I’M not sure what the fuss is all about.

The fuss I refer to is the one about the quality or standard of the A-League. I’ve watched two games live in the last week that were really good games to watch from a number of perspectives. Both were derbies.

Firstly, Sydney FC against the Wanderers at Allianz Stadium last Sunday – the last derby to be played there before it’s knocked down and rebuilt. It was raining, all day, but a healthy crowd turned up nevertheless.

Both sets of fans were in full voice at opposite ends and both teams went at it on a slippery surface. It had a European feel about it, on the field and in the terraces. Flares were lit by the RBB, the Wanderers active support group and as much as they added some colour, if you’ll pardon the pun, they are of course illegal in this country and the group fell foul of the surrounding security.

Melbourne Victory’s Leigh Broxham tackles Melbourne City’s Dario Vidosic on Friday night. Source: AAP

On the field was where the real action was, and the game was of a good standard.

Sydney of course were the victors – they simply had too much quality in most areas in comparison to their opponents. Apart from their cleverness they were tactically and structurally far more disciplined than the Wanderers.

Sydney don’t make many mistakes and the ones they do are fixed quickly – the main reason why they are clear leaders at the top of the table.

The second game was the Melbourne Derby on Friday night. Two really different sides – two contrasting philosophies that made for another great night of football. No flares this time.

The active support of old have all but disappeared from the Victory terraces but the atmosphere was intense just the same. City like to play a certain type of football – that’s the edict from the owners at the City Football Group and it doesn’t have much of an emphasis on defending. It’s more about playing and entertainment and it shows.

Victory, who in the past have almost bullied teams into submission with an aggressive, in your face attitude and the players to make it work are now suddenly defending deep, dropping off and defending the block, maintaining structure and discipline and hitting the opposition on the break.

Victory have been accused in the past of being predictable, of having no plan B or tactical versatility. Well they were different on Friday night and credit to Kevin Muscat and his staff for implementing change.

Western Sydney Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab (left) and Sydney FC defender Alex Wilkinson compete for the ball in the Sydney derby. Source: AAP

City, despite having twice the possession and triple the penalty box entries just couldn’t break Victory down and paid the price at the other end when they made poor decisions - which can be deemed mistakes – that couldn’t be rectified before the ball hit the back of the net.

So the pointy end of the season has arrived. Five rounds to play and four places in the top six to be battled for.

So is the A-league really that bad or have we become brainwashed into just thinking it is? Just as everyone rushes out to buy the latest upgrade in technology because they think they need it, when what they have works just fine, are the critics of the game behaving the same?

Scratch beneath the surface and maybe you’ll find it’s still shiny after all.