Auckland FC’s Premiership reign is officially over after the Newcastle Jets took their crown last weekend.
A surprise 1-0 loss at home to the Central Coast Mariners in Round 25 meant Steve Corica’s side could no longer catch the league leaders, with their focus now on securing second spot in the league.
On paper, Auckland FC are indeed favourites to tie up second spot given they head into the final round sat a point clear of Adelaide United.
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However, with an away trip to Sydney FC to come in Round 26 and the fact Corica’s side have just one league win in their last five matches, many are wondering whether the Black Knights are faltering at the worst possible time.
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Former A-Leagues players Jake Barker-Daish, Thomas Sorensen and Naum Sekulovski discussed that very issue on this week’s episode of the A-Leagues Download.
“For me, I think a massive miss has been Francis De Vries,” said Danish International great Sorensen.
“You know, he’s been out for the last three or four games. I think he probably means more to them and creates more chances than we think. Obviously Corica wasn’t on the bench he had been sent off the week before.
“They they’re not scoring, they’re conceding too many goals, and that’s the worry going into finals. It’s a little bit like last year.
He continued: “You know, they go into finals and then they stumble against Melbourne Victory. At this moment in time, whoever plays them in that semi-final, will fancy their chances.”
“Look, you obviously want momentum coming into finals,” added former Perth Glory midfielder Sekulovski. “We understand that. We get that. I think they’ve got the cattle.
“It probably needs one of these guys just to step up. A little bit of magic. If we think back to the Auckland v Newcastle game, I think I picked them to win, win the title. Clearly, they haven’t got there.
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“It’s just about finding that momentum or that little bit of a spark. Thomas mentioned, you know, a couple of components that might be contributing to that slip up.
“But again, they’ve got the quality and the talent within that squad to really flip that switch, if, if one of them can step up.”
TO HEAR THE FULL DISCUSSION CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S EPISODE OF THE A-LEAGUES DOWNLOAD BELOW
