As Bowie said "Cha, Cha, Changes!"

As Bowie said "Cha, Cha, Changes!"

OK having read most of the tonight and over the last couple of weeks these seem to be the main issues, (I'm sure I've forgotten some), what do you think? What changes need to be made? ForteanTimes2008-09-22 00:51:15

Awesome poll. I went for no morehoofball,as thats obvious. How we go about that,could be from any number of the other options

Smeltz needs a partner. 4 defenders on one striker we are never going to score. We need someone to partner Smeltz!

I reckon Lonegunmen having a makeover would be well worth a look. Take our minds off the sh*t on the park at the moment. Jag2008-09-22 11:53:13

Here's a post I made on this forum after the pre-season game with Central Coast:

el grapadura
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   Posted: 21 Jul 2008 at 10:27am
Well, I've sobered up a bit now so here are my thoughts on the game:

Overall, I thought we were good value for the win. By and large we looked the more dangerous side, and our transition play from defence to attack was excellent. I thought Leo was superb today, and both Daniel and Leilei were very good although they both showed the tendency to want to do more with the ball than necessary at times. Daniel's back heel to Lochy when he was overlapping and that went for a throw in being a classic example.

However, I also thought there are some concerns.
1. Smeltz is way too isolated up front on his own. We penetrated the wings almost at will, especialy in the second-half, but Smeltz was too easily marked out by CCM central defenders. Yes, Daniel got the headed goal, but given our domination of the flanks that's an acceptable, but by no means impressive return.
2. Still don't think that Lia's an answer at right back. Had one impressive cross in the first half, and a lot of little errors which could pose problems when the real stuff gets underway.
3. I didn't think that the defence was as impressive as some others have suggested, or as I'd hoped they'd be. McKain was good, but there were too many moments reminiscent of the last season for my liking. Like Durante being outmuscled by the CCM striker when chasing a seemingly harmless looping ball at the top of the box, which the striker put just wide. Or almost conceding straight after scoring, and also having at least two scrambled, last ditch clearances,both by Durante I think. I mean, we kept a clean sheet and all that, but we could have conceded 2-3 sloppy goals just like last season. Guess we had a bit of luck in that respect, but what I take from this game is that our defence is still a work in progress. I just hope we don't turn into Real Madrid and have a crap defence regardless of who we bring in.
4. Dodd - not too sure what to make of that. He was far from impressive in the first half, and got a bit better in the second, his ball distribution likewise. I see why Ricky thinks it could work, I'm just not sure that it will. Guess there's still two more games at least to see how it pans out.
5. The Yellow Fever/crowd - we were very flat at times, and we need some new chants too I feel. I was also disappointed like Robb with some of the homophobic chants, and hope these get nipped in the bud. The crowd number wasn't great, was hoping for 7-8,000 myself, but big ups to all who turned up, it was a bit nippy...
6. I would also like to remind people that this time last year we'd beaten Sydney 3-0 in the first home pre-season game, and there were people who were saying that Cleberson would be the best defender in the league...so let's not get over-excited just yet...



Edited




The question I have is, if I could foresee some potential problems which we are finding about now, why did our management see the same? Did Ricky start believing his own rhetoric, or was there something else?

I'm suprised the strike partner for Smeltz got top, I personally went for a new midfield partnership as its like a desert for us at the mo complete with tumbleweeds. ForteanTimes2008-09-23 04:32:38

The hoofball is: a) unattractrive an b) not working

Definately Smelts needs a half decent partner up front. Hearfield looked lost up front in the weekend.

Don't let Mayze hear you say that.

New midfield partnership for me. That's where we're hurting the most...

LOL, thanks for the suggestion - Very funny but sadly, very true, I could do with a lippo suction. I voted for no more hoofball, we're just giving it away with one striker.