How are the Jets' rivals shaping up? The Herald's A-League journalist James Gardiner casts an eye over the rest of the field.
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ADELAIDE
Coach: Carl Veart
2020-21: 5th (39pts)
Major ins: Isaas Snchez, George Blackwood, Nick Ansell
Major outs: Tomic Juri, Ryan Strain, Jordan Elsey, Al Hassan Toure
Bottom Line: Spanish general Isaias is back, but it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from.
BRISBANE
Coach: Warren Moon
2020-21: 4th (40 pts)
Major ins: Juan Lescano, Jordan Holmes, Jez Lofthouse, Nikola Mileusni, Matti Steinmann, Luke Ivanovic, Henry Hore.
Major outs: Masato Kudo, Jamie Young, Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Riku Danzaki, Macaulay Gillesphey
Bottom Line: Rahmat Akbari, Kai Trewin, Cyrus Dehmie and Alex Parsons are rising stars. Tom Aldred is a beast. Losing keeper Jamie Young and defender Macaulay Gillesphey hurts.
CENTRAL COAST
Coach: Nick Montgomery
2020-21: 3rd (42 pts)
Major ins: Nicolai Mller, Cy Goddard, Bèni Nkololo, Moresche Rodrigues
Major outs: Jordan Smylie, Gianni Stensness, Daniel De Silva, Jack Clisby, Alou Kuol, Stefan Nigro
Bottom Line: Boast a strong spine in Mark Birighitti, Ruon Tongyik, Oliver Bozanic and Marco Urena. Will compete hard, but will drop down the table.
MACARTHUR
Coach: Ante Milicic
2020-21: 6th (39 pts)
Major ins: Ulises Dvila, Daniel De Silva, Tomi Juric, Craig Noone, Tomislav Uskok, Jordon Mutch, Al Hassan Toure
Major outs: Denis Genreau, Matt Derbyshire, Markel Susaeta (retired), Mark Milligan (retired), Beat Etxebarria (retired), Ivan Franjic, Loic Puyo, Adam Federici (retired)
Bottom Line: Ulises Davila, Tomi Juric and Craig Noone should provide goals. Will miss the experience and direction of retired duo Mark Milligan and Adam Federici.
MELBOURNE CITY
Coach: Patrick Kisnorbo
2020-21: 1st (49 pts)
Major ins: Mathew Leckie, Jordon Hall, Manuel Pucciarelli
Major outs: Craig Noone, Ben Garrucio, Adrin Luna
Bottom Line: Were a yard above the rest last season. Matt Leckie adds to the attack and as long as motivation remains high, a second title is on the cards.
MELBOURNE VICTORY
Coach: Tony Popovic
2020-21: 12th (19 pts)
Major ins: Jason Davidson, Josh Brillante, Chris Ikonomidis, Matthew Spiranovic, Roderick Miranda
Major outs: Dylan Ryan, Nick Ansell, Adama Traore, Rudy Gestede, Callum McManaman
Bottom Line: Popovic will ensure there is not a repeat of last year's debacle for the Victory. Josh Brillante and a fit Ikonomidis are key arrivals. The stakes have never been higher.
Newcastle
Coach: Arthur Papas
2020-21: 11th (21 pts)
Major ins: Matthew Jurman, Dane Ingham, Mohamed Al-Taay, Riley Warland, Beka Mikeltadze, Jordan Elsey, Olivier Boumal, Dylan Murnane, Samuel Silvera, Savvas Siatravanis, Kosta Grozos, Daniel Penha
Major outs: Nigel Boogaard (retired), Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Ali Abbas, Roy O'Donovan, Matt Millar, Lewis Italiano, James Donachie, Connor O'Toole, Johnny Koutroumbis.
Bottom Line: New coach, new squad, new game. If they can pick up some points early, should be humming at the back end of the season.
PERTH
Coach: Richie Garcia
2020-21: 9th (34 pts)
Major ins: Daniel Sturridge, Brad Jones, Aaron Calver, Jack Clisby, Brandon O'Neill, Adrian Sardinero
Major outs: Tando Velaphi, Jason Geria, Dane Ingham, Sebastian Langkamp, Neil Kilkenny, Brandon Wilson, Nick D'Agostino, Chris Ikonomidis
Bottom Line: The Glory have splashed the cash at both ends of the pitch, signing former EPL star Daniel Sturridge and his one-time Liverpool teammate, Aussie keeper Brad Jones.
SYDNEY FC
Coach: Steve Corica
2020-21: 2nd (47pts)
Major ins: Max Burgess, James Donachie, Elvis Kamsoba
Major outs: Ryan McGowan, Jordan Swibel, Alexander Baumjohann
Bottom Line: Stable as ever. Their stars - Milos Ninkovic, Adam Le Fondre, Bobo - are a year older but they have the quality to pick apart any team.
WELLINGTON
Coach: Ufuk Talay
2020-21: 7th (38pts)
Major ins: Gary Hooper. Nicholas Pennington, Luka Prso
Major outs: Ulises Dvila, Tomer Hemed, Steven Taylor, Cameron Devlin
Bottom Line: No Davila, no Cam Devlin. Talay was coach of the year in 2019-20 and will need another masterclass to get the Phoenix anywhere near the finals.
WESTERN UNITED
Coach: John Aloisi
2020-21: 10th (28 pts)
Major Ins: Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Ben Garuccio, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Noah Botic, Jamie Young, Neil Kilkenny, Leo Lacroix, Rene Krhin, Aleksandar Prijovic, Christian Theoharous
Major outs: Andrew Durante (retired), Aaron Calver, Filip Kurto, Tomislav Uskok, Iker Guarrotxena, Kaine Sheppard, Bradden Inman, Besart Berisha, Brendan Hamill, Victor Sanchez
Bottom Line: Solid squad led by classy Italian Alessando Diamanti. Still, hard to get too excited.
WESTERN SYDNEY
Coach: Carl Robinson
2020-21: 8th (35 pts)
Major Ins: Adama Traore, Ramy Najjarine, Tomer Hemed, Rhys Williams, Terry Antonis, Johnny Koutroumbis, Dimi Petratos, Keijiro Ogawa, Tomas Mejias, Jack Rodwell
Major outs: Kosta Grozos, Mo Al-Taay, Nicolai Muller, Patrick Ziegler, Scott McDonald, Noah James, Mitchell Duke, Simon Cox, Graham Dorrans, Bruce Kamau, Dylan McGowan, Jordon Mutch, Kwame Yeboah
Bottom Line: Real Jets look about them with the arrival of former Newcastle stars Dimi Petratos and Steve Ugarkovic. Jack Rodwell adds to a squad glistening with talent but Robinson needs buy-in to be successful.
