The case for the defence

With so little between the top five teams of the Hyundai A-League in terms of ability, having a consistent side out on the park in the final four weeks will be vital in determining who finishes where, and more importantly who misses out.

Last week's round of matches showed us the importance of having a committed defensive line is to achieving consistently good results over a season. The two teams which have most cause for concerns over this out of the top five are Adelaide and Sydney, who both lost on the weekend and now face a likely battle against one another for fourth spot.

Sydney copped four goals against Perth on Saturday in what was its worst defensive effort of the season, and after all the good John Kosmina has done over the past couple of months, you wonder if its been a patch-up job from the former Socceroo.

The defeat smacked of all the errors the Blues were making under Branko Culina at the start of the season and exposed the lack of pace Sydney has at the back. It also showed what a vital player Mark Milligan is to the inaugural Hyundai A-League premiers. He had his worst game for quite a while, and subsequently, the entire Sydney defence fell apart.

The consequences in terms of ladder position could be dire. Having lost a match it was expected to win, Sydney now faces top-placed Central Coast this week at risk of dropping 12 points off top spot.

Kosmina's defensive issues won't be helped by the departure of Mark Rudan, especially if Tony Popovic is injured or suspended in the coming weeks. Rudan heads to Japan to re-unite with Pierre Littbarski, the only man so far to get Sydney to play anywhere near its best.

Over in Adelaide, Aurelio Vidmar also has his headaches at the back. After giving up a 2-0 lead against Melbourne he spoke of the inexperience in the Reds' defence, and that conceding naive goals was all part of the education process for his back four. The experienced poaching skills of veterans John Aloisi and Sasho Petrovski exposed them again on the weekend and you have to wonder how the Reds will stand up should they make the finals.

Vidmar has done some great things with a squad which was heavily madeover in the wake of the 6-0 loss in last season's Grand Final, but he understands it's an evolution, and results won't happen overnight. The Reds' great hope is the form of Paul Agostino, who like Aloisi and Petrovski, possesses the nous to turn half chances into goals. That is a very useful skill in a competition where there aren't a lot of quality front men.

One of those quality front men is Joel Griffiths, who now has nine goals this year and has been the main reason behind Newcastle's strong season. Griffiths has always had the ability, but there have been plenty who questioned his commitment after he returned from Leeds. It's taken the 28-year-old a season to adapt, but he is now one of the most impressive players in the entire competition. The two goals against Melbourne on Sunday were high class and he has given the Jets the momentum they had lost over the past month. It was on the back of a similar momentum charge last year that they made it to within a hair's breadth of a Grand Final.

The value of Aloisi to the Central Coast was no more evident than on Friday. He was the best player on the park in the first half and capped his trip back to his home town with a well-taken goal. The Mariners, who looked like they were ailing, are suddenly back clear on top and a win against Sydney this weekend would all but secure the double chance.

That leaves us with Queensland, which took on the vastly-improved Wellington on Friday and came away with a point. That's no mean feat, and the Phoenix are certain to trouble plenty of sides in the run home. But the Roar still lack that killer instinct up front, which they will need to discover if they are going to seriously challenge come February.

The competition is still so even and you would be foolish to think any of the first five could not win it. But defensive errors cost you finals, and both Sydney and Adelaide need to look their options long and hard to ensure that if they make it to the post-season they won't be let down by a silly slip-up.