Rating each A-league's club starting 11

This is how I rate the A-league teams going into the 2010/11 season based on the strength and quality of each teams strongest starting eleven.


I believe the best three teams are Sydney FC, Adelaide Untied and Melbourne Heart.  Their is very little between the the quality of the the three teams starting eleven.  With Sydney just being marginally better then the other two.


1st.  Sydney's strength's are their front two of Mark Bridge and Alex Brosque and the quality Nicky Carle and Stuart Musialik bring in midfield.  They also have a fairly decent defence.  Sydney's biggest weakness is in goals were it appears Liam Reddy has won the race to be first choice.


2nd.  Adelaide's best player is goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic who looks to be staying at Adelaide after  transfer speculation linked him with a move to Europe.  When it comes to Adelaide's ten outfield players, the main strength would be the apparent lack of weakness anywhere across the field, with Sergio van Dijk, Matthew Leckie and Marcos Flores set to be the stars.  


3rd.  Melbourne Heart's main strength is their goalkeeper Clint Bolton and a possible back four of Michael Marrone, Simon Colosimo, Michael Beauchamp and Dean Heffermen.  Heart's main weakness appears to be the lack of A-league experience of their first choice front three of Alex Terra, Gerald Sibon and Rutger Worn.          


Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix are not quite as good as the top three but are comfortably the best of the rest.          


4th.  Perth have a good goalkeeper, a good defence, a good midfield and a good forward line.  This is what makes Perth better then most of the teams in the league but also prevents them matching the top three.  Perth's best players are Andy Todd, Mile Sterjovski and Robbie Fowler.   


5th.  Wellington are very similar to Perth however Perth are just a bit more even across the field. In Paul Ifill Wellington have one of the best players in the A-league and the Jade North, Andrew Durante partnership in the center of defence will be key for them.   


Melbourne Victory and Gold Coast Untied are to teams that as well as having strengths in their best starting eleven also have considerable weaknesses. 


6th.  Melbourne Victory are strong in their midfield with Billy Celski and Carlos Hernandez.  The problem is up front with Robbie Kruse currently being their only fit and although he's talented leading the line is not Robbie Kruse's best position.  (Rumours have recently linked a Brazilian striker to Melbourne Victory). 


7th.  The Gold Coast are reasonably strong in midfield, strong upfront especially is last seasons A-league's top scorer Shane Smeltz remains at the club.  However their defence has a few holes and goalkeeper Glen Moss needs to be in better form then he was last season whilst playing for the Melbourne Victory.       


Bringing up the rear in terms of the quality of their strongest starting eleven for the 2010/11 season are. 


8th.  Central Coast Mariners have an even squad with Argentinian attacking midfielder Patricio Perez potentially starring in the A-league.  Youngster Oliver Bozanic could also shine on the left side of midfield.   


9th.  Newcastle Jets look weak in the goal keeping relying on the inexperienced Ben Kennedy.  Newcastle also look to be weak upfront with most of the burden falling to skillful but injury prone Michael Bridges.  Newcastle's defence and midfield is more good then great.     


10th.  Brisbane Roar are strong in goals with one the A-leagues best goalkeepers in Michael Thoklitos joining the club in the off season.  Up front Brisbane look a little short, relying on Jean Carlos Solorzano who is unproven in the A-league to score most of their goals.  Brisbane's defence and midfield are solid and workmanlike.         


11th.  North Queensland Fury have a lot of new players, with Simon Story a good signing and Mark Hughes, Andre Kilian and Gareth Edds having the potential to be good signings.  The front two of Dyron Daal and David Williams should cause problems for most teams.


This shouldn't necessarily be viewed as my predictions for how the table will look at the end of the A-league season, more so how i rate each team strongest starting eleven going into the 2010/11 season.    

21 reasons I'm excited about the 2010/11 A-league season

These are some things I'm looking forward to in this seasons A-league (in no particular order).

• Robbie Fowler playing for Perth Glory
• With Robbie Fowler playing up front hopefully this will also mean seeing Mile Sterjovski playing in his preferred position on the right of midfield.
• Young gun Matthew Leckie
• Seeing how Adelaide play under Dutch manager Rini Coolen
• Nicky Carle combining with Mark Bridge and Alex Brosque in Sydney FC's attacking third 
• Brisbane Roar's new look team under Ange Postecoglou.
• Seeing if Billy Celeski can rediscover his form from the season before last.
• If Billy Celeski and Carlos Hernandez are in form watching them play together in Melbourne Victory's midfield.
• Seeing how North Queensland and Gold Coast perform in their second seasons.
• Miron Bleiberg's press conferences and interviews. 
• Seeing what style of football North Queensland play under Czech Republic coach Franz Straka.
• Graham Arnold coaching in the A-league and seeing how the Central Coast play under him.
• All 5 foot 6 of Central Coast's Argentine play maker Patricio Perez.
• Melbourne Heart.  
• Watching the Melbourne Heart play under John van't Schip.  
• As a whole seeing what the foreign managers add to the A-league.
• Josip Skoko playing in the A-league.
• Melbourne Hearts youngsters Brendan Hammil, Kamal Ibrahim, Eli Babalj and Kliment Taseski.
• Football at Aami Park.
• The ability to watch live football every weekend in Melbourne if I so choose.
• The first Melbourne derby.

And one thing I'm not looking forward to, Robbie Slater's commentary and punditry.