R2: Sydney FC v CCMFC

[Forum Phoenix]

They touched on it at the start of the game... Said that while he's back in training, the club had opted to not risk him just yet... I took it to essentially mean that it's likely he'll be back next week.

Thing is though... Unless he can take on the #10 role, that's not really where we need the change... I think the team has the potential to be great, but out defence lets us down, again and again - as has already been said.

Thanks - no commentary so I missed that.

Agree re the ten. Powell is probably a better player than we're seeing - he may grow into the role - but we haven't seen the signs yet - I feel like fab could play ten, but doesnt sound like that's a plan.

I don't think Okon believes in possession for its own sake - seemed pretty clear he wanted it to go forward.

I think if we're going to play possession football - storm and Neil are going to have to step up and we STILL need another CB. I'm not sure it's the best fit for Monty either - though I love him. Rose is well suited though.

 

[Big Al]

Thanks - no commentary so I missed that.

Agree re the ten. Powell is probably a better player than we're seeing - he may grow into the role - but we haven't seen the signs yet - I feel like fab could play ten, but doesnt sound like that's a plan.

I don't think Okon believes in possession for its own sake - seemed pretty clear he wanted it to go forward.

I think if we're going to play possession football - storm and Neil are going to have to step up and we STILL need another CB. I'm not sure it's the best fit for Monty either - though I love him. Rose is well suited though.

Powell gets in good position and made one or two through balls. Needs more time but ideally not a #10 but fab is certainly not a #10 he doesn't pass it first time. He likes to dribble with his head down.
Trent has also put some great crosses in, one for a goal last week and almost if Roy had planned to use his left foot. So we can afford to wait till Fab's fit and then he should be on the bench based on Trent's early season form

 

[pjennings]

Powell gets in good position and made one or two through balls. Needs more time but ideally not a #10 but fab is certainly not a #10 he doesn't pass it first time. He likes to dribble with his head down.
Trent has also put some great crosses in, one for a goal last week and almost if Roy had planned to use his left foot. So we can afford to wait till Fab's fit and then he should be on the bench based on Trent's early season form

Ryall got the slightest of touches and Roy had no time to react. A millimetre closer to the goal and Roy would have scored

 

[Big Al]

Ryall got the slightest of touches and Roy had no time to react. A millimetre closer to the goal and Roy would have scored

Roy wouldn't have scored, he was attacking it with his right foot with body still facing front on. He would have missed near post IMO also If he did manage to twist (which I don't think he could have) Danny was there to maybe save it.
Left foot would have sent it back post past Danny for sure.

The touch did take it past him but if he went left foot would have got something on it IMO! Might not have scored though

 

[VicMariner]

Glad I missed the game.
Spewin' we lost though.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Thanks - no commentary so I missed that.

Agree re the ten. Powell is probably a better player than we're seeing - he may grow into the role - but we haven't seen the signs yet - I feel like fab could play ten, but doesnt sound like that's a plan.

I don't think Okon believes in possession for its own sake - seemed pretty clear he wanted it to go forward.

I think if we're going to play possession football - storm and Neil are going to have to step up and we STILL need another CB. I'm not sure it's the best fit for Monty either - though I love him. Rose is well suited though.

I think there are players playing out of position due to the needs of the team. We have a surfeit of dms. The best game I saw Neil play was as a dm, it is time someone realised he is not a fullback. We do not have a a #10, Powell is not a #10, Fabio is not a #10, Cameras was not a #10. It is very frustrating for me to see players having to play out of position, goodness knows how bad it is for the player.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

I think there are players playing out of position due to the needs of the team. We have a surfeit of dms. The best game I saw Neil play was as a dm, it is time someone realised he is not a fullback. We do not have a a #10, Powell is not a #10, Fabio is not a #10, Cameras was not a #10. It is very frustrating for me to see players having to play out of position, goodness knows how bad it is for the player.

Peterson is supposedly a ten isn't he? It would be interesting at the very least to see him given a shot there.

 

[pjennings]

On a slightly positive note we are not at the bottom of the ladder despite conceding 7 goals in 2 games and there are a few big names down with us. I also think we have played 2 of the teams that will be in the top 3 come the end of the season away. Here is the bottom of the table

P W D L F A GD Pts
ADL 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
VIC 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1
CCM 2 0 1 1 3 7 -4 1
QLD 2 0 1 1 1 5 -4 1
NIX 2 0 0 2 0 3 -3 0

The next 5 weeks we play Roar, WSW, ADL, Nix, Jets. These 5 weeks could really define our season.

 

[Wombat]

I think there are players playing out of position due to the needs of the team. We have a surfeit of dms. The best game I saw Neil play was as a dm, it is time someone realised he is not a fullback. We do not have a a #10, Powell is not a #10, Fabio is not a #10, Cameras was not a #10. It is very frustrating for me to see players having to play out of position, goodness knows how bad it is for the player.

Hmmm....I called it the first time I saw him play LB.

 

[style_cafe]

I didn`t think Sydney was all that good.
Sure they were 4 goals better than us but I doubt they will finish in the top 4.

In saying that the result did flatter us somewhat.
I was watching Ivan warm up & he hit 6 balls to the other keeper 40m away, he got 1 on target the other 5 didn`t get within 5m of his target.
At best he`s a real problem.
If the keeper can`t distribute or can`t control a ball & gives away silly goals then the heads of the best defence will drop & the dynamics of the defence changes, as they will soon lose confidence in him. Another game like that & " Ivan the Terrible" should step aside.

I don`t go along with all the comments about it being someone else`s team.
PO has taken the job & he should accept the responsibility, which I`m sure he does.
It`ll take time though.

There were some positive signs, we did hold possession well in the first half ,albeit a bit slow, but we denied them possession which was good.
Other positives were Budgie & Pain who both had good games.
Pain was heavily marked but did ok with some fine crosses.
Roy also looked good, although the service to him wasn`t great he was a very willing to put in the hard yards.

Overall I wasn`t expecting a win but 4-0 was a little hard to take.
With the passion Okon is showing on the sideline I`m sure he`ll get some improvement over the next few months.

 

[Wombat]

Good post Cafe. Agree with most of it but Sydney will defo be in the top 4. Far to good for us and the drive bys so far.
No positives to come out of the game apart from Paul's passion. That first 15 min I was a bit embarrassed to be honest. It did improve but still not a pass mark.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Powell gets in good position and made one or two through balls. Needs more time but ideally not a #10 but fab is certainly not a #10 he doesn't pass it first time. He likes to dribble with his head down.
Trent has also put some great crosses in, one for a goal last week and almost if Roy had planned to use his left foot. So we can afford to wait till Fab's fit and then he should be on the bench based on Trent's early season form

Completely agree re Fab not playing the ball when he should. My feelings are more that he is 'capable' of doing it, but does not out of his own desire to run at players etc. But regardless, he's obviously not a ten only tossing it around because at the very least as yet, neither is Powell. And once again we are clearly having trouble with our link play. We have ever since the signing of Flores didn't work out. I was incredibly impressed with how McBreen and Simon adapted there, but so far I just don't see Powell able to find the space and help create the movement we desperately need.

 

[Luca Brasi]

SFC game plan was just simply sit back and wait for us to make a mistake, almost worked after 3 minutes with Neill f#cking up. I was astounded at SFC lack of intensity however it clearly worked as we were 2 nil down by half time. It showed that we were trying a new system, everything was too slow, nothing was instinctive and you have to wonder if we have the players to pull it off anyway. Ange took half a season and a full pre season following a clean out to get it right at Roar.
Fab and Rose may make a difference but its the back 4 which is the big worry. First thing I thought when I saw the team sheet was this is the same back 4 who conceded 70 goals last season. Who will be there next week - Posco injured, Ascroft reportedly injured, Adelson out for the season, J Rose gone. From what I have seen over the past 12 months I dont consider McGing, Neill or McDonald first team quality.
Up front I think we have some good quality in Roy, Pain, Fab, Powell (he is no #10 though). I am not sure how Monty will be able to adjust to a new system based on possession.
As repeatedly stated on this forum, 2 defenders and a #10 needed to be competitive.
We have the insurance replacement $ for Adelson and some change left from J Rose going but doubt if PO will rush into it if he takes the Ange approach.
Also wonder how the home crowd will react to the recycling back to hold possession.

 

[nebakke]

Thanks - no commentary so I missed that.

Anytime

Agree re the ten. Powell is probably a better player than we're seeing - he may grow into the role - but we haven't seen the signs yet - I feel like fab could play ten, but doesnt sound like that's a plan.

I don't think Okon believes in possession for its own sake - seemed pretty clear he wanted it to go forward.

I think if we're going to play possession football - storm and Neil are going to have to step up and we STILL need another CB. I'm not sure it's the best fit for Monty either - though I love him. Rose is well suited though.

Yeah - I think it's clear from Powell's performances last year, that he does have some quality... I think it's increasingly clear as well, though, that that quality might not be at #10... I don't understand actually, wasn't Adam Berry being touted as a potential #10? He was changed in for Monty on Saturday.

I expect that you're probably right about Okon's view of possession based football and I'm hoping that we can put this game down to the boys still learning what they're supposed to be doing. I was thinking about it yesterday and I'm wondering how many of the goals conceded in the last couple of games, would've been conceded if we didn't insist on putting pressure on our backs by constantly playing the ball back to them... While obviously the opportunities were there against Perth as well, I figured that it's a case-in-point, how much more aggressive we were int he second half and how little we conceded during that same half.
I hate to agree with Ned Zelic, but he actually pointed it out a couple of times during the game - that a lot more confidence and quality is needed at the back, if you're going to play like that and even then, you really want to be looking forward a lot more.

I'm not even sure that I agree with whoever here said that Sydney "parked the bus" at home - they were just happy to let us kick the ball around in our half and then pounce as soon as they saw an opportunity - and we showed no inclination to change that... It completely nullified the effectiveness of any of our forward three.

 

[nebakke]

I don`t go along with all the comments about it being someone else`s team.
PO has taken the job & he should accept the responsibility, which I`m sure he does.
It`ll take time though.

This!

There were some positive signs, we did hold possession well in the first half ,albeit a bit slow, but we denied them possession which was good.
Other positives were Budgie & Pain who both had good games.
Pain was heavily marked but did ok with some fine crosses.
Roy also looked good, although the service to him wasn`t great he was a very willing to put in the hard yards.

Overall I wasn`t expecting a win but 4-0 was a little hard to take.
With the passion Okon is showing on the sideline I`m sure he`ll get some improvement over the next few months.

I think by far the biggest positive so far this season, is our front three... I was a bit disappointed to not see Roy score at least one tbh and I do beleive that we waz robbed of at least one golden opportunity. Trying to stay positive, at least that's an area where we don't need help and expect that Fabio could be struggling to hold on to the front right, over ThatBoy.

I am curious to see what RoseJR Can do when he comes back.. Unfortunately - I agree with FP that Monty doesn't seem to be performing And I'd be really curious to see how much of a difference it would make, to have a DM setup of Tavares and RoseJr together. Maybe it might just lighten that pressure on the backs by introducing some more creativity?

With the passion Okon's showing on the sidelines, I'm sure he'll be sent off at least once over the next couple of months But good on him.

 

[tim...]

Be honest folks - was anyone expecting us to even have one point out of a possible six at the start of the season?

 

[Ancient Mariner]

It showed that we were trying a new system, everything was too slow, nothing was instinctive and you have to wonder if we have the players to pull it off anyway. Ange took half a season and a full pre season following a clean out to get it right at Roar.

Remember a few years back when Arnie was trying to move away from the narrow diamond midfield, how disorganised the team looked and how long it took them to be comfortable with the change and that was a quality squad.

It will take time but when it does start to work it will be worth the wait.

I too doubt that we have the cattle to do it. It may not be perfected until next season but it is good there is a plan that is being worked towards.

Hopefully we now have reason to be patient.

 

[soccer mad]

Was at the game on Saturday, Sydney will be strong this season ,looked strong across the park and a bench to match ,Arnie cleaned out the dead timber ,witch we picked up ,that aside in parts we looked good , Our defense well what hasn't been said thats our weakest link had Neil got a foot to the ball it wouldn't of sat up for Holosko
Poscoleiro great lob wrong net , Mcging soft pen we were robbed on that one ,big climb now ,heads are down , Okon reving the boys lets get something back , lets reduce the margin .And then the final nail Ivan game over . We gifted Sydney 4 goals . Long season ahead ,while we dont have an open wallet we have to nurture okon playing the cards he's dealt ,Brisbane next.

 

[style_cafe]

Good post Cafe. Agree with most of it but Sydney will defo be in the top 4. Far to good for us and the drive bys so far.
No positives to come out of the game apart from Paul's passion. That first 15 min I was a bit embarrassed to be honest. It did improve but still not a pass mark.

ahhh shucks! I was only being facetious

Good post Cafe. Agree with most of it but Sydney will defo be in the top 4. Far to good for us and the drive bys so far.
No positives to come out of the game apart from Paul's passion. That first 15 min I was a bit embarrassed to be honest. It did improve but still not a pass mark.

Hmmm & I was just being facetious again!

 

[bikinigirl]

. again, late on this (sorry). having it watched from afar on a tiny screen - the details are a bit fuzzy (luckily) ... but my two cents, in summary (most has been discussed above):

• okon showed the courage of convictions in leaving faty on the bench (though it didn't last) and persisting with his plan
• sydney didn't create much ... but essentially they didn't need to
• i don't really need to talk about the back five
• the main difference was quality ... and this is why i have been harping on about false economies for the last couple of year - you get what you pay for (broadly speaking)
• sydney had the quality to convert the chances we presented them with and we lacked the quality to recover (or cover for) any errors
• sydney had the quality to snuff out any chances we created (or cover for their teammates) it may have been a touch, a body position or that little bit of pressure ... but it was enough to make a 0-4 difference

. don't get me wrong, we were far from good ... but okon was right in that it was annoying little mistakes that had very big consequences which caused the scoreline