After an interesting round one it's time someone with a bit of sense put together a genuinely 'Performance based' (you hear that Mike?) XI.
Round One XI:
GK: Zane Green (c) Bench:
Josh Dijkstra
Jesse Wright Jude Fitzpatrick Tom Cairns Hamish Cotter/Fergie Rupert Mark
Rahan Ali
Matt Joy
Cody Brook Eder Franchini Andrew Ridden Tim Mclennan Regan Coldicott
Morgan Day
Ben Kiore Lewis Jackson
Unlucky: Isaac Snell
Tore Waechter
Jared Grove
Matt Kelly
Tom Kindley
Campbell Attwood
David Henderson
Taylor McCormack
Seamus Ryder
Michael Hogan
Between the sticks you can't argue with Zane Green pipping Dijkstra. Dijkstra hasn't put a foot wrong and has a fantastic long ball; however you can't argue with a couple of penalty saves, athleticism, a strong leader and only 3 goals conceded - takes captain.
Jesse Wright has been outstanding at RB defending and overlapping, cutting balls in nicely and with the big southern names like Howard performing poorly in the big games so far (early days) there isn't any contention at this position. Big boring Jude Fitzpatrick has been playing a fair hand winning every thing in the air, distributing and making tackles so he slots in nicely there. With Mosgiel's back four impenetrable so far, the other spot has to be joined by one of the two. Cairns is a rock, probably the more composed of the Toms in Mosgiel's so far very solid CB pairing so pips Kindley joining Fitzpatrick. Too much inconsistency so far for one of Techs Centre halfs to make the starting line up, Douglas has looked solid when he played, Mcpherson has been awful and Joy is improving after a slow start so makes the bench. At Left Back I can't separate Fergie or Cotter, Fergie probably has the edge with attacking prowess but Cotter is yet to be beaten so it's a deadlock.
In the middle of the Park Eder has been 'masterly' with distribution and a force on defence - walks in. No denying Riddens talents, one of the few who stepped up over the summer season, fantastic player and he takes the other spot. The Prince of the plains Morgan Day is finding his old self and apparently 'loving life' out on the plains once more, unlucky not to start but he's tucked away on the bench. Rahan Ali has been binning goals and knocking it around nicely in the Mosgiel triangle and makes the bench also. Rupert Mark might be the most underrated player in the league and has been the best of Roslyn, makes the bench. Campbell Attwood has put in big trying efforts and in a better team he would be closer to the fold - goes unlucky.
Out wide, Cody Brook has a special left peg, possibly the best free kick in the league and a fantastic work rate, takes the right hand flank. Has scored goals, got in behind and defended well. Can't argue with Goals, golden boot leader Tim Mclennan has looked lethal, has an eye for goal and is a great ball runner, makes the left. Taylor Mccormack and Isaac Snell are both unlucky out wide not to make it, two of the fastest players in the league. Isaac Snell strikes a great ball, is physical and was a nightmare for tech game one, McCormack has been a handful for every team he has played.
Up front I've had to go off performance and you can't argue with 5 goals for Kiore and 4 (3 vs Tech) for L Jackson. Kiore is a very one dimensional player with speed and getting balls slipped behind the back four, nevertheless effective and has scored vs big sides. Earns a spot. Louis Jackson is quality, a bit weak, but technically very good and needles his way around up top well often getting in the right place at the right time. Earns a spot also. Coldicott has shown glimpses of what he is capable of - utter carnage. Rapid and with a superb strike and an eye for goal he is yet to hit his stride but he could be lethal after a bye week to recuperate into round two. Tom Jackson is back and the long throw was shown to be lethal yesterday, was contained well by mosgiel but we all know what a threat he will impose into the coming round.
Unluckily - Tore Waechter has done a job up front for Cavvy, scored a couple of crucial goals and holds the ball up well. Jared Grove is class at CDM for cavvy and has performed well in the centre of the park but it's a tough ask to top some of the Central players the league currently has on offer. Matt Kelly is strong and great on the ball, has been handy for mosgiel adding even more central depth. Tom Kindley is a through and through defender, he has been strong aerially and brutal in tackles, misses out to his sidekick Cairns. Dave Henderson the free kick extraordinaire could actually be alright if he cared. Seamus Ryder has been good as per usual, sharp down the line and he lives on the far post - just misses out. Hogan has also been decent. Lastly a few GI players have stepped up, Mcglinski has been composed and Mcphail has been dominant. A note to leave on - Uni????? Talked it up massively pre season and this has been embarrassing. Jeremy Fong the only player to show any ticker.
What do you guys think? Could we also get a pretenders XI in print
The Plainsman
This is not unreasonable. But why are you going with with 4-4-2? How about a 4-5-1 with Cam in as DM in place of Lewis up front? The latter has done well but I would have him on the bench (for the very reasons you cite). What a 4-5-1 will do is give confidence to Wright, Ferg, Cody, Tim, Eder and Ridden to push on much higher in possession and also press higher up out of possession.