1. Sydney FC – Experienced quality added right throughout the squad. Arnold has made it clear he wants to rectify last season and with arguably the best coaching staff and playing squad at his disposal, Sydney look like heading back to their glory days. Defence wins titles and Sydney will comfortably keep teams at bay during the season and will destroy opposition defences with the calibre of strike force they have accrued.
Player to watch – Milos Dimitrijevic
2. Melbourne City – Great recruitment, plenty of depth meaning players will be fighting for starting berths and van’t Schip will have headaches picking his squad every week. No excuses for City anymore, their time to shine. If things don’t go to plan early, van’t Schip will be in the firing line. Cahill will put plenty of bums on seats but will his performances add an extra dimension to City’s attack?
Player to watch – Luke Brattan
3. Melbourne Victory – Big city clubs will rule supreme this season and Victory will assert themselves once again as a huge force in the league. Although losing quality players during the off season, Muscat will continue to get the best from his squad and play a wonderful attacking brand of football. A little light in defence stocks but a lot of goals in the squad should see another Victorian team gunning for the title.
Player to watch – Jason Geria
4. Western Sydney Wanderers – Having to juggle the ACL and the domestic competition is never easy and Popovic will have to call on every one of his players throughout each campaign. Popovic changed his tactics dramatically last season from a defensive minded, counter- attacking team to a proactive, free flowing passing team. With that in mind plus a temporary new home ground, it will be exciting times for the Wanderers. A top four finish will be the case keeping in mind anything is possible come the finals series.
Player to watch – Jumpei Kusukami
5. Perth Glory – An extremely tough place to travel to and get a positive result, Perth will rely heavily on their home form. Last season they relied on the individual brilliance of Castro and on various occasions he delivered in a big way. Lowe has based his recruitment on local WA talent and experience. Both at the back and up top they have so much depth but it’s in the middle where they could lack a little creativity. That said, I think Perth have enough quality throughout the squad to make a finals appearance.
Player to watch – Rhys Williams
6. Newcastle Jets – Hard to write and talk about this but Newcastle will be the surprise packets of the league, scraping into the finals. Their home record has not been great over the last few years but with Jones a Novacastrian himself, he will make sure it will once again become a very tough place to get results. New owners, new coaching staff and decent recruitment; they will definitely prove a lot of doubters wrong.
Player to watch – Morten Nordstrand
7. Brisbane Roar – Along with Victory, Brisbane are one of the most successful clubs in the league’s history. Aloisi really stamped his style on Brisbane last season, whether that style has substance this season will be the burning question. There was so much to like about the Roar last season however their away form was poor and they leaked a lot of goals in crucial games. These two factors could again be exposed to effect, just missing out on a finals birth.
Player to watch – Brett Holman
8. Adelaide United – Last season’s champions will be the hunted as is always the case. Going back to back would probably be the hardest achievement possible in professional sport and I doubt it’s going to happen with Adelaide. I do believe with the stable squad they have, a big ACL campaign is ahead in which they will go deep into the business end but as a consequence Amor’s men will have to settle for an early finish domestically.
Player to watch – Marcelo Carrusca
9. Wellington Phoenix – Some quality recruitment in the off season has amounted to some big expectations across the ditch. Merrick will no doubt want to see his squad be more consistent than last season, in particular at home and there is no doubt scoring goals will not be the problem. Defence is the big question mark and I’m not just talking about the back four. Front to back, Wellington will need to work hard without the ball to make consistency become a reality. In their 10th season as a club, Wellington will under-deliver once again, not having enough depth overall in their squad.
Player to watch – Gui Finkler
10. Central Coast Mariners – Really hoping for big improvements this season but looking at the squad as I write this, I can’t see much change from a results perspective. A lot of experience has been added and with that I think the performances as well as style of football will be good and easy on the eye. Okon will be able to add new ideas to the squad and with low expectation after last year’s wooden spoon a few surprise results may be at hand.
Player to watch – Jacob Poscoliero
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