberty A-League.
The interesting proposition, however, is how Victory will shift in focus once Williams’ guest stint at the club comes to an end. Chapman believes the teams facing Victory with the US spearhead in the side will be envious of those facing Victory later in the campaign.
“I’ve been really impressed with Victory and that was a super game against Brisbane,” she said.
“Brisbane are playing well, it was just a tough ask to get points on the board against Victory who are arguably the most in-form team, and Lynn Williams was certainly the difference.
“She is the star, she got two goals and an assist in that game, her first 90 minutes.
“But the big talking point for me is she’s a guest player. She’s only around for another three weeks approximatley, so if you’re a team that doesn’t have to play Melbourne Victory in the next few weeks you’d be pretty chuffed playing them (later), not to say they don’t have other assets but Lynn Williams is an absolute game-changer.”
Williams and Victory face off with third-placed City for the second time this season in Round 4, in a Melbourne Derby set to determine whether City can keep pace with the league-leaders this season.
A win would take the former Liberty A-League heavyweights level on nine points with their cross-town rivals – and Chapman believes City striker Hannah Wilkinson is the key to her side causing an upset at AAMI Park on Boxing Day.
“We’ve been waiting for Wilkinson to get off the mark and she has,” she said. “She got a brace on the weekend and probably could have had more.
“She’s one of those true target players as a number nine, she’s just really been starved of service in the first couple of games. This was her first opportunity to step up.
“I thought she’d be right up there with the golden boot and now that she’s off the mark I think she will be. And they’ll grow from that, they scored a number of different types of goals on the weekend, Pollicina as well with a super goal. I think City are really growing again in this league, and as soon as they can work out how to unlock Wilkinson that’s a huge difference for them.”
READ: City bounce back with 3-1 win over Reds
Think you’ve figured out football? ‘You’re going to get slapped in the face’
They’re the words of John Kosmina, which resonate with Robbie Cornthwaite to this day, and apply to Arthur Papas’ Newcastle Jets after the early fliers got caught out by Macarthur FC in Round 5 of the Isuzu UTE A-League season.
A goal down and a man down at half-time, Macarthur looked certain to fall to the Jets at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday afternoon – but it wasn’t to be; goals to Daniel De Silva and James Meredith turned the tide in the second half as the Bulls stole a 2-1 win with just 25% of possession, taking seven shots to the Jets’ 21.
“Newcastle had a bit of a disrupted week with COVID floating around, and maybe that effected things,” Cornthwaite said. “Arthur Papas said that was no excuse and the reason they lost the game was because they were ill-disciplined, and they weren’t good enough.
“I just wonder when they did score, whether they just took the foot off the pedal? Whether they just thought: ‘You know what, 1-0, we’re just going to coast through here’.
“John Kosmina used to say this all the time: ‘Whenever you think you’ve figured it out, you’re going to get slapped in the face’, and I think that’s what happened.”
