Auckland City FC Pre Season Observations

Auckland City FC Pre Season Observations

Pre Season Match today they won 2-0 against a pretty sh*t football Brisbane squad the standouts were grant young Keryn Jordan and Milos Nikolic also of mention Ross Nicholson looked like he might just be back to full fitness and Vicelich looked ok scored the second goal Xavi Roca had a quiet game but was alright I do think they may be a chance in this years NZFC

You cant read too much into the sh*t Brisbane team (as you have described them above) Nick B. Its a squad who have only come together for just two games over the weekend. They dont have the luxury of many (if any) trainings or even played as a unit, with just the All Star game (the day before as there only competitive game together), so I think it needs to be put into context.
Also, dont be surprised if a couple of these (Brisbane) players end up at the new Gold Coast Franchise - so to call them sh*t as you have described them is a bit heavy.

I think Vicelich will play a huge part in the team for sure - which means that they will some sound leadship in the back and will be firing on all cylinders up front.
chareimos2008-10-06 21:32:55

ross nicholson bak to full fitness?? didnt think i would hear those words ever again. does it imply he has dipped under 130kgs for the first time in a while

Ross looked lighter than last year but not the same as say the 06/07 model. I would also say considering he played 3 games over winter, that makes his effort more worthwhile.

While it was only a preseason, there was some interesting observations.
1: Greg Uhlman and Ricki Van Steeden as the centre back pairing would scare most strikers that choose to run at them particularly as they are not scared of the tackle, but that would also why I would encourage my strikers to run at them, because odds are they will take you down. RVS looked in pretty good shape and put himself about quite well.
2: Matt Friel played a long ball safety first game from left back. I don't know if thats what Colin Tuu'a has in mind for this teams style, but it looked more like he had come from a Waikato/Melville structure of long loping passes where he was the set up man where as in this team, he needs to feed through Ki and use the short game.
3: Roca was not beaten all day and made some very dificult tackles without getting the man.
4: Ki Lee put himself about... alot. I thought he was far more involved and creative than anytime I saw him last year. He was man marked and given little room but did a fair bit with what he had.
5: Ivan Vicelich never got into a tackle all game and with the nature of the game being quite niggly and 1 tackle away from going all-in, he maintained composure. Didn't ascert himself but I don't think he needed to either. I think he did a job that was required.
7: Keryn Jordan looked a yard slow and not the same Keryn as previous. I think the days of him being paried with Youngy (who looked great in his limited game time) are gone and I think its a case of start the game with Jordan and sub for the Youngr at the half.
8: The No#17 at right half, some scottish guy..... what was he there to do again, because he was largely invisible.
9: Milos is going to be a star, but not this year. He has great technique but was quilty of not holding the ball up when needed too (flicking it on alot too early) or wasn't strong enough to challenge for it. Needs a bit of bulk and a little patience.
10: Paul Urlovic is back playing but at a quasi left half/left wing/floating striker role. Not really his position.

The young guys that came on energised them. Auckland played football at pace (the game was very fast, far faster than an NZFC game) and I think they will be a far tougher proposition this year and with maybe a couple of players to come in, have a good 1st team on paper.

Matt Friel played in midfield for melville over the winter (and occasionally up front). His speciality was creative little balls in and around the the box (and a few goals). Has a good left foot but would be inaccurate to say he was particularly noted for long ball stuff there.

Bruce - any news on the trial - who Waikato picked up?

meant to add before, Auckland fans may be interested to know that Matt Friel also speaks Spanish.

Young fella. Plays for Ngaruawahia.

Yeah He May Have Just Dropped A Few Pounds Really

Did Maxim Manko play for the NRFL side a quality young player, he already had a friendly for 3kings vs central at 10am warm up for national U19s

Played in midfield. Played very well.

Jag2008-10-13 09:23:02

No, happy with the players being there -- it fulfilled the aim of the All stars concept -- but from a  competition perspective i thought it significanlty changed the dynamic.

Jag2008-10-13 09:43:07

Seriously the people I have heard turning out for Waikato makes me worry about football in the Waikato totally. If we have to go amateur and retain our unique place in the football world then that is what we have to do. How can we support a team that comes from Auckland, trains in Auckland and wanders down to play once every two weeks.

Was at the City game on the weekend and thought that Auckland rarely got out of second gear. I hope that is only second gear because they looked ponderous and lacking ideas on how to break down what is quite honestly a second rate all stars team. Waitakere were at a jog the other week to beat them 2-0 and that was without any of their key strikers. No Pearce, Totori, Krishna, Koprivic and they retained the ball and basically restricted the All stars to next to nothing.

City have to go up a lot in the next few weeks to compete on 1st November in the O-League. From the players they have they will have no problems but they will need a lot more "street cleaners" as Bruce puts it.

I think you'll find that O-League game is now on Nov 2, Marama.