Sydney Away - RETRO ROUND - Feb 4

[Huddo]

Result ruined an absolutely cracking day. So good to go back to the KB pregame and post game. Felt like the old days. Away support was pretty loud as well.

My head hurts today. Drinks tally - three beers at Locomotive Station café including two that were 7%, four pints and two mojitos at the KB pregame, four beers and four CC cans at the stadium, two gin and tonics at the Captain Cook and one pint of beer and three gin and tonics at the KB post game. Twenty three drinks.

Cum-dingo would be proud

 

[Tevor]

Yeah I think Nizzy does need to track that run. Both CBs occupied with their own men. You could say Aquilina should have got there but he had a man a bit further out behind him so needed to cover a large space. Nizzy was just too casual following and was well placed to see the numbers issue. Probably indicative of a shaken up back line as much as anything.

Watch their third goal, Dan and Triantis both lost by Alf. It’s more embarrassing than their equaliser. I just don’t see Niz stopping Lolley from that distance. If Dan had judged the cross better perhaps he could have got his head to it. Also I think Vuka could have owned his box better and not be cemented to the goal line which seems to be his standard position. Because he doesn’t move we are so prone to goals from crosses, would like to see him come out more and attack the ball.

I believe we are in a bit of a rut and also I think every opposition team is up for it against us since we are second and all. No easy games at the moment. We just need to work a few things out and we will be good again but two more away games are not going to be easy. With little points from those two games we can fall out of the six. Defence is a clear weakness at the moment and is a concern for the next game. I have no confidence in Hall and he needs a MOM performance against the Roar to change that perception.

 

[turbo]

Watch their third goal, Dan and Triantis both lost by Alf. It’s more embarrassing than their equaliser.

Think that was storm and Triantis from what I recall. Organisational issues on that too. Triantis is trying to steer him but they both get caught not reacting quick enough.

I just don’t see Niz stopping Lolley from that distance.

I don’t know if it’s an issue of stopping him or at least putting him under some pressure. That was an excellent finish but he had to much space and composure due to not tracking his run.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

We rely heavily on 4 forwards to score more goals than the opposition, each of the starting 4 bring different skills. We lost at least one quarter of our attack, which massively reduced what is our strength, when Silvera came off to allow us to bring on a centre back. The 2 send offs definitely disrupted us more than Sydney.
Maybe a better option would have been to move Storm into the CB role and replace him with Sash as a more attacking option. Hindsight is wonderful.
After that every other replacement weakened the team with the predictable result.

 

[booney]

Neither Grant nor Kaltak should have been red carded from what I could see(I was at the game) though the pen was justified.

ALF is a real poacher and our defence had trouble handling him.Lucky for us he has lost some pace as he was not able to take advantage of some good through ball from their midfield.

Jason took the penalty well and their defenders were slow to shut him down for our second goal.He also provided a lovely pass to Tulio in the second half which the Brazilian totally stuffed up.That would have made it 3-1 and I doubt they would have caught us with that score.

Brattan made the difference when he came on.Their midfield had had only been so so until then but his range of passing and ability to take control of the midfield turned the tide.Caceres and Caballo started to look more dangerous as did Retre who had moved to RB with Grant's dismissal.

Beni had a good game and in the second showed real skill in being able to keep the ball when surrounded and harassed by four FC players.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Neither Grant nor Kaltak should have been red carded from what I could see(I was at the game) though the pen was justified.

ALF is a real poacher and our defence had trouble handling him.Lucky for us he has lost some pace as he was not able to take advantage of some good through ball from their midfield.

Jason took the penalty well and their defenders were slow to shut him down for our second goal.He also provided a lovely pass to Tulio in the second half which the Brazilian totally stuffed up.That would have made it 3-1 and I doubt they would have caught us with that score.

Brattan made the difference when he came on.Their midfield had had only been so so until then but his range of passing and ability to take control of the midfield turned the tide.Caceres and Caballo started to look more dangerous as did Retre who had moved to RB with Grant's dismissal.

Beni had a good game and in the second showed real skill in being able to keep the ball when surrounded and harassed by four FC players.

Beni was probably the most positive thing in that game for me, found his form. (Or stole Tulio’s) ?

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

My player ratings and thoughts:

Danny Vukovic: 5, Did decently well on the ball especially when pressed early by Sydney and has improved markedly with that since the start of the season. I don't think Danny was culpable for the first goal, the lucky pinball that resulted in Le Fondre getting the ball had him going the wrong direction and really should have been dealt with by our backline. For the second I think it was unreasonable to expect him to come for it, he would have at best risked a penalty by clattering into Lolley and probably would have only been able to flap at it and give Lolley a tap in. He at least made Lolley have to find a controlled finish by holding his ground. The third goal he should have done better with, it basically goes under him, but he wasn't helped by the complete lack of pressure on both Retre and Le Fondre. I don't agree with the calls for Sozer yet but there is certiainly pressure building on him.

Storm Roux: 4, His amble back to right full back after being pulled out of position helped contribute to Sydney's first, pushing Triantis out of postion. The pressure on Cabello's cross for the second goal simply wasn't good enough and allowed him all the time in the world to pick a fantastic cross to Lolley. He worked hard offensively but didn't always put in the same effort going back the other way, not his best performance this season.

Nectar Triantis: 6.5, Was our best defender and adapted the best of any defender on the pitch to going down to 10. Got dragged out of position by a lack of cover from both Storm and Beni for Le Fondre's first goal and did his job positionally for Lolley's. Clearly told Aquilina to track Le Fondre for the third goal but the former Wanderer was too exhausted to get back. Played some great balls and a performance like that in trying circumstances almsot cements him as our first choice centre back.

Brian Kaltak: 2, Sort of culpable of Le Fondre's first goal if I'm being harsh. Played some great raking balls in his short time on the pitch. While he was exposed by Storm's positioning his challenge was a terrible judgement call which likely cost us the game. I disagree with the referee's decision for a red but Brian should never have allowed him to even have to think about it. Hopefully a learning experience for an inexperienced pro that should hold him in good stead for the future.

Thomas Aquilina: 5, Worked extremly hard both forward and back but his lack of cover on a quick transition by Sydeny lead to Kaltak's red card. Quality cross to the Cumdingo for our second goal and was rewarded for his tirleless offensive work in the first half. I can't fault his work ethic but he was exhausted by the hour mark and should have been subbed. While he was marking Le Fondre for Sydney's third and should have tracked him better, the last goal is frankly on Monty and Sergio. Aquilina didn't have the energy to get back and not putting Bayliss/Steele on for him or having Kuzevski as an option to bring on, on the bench likely cost us at least a point.

Josh Nisbet: 5.5, Overall had a decent game on the ball and worked hard but uncharacteristicaly failed to track Lolley's run for Sydney's second. You could make an argument that, that isn't necessairly Nizzy's job and Dan Hall should have had better positioning but it wasn't a great look to be trailing that far behind Lollley.

Max Balard: 5, Faded in and out of the game and didn't contribute anything significant on the ball. Positions himself well defensively but tends to lack the grit to break up play a lot of the time.

Sam Silvera: 6, Was good in his short cameo and I fully understand how aggreived he was feeling after being subbed for Hall. Personally thought Tulio or Beni should have been subbed instead as Sammy is far more adaptable across multiple positions.

Beni Nkololo: 6, Did better than I expected him to in adapting when both sides went down to 10 and linked the midfield and attack well. His rather lacklustre tracking run on Mak to cover Storm lead to Sydney's first goal. Showed a glimpse of his quality with his outside of the foot pass that eventually lead to Grant's sending off. Forced a good save off of Redmayne that should have resulted in a goal from Tulio. Combined well with Aquilina through the game.

Marco Tulio 4.5, Did well creatively, made good runs (especially for the red against Grant), we missed his link play after he went off in the second half but missed two shots he should have buried and likely cost us the game. With Theoharous and now Wenzel-Halls pushing for selection I can't see him retaining his starting position too much longer if the finishing howlers continue.

Jason Cummings: 8, Can't ask much more from him with a brace and a terrific ball through that resulted in Grant's red card. Also was an unstoppable penalty against the man who haunts Peruvian dreams. Was a forlorn figure in the second half as our creative capacity dried up and both Ruhs and Theoharous went down rabbit warrens.

Substitutes:

Dan Hall: 5, Did his positional duty for Sydney's second goal but at other times was a tad suspect positionally and we were lucky not to concede. Hopefully rust from a promising young player who has barely played in his natural position all season. Is a better player than he showed today.

Michael Ruhs: 4.5, Didn't impact the game and failed to link up well with the Cumdingo. If Tulio was aerobically capable to continue it would have been good to keep him on.

Harry Steele: 5, Wasn't overly impactful but competent on the ball when called upon.

Christian Theoharous: 5.5, Probably our most impactful sub but that isn't saying much. Ran down rabbit warrens too much and needed to play more unselfishly in the final third.

James Bayliss: 5.5, Did competently for a young player who has only played 21 minutes so far this season. Had some decent vision, but failed to fully execute his best pass (which to be fair was to an absolutely exhausted Aquilina), but overall a decent performance.

Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo: 4, This wasn't a great tactical nor man mangement performance from Monty and Sergio. Frankly probably close to the worst this season. To be fair to both Monty and Sergio some better finishing could have seen us easily emerge victorious, but decisions today were often made too late or were too slow to adapt

Even before the red card we struggled to deal with Sydney's early pressing and our slow starts are a serious concern that remains unresolved since the beginning of the season. If we could have resolved the issue with our slow starts throughout the season, and even over the World Cup break, I have no doubt we would be top of the table right now.

The red card, while mostly attributable to Kaltak, shows a continued lack of understanding within our squad on how to manage a game correctly and adapt to changing game states.

While our half time tactical changes worked initially we didn't adapt after Tulio's miss.

Our subs came too late once again or shouldn't have happend. Ruhs had a negligable impact and if Tulio was capable he should have stayed out there. Without knowing Balard's condition, Aquilina should have gone off instead of him or potentially both if Balard's legs were gone. Taking our last creative outlets off in Beni and Nisbet resulted in us being unable to break through a set Sydney defence, as we just launched useless long balls to a 178 cm Cumdingo or Theoharous/Ruhs tried to dribble round 3 Sydney defenders.

Kuzevski should have been on the bench for Windust, I can understand his Academy minutes potentially being priortised, but having two players (Hall/Windust) who play the same specialised role on the bench limited our options when Aquilina was gassed.

Overall a tough performance to take and I think there will be some home truths from Monty this. Unfortunately our lack of experience can sometimes lead to performances like this and hopefully a dcent learning opportunity for all of youngsters.

My man of the match vote:

3: Jason Cummings
2: Beni Nkololo
1: Nectar Triantis

 

[Tevor]

My player ratings and thoughts:

Danny Vukovic: 5, Did decently well on the ball especially when pressed early by Sydney and has improved markedly with that since the start of the season. I don't think Danny was culpable for the first goal, the lucky pinball that resulted in Le Fondre getting the ball had him going the wrong direction and really should have been dealt with by our backline. For the second I think it was unreasonable to expect him to come for it, he would have at best risked a penalty by clattering into Lolley and probably would have only been able to flap at it and give Lolley a tap in. He at least made Lolley have to find a controlled finish by holding his ground. The third goal he should have done better with, it basically goes under him, but he wasn't helped by the complete lack of pressure on both Retre and Le Fondre. I don't agree with the calls for Sozer yet but there is certiainly pressure building on him.

Storm Roux: 4, His amble back to right full back after being pulled out of position helped contribute to Sydney's first, pushing Triantis out of postion. The pressure on Cabello's cross for the second goal simply wasn't good enough and allowed him all the time in the world to pick a fantastic cross to Lolley. He worked hard offensively but didn't always put in the same effort going back the other way, not his best performance this season.

Nectar Triantis: 6.5, Was our best defender and adapted the best of any defender on the pitch to going down to 10. Got dragged out of position by a lack of cover from both Storm and Beni for Le Fondre's first goal and did his job positionally for Lolley's. Clearly told Aquilina to track Le Fondre for the third goal but the former Wanderer was too exhausted to get back. Played some great balls and a performance like that in trying circumstances almsot cements him as our first choice centre back.

Brian Kaltak: 2, Sort of culpable of Le Fondre's first goal if I'm being harsh. Played some great raking balls in his short time on the pitch. While he was exposed by Storm's positioning his challenge was a terrible judgement call which likely cost us the game. I disagree with the referee's decision for a red but Brian should never have allowed him to even have to think about it. Hopefully a learning experience for an inexperienced pro that should hold him in good stead for the future.

Thomas Aquilina: 5, Worked extremly hard both forward and back but his lack of cover on a quick transition by Sydeny lead to Kaltak's red card. Quality cross to the Cumdingo for our second goal and was rewarded for his tirleless offensive work in the first half. I can't fault his work ethic but he was exhausted by the hour mark and should have been subbed. While he was marking Le Fondre for Sydney's third and should have tracked him better, the last goal is frankly on Monty and Sergio. Aquilina didn't have the energy to get back and not putting Bayliss/Steele on for him or having Kuzevski as an option to bring on, on the bench likely cost us at least a point.

Josh Nisbet: 5.5, Overall had a decent game on the ball and worked hard but uncharacteristicaly failed to track Lolley's run for Sydney's second. You could make an argument that, that isn't necessairly Nizzy's job and Dan Hall should have had better positioning but it wasn't a great look to be trailing that far behind Lollley.

Max Balard: 5, Faded in and out of the game and didn't contribute anything significant on the ball. Positions himself well defensively but tends to lack the grit to break up play a lot of the time.

Sam Silvera: 6, Was good in his short cameo and I fully understand how aggreived he was feeling after being subbed for Hall. Personally thought Tulio or Beni should have been subbed instead as Sammy is far more adaptable across multiple positions.

Beni Nkololo: 6, Did better than I expected him to in adapting when both sides went down to 10 and linked the midfield and attack well. His rather lacklustre tracking run on Mak to cover Storm lead to Sydney's first goal. Showed a glimpse of his quality with his outside of the foot pass that eventually lead to Grant's sending off. Forced a good save off of Redmayne that should have resulted in a goal from Tulio. Combined well with Aquilina through the game.

Marco Tulio 4.5, Did well creatively, made good runs (especially for the red against Grant), we missed his link play after he went off in the second half but missed two shots he should have buried and likely cost us the game. With Theoharous and now Wenzel-Halls pushing for selection I can't see him retaining his starting position too much longer if the finishing howlers continue.

Jason Cummings: 8, Can't ask much more from him with a brace and a terrific ball through that resulted in Grant's red card. Also was an unstoppable penalty against the man who haunts Peruvian dreams. Was a forlorn figure in the second half as our creative capacity dried up and both Ruhs and Theoharous went down rabbit warrens.

Substitutes:

Dan Hall: 5, Did his positional duty for Sydney's second goal but at other times was a tad suspect positionally and we were lucky not to concede. Hopefully rust from a promising young player who has barely played in his natural position all season. Is a better player than he showed today.

Michael Ruhs: 4.5, Didn't impact the game and failed to link up well with the Cumdingo. If Tulio was aerobically capable to continue it would have been good to keep him on.

Harry Steele: 5, Wasn't overly impactful but competent on the ball when called upon.

Christian Theoharous: 5.5, Probably our most impactful sub but that isn't saying much. Ran down rabbit warrens too much and needed to play more unselfishly in the final third.

James Bayliss: 5.5, Did competently for a young player who has only played 21 minutes so far this season. Had some decent vision, but failed to fully execute his best pass (which to be fair was to an absolutely exhausted Aquilina), but overall a decent performance.

Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo: 4, This wasn't a great tactical nor man mangement performance from Monty and Sergio. Frankly probably close to the worst this season. To be fair to both Monty and Sergio some better finishing could have seen us easily emerge victorious, but decisions today were often made too late or were too slow to adapt

Even before the red card we struggled to deal with Sydney's early pressing and our slow starts are a serious concern that remains unresolved since the beginning of the season. If we could have resolved the issue with our slow starts throughout the season, and even over the World Cup break, I have no doubt we would be top of the table right now.

The red card, while mostly attributable to Kaltak, shows a continued lack of understanding within our squad on how to manage a game correctly and adapt to changing game states.

While our half time tactical changes worked initially we didn't adapt after Tulio's miss.

Our subs came too late once again or shouldn't have happend. Ruhs had a negligable impact and if Tulio was capable he should have stayed out there. Without knowing Balard's condition, Aquilina should have gone off instead of him or potentially both if Balard's legs were gone. Taking our last creative outlets off in Beni and Nisbet resulted in us being unable to break through a set Sydney defence, as we just launched useless long balls to a 178 cm Cumdingo or Theoharous/Ruhs tried to dribble round 3 Sydney defenders.

Kuzevski should have been on the bench for Windust, I can understand his Academy minutes potentially being priortised, but having two players (Hall/Windust) who play the same specialised role on the bench limited our options when Aquilina was gassed.

Overall a tough performance to take and I think there will be some home truths from Monty this. Unfortunately our lack of experience can sometimes lead to performances like this and hopefully a dcent learning opportunity for all of youngsters.

My man of the match vote:

3: Jason Cummings
2: Beni Nkololo
1: Nectar Triantis

I mostly agree with you on your player ratings but I feel you are off the mark with plenty of these for this match. Hall ducked his head on their equaliser, there is a shot in the replay that shows he could have got to it but he did some weird jump whilst ducking his head. Tulio is huge for this team yes he has missed some chances but adds heaps in attack and defence. Aqualina had a good game and yes was gased. Seems everyone else is to blame but Hall, same with Roux. Brattan coming on changed the game in their favour as we were all over them for the first 10 mins of the second half. Brattan gave them the width with his switching that made us look ordinary. Silvera did very little in his short time and it was his easy turnover that lead to the break and Kaltak card so how he gets 6 is beyond me also Silvera is the less defensive player so was an obvious sub for Hall.

 

[Tevor]

Beni was probably the most positive thing in that game for me, found his form. (Or stole Tulio’s) ?

Tulio was immense, I kind of want him to miss a game so some on here can see how much he adds to this team.

 

[Tevor]

Neither Grant nor Kaltak should have been red carded from what I could see(I was at the game) though the pen was justified.

ALF is a real poacher and our defence had trouble handling him.Lucky for us he has lost some pace as he was not able to take advantage of some good through ball from their midfield.

Jason took the penalty well and their defenders were slow to shut him down for our second goal.He also provided a lovely pass to Tulio in the second half which the Brazilian totally stuffed up.That would have made it 3-1 and I doubt they would have caught us with that score.

Brattan made the difference when he came on.Their midfield had had only been so so until then but his range of passing and ability to take control of the midfield turned the tide.Caceres and Caballo started to look more dangerous as did Retre who had moved to RB with Grant's dismissal.

Beni had a good game and in the second showed real skill in being able to keep the ball when surrounded and harassed by four FC players.

Spot on, watching the replay Brattan single handily changed the game. He is a good player especially with that much space and against tired legs. The momentum changed in 2 mins and we didn’t recover and because our subs were not the same quality. If Tuilio had scored we probably only get 1 point.

 

[Ironbark]

My game analysis - 10 men meant more space to defend and we had a Kaltak-sized hole.

How good was JC though.

I just need to forget this game and look forward to the next. Disappointing result. Making things hard for ourselves on the ladder now.
We tend to have a dip most seasons, hopefully this is it and off we go again - starting against the orange mugs on Friday

 

[Ironbark]

Tulio was immense, I kind of want him to miss a game so some on here can see how much he adds to this team.

I agree with this, but he has butchered more than a few gilt-edged chances in the last couple if games. Hope the consistency returns asap.

But I absolutely rate him

 

[Tevor]

I agree with this, but he has butchered more than a few gilt-edged chances in the last couple if games. Hope the consistency returns asap.

But I absolutely rate him

Yep he takes those chances we win games, when he scores we generally do. His miss was bad but hey he isn’t the first and will not be the last to miss a sitter.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

I mostly agree with you on your player ratings but I feel you are off the mark with plenty of these for this match. Hall ducked his head on their equaliser, there is a shot in the replay that shows he could have got to it but he did some weird jump whilst ducking his head. Tulio is huge for this team yes he has missed some chances but adds heaps in attack and defence. Aqualina had a good game and yes was gased. Seems everyone else is to blame but Hall, same with Roux. Brattan coming on changed the game in their favour as we were all over them for the first 10 mins of the second half. Brattan gave them the width with his switching that made us look ordinary. Silvera did very little in his short time and it was his easy turnover that lead to the break and Kaltak card so how he gets 6 is beyond me also Silvera is the less defensive player so was an obvious sub for Hall.

Fair enough, I mostly write it out to get my thoughts a bit more organised, and most of this game was watched through dodgy Internet.

I missed that Silvera was the one that caused the turnover. I agree I was probably a bit harsh on Tulio but him missing sitters has cost us multiple games now.

But am always glad when it generates discussion and my analysis is probably average at best on a good day!

 

[Big Al]

Think that was storm and Triantis from what I recall. Organisational issues on that too. Triantis is trying to steer him but they both get caught not reacting quick enough.

I don’t know if it’s an issue of stopping him or at least putting him under some pressure. That was an excellent finish but he had to much space and composure due to not tracking his run.

Yeah Storm and Triantis and also a fantastic angled ball. Pretty hard to defend for the CB. The big problem was no pressure on the ball in from Yaszbek or whoever it was

 

[Big Al]

Pretty disappointing for the youngest team in the league to be out run by one of the oldest.

We lacked a football brain in the game. Dare i say an Ollie type to put their foot on the ball and control some possession and stop the end to end transition game. I know we like to think that suits us but it doesn’t because we get loose at the back. We like to be tight and counter not end to end that pulls our shape apart

We seemed to be cruising until their 2nd then lost any sort of idea. Aqualina was basically dead and everyone just kept playing to him like he just come. Not sure why Monty didn’t sub him. We had 3 left backs last week. Or could have moved Bayliss there and pushed Aqualina higher to stop him having to do laps up and back. Just not smart and then panicked and the subs tried to be heroes instead of playing a team game and control some possession and then attacking a tired defense like they did to us. We were chasing shadows after70mins. Very frustrating and I think Monty got the subs wrong (not including Silveraas he is not an out let player like Beni)

On to the next one.

 

[Corsair]

We've honestly been underwhelming for a while now.

Agree with the fact we are in a rut

Since Garang left...

 

[Tevor]

Fair enough, I mostly write it out to get my thoughts a bit more organised, and most of this game was watched through dodgy Internet.

I missed that Silvera was the one that caused the turnover. I agree I was probably a bit harsh on Tulio but him missing sitters has cost us multiple games now.

But am always glad when it generates discussion and my analysis is probably average at best on a good day!

Nah mate keep it up, I like it and 90% of the time I agree.

 

[Tevor]

Since Garang left...

Yeah not so sure about that, we have been scoring well since he left and he isn’t a defender so wouldn’t have stopped any of those goals. Defence is letting us down so now Denzel is replacing Ayongo we need to replace Kelechi so hopefully some news soon.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]