Soccerlens.com

John Aloisi: helping or hurting?

John Aloisi has been vocal in his suggestions the A-League is a hard place to win friends. He needs to realise it’s time to stop.

A-League: It’s all about Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell. A show-pony. A drama queen. The best football player to come out of Australia. Just the mention of his name prompts the football fan to offer their opinions. It’s impossible not to, given his remarkably high-profile successes and failures. The recent debate over a possible move to the Australian A-League has once more…

Kewell the answer to A-League’s Marquee Question?

The A-League has a generous system encouraging Australian teams to sign global superstars. Yet no-one seems to be taking advantage of it.

Do you come from a land Down Under? Er Yes I do!

“England’s moment of strewth against Australia was hard to swallow, but there were some positives to be had amid the rubble of the Upton Park shambles.  Plaudits for the performances of Jermaine Jenas, Wayne Rooney and Francis Jeffers in England’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Australia could arguably be heard over the rustling backdrop…

The Marquee Player System

The A-League uses a ‘Marquee’ player system – similar to the MLS’s Designated Player – that allows the Australian soccer league the room to attract star names to their teams without smashing the salary cap. Shane Perris wrote an excellent series of articles on the main Soccerlens site last year reviewing the Marquee system –…

World’s Most Polite (Brazilian) Footballer

36 year old Alexandre da Silva Mariano, a.k.a. Amaral, is not one player that you would expect to be the (unofficially) most polite footballer. Previously playing in footballing danger zones such as Italy (Parma; AC Fiorentina) and Turkey (Besiktas), representing Brazil 31 times, and winning an Olympic Bronze medal (Atlanta 1996), nobody anticipated that the…

Melbourne Lose More Pride than Points against Central Coast

In this week’s Match of the round, we travel to Etihad Stadium, where Melbourne lost both a match, and their epic pride, going down 4-0 in front of 18,000 fans. A quiet first half and start of the second was ignited by a rampant Central Coast side. Ernie Merrick left his side unchanged for his…

MOTW: Gold Coast Fall in Week of Controversy

In the (self-dubbed) newbie derby, Gold Coast have been defeated by a rampant North Queensland Fury side. Robbie Fowler lead the team from start to finish, getting on the scoresheet twice. The defeat has added to the horrible week that the Gold Coast have suffered, including a 6-0 whitewash by Wellington, and a huge condemnation…

A-League Review: Perth Glory wins in Goal Fest

A large number of good results this round, including an interesting match in Brisbane, with two disappointing defensive errors gifting a win to a deserving Perth Glory. Central Coast won the first ever Battle of the Coasts, in magnificent fashion. Sydney FC won by a narrow margin, but that seems to be a trend for the Sky Blues. Melbourne defeated Adelaide away, but still look disappointing, and will probably not defend their title this season. Despite their valiant efforts, North Queensland were unable to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

A-League Preview: Can Brisbane Roar mount a serious championship challenge?

Adelaide United vs Melbourne Victory Hindmarsh Stadium What will be a very tough encounter, on the basis of revenge. Adelaide losing in the finals of last season hurt, and will be out to challenge for the title this year. Adelaide so far have been underperforming, but only just however their performances are deserving of a…