Friday 26th April 2024

• Brisbane Roar vs Adelaide United
  Suncorp Stadium
  Kick-off: 19:45 (Eastcoast time) / 19:15 (SA time)
  Ref: Lachlan Keevers
  Broadcast: Paramount+

Saturday 27th April 2024

• Newcastle Jets vs Central Coast Mariners
  McDonald Jones Stadium
  Kick-off: 17:15
  Ref: Daniel Elder
  Broadcast: 10 Bold / 10 Play / Paramount+
• Wellington Phoenix vs Macarthur FC
  Sky Stadium
  Kick-off: 19:15 (Kiwi time) / 17:15 (Eastcoast time)
  Ref: Ben Abraham
  Broadcast: Paramount+
• Melbourne Victory vs Western Sydney Wanderers
  AAMI Park
  Kick-off: 19:45
  Ref: Alireza Faghani
  Broadcast: 10 Bold / 10 Play / Paramount+

Sunday 28th April 2024

• Sydney FC vs Perth Glory
  Allianz Stadium
  Kick-off: 15:00 (Eastcoast time) / 13:00 (WA time)
  Ref: Jonathan Barreiro
  Broadcast: 10 Bold / 10 Play / Paramount+
• Melbourne City vs Western United
  AAMI Park
  Kick-off: 17:00
  Ref: Adam Kersey
  Broadcast: Paramount+

For any of the free-to-air people here, there will be an extra game broadcast this weekend. The F3 derby will be on free-to-air at 17:15 as well as the MV/WSW game at 19:45 on Saturday. Then there is the SFC/PG game on Sunday arvo.
Although this is the last round of the regular season, surprisingly there is only really one dead rubber (BR vs AU). AU have a game in hand so they could potentially finish 7th, but realistically not much difference between finishing 7th and finishing 9th.
Must win games for CCM, NIX, MV, WSW, MAC, MC and SFC.
In particular, MC and WSW are in precarious positions. A WSW win and a MC loss would see MC drop out of the finals.
Will be interesting with both the CCM and NIX games kicking off at the same time. If CCM lose and NIX win, then NIX will be premiers. Might be a few minutes after the final whistle before Nix players know if they are premiers or not.
The rest of the games are essentially fights for home finals.

Even that game isn’t a dead rubber since whoever finishes 9th misses out on automatic Australia Cup qualification and no one wants to play in the qualifying play-offs.

Forgot about that. Definitely no dead rubbers then.

And it can go the other way. If Nix can only manage a draw against Macarthur who are in decent form and CCM beat the Jets (also playing as well as they have all season in what could be their final match) then CCM will be the premiers. A big couple of hours for both clubs tomorrow afternoon.  

does it matter who finishes 3 or 4? they both get home games yes?

Both get finals, but the opponent is where it gets interesting.
If MV finish 3rd, they would play 6th. Normally you'd expect that to be a weaker opponent, but if it's MC then you could argue it's a more difficult path. Melbourne Derby's can easily go either way. Rarely easy games for either side. I'd much rather face Macarthur or WSW over MC or SFC.

Also, if third and fourth play each other at any point you would want the home game then too.

ok ta 

was wondering because seeing how serious MV will take it, and if they'd give Broxham a run

surely they have to get him out there 

I reckon he'll get some good minutes on Saturday. Will definitely be handed the captains armband when he comes on.
MV can't finish lower than 4th so they will get a home final no matter what. Next week has the potential to be his last ever home game. 
If the situation arises in which we are awarded a penalty, I'd like to see Broxham take it. Crowd would go nuts.

I'm going to the Roar v AU game tonight. Obviously going for the Roar, but I'm looking forward to watching Irankunda play live. Something like a 3-2 win for the Roar, with Irankunda smashing 2 long range bombs would be perfect!

Just need macnicol and waddingham to score to make the perfect night

A-League commentary is genuinely terrible

One word…..mute.

I wonder if Irankunda is banned for the last game for too many Yellow cards

I think it is his seventh. As well as a double yellow early in the season.

Browlie's yellow was barely a foul. Play acting by the United defender. Laughable!

Waddingham could be decent in the future, 7 goals in he’s first season is quite a good effort.

It will be interesting to see if Brisbane could keep him for next season though. 

Honestly hope he doesn't leave for overseas like rumoured. Another season in the A-League would be beneficial.

Interesting having mariners and wellington on at the same time 

A very good first half for the Roar, other than conceding another weak goal. The cross was excellent and the finish equally good but just too easy all the same.

We played an effective pressing game and brought the ball forward through the middle and wide really well. A lot of passing back and forth which frustrated some people at the stadium, but I felt like it was genuine controlled probing to set up attacking raids. An early goal set Suncorp buzzing nicely and we piled a fair bit of pressure on Adelaide's goal without outright dominating either Adelaide or the scoreboard.

Hore had a great game and Burke-Gilroy did a fantastic job on Irankunda to keep him quiet. Zadkovich had obviously given him very specific instructions on him and he is good enough to carry them out and still create threats down the wing.

The weak goal conceded just before halftime took a lot of the lustre off the half.

Second half, and Adelaide lifted well. A second poorly defended goal saw Adelaide return the favour in the first couple of minutes - again with an excellent ball in and Ibusuki capitalising as the true striker he is. Whether going the goal up, or by design at halftime, Adelaide stopped trying the high press as much and bolstered the midfield. We were not clever enough to push through the traffic in the middle and accepted the easier path up the wings - which costs us given our inability to fashion crosses to specific targets and our lack of clinical finishing. Adelaide dictated a lot more of the second half and we got smacked by more well constructed goals - going 4-1 down and struggling to put consistent pressure on the final third.

Some late dominance saw us pulling two goals back and a couple of broken legs to Adelaide players that the physio managed to fix saw Adelaide absorbing and stalling the attack well enough to earn the win. A header for us off the crossbar and down instead of in had us wondering 'what if' but Adelaide really owned the second half with defending and great combinations in attack.

The final 10 minutes or so was really the only intensity we showed in the game - choosing to control and build most of the game rather than play frantic football. I have no problem with that in principle - preferring we do control the game as we build attacks rather than have an end to end flurry - we just have to do better in the final third when we do look to finish our attacks off.

Waddingham was quite impressive when he came on late - showing a better turn of speed than I recall him having to apply pressure and making himself available.

Zabala was not smashed by pace and had a pretty effective game. He did make a couple of hideous mistakes that saw us racing back desperately but I don't think they resulted in goals. One thing that is apparent is our lack of desperation coming back on turnovers. The backline all push hard to get back, but the front half of the team tend to jog back - unlike so many teams who get 8 back behind the ball as soon as they lose possession. Our defence is not good enough for the back 5 to hold solid so we need the rest of the team tying up all the loose opponents and not letting them choose the time for their killer passes.

I love to watch O'Shea on the ball under pressure. He holds the ball so well and he is always looking for a good passing option even under intense pressure. Real quality! Unfortunately he tended to move further back in the second half (sometimes taking up the CB position as Aldred pushed out to RB) and helping bring the ball out rather than constructing at the pointy end. I heard Zadkovich calling out 'Jay - you have to move there' when he was between the Adelaide lines in our half and we were bringing the ball out. He had a few discussions with Jay during the game so it looked like Zadkovich was still working on getting players into the roles and positions that fit his vision. Totally understandable given the interrupted coaching season.

The game reflected both teams' quite well for the season. Adelaide capable of scoring really skilful, team goals, defending desperately but leaking a bit, and Roar having some very bad defensive moments and struggling to be effective in the final third.

Not a bad game to tie off the season - could have been better but we are not good enough yet. Next season!

Edit: Huge stuff from the Den in the latter stages of the second half. I actually had a bit of a shiver with the volume generated by the booming Bris-bane shout from so many throats. Thanks for your efforts!

Unless APL changed the regulations, then suspensions occur at:

• 5 yellow cards
• Every 3 thereafter (8, 11, 14, etc)
• 2 yellow cards in one match leading to a red card do not count towards the yellow card accumulation.
• 3 yellow cards during the finals series = one match suspension

Some nicely taken goals in the late game. 

I always say every game has its own 90min so it can be tricky to compare. The Olyroos left their shooting boots in the A League it would appear. Are U23 Asian teams better at defending than A League clubs? 

You tell me about it, it’s frustrating how we have inept national youth team coaches and the inability to get the best of our talent when they clearly show it for their clubs. 

Ange apparently wrote in his book about how it is wrong we use underage youth teams to develop coaches

we got a pro ages ago for the u17/u20s which qualified us for a bunch of youth world cups only for edwards and vidmar to take over. Arnold got us to the olympics only for an inexperienced vidmar to not get us have a single goal or win

a big part of it is learning man management and mental prep. I reckon the cheepest option is to put the socceroos coach in charge of the olyroos qualifying like indonesia do and live with the fact we might not have enough money for the younger ages

They defend very differently. Wanderers need to win desperately. Most Asian teams are in a tight low block, have to very talented to break that down as a team. But yes genuinely A-League defence is very poor, especially in transition. 

The way Australia broke down those defences at the senior Asian cup or looked a better chance of scoring was in quick transition and turnover after opposition mistakes. I think we need to get opponents into a false sense of security and come forward or play out. The question is whether they'd take the bait.

No wonder we look better against Ecuador and Mexico compared to Syria. 

I just wonder how our national teams would look with coaches who'd pick the most skilful types and have our players bite with vigour in transition or when they turn it over. Good players with ball on the floor and everyone thinking a few steps ahead. Most of the time our teams don't know what to do or what anyone is doing. 

being effective against those 2nd teir teams is still something to be proud of even if its ugly to watch us squeeze past defensively minded minnows. Not that long ago we would struggle against both

Inadequate coaching is a big problem with all of our national teams at all levels I think the U23s has really exposed this. 

finishing in particular is a sign of mental prep

compare the socceroos and olyroos. The socceroos struggle to create chances against defensive teams but the finish a really high percent of chances (some games we have more goals than shots!)

the olyroos are better at creating chances but poor at finishing. But there finishing was fine in lead up games, but they couldn't hit a side of a barn in a game that mattered. That speaks to mental prep

What, if at all, investment or use do we have of sports psychology? The number of fuck ups that give away pens shows we make rash decisions. Leckie in Thailand, Karacic against Oman and Miller against SK. It'd also pay dividends down the other end. Shaq increased his free throw exponentially with sport psych. 

good question. Apparently matt ryan credited a sports psychatrist for finally breaking through in the big 5

I remember reading about that. Kudos to Redmayne for getting through his issues too via psychology. 

I heard something about Indonesia has this island scouting bloke because places with a single hut have teens playing football from dawn until dusk. Some player in the national team was found, signed for the 3rd tier and made it to the 1st division in a matter of years. 

I wonder how many a league clubs even have scouts?

some well taken goals for arzani today. Think he will be a socceroo by christmasish the rate the weaker parts of his game are improving

Nice one Arzani. I don't think we need to call on Leckie and Maclaren ever again. Duke will still get called up and that's what prevents someone like Stamatelopoulos getting a shout. If the rankings aren't going to change in June then just whip some of these new guys into the national team play system. 

goodwin, burgess, irvine, boyle and ryan the only over 25 year olds we really need 12 months from now

I'd add Hrustic. Time flies he's 27 now.

We have this sort of flair or confidence when Mabil is around. It's nice we've got all these options now. Arnold did really well at adding. I think around 2017 we were starting to scrape the barrel a bit and needed patience for this next gen. 

You don't need Boyle, he looks done since his knee injury.

i wonder who our most skillful xi is? It would skew very young

Hammond levels. Another youngster amongst the goals this weekend. 

weekend for the kids isn't it

Great advert for a-league youth with WSW tonight, apart from Arzani’s excellent WSW were the better team.

WSW have a very good stable of young players, surely it’s better to invest in them than play overhill players that are here for a holiday. 

Melbourne city have to win tonight to secure a finals derby against victory 

I think a draw would be enough because city have a superior goal difference. I’ll be happy not to see Rudan’s  antics in the finals series.

City needed to win. Otherwise WSW goes on more wins.

Ah, the APL strikes again! 

I particularly dislike the way he snarls and abuses players when they are losing then jumps up and down like he is part of the team when they score or win.

Shame - but Wanderers are Rudan to me so I cannot be happy for them to win even when they play great football.

Tough derby game for Mariners v Jets.Jets played very well and had their chances.However the Mariners finished strongly with the subs Barcellos,Edmondson,Steele and diPizio doing their jobs well.

Though they are the " enemy" it would be tragic if Jets fold.They have a good coach in Stanton and some excellent players-Stamatelopoulos,Natta, Clayton Taylor and Archie Goodwin to name a few.Also Piscopo could resurrect his career if he remains injury free.

I know nothing about goalkeepers but is the Perth bloke having a shocker today?  Seems to be all over the shop.

Oli Sail was a very solid keeper for Wellington a season or two back.

He came across to the mainland either last season or this season and has seemed awfully inconsistent and erorr proan (;)) since. Maybe with the Nix he was protected by a very solid defence and only needed to pull off some great reflex saves.

His decision making has been odd the few times I have noticed him this season (also not a goalkeeper so just from viewing).

When he raced to try and keep a ball in at the corner today was a perfect example. If he had gotten there in time he was then going to be faced with an opponent and a ball at his feet - hoping to avoid a turnover because he was right out at the corner flag. If he did not get there in time (which he didn't) he faced a quick throw in and an open goal behind him. Perhaps a bit of a hero gene in play...

Witches hats would be better defenders here. 

Disappointing to see WSW miss out on the finals, I had high hopes they will do well but their second half of the season wasn't the best and it's cost them a spot.

Melbourne City just sneak in after their Melb derby loss so they done well to recover from that match to make the 6.

Interesting the way the finals got set up.

Despite Mariners having the game against Adelaide still to play (Win or draw and they clinch the Premiers Plate over Wellington), both them and Wellington still earn the right to home finals, so these could still be scheduled.

And two derbies (if we can call Sydney v Macarthur a derby) as elimination finals are probably APL's wet dream. 

I think the Mariners v Adelaide game is going to attract a huge amount of interest in comparative terms from aleagues followers.

Mariners, Adelaide and Nix fans are likely to watch with a vested interest, along with the people who like Mariners for their little team big results image and those who hate the Nix and hope to see them not win - on top of anyone interested in who takes out the Premiers Plate on its own merits.

Great that the season comes down to the final game.

Wednesday 1 May 7:00pm AEST