The Football Tragic

So Adelaide sit alone on top of the A-League ladder after six rounds, and few could argue that they don't deserve to be there.

A very controversial choice for the coaching job given the popularity of long-time assistant Phil Stubbins, Rini Coolen has done a fine job injecting some organisation and self-belief into a side which looked truly rudderless in 2009/10.

There have been several factors in their revival, and chief among them has been the presence of a real attacking focal point in Sergio van Dijk. The Reds have struggled to acquire such a forward ever since the departure of Shengqing Qu; Cristiano was always more of a second striker, Robbie Younis never settled at Hindmarsh, and Lloyd Owusu's name features prominently in the list of the worst-ever A-League imports.

The continuing good form of Matthew Leckie has also been a boon, although Coolen was right to state, at the press conference following last week's victory over Sydney, that the youngster still has to work on some aspects of his game if he is to have a successful crack at Europe. He can drift in and out of proceedings, and the habit of sticking too stubbornly to the touchline alights on him now and then.

Another impressive feature of Adelaide's performances this season, which has been notable in their last two outings, is their newfound ability to bring the game back under control after periods under the cosh. In the second half against Sydney, Stephan Keller's set-piece goal (and near-miss soon afterwards) were the high points of a Sydney revival, in which the hosts threatened Eugene Galekovic's goal on several occasions. In response, Adelaide refused to lose their heads; instead, they slowed down the pace of the game, and deliberately set out to blunt the Sydney initiative via a period of sustained possession. It worked superbly, and the fact that they barely threatened Sydney's goal during that spell hardly mattered: they had re-established their dominance.

Last night against Newcastle, the same story. The Jets were looking increasingly likely to break through around the hour mark: once again, the Reds simply began to work the ball around patiently, not looking for openings every time the ball reached the midfield, but rather aiming to take the wind out of the Jets' sails. Although the strategy did result in a bizarre goal for the visitors, Cassio trying a bit too hard to be elegant in possession at the back, the job was nearly done by that stage.

The last time Adelaide did this on a regular basis was way back in the first A-League season...in which they won the premiership.