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Matchday 22 v Plastics

Corsair

Well-Known Member
By the way, a large slice of humble pie to table Dobbie tonight for the top notch finish from Urena. It was excellent, but (there's always a but)...ithis is the most frustrating thing, we know he can do it... so just do it and stop fluffing chances....
 

style_cafe

Well-Known Member
Overall thoughts…

Ruon is well off the pace.
Storm really is trash.
Neither of our young DMs have come back from covid well.
Farrell is god.
Nkololo will be spending some time on the pine when we have a fit team.
We really miss Nizz-covic.
We may just need the cumm-dog.

I’m glad we still played that game even though we technically could have postponed, we lost the match, but getting big minutes into a tonne of kids will pay off for us further down the track.
God was caught ball watching :popcorn: for the second goal,he had no idea where Nabbout was,but as some said previously he`ll learn from that...
 

Huddo

Well-Known Member
God was caught ball watching :popcorn: for the second goal,he had no idea where Nabbout was,but as some said previously he`ll learn from that...
In Farrell's defence, that goal was a comedy of errors, from tongyik gifting the ball to their mid 5 metres out of our box, to storm roux jockeying and not pressing on the assisting cross, Farrell was caught out, but he is the least of our issues.
 

Forum Phoenix

Well-Known Member
They were better than us. A bit too much quality and they harried us well.

But we battled well and blooded 2 new debutants.

Great goal by Urena.

Moreshe did quite well and was more dangerous than Cy and Beni.

We were a bit lacking in the middle of the park.

The defending on that 3rd goal was horrid.

We missed Nizzy and Miller massively.
Yep, that’s the game I saw.

I thought Ballard looked over awed for the first time. Don’t know if it’s marking Leckie and McClaren or hoodoo after his shocker when he got his start against City away and had a bit of a nightmare last year, or just our shit house last month of prep… anyway he really struggled. Combine that with Ollies poor start, Cy couldn’t get into the game and was often out muscled and our midfield was dominated for long stretches.

Roux gives me palpitations, on his first 25 just not up to it, but tbf I thought he got a lot better. Ruon looked very rusty, luckily Kye, Faz (bar the goal) and Birra were very good.

Moresche combined well and also kept the ball well I thought. Agree he needs to start getting on the sheet, but I still think he’s a decent chance of coming good. And I think the understanding between him and Marcos is still growing. Thought Marcos bar a couple of early errors had a great game.

Bottom line no one pressed well and the massive hole in our midfield that City cruised through was something I haven’t seen in a while. Nizz was so missed. But honestly, we just looked like a team a bit down on match fitness and sharpness… almost like we’ve been short on game time or had a disrupted schedule eh.

City were still better, but I actually think we’re a better side than last year, and if we were in our stride I think we could do them without needing a massive stroke of luck to do it.
 
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dibo

Well-Known Member
Geez we're a happy bunch in here. Massively depleted side comes second to last year's champions who are finding their rhythm and who have just strengthened their squad.

Not something to be pleased about, obviously, but some perspective wouldn't hurt.
 

Ancient Mariner

Well-Known Member
A very good summary from FP.
A couple of things I noticed.

Rowles was my MOM.

Birraz was excellent, I just wish he would sweep a bit more and really dominate the box. I guess this expectation comes from being brought up watching Danny and Matty Ryan.

Tongyik is still a bit rusty and needs a bit of time. This match will help.

Storm did a couple of good things and had one of his better games, but is definitely past it. Slow in anticipation and very slow to get back. Fullback is definitely a ultra fit young man's position these days. He also complains a lot.

Ollie looked like he was recovering from Covid. Maybe the raging body does not cover as quickly anymore from mid week games?

Ballard was also off his game maybe Covid recovery, maybe overawed. But we definitely had a massive hole in the middle of the pitch.

For me the jury is still out on Cy. He shows glimpses of real quality, but seems at times to be intimidated by the physicality of the A League. He seems loathe to take an opposing player on and I am starting to suspect he may lack the pace needed to be a winger in this league. Maybe he is still finding his feet. He came highly recommended by ALF and I am maybe expecting too much this early.

Although he is still very raw I do like Benni. He sometimes shows amazing ball control and is enthusiastic and causes the opposition headaches. I am convinced he can develop into something special. He fits this squad.

There has already been enough discussion here on Urena and Moresche. I will leave it and say I was not unhappy with their performances. Both played well considering the limitations (different for both) that they are playing under. they are still my starters up front.

The game did show how much we rely on the amazing work done by Nizzy Missed massively.

The other interesting thing is how many here would have imagined how much we missed Miller. Definitely the most improved player in the squad this year by a long way.

I look forward with confidence to be able to say the same about some of our other young players in the future.
 

Big Al

Well-Known Member
A very good summary from FP.
A couple of things I noticed.

Rowles was my MOM.

Birraz was excellent, I just wish he would sweep a bit more and really dominate the box. I guess this expectation comes from being brought up watching Danny and Matty Ryan.

Tongyik is still a bit rusty and needs a bit of time. This match will help.

Storm did a couple of good things and had one of his better games, but is definitely past it. Slow in anticipation and very slow to get back. Fullback is definitely a ultra fit young man's position these days. He also complains a lot.

Ollie looked like he was recovering from Covid. Maybe the raging body does not cover as quickly anymore from mid week games?

Ballard was also off his game maybe Covid recovery, maybe overawed. But we definitely had a massive hole in the middle of the pitch.

For me the jury is still out on Cy. He shows glimpses of real quality, but seems at times to be intimidated by the physicality of the A League. He seems loathe to take an opposing player on and I am starting to suspect he may lack the pace needed to be a winger in this league. Maybe he is still finding his feet. He came highly recommended by ALF and I am maybe expecting too much this early.

Although he is still very raw I do like Benni. He sometimes shows amazing ball control and is enthusiastic and causes the opposition headaches. I am convinced he can develop into something special. He fits this squad.

There has already been enough discussion here on Urena and Moresche. I will leave it and say I was not unhappy with their performances. Both played well considering the limitations (different for both) that they are playing under. they are still my starters up front.

The game did show how much we rely on the amazing work done by Nizzy Missed massively.

The other interesting thing is how many here would have imagined how much we missed Miller. Definitely the most improved player in the squad this year by a long way.

I look forward with confidence to be able to say the same about some of our other young players in the future.
Cy is excellent at set pieces and controls the ball well but in open play he’s to
slow and can’t get passed anybody and does get outmuscled. It’s interesting he seems to be behind Nizzy and Beni (who is bang average)
 

Big Al

Well-Known Member
I’d like to see our mentality of going backwards as a default change. There is a place for it but you need to be aware of how much time and space you have to turn and go. Oli is a big culprit.
It slows the game and allows the opponent to get set. City were killing us in the middle, so slowing the play was horrible. We struggled to get out of our own half and while the attack didn’t help out it was the constant recycling back to the keeper that helped City out and they were ready for it. We made there press look better by backing away to often.

We need to know where your opponent is and if you can turn and go do it. There is nothing more dangerous for the defense than having a ball runner in the open coming at you and making someone break the defensive line to close it down. That opens up passing lanes.

I thought City were good at driving through our middle and making us make those decisions
 

Big Dog

Well-Known Member
Definitely missed Nizzi and Miller last night. Lack of games and covid clearly having an impact on our performance.
The midfield was a huge issue for us for us last night. I feel like Monty and Sergio need to take some of the blame here. Whenever we tried to play out, our front three were all in line with City's fullbacks. At times there were four of our players pushed up across their backline, particularly the first half. No one dropping into space to create options. Ballard and Oli looking up to find an option and having to resort to passing it back or playing a long ball. In Cy's defence he was one of the few who would drop wide to provide an option. Our two midfielders would look up and see a disciplined wall of four compact City midfielders and turn and play it back.
What a ballsy move by Monty and Sergio though making those subs at 60min. Really happy to see Cam Windus and James Bayliss make their debut and Harry MacArthy getting some good match time. Boys didn't let us down.
 

Forum Phoenix

Well-Known Member
We passed backwards way more than usual last night, it hasn't been a big feature of this teams play this season so can only think it was uncertainty and not being up to speed
Agree, again Niz is the player I trust most in our squad to receive the ball under pressure and still find a way to not just keep it but get it forward. Miller does this also. Almost worryingly so at times, but I like it and we need it.

Our forwards will carry it forward - and Marcos as we know does it very well and would probably be leading the league in assists if Niz and Moresche had been more clinical. But the ball has to get to the forwards first.

As a general principle people who just scream go forward all the time at games annoy me, but against City, or any side really, we do need to have more belief and be more ambitious than yesterday - but again, the real culprit is the mix of squad losses and the past months crap fest.

Something that hasn’t been mentioned is how much we missed Dan Hall. He’s been immense and adds an energy to our backline. Very glad we have him coming in now Kyes out - hoping it’s a super swift covid recovery.
 
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