The last A-League season was a difficult one for both Melbourne City and Newcastle Jets for different reasons.
Despite being big spenders City only finished fourth, a whopping 27 points behind title winners Sydney FC, and missed out on the Grand Final. The Jets were abysmal, collecting the wooden spoon and winning just five games all season. But things have turned around quickly so far in the 201-2018 campaign.
City are on top of the A-League with three wins from their first three games. They’ve scored five goals and conceded just one, knocking off Brisbane Roar, edging Melbourne Victory in the derby and then beating Wellington Phoenix 1-0. Disaster struck before the season started when star striker Bruno Fornaroli went down with a serious ankle injury. But in injury replacement Ross McCormack, the Aston Villa forward, the club has got itself a gem.
At 31 years of age, with 13 international caps for Scotland to his name and a CV that includes spells at Fulham, Leeds United and Rangers, McCormack arrived in Australia with pedigree. And he has delivered, scoring a screamer to defeat the Phoenix and leading the line well. Under Warren Joyce City are a much more compact, talented and well-rounded team. The defensive mishaps that occurred udner Michael Valkanis are a thing of the past. Bruce Kamau has had a fantastic start to the year, scoring a brace against the Roar and then adding another against Victory. The Kenyan-born winger is destined for bigger stages one day.
Polish youth international Marcin Budzinski also looks a handy signing, giving the team plenty of depth in the middle of the field. City will be tested this Saturday against Adelaide United, but the early signs are good.
Then there is Newcastle. For years the Jets have struggled, but there is now a new mood and a new intent in the Hunter region. They kicked off the season with a massive confidence-boosting 5-1 win over neighbours Central Coast. They followed that up with a 2-2 draw with Perth Glory, where they were unlucky not to take all three points, before defeating Brisbane 2-1. The only sour note has been a horrendous injury to marquee man Ronny Vargas, which will likely put him out action for the rest of the campaign.
Like fellow new coach Joyce, Jets boss Ernie Merrick arrived with a point to prove. And he has done it in the opening rounds, with Newcastle unbeaten after three matches, the first time that has happened since Moses was in a basket in the reeds. Dimitri Petratos has super-charged the Jets’ attack, which was such a big problem area for the club in 2016-2017. If Petratos maintains this form a Socceroo call-up can’t be too far away. He already has two goals and fellow new signing Roy O’Donovan has bagged five in just three appearances. The Irishman has been on fire and will need to keep it up without Vargas to assist.
It has been lean pickings in Newcastle for some time but it appears as though as a corner has finally been turned. If the Jets keep this up then making the finals won’t be an issue.
Also unbeaten are the two Sydney clubs, Sydney FC and Western Sydney. Despite being the defending champions the Sky Blues have largely flown under the radar so far, even with two wins and a loss. But they’ve shown enough to know they will be contenders once more. They have that innate ability to grind out a result, as they demonstrated to fight back from two goals down to claw a point out of the Sydney derby.
Like their cross-city rivals, the Wanderers will be a top four team this season. Their since-departed coach Tony Popovic assembled a brilliant squad with Oriol Riera the pick of the bunch. Popovic might be gone but his team is still purring and laden with class. Marco Kurz is starting to make his mark with Adelaide while Perth will be no easybeats.
Alarm bells will be ringing in Brisbane, Wellington and on the Central Coast with all three sides yet to record a victory. The Mariners have been a touch unlucky while the Phoenix are in for a tough year.
The biggest surprise has been the failure of Melbourne Victory to claim a win. The international break robbed them of several key players for round one and the derby was a close contest. Overall performances have not been bad and results will surely pick up. Kevin Muscat and his men will want to make up for lost time as success is demanded at a club the size of Victory.
