League Table 2019/20

Hard to see where Sydney is gonna drop 11 points to make the end of season interesting.

Well there's 3 from when we play them next, so make that 8! ?

By and large we played well enough against them, in Sydney first time around we were worthy of a point at least & we should have beaten them in Wellington a few weeks ago. All a bit of a case of if's and but's, and at the end of the day they are top of the league for a reason, but they're not streets ahead of those in the top 4 currenty imho. 

I just want to stay in the top 4 to get a home final!. Coming 2nd would be alright as we could beg for ACL qualify. 

Central Coast Mariners 3 Melbourne Victory 2

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	13	7	2	4	27	22	5	23
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	13	6	3	4	20	16	4	21
	Western United	13	5	2	6	17	18	-1	17
	Melbourne Victory	13	4	3	6	17	18	-1	15
	Adelaide United	12	5	0	7	19	21	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Brisbane Roar	12	3	4	5	14	19	-5	13
	Central Coast	12	4	1	7	13	21	-8	13
	Newcastle Jets	12	2	3	7	12	27	-15	9

Keeps Victory six points from us.

FeverBot wrote:

Central Coast Mariners 3 Melbourne Victory 2

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	13	7	2	4	27	22	5	23
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	13	6	3	4	20	16	4	21
	Western United	13	5	2	6	17	18	-1	17
	Melbourne Victory	13	4	3	6	17	18	-1	15
	Adelaide United	12	5	0	7	19	21	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Brisbane Roar	12	3	4	5	14	19	-5	13
	Central Coast	12	4	1	7	13	21	-8	13
	Newcastle Jets	12	2	3	7	12	27	-15	9

That was a fantastic game and trust Matt Simon to be in the middle of all the controversy at the end.

What happened?

Two penalties after the 90 minutes to snatch the win and also got involved in a scuffle with Adama Traore ripping his shirt in the process.

I tuned in just short half time, it was an entertaining game.

CCM deserved at least 1 point. Not sure about that last pen but the one not given with the guy all over Simon have been given before or for less contact.

Top four teams starting to make a break from the rest.

With our next two games against Brisbane and Newcastle we can hopefully enlarge the gap on the teams behind us before a tough stretch against the top 3 in the space of four weeks.

Hopefully this will give Ball enough time to come right for the top three.

Even 45 minutes from him against Roar and the Jets would be good though.

Victory losing was great for us. The Snakes are in a slide as well, so our top 4 chances look good.

Picking up 3 - 6 points in our next two is a must if we want to cement ourselves up there.

I am wondering if this is a genuine slide by Western United (Snakes and Ladders?), or whether they've simply reached their full potential early on while others around them (Perth, but also us) took longer to get to the right shape and form.

The latter, I think.

I think WU was also quite lucky early on.

Another factor could be fatigue. Nathan Burns gave an interview last year where he talked about the Nix. He said Rudan worked them too hard at the start and they were worn out at the end, Rudan  couldn't manage load but the good coaches have the teams peaking at the finals when the phoenix were over done. I wonder if he's got the same issue but it's come earlier because the team is older.

injuries are all part of managing a squad in order to win - perhaps Rudan's preference for working players really hard is resulting in these injuries? Maybe his man-management isn't as good as his vision and back office transformation skills?

You're onto it.

We had very few injuries last year, which was a factor in us making the top six. So the pre season fitness regime seemed to work for Rudan last year (or is that more down to the S&C coach Wivell?).  So this year I wonder if Rudan's fitness regime coupled with the harder grounds in Aus is a factor for the older players at WU when it comes to all injuries they have been having.

Adelaide United 1 Melbourne Victory 0

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	13	7	2	4	27	22	5	23
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	13	6	3	4	20	16	4	21
	Adelaide United	13	6	0	7	20	21	-1	18
	Western United	13	5	2	6	17	18	-1	17
	Melbourne Victory	14	4	3	7	17	19	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Brisbane Roar	12	3	4	5	14	19	-5	13
	Central Coast	12	4	1	7	13	21	-8	13
	Newcastle Jets	12	2	3	7	12	27	-15	9

Brisbane Roar 1 Wellington Phoenix 0

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	13	7	2	4	27	22	5	23
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	14	6	3	5	20	17	3	21
	Adelaide United	13	6	0	7	20	21	-1	18
	Western United	13	5	2	6	17	18	-1	17
	Brisbane Roar	13	4	4	5	15	19	-4	16
	Melbourne Victory	14	4	3	7	17	19	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Central Coast	12	4	1	7	13	21	-8	13
	Newcastle Jets	12	2	3	7	12	27	-15	9

You'd been doing such good work in the last few weeks feverbot

Praying Newcastle beat City and CCM beat Perth.

Melbourne City 2 Newcastle Jets 0

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	14	8	2	4	29	22	7	26
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	14	6	3	5	20	17	3	21
	Adelaide United	13	6	0	7	20	21	-1	18
	Western United	13	5	2	6	17	18	-1	17
	Brisbane Roar	13	4	4	5	15	19	-4	16
	Melbourne Victory	14	4	3	7	17	19	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Central Coast	12	4	1	7	13	21	-8	13
	Newcastle Jets	13	2	3	8	12	29	-17	9

still holding 4th - with the jest to come on friday

Nope, and that's why we lost ;) Perth playing Adelaide I think, not CCM.

Teams still to play below us, though. Lets hope Adelaide don't win 5-0

Yeah seems a missed opportunity at this stage. Quite possible that after results this weekend holding on to the fourth will be the aim rather than pushing for the second. Can't really afford another slip up against Newcastle. 

Still half a season to go so I still think second is achievable although a lot of teams have strengthened in January so it's going to be even more competitive.

Yeah we have a tough stretch after the bye, those 4 games after that could go a long way to determining where we end up at the end of the season.

Western United 3 Central Coast Mariners 0

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	14	8	2	4	29	22	7	26
	Perth Glory	12	6	3	3	24	12	12	21
	Wellington Phoenix	14	6	3	5	20	17	3	21
	Western United	14	6	2	6	20	18	2	20
	Adelaide United	13	6	0	7	20	21	-1	18
	Brisbane Roar	13	4	4	5	15	19	-4	16
	Melbourne Victory	14	4	3	7	17	19	-2	15
	Western Sydney	13	4	2	7	14	20	-6	14
	Central Coast	13	4	1	8	13	24	-11	13
	Newcastle Jets	13	2	3	8	12	29	-17	9

Must get 6 points from the jets games

Especially from the one next week!

Western Sydney Wanderers 0 Perth Glory 1

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	Sydney FC	13	11	1	1	30	13	17	34
	Melbourne City	14	8	2	4	29	22	7	26
	Perth Glory	13	7	3	3	25	12	13	24
	Wellington Phoenix	14	6	3	5	20	17	3	21
	Western United	14	6	2	6	20	18	2	20
	Adelaide United	13	6	0	7	20	21	-1	18
	Brisbane Roar	13	4	4	5	15	19	-4	16
	Melbourne Victory	14	4	3	7	17	19	-2	15
	Western Sydney	14	4	2	8	14	21	-7	14
	Central Coast	13	4	1	8	13	24	-11	13
	Newcastle Jets	13	2	3	8	12	29	-17	9