The False 9: Round 17 - All Ryall needs to get is simulation

The False 9 examines the Big Blue incident that has sparked an uproar, Victory's missing ingredient in the charge for the title, the miss of the season, so far, and offers up a great promotion ahead of the Sydney v Mariners meeting.

Sebastian Ryall of Sydney FC, (right), is challenged by Besart Berisha of Melbourne Victory during the Round 17 A-League match at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Sydney FC's Sebastian Ryall and Besart Berisha of Melbourne Victory were at the centre of some major incidents in the latest instalment of the Big Blue (AAP) Source: AAP

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Sydney FC's FFA's independent match review panel has slapped on him, when the disciplinary committee hearing goes ahead.

The player and his club will surely focus on the closest replay - from behind the by-line on the side of the field where the incident took place - which shows there is contact between Ryall's left foot and the left foot of Melbourne Victory's Gui Finkler.

Let me get one thing straight - there is no way it was a penalty. Finkler was trailing the path of a ball from Sydney FC's Bernie Ibini and the contact between Finkler and Ryall was clearly incidental.
It may well be the case that the contact wasn't enough for Ryall to go to ground and that he chose to build on it and dive. But if Ryall were to argue that he tripped over as a result of the contact, could the disciplinary committee say for sure that he didn't?

Referee Strebre Delovski made a bad call in awarding the penalty. Ryall also made a bad call in clipping Finkler over the back of the head as they walked away after the incident.

That was just plain dumb from Ryall. It was an invasion of Finkler's space at a time when he was upset over the decision and it could have easily ignited a nasty incident were Finkler not one of the most mild-mannered and respectful players in the competition.

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold, being the smart man that he is, has had a word to Ryall about that.

Foot in the door

Melbourne Victory are knocking on the door for a championship already but the potential key to unlocking it isn't far away from making a return.

Central defender Matthieu Delpierre hasn't played since injuring his hamstring in an FFA Cup match in late October. He would have been back soon enough from that but then it emerged he had a foot injury as well and that has taken a long time to heal.

A Victory spokesperson told False 9 the Frenchman was getting "closer and closer each day" to a comeback.

"He has been part of full training for a couple of weeks and is just working on conditioning. He will play sooner rather than later," the spokesperson said.

Delpierre has missed 14 games. He played in the first three rounds and Victory won two of those games and drew the other. He was establishing a powerful presence in the side before he got hurt.

We all know Victory can score goals but it can also concede a bit too easily at times. If it can tighten up a bit at the back it is going to be enormously hard to beat at the business end of the season.

Delpierre can make that difference for the team.

Nothing but air

Every A-League season has astounding misses, just like it has superb goals but if you've seen a worse miss this season than Wellington striker Roy Krishna's 79-minute effort against Melbourne City, please contact False 9 to let him know.

A side-foot finish from inside the six-yard box beckoned and Krishna missed the ball altogether. Unbelievable.

But John Lennon did warn us there would be days like these, when nothing happened as it should, so for the viewing pleasure of Roy Krishna and anyone else who cares, False 9 presents the following:
Man of the hour (and a half)

Kosta Barbarouses would easily make False 9's "Favourite XI" made up of A-League players. He is an excitement machine, the way he runs at defenders and dares them to take him on.

If things aren't quite coming off for him and he isn't scoring any goals, he can appear to lose confidence but right now he must believe he can do anything.

Barbarouses was on fire for Victory against Sydney FC. The goal he scored and the goal he made for Gui Finkler were each brilliant. Heaven help Brisbane left-back Corey Brown, who will have to mark Barbarouses at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat said this about Barbarouses: "He works tirelessly on improving his game and in the last few weeks he has taken it up to a very, very high level.

"We have worked very hard with him and he wants to improve and he has still got improvement in him because he has got so many weapons, so many attributes, playing in that wide area, and now he is putting some goals to his name as well. It's a deadly combination."

The numbers game

Number of elaborate goalscoring celebrations from Western Sydney Wanderers players in recent games - two.

Number of points from games that included elaborate goal-scoring celebrations - one (out of a possible six).

Number of players Ben Williams sent off in the Adelaide-Perth game - none.

Number of players from Adelaide-Perth game who were arrested by police on Sunday night - two.

Come on, Ben, the cops have got you beat!

Number of goals Archie Thompson scored in this season's second edition of the "Big Blue" - three.

Number of minutes Thompson got off the bench in the third edition - 10 (plus added time).

Tweet, tweet #1

The controversial penalty awarded to Sydney FC was more than Walter Tedde could bear, but at least he could still see the funny side of it.
Tweet, tweet #2

Perth Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic had a neat take on teammate Nebo Marinkovic curling the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net and giving Adelaide United goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic no chance.
Power rankings (last week in brackets)

1. Melbourne Victory (3) As usual, it was a ripper of a game against Sydney FC. Ended in a draw but still showcased Victory's brilliant attacking talent.

2. Perth Glory (2) Poor first half against Adelaide but made adjustments at the break and was clearly the best side after that in eventual draw.

3. Sydney FC (4) Whatever coach Graham Arnold did with his team during the Asian Cup break has worked brilliantly. The Sky Blues are on a roll.

4. Adelaide United (3) Failure to convert chances is costing the Reds valuable points. Should have been two or three goals clear of Perth at half-time.

5. Brisbane Roar (5) After lacking intensity the previous week against Newcastle and being lucky to win, got back down to business in beating the Mariners.

6. Wellington Phoenix (6) Looked forward to going back home for a match after two straight games but could only come up with a scoreless draw.

7. Melbourne City (7) Picked up a point on the road against Phoenix, but fell out of the top six because of Brisbane's win. Needs more oomph.

8. Central Coast Mariners (8) Not a finals team. In a home game against Roar with both teams desperate for points, Phil Moss's side simply wasn't good enough.

9. Western Sydney Wanderers (9) Seemingly had Newcastle covered but then let its host in for an added-time goal. The old Wanderers wouldn't have done that.

10. Newcastle Jets (10) Heartbreakingly beaten by a late, late goal the previous week, so good luck to them for snaring a point from a late, late penalty.

Can't wait for . . .

The Sydney FC fans to greet Central Coast Mariners at Saturday's Round 18 game.

After the drama leading up to the last clash between these two teams because of a Mariners advertising campaign featuring a "cashed-up Arnie" in what was Graham Arnold's return to Central Coast Stadium, surely The Cove and Sydney FC fans in general can come up with something clever.

The Mariners campaign encouraged fans to print out fake $20, $50 and $100 bills that carried the word "ARNIE" and a picture of Arnold's head, presumably to shower on the coach.

All due respect to Mariners coach Phil Moss, who is a good man, but this is only his first full A-League season so he wouldn't be on nearly as much money as championship-winning, ex-Socceroos coach Arnold, so maybe Sydney FC fans could print out some smaller notes to shower on him.

Just a suggestion. False 9 isn't in the business of taking the you-know-what. Much.


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8 min read
Published 17 February 2015 2:51pm
By Greg Prichard
Source: SBS

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