Purr vs Mainers

[Ancient Mariner]

Other teams have worked out that most of our danger in the final third is through the middle of the park and close down that part of the field, without Urena to open that up we were toothless in front of goal. Matty looked sadly alone without him.
As an alternative our limited wide attack relies a lot on our fullbacks combining with our very narrow wingers. Last night showed to me that Bouman cannot play this position and how much we missed DDS. For mine Bouman is a forward. On the other side Nigro ignored so many clever runs into space (mainly Nizz) in front of him and turned the ball back which is why I think he was replaced, along with his lack of pace in defence. Miller showed glimpses when he came on but gets worried and stops when he gets forward. I don't think he is a fullback but could be useful as a winger if he can learn what to do "next".
Ollie held the ball too long and ignored many options. I got the feeling he was playing very safe or looking for something more open in front of him and did not see it, but it allowed Brisbane to get set in defence easily.
Stens was good but is not the player to get your attack moving forward, maybe he and Ollie could shift roles.
I find it very difficult to criticise anyone because most played well to the best of their ability, but in too many cases that ability is just ok but not quite good enough. To be real contenders we need a few extra quality players. However, for what we have they are going well.
Toss up for me who was my MOM between Tonyik and Nizz.

 

[finally retired]

Why sub him tonight? He has played like that all season really

agree....
I would have started Miller rather than Nigro as he seems to have no confidence at all at the moment.
I actually get very frustrated with both our wingbacks.... Clisby either under- or over-hits almost every ball....and Nigro couldn't get any ball past the first last line of defence last night. But if Staj thinks they are the best we have then so be it.

 

[Melange]

I was moaning to my son Last night about the rut we are in. as I rambled more and talked about our performances which have generally been good and given us a chance to win most games, I stopped for a second and said to him "I can't believe I'm so down about being in second spot with a pretty easy run home."

On reflection I think there were more positives to come out of that game than any of our last five (barring Sydney). Stens did have a great start to the year, 100 % better than last year, he's been horrible since coming back from injury but last night was great, he did go back a few times but I think he had the balance right this week, last time against the pussies he didn't pass forward till Marco was sent and we had nothing to lose. Oli improved from the last few games as well, not back to early season form but good signs of he improves from here.

Simon toiled, I thought Alou was better than last week but isolated. I would have liked Janota on earlier. Our fullbacks are what they are, our centre backs fantastic. Nis immense.

I think we're getting back to form at the right time.

 

[Wombat]

Well, I'm going to be unpopular. Why are so many saying Stens was immense/good etc? I agree he breaks up the play. My issue is, he does it for both teams. The amount of times he has a forward or sideways pass option and passes backwards is rediculous. It allows the defenders to get into shape and position and slows down our attack. I know the counter argument is that his passing forward is appalling but we know this already. Watching Nizzy trying to turn forward at any chance for the players in front of him is great. Nizzy just needs to add goals.

I thought that was Sten's best game since he came back from injury and I didn't think that in was a co-incidence that when he plays well we are a much better side. I also was happy with Olli, Ruon, Rowles Royce (RR) and Nizzy.

 

[Insertnamehere]

I was moaning to my son Last night about the rut we are in. as I rambled more and talked about our performances which have generally been good and given us a chance to win most games, I stopped for a second and said to him "I can't believe I'm so down about being in second spot with a pretty easy run home."

On reflection I think there were more positives to come out of that game than any of our last five (barring Sydney). Stens did have a great start to the year, 100 % better than last year, he's been horrible since coming back from injury but last night was great, he did go back a few times but I think he had the balance right this week, last time against the pussies he didn't pass forward till Marco was sent and we had nothing to lose. Oli improved from the last few games as well, not back to early season form but good signs of he improves from here.

Simon toiled, I thought Alou was better than last week but isolated. I would have liked Janota on earlier. Our fullbacks are what they are, our centre backs fantastic. Nis immense.

I think we're getting back to form at the right time.

Easy run but points aren't a given for us ATM. 1W in 9G is a massive rut. We look like the team of last year offensively but with a rock solid D.

I just wanna say, that while the spine of our team has been very good Ruon has been utterly immense.

 

[Ironbark]

I would suggest that Nigro in particular was told to play at 110% to close down Champness as he would be replaced with fresh legs to do the same job

 

[Ironbark]

We had 20 shots. With either DDS or Urena splaying the defenders in the middle I think we win that game.

Prefer the 3 points but on net I am happy. Win against the scum in required, and a minimum expectation.

 

[Tevor]

I don't feel that confident after last nights game to be honest, I felt we again had the better possession however all game they could of easily jagged a goal and they had the better chances and looked way more threatening when attacking. The weather saved us I feel as it slowed down their attack.

Our inability to capitalise on chances in my view means if we do make the finals it will not be for long. Their front third are well above ours as with many other teams. We have been worked out and really struggle in attack. On this form with everyone working us out I don't think we have an easy run home, we have all been saying how crucial the last four games have been and we have only got a few draws out of them. Accepting last nights draw as a good result is wallpapering over the fact they were there for the taking giving their recent work load. It's like accepting the Victory draw as a good point away from home. When they came to Gosford fresh from a break and we had a heavy schedule they thumped us 4 zip, we get the same opportunity and hang on for a draw. We are not a team playing like our ladder position.

 

[Ironbark]

We should have won against victory each time.

Roar did us 4 nil last time, and we should have won this except for not being able to pick apart the midfield without DDS or Urena.

In the last 10 games we have scored goals, some lovely goals, but conceded too many. In the last few games we have also struggled to put away chances.

Even though we still struggled to score - which needs to be rectified or that's that - we did defend solidly and kept them to a couple of weak chances only. It's the defensive aspect that is the improvement

 

[Insertnamehere]

What's our GF + GA through the last 10 games?

 

[turbo]

We should have won against victory each time.

We should have beat them the first time, second time we invited them in to the game and were lucky to take away a point. We could have beaten them but it wasnt exactly a lucky escape for them in game 2.

 

[pjennings]

To my mind we are still in the mix and have a reasonable run home to finish as high as second or as low as fifth. I am confident we will make the finals.

Favourites for me are City for the premiership and Sydney for the championship. Come finals time none of the teams should worry us. City will be weaker than now.

MCI - will lose Maclaren and probably Nabbout at a minimum for the last round and the finals. Glover in goals will also be found out in a not so dominant team
ADL - without referees help we are a better team though they have 2 good young keepers
CCM - I'll be surprised if we miss the finals and I think we have looked better yesterday although lacked creativity. With Marcos and DDS that should be fixed. Ollie to take the corners please
BNE - good 'team' playing well - Young at the back is a huge plus
SFC with Bobo, Ninkovic and now ALF look to be really strong for the finals. Redmayne I still don't rate. Very solid CBs but can speed upset them as they aren't getting any younger
MAC - Okon ball - first out if they make it
WSW - some good players but not a great 'team' 5-0 over Western United with Western playing their 6th game in 22 days while they had been playing once a week since 10th April was not a true indication.

 

[Big Al]

To my mind we are still in the mix and have a reasonable run home to finish as high as second or as low as fifth. I am confident we will make the finals.

Favourites for me are City for the premiership and Sydney for the championship. Come finals time none of the teams should worry us. City will be weaker than now.

MCI - will lose Maclaren and probably Nabbout at a minimum for the last round and the finals. Glover in goals will also be found out in a not so dominant team
ADL - without referees help we are a better team though they have 2 good young keepers
CCM - I'll be surprised if we lose and I think we have looked better yesterday although lacked creativity. With Marcos and DDS that should be fixed. Ollie to take the corners please
BNE - good 'team' playing well - Young at the back is a huge plus
SFC with Bobo, Ninkovic and now ALF look to be really strong for the finals. Redmayne I still don't rate. Very solid CBs but can speed upset them as they aren't getting any younger
MAC - Okon ball - first out if they make it
WSW - some good players but not a great 'team' 5-0 over Western United with Western playing their 6th game in 22 days while they had been playing once a week since 10th April was not a true indication.

Sydney midfield isn’t as good as it was and they are getting older. Still incredibly hard to beat but not the invincible team they were. They have a winning mentality but every one else has caught up except City who are the strongest team in the league.

what will help us is a few off them playing each other.

Newcastle is an absolute must win for the confidence

 

[pjennings]

If we pick up 2 wins against Jets in the remaining games I think we will make the finals. Any points we drop there we need to pick up against WUN. MAC or City. Anything on top of those 2 wins is a bonus.

 

[turbo]

Newcastle is an absolute must win for the confidence

And for position. We NEED those 6 points, after drawing with second last twice no other outcome is acceptable against last. I can't see anyone playing finals with much less than 40 points. Beating Newcastle twice would take us to 39, then need at least a draw out of either City, Macarthur or WU. City a tough mission and Mac or WU have the potential for a good day. Without 6 from Newcastle the job gets much harder and anything less than 4 points from them is a disaster.

 

[pjennings]

Of the other in contention teams who would you swap with. Me only city. I think 39 points will get us home and less may well because other teams playing each other will mean others will drop points as well. We arguably have the easiest run home with Newcastle twice.

Updated after the MCI vs ADL 13/5

MCI	Needed	Poss. Pts	Against	GD
CCM	6	15	3 of 5 against top 6 contenders	3
ADL	7	15	4 of 5 against top 6 contenders	0
BNE	8	18	5 of 6 against top 6 contenders	8
SFC	7	15	4 of 5 against top 6 contenders	7
MAC	7	15	4 of 5 against top 6 contenders	-2
WSW	8	15	5 of 5 against top 6 contenders	6
WUN	11	15	4 of 5 against top 6 contenders	-5
WEL	12	15	5 of 5 against top 6 contenders	3
PG	14	18	5 of 5 against top 6 contenders	-4

 

[Big Al]

If we pick up 2 wins against Jets in the remaining games I think we will make the finals. Any points we drop there we need to pick up against WUN. MAC or City. Anything on top of those 2 wins is a bonus.

That would take us to 39 points and I always thought that would be good enough but a tight squeeze. Anything over 40 should be a certainty

didn’t see the posts below before I posted

 

[style_cafe]

Pitch in perfect condition according to Kossie!!!

What would Kossie know?

 

[Wombat]

I don't feel that confident after last nights game to be honest, I felt we again had the better possession however all game they could of easily jagged a goal and they had the better chances and looked way more threatening when attacking. The weather saved us I feel as it slowed down their attack.

Our inability to capitalise on chances in my view means if we do make the finals it will not be for long. Their front third are well above ours as with many other teams. We have been worked out and really struggle in attack. On this form with everyone working us out I don't think we have an easy run home, we have all been saying how crucial the last four games have been and we have only got a few draws out of them. Accepting last nights draw as a good result is wallpapering over the fact they were there for the taking giving their recent work load. It's like accepting the Victory draw as a good point away from home. When they came to Gosford fresh from a break and we had a heavy schedule they thumped us 4 zip, we get the same opportunity and hang on for a draw. We are not a team playing like our ladder position.

OK Godfrey.

 

[Wombat]

What would Kossie know?

Kossie knows his Grass