6 rounds how's it going? 

most teams are quite attractive to watch for the neutral

Brisbane have been pretty ugly so far but it was nice to get a win

Most teams look worse than last season. Feels like sydney fc will just win it by default. So many bad imports this time around and its not just Victory who have cornered the market on these duds.

Mind you the last season that didnt irritate me was the year Adelaide won it. How long ago was that?

No. But I am a Vuck fan so...

I think there is a good mix with visa players and young players this year. besides victory who would you say are the duds? wellington and ccm have great visa players.

It's been reasonable viewing so far. The teams that have struggled are the ones that have recruited poorly (looking at you NJ, MV and BR). SFC and AU are probably the only two sides with slightly stronger squads (and in AU's case, a better coach also) than last season. WU have also recruited well. On paper WP have good signed good foreigners, but they haven't been able to put it together so far. PG definitely have a weaker squad than last season, and it's shown in their performances. 

i think the gap between the best and worst teams has narrowed, which is good for the league. every team has lost a game and only the Nix haven't won. some unpredictable results with CCM winning in Perth and winless Brisbane coming from 2 goals down to beat the top team.  But in saying that, the usual suspects will still finish at the bottom of the table. 

I think one positive is that without the distraction of the 'big-name' marquees (ie: Honda), the media attention switches to some of the local players like Toure, Grant, Duke, JMac to name a few. 

Ive really enjoyed it thus far. 

Feels like quality wise the football has gone up a notch.

I agree ..I think the standard is a notch up . I also see a bit more willingness to get forward from most teams. I am quite pleased with the number of young Aussie players not just getting a chance ...but taking it well.  I am a lot more positive about this season .

melbourne has improved dramatically since they let joyce go

As Simon Hill said during one of the games early on in the season which still is true now: too many fade outs / games of two halves

I fell asleep with MC leading 3-1 and woke up with Brisbane fans celebrating a win. Newcastle were dumb luck away from losing. And then there was the MV game last week

Not going to comment on the big blue last night cos I didnt watch it, but the timing of the goals seem to support this trend. And these arent all the games just the ones I can be bothered listing


Now obviously this is entertaining for the fan. Nothing like a comeback, underdog, and blah blah blah. But it doesnt say much about the quality of the league (unless you mean lack of)

Wouldnt mind seeing a few games where teams actually play for 90 minutes

Most teams are playing more "attractive" football which has made most of the games good viewing. Even though Glory have been average thus far, the season as a whole has been enjoyable, and Diamanti is unbelievable.

As a Nix fan - not really, no. Entire season has been one big VAR fuck up.

Why do you say this like it only happens in the A-League? I watch Arsenal, so I know for a fact that ain't true.

This is the most enjoyable season in a long time.  The standard of play overall is up.  There is an extra team to watch.  Can't wait for Macarthur next season.

MC& AU are stronger ,with better managers.
SFC has improved in attack.
WU are a solid new team.
BR are better.But can still look very average ,particularly in the first half.
CCM are better .But are still fragile.
WSW are much better .But need all their visa players fit to be serious contenders.


PG on paper dont look much different.But arent as slick as last year at this time.Last year they had pace across the front third.Fornaroli while adding the hold up play ,lacks the pace of Keogh.
WP worse.But not easy beats.
NJ on paper looker weaker.But have potential .
MV are worse so far .But injuries/national duties  havent allowed them to field their strongest team.Top two attackers  and top defender missing has to make a negative impact. 
SFC struggled to beat their seconds team.
Kruse Nabbout and Toivenen playing together would make a massive difference .

This year more youngsters are making an impact and making most teams worth watching.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/18/sam-silvera-louis-darrigo-underline-exciting-future-for-homegrown-talent

Watching the Sydney MV game yesterday was actually really good as a neutral. Even if Melbourne don't have the quality in the middle of the park that they've had in previous years, their style of play is still quite nice to watch in the way that they move the ball around the field. I have to say that even though Kruse's fitness is obviously balls, it was still pretty good watching him go around and between him, Ola and Nabbout, MV will be able to hurt teams throughout the season.

Adelaide is looking veeery smooth at the moment, but I do fear their depth is lacking. 

WU is also pretty good to watch just with some of their bigger names, and I'd say likewise Western Sydney, WP & Perth.

Probably Newcastle and Brisbane are the least interesting this year, just because of the styles and not really having exciting young Aussie prospects nor quality imports

Melbourne city may have dropped intensity but I think it's more down to changes the coaches made rather than teams not being able to play for 90 minutes. And Sydney were always on top yesterday. Western United were always on top of Newcastle Jets - it was lucky they won but it was a tactical choice from Merrick and it ended up working - luck is moot. 

Personally, I've gone from only watching SFC play last year to watching 3 or 4 full games a week and Kayo mini of any Ive missed. There is still a few really poor games here and there but generally it is improving, I think particularly due to a rise in the quality of youngsters coming through.

The early stages of our league its always great with the intro of a new club, reminds you what P/R would be like eh :) refreshing on a side note !
WU have done really well for me, even though many are older heads a good way to ensure a promising start to attract fans, for fans only like winners in this country.
Dimanti is a buy and a half.
MC is also refreshed unshackled from Joyce, what a rot he bred, so happy seeing them look more promising.
AU is AU, can look good and then not, nothing changed here but the personnel.
SFC despite some here saying they attack well I don't think so, with what they have they should be banging them in, the strike rate stat would be woeful, maybe its early but lets wait and see but they look the strongest on paper every week.
PG, well having lost many hard to back it up, a good test for Poppa and the players, may improve more as the season goes on.
MV, if all players available could be threats to all but their depth is pretty ordinary, not much faith in the coach at this stage.
WSW, haven't watched them since the derby so can't add to that.
The rest, BR have had a massive overhaul as we know - maybe yesterdays comeback gets the monkey off the back we shall see.
CCM much better than last year, at least Stanj has the season to keep improving them.
Nix, need to win something sooner or later backwards from last year obviously.

Happy seeing young uns introduced in some of the clubs more than others, I'm not sure its improved that much tbh, still not quick enough consistently - lots a side back passing still to me.
In saying that I'm there every week to support either on Fox/the myfootball app or at SFC games.

When I'm in the ratings and attendance threads reading about how 50k is a solid rating and 5k for a new team is pretty decent considering, its easy to see the context for the overly positive comments for the standard of the A League so far

I must be watching a different league to everybody else

And even if you skip the opinion part of the debate, you are still left with a table where 6 teams have won only 1 game in 5 attempts (6 for MV)

Not to mention the talk about exciting new players. 9 of the top 12 goal scorers this season have played in the A League before. I guess new shirt and new coach = new player

The only consistent team (which pains me to say it) is Sydney. They have been top for the last 3 seasons and look to make it 4th. I cant think of another team that has been on top for that length of time. Whatever they dish up in the ACL is the best indication we have of the gap between us and other teams in Asia

But the overall standard is what we see season after season after season. Teams yoyo from top to bottom (the rest of the top four finished 5th, 8th and did not exist). Lots of fade outs. High scores (despite a low scoring start we are already up to 2.76 goals a game). And 3 to 4 teams breaking away despite people be here being excited because they were all level on 0 points a piece at the start of the season

yes.

Thank you for your refreshing hit of positivity. 

Bundesliga average 2.80 goals a game? Does this make that league average? 

You know I would take your posts a little more seriously if you weren't trying so damn hard to find fault in EVERYTHING.  

I mean you have a hell of a lot more to add to the forum than the likes of libel but I find myself lumping you into the same boat because of the insistence on flogging a dead horse (new FFA board for libel, salary cap for you). 

Enjoying it so far.

Good football played by most sides and most sides are better than last year. There's been plenty of young players getting opportunities and performing well which is exciting. The league is also more even than last year with most of the bottom sides catching up to the rest which is entertaining for viewers but it also means that players have to be on their game and can't take any of their opponents lightly.

Enjoying it very much so far. Nice to see City pushing ahead. Really enjoying the high and fast press many teams are employing and the improved first touch and composure on show as most teams try to play out through it. The buys annoy me and I can see the end of the season being frustrating when we realise that some teams will get through based on who they have played but on the football side it has all been positive.

Quality has gone up overall and its good to see WU being competitive. WSW have improved but maybe not enough for the title. It will be a two horse race between SFC and MC imo.