R13 - Over the ditch against the Nix

[Forum Phoenix]

My new pick based on current situation.

————— Birra ——————
—————————————-
Ziggy—-Kim—Rowles—Miller
——————————————
Muz-—-DDS——Niz——Oar
——————————————
—————-Duric——————
——————Jair—————-


Silvera - 70min
Stens - 60min
Simon - 80min

1) Murray’s assist & involvement stats + effort could make a case for giving him a chance on the wing again.

2) I think Kim does well to steady the team at CB but has to stay there!

Need to let the ball do the work and hold our positional circumstance until the exact moment to kill.

3) DDS grabs the ball from the backs and happy for him to stay as a dual CM and control the mid, also no wondering.

4) Niz start and control the game and let DDS finally get some balls through.
Stensness to come on and tactically defend and break down attacks at 65min.

5) Duric needs to save energy and focus on finding room for the low shots and provide scraps for Jair, and Murray to contribute wide low pass like they did tonight for their first goal.

6) Oar to focus on holding his position as a dedicated winger and clean crosses.

7) Not ideal having Miller at left back but Ziggy needs to move further away from the centre than he is now in the back 3 system, he’s a bit too slow and his tackling is good but tracking/awareness is average.

8) Too many players trying to do each other’s jobs.
If we can emulate Sydney style with their similar discipline!
That would be nice.

Miller defended well but lost his attacking ability on the left. We need a proper LB ASAP.

 

[Big Al]

Part of our problem, highlighted tonight is a lack of CB’s. We don’t have 1, let alone 2 CB’s that have the physical or the defensive ability to outdo their opponent, especially in a 1 v 1 situation.
I admire Staj for giving it a try, but he just doesn’t have the cattle to play a back 3.
You can talk about formations all you like, but it’s the basic stuff that frustrates me the most. Tonight, we just needed to win tackles, win the race to the ball, drop on 2nd balls, run forward, play forward, run back, defend and as a team we don’t do this basic stuff well enough. Sure there are individuals that do, but as a team, not good enough. Better than last season, sure, but still a long way from most other teams.

I think we could play a back 3 of
Millar Fox and Rowles. But Fox is in the naughty corner and Millar might not have the ball playing abilities that the other two have.

This would mean pulling Fox out of the naughty corner (seems unlikely) and dropping Ziggy (which would mean owning a poor visa signing but necessary)

Then Kim would be a little further forward. He is not totally capable as a CB. I get his ball use for why staj has tried it but it’s leaving a hole in the next stage of play

 

[turbo]

Just caught up. Such a frustrating game, firstly Wellington time wasting from 70ish minutes was so hard to watch and I’m sure even neutrals would agree.

On the goals:
First one had shades of the Sydney goal from Kosta, yeah Clisby was chasing his man but the others weren’t tracking an offside man who was then put onside with a head start.
Second standing off the player that shot but also Kim was well off his man and should have been in with a chance to block the shot as his player tried to flick it on.

More concerned with the attack though we have nothing through the middle and lack any tight play in the box like the nix do so well. Instead we cross in at Taylor and Devere with a huge height advantage. A post and a crossbar. Could DDS hit the bloody goal soon?

 

[turbo]

Jair can finish, there's just no service. Zero. We had ONE feed to Dasilva in the game, that was it.

I’ve been reading back on posts and can’t believe people are trying to pin this on Jair at all. It doesn’t matter how good your striker is if they don’t get the ball they can’t do anything with it. He dropped back to help and bring others in but there was no service and we kept trying to cross or long ball past blokes much taller than ours. Madness.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Murray?
Majok?
DDS?
Jair?

LOL
The correct answer is Jair - failed miserably at the scum - doing exactly what it says on the tin for us

 

[bikinigirl]

Im not at all sold on GG. How do others rate him? I think we need smarter sharper footballers.

. i have a soft spot for GG ... and i think it is largely to to do with the fact that he is so engaging off the pitch - much the same as Jordan (and obviously i am not the only one to fall for his charms). this is all part of the irrational thought processes involved in following a football team

. i wouldn't mind seeing GG take a step back into the back line - he seemed to be first choice CB in pre-season before injury and the late signing of Fox ... a swap with Kim seems more than appropriate as Kim is more dynamic. unfortunately GG often seems surprised by an opposition player coming from behind and although keen to atone is not the most agile (at CB surprise from behind should be less likely and keenness is needed)

. yesterday i also noticed an alarming propensity to not play to the whistle and stop when he thought we were deserving of a free kick in the attacking* sector

DDS... he is unfortunately the epitome of what greenling said. All huff and puff and no end product.

. oh my wordy, this shits me ... he does a lot of running - but brings nobody else into play. everybody else essentially stops because they don't know where to go figuring DDS will just go on some mazey run and if they get 'lucky' may have the ball poked towards them when they least expect it

. i did enjoy GG stepping in on him for that shot he rattled the crossbar with ... but wonder if DDS had have actually laid it off rather than get in the way - would the end product have benefitted?

. Danny also has the problem that his effective passing range is about 27cm because he hits the ball with all the power of an under-6 girls reserve player ... so naturally players come towards him rather than run off him. this dulls our attack significantly and makes it easy for our opposition to herd us [it may also be why Milan has been so effective with the long range shots - because our opposition forget we have that ability]

I keep saying it, but I don’t think Silvera is a wide player. Better central.

. following on from the DDS discussion ... who so often moves sideways, backwards, and 'round'n'round in circles (refer again to power comparison above) - whereas Silvera is so soften facing forward and willing to go forward

. a swap between Sammy and DDS would be a good thing other than the fact that Danny does not appear to have the power to cross the ball or take a shot from distance if he cuts inside (he would need Miller overlapping)

Stens I like, but thought he was beaten today.

. he did seems a bit quiet yesterday and he may be tired - he is calm on the ball (occasionally too calm in losing possession) ... but as has been mentioned previously cohesion in the middle is a problem - and continual change will not be helping here

* terminology used to indicate ball position only, i am not suggesting we were actually an attacking threat

 

[Ancient Mariner]

. i have a soft spot for GG ... and i think it is largely to to do with the fact that he is so engaging off the pitch - much the same as Jordan (and obviously i am not the only one to fall for his charms). this is all part of the irrational thought processes involved in following a football team

. i wouldn't mind seeing GG take a step back into the back line - he seemed to be first choice CB in pre-season before injury and the late signing of Fox ... a swap with Kim seems more than appropriate as Kim is more dynamic. unfortunately GG often seems surprised by an opposition player coming from behind and although keen to atone is not the most agile (at CB surprise from behind should be less likely and keenness is needed)

. yesterday i also noticed an alarming propensity to not play to the whistle and stop when he thought we were deserving of a free kick in the attacking* sector



. oh my wordy, this shits me ... he does a lot of running - but brings nobody else into play. everybody else essentially stops because they don't know where to go figuring DDS will just go on some mazey run and if they get 'lucky' may have the ball poked towards them when they least expect it

. i did enjoy GG stepping in on him for that shot he rattled the crossbar with ... but wonder if DDS had have actually laid it off rather than get in the way - would the end product have benefitted?

. Danny also has the problem that his effective passing range is about 27cm because he hits the ball with all the power of an under-6 girls reserve player ... so naturally players come towards him rather than run off him. this dulls our attack significantly and makes it easy for our opposition to herd us [it may also be why Milan has been so effective with the long range shots - because our opposition forget we have that ability]



. following on from the DDS discussion ... who so often moves sideways, backwards, and 'round'n'round in circles (refer again to power comparison above) - whereas Silvera is so soften facing forward and willing to go forward

. a swap between Sammy and DDS would be a good thing other than the fact that Danny does not appear to have the power to cross the ball or take a shot from distance if he cuts inside (he would need Miller overlapping)



. he did seems a bit quiet yesterday and he may be tired - he is calm on the ball (occasionally too calm in losing possession) ... but as has been mentioned previously cohesion in the middle is a problem - and continual change will not be helping here

* terminology used to indicate ball position only, i am not suggesting we were actually an attacking threat

Spot on BG.

 

[bikinigirl]

. if i was to criticise Staj and his tactics (i know he is trying to work with what little he has):

• i would question the amount of constant change
  • in previous years we saw the players lack of confidence in one another causing doubt and second-guessing
  • now it appears that changing roles and combinations are causing a similar problem at critical moments
• wonder whether the attacking talent he had with the Matildas has influenced his decision making
  • it is difficult to determine if we have a plan
  • too many players appear to have a 'free-reign'

. a couple of times on NYE i noticed we had seven players forward in a band only a few metres wide with three at the back, similar to when ziggy fell on his arse. the problem that often presents is that there is no option to play out - when we really need multiple options ... our midfield is far too often caught either too deep or too far forward. the defense or attack attracts the blame for conceding or not scoring ... but unfortunately, our midfield is actually a bit of a mess

 

[Ironbark]

In the end I had guests and planned to watch the game later. Came on here first - now I don't think I want to put myself through it at all.

 

[BrisRecky]

I’m with BG ..Kim and GG need swapping about...the way it is just ain’t doing as good as it could

 

[finally retired]

.
. he did seems a bit quiet yesterday and he may be tired - he is calm on the ball (occasionally too calm in losing possession) ... but as has been mentioned previously cohesion in the middle is a problem - and continual change will not be helping here

hi BG...I'm a big fan of your comments (I haven't seen you in a bikini so cant comment whether the one piece middle aged thingy is more or less appropriate)..and agree with most of what you said...BUT I thought Stensness was very poor yesterday ans it alomost looked like he thought he was playing for the yellow and black rather than the blue and yellow with the number of balls he passed to the Phoenix players.
I knew we weren't going to have much of a chance when the teams were announced and we had the exclusion of Duric and the inclusion of Clisby.....and Clisby did nothing (apart from a fortuitous block) to change my perception of him.
We are much too slow in any buildups....is that because we don't want to be caught on a counter-attack or we just don't have the pace and skill to mount a quick attack of our own?
This season IS better than the last 3 but its not likely to bring us any new fans with our style or results.

 

[disordinary]

A lot of the press are saying Phoenix are title contenders and the second best team in the comp. They're undefeated in 8 and have foreigners with plenty of top level European experience. They're undoubtedly a much more expensive team than the mariners and have a lot of class and depth. I wouldn't say loosing to them means the season is over, it's very close and the top six is achievable.

 

[pjennings]

A lot of the press are saying Phoenix are title contenders and the second best team in the comp. They're undefeated in 8 and have foreigners with plenty of top level European experience. They're undoubtedly a much more expensive team than the mariners and have a lot of class and depth. I wouldn't say loosing to them means the season is over, it's very close and the top six is achievable.

That may be true and they are on a great run .... but we need to start collecting points. Next 5 games are against the teams we are directly competing with - Victory, Western United, Roar, WSW & Jets.

I will feel a lot better if we can pick up 9-10 points from those fixtures. If we can't get at least 7 or 8 points the season will be looking rather forlorn.

 

[Tevor]

That may be true and they are on a great run .... but we need to start collecting points. Next 5 games are against the teams we are directly competing with - Victory, Western United, Roar, WSW & Jets.

I will feel a lot better if we can pick up 9-10 points from those fixtures. If we can't get at least 7 or 8 points the season will be looking rather forlorn.

Problem is competing with those teams is not historically our strong suit. We only seem to perform against the top teams. Staj needs to get them fired up for these games.

 

[Ironbark]

Problem is competing with those teams is not historically our strong suit. We only seem to perform against the top teams. Staj needs to get them fired up for these games.

We do tend to play up against the quality teams and then lose against teams we should beat. I hope those days are behind us but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Ironbark]

Father-in-law said we should really have won it durimg the second half but that as usual we couldn't score. Didn't see the game - does that sound fair?

 

[neverwozza]

Father-in-law said we should really have won it durimg the second half but that as usual we couldn't score. Didn't see the game - does that sound fair?

Yep definitely deserved to get something out of the game. Even when the Nix were on top in the first half we hit the woodwork twice. Its interesting because we have a far inferior squad to all the other clubs and some of our players had shockers to compound that but like all the games we've played this year we showed plenty of fight and right to the end.

 

[midfielder]

From the start of last season the forum and Football media in general said we need a striker and centre back.

From the start of this season the pleas were for a striker and centre back.

Its been obvious for arguably 3 seasons... maybe more...

My faith in club management / ownership is at an all time low....

We lost this game as we did against Sydney because we could not score and defensively failed to have an organiser in the backs to call runs and ensure coverage.... we concede so many simple goals because we don't have a decent CB .... we miss so many goals that should be buried ...

The cost in dollars of years of under performance must be huge.... say 39 games at @ 2 K people per match at say $20.00 is over 1.5 million or half a million a year...

Honestly I wish we had P & R, the performance by both management / ownership is so penny pinching or the old saying """penny wise pound foolish """ I will never not support the club but if I did not have a membership I doubt I would attend games today...

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Father-in-law said we should really have won it durimg the second half but that as usual we couldn't score. Didn't see the game - does that sound fair?

Maybe not win it, but definitely should have equalised. And with better attacking players both starting and off the bench I think we would have.

Maybe Jair can turn into one, but the only players currently in our starting 11 that make me feel like they’re going to score is Djuric and Silvera. Oar next in line.

That’s 3 mids before any of our forwards. TBF Jair is new to the squad and would only now be getting towards full fitness and still a while off full sharpness and then a while longer still off a strong understanding with his team mates.

Muzz is linking and moving well but the opportunities he’s had this year would mean a bag of goals for probably any of the other starting strikers in the league.

Matty can hold the ball up and defend corners. And that’s about it now.

Majok has clearly been deemed not good enough.

That’s just not a very sharp pointy end. And it shows both statistically and in all our finishing.

 

[turbo]

From the start of this season the pleas were for a striker and centre back.

From what Shaun has said they were after a striker but couldn’t get it done earlier. Maybe they were too optimistic for their budget or just straight up under funded but even WSW took a long time to get someone who isnt performing and they have funds we could only dream of. CB is a fair call and it looked like that was supposed to be GG based on preseason. He hasn’t gone back there since afaik.

The argument with crowds is something the club needs to look at. Getting the crowds back up to 7-8k is realistic if we show a sustained improvement but needs investment first rather than expecting people to get on board with promises.