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It is rather obvious and wasteful to suggest that the A-League Men possesses a level of unpredictability unseen in most competitions around the globe.
The array of late comebacks, stunning wins and impossible-to-predict results in 2024/25 have been a continuation of a theme. Australian football’s men’s competition is perhaps the most topsy-turvey in the world and something of which we should all be proud.
Sure Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory account for nearly half of the championships won across the 19 seasons, yet Newcastle, Adelaide, Melbourne City, Western United, Brisbane Roar and most recently, Central Coast Mariners have all had their time in the sun and climbed the mountain of A-League success.
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Now we await the throning of a NZ-based side and the long-awaited Western Sydney Wanderers championship that slipped through the club’s fingers on a handful of occasions. Expansion club Macarthur is doing wonderful things through its academy and could well be the next cab of the rank when it comes to a Sydney-based championship in the short term future.
Sadly for Perth, and in spite of a much better week for them just passed, they too remain without a league title, something those at the helm will know might take another building season or two before serious contention is achieved.
The current season has been one of the best I’ve seen. An explosion of excitement in Auckland was matched by the new club’s stunning early results and a ladder lead that has only just been pulled back.
Auckland FC players celebrate (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)
Melbourne Victory also jumped out of the gates well, yet without a win in the last five games, are mirroring the drop-off being experienced by Auckland. Adelaide looked strong from day one and even with a few early mixed results, their resilience as a squad has seen the team pinch points with late goals and drag themselves to equal top of the ladder with Melbourne City, another squad showing immense resilience and courage.
As things stand, City sit top with eight regular contributors out injured for the 2-0 win against Brisbane Roar last weekend. That potentially says a lot about the Roar, but also plenty about the depth in the City squad and the team’s ability to play as a unit and not rely on the presence of a few.
Thus, with players returning, City are certain to be there when the whips are cracking, as are Adelaide and Sydney FC, whose sixth spot heading into tonight’s fixture with Wellington seems misleading considering the quality of their football over the last few weeks.
Outside those three, nothing appears certain. Auckland’s slide has been predictable with more frequent travel and the natural unpredictability of the competition, Victory are outside the top six and not playing to the standard expected considering the names in the squad and Macarthur look like champions one week and chumps the next.
Western United has been the big surprise, with John Aloisi baffling us again in his yo-yo-like coaching career. Backing youth and exuberance, Aloisi has built a dynamic that has produced upsets and already claimed the scalps of Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and, at the time, ladder-leading Auckland in 2024/25.
Hiroshi Ibusuki (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Outside of the top seven, the Wanderers are far from dead and buried, yet without too many lives remaining before things start to tighten up for them. Alen Stajcic has begun to build the culture he promised and already, with Juan Mata seemingly in a far better mood, the red and black looks a more dangerous proposition than it did early in the season.
Central Coast and Wellington are next in line and both, with losses this weekend, could be out of the running. Sitting in excess of three wins from the cusp of the top six will simply be too much to haul back and match-ups with the Wanderers and Macarthur respectively this weekend are as important as they come for two teams many had in their top six predictions heading into the season.
The Jets appear to be the only other team capable of the miracle that would become one of the A-League stories of 2025, yet it would have to start almost immediately and in all likelihood, Newcastle will be classified as average, along with the already dead and buried Perth and Brisbane.
To have ten teams in the hunt nearing the midway point of a season is something to applaud and so distant from many of the two and three-horse races playing out in Europe on a yearly basis.
However, things may well have changed by the middle of next week, with the Mariners and Phoenix walking the tightrope and others slipping down the ladder in need of a win to right the ship.
Personally, I’d like to see the Jets rattle off three wins in a row and Central Coast and Wellington rediscover form. Ten in the running on the final weekend of the home and away season would be a perfect summation of what the A-League is all about.