Coaching Angst - ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2374 replies · 72,193 views Locked

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

not sure whether he was a problem off the pitch, Zinidane, but I thought Caceres did all right for us

and I don't we should abandon the potential of all of South America just yet

Toto's signing seemed to have been influenced by our need to get to rush a signing to get the squad minimum for the HAL (one of the few side-effects of our World Cup)

I wonder though whether he might come right if given a few matches

Agree x 4

What we have done well is recruit for attitude - G** and Elrich aside.

However I do think Herbert has made some rookie mistakes - we keep picking up other teams rejects (Kwasnik, Mac, Diego). There is a good reason they have been rejected by other teams - they aren't good enough to be in the starting 11 of a team that has aspirations to be a title contender.

We also leave our recruitment too late (Chen & Toto (?)). It's all well and good to keep saying we will take our time and not be rushed in to signings but the longer you take the more you get left with the dregs.

I also think we should go for a slightly smaller squad and use our limited resources to buy better players. Maybe, by doing this, we could have avoided our seemingly never ending search for a decent creative midfielder; sign Diego (doesn't work out), sign Toto (doesn't work out (?)), sign Ward (?).

I think successful recruitment is probably part intuition and part experience - I've seen nothing to indicate Herbert's intuition is any better than any other A-League coaches and he is still building up his experience. I do think he would benefit from a wise head when he goes through next seasons recruitment process.

I also think he needs to look very hard at a number of our current squad which will be a challenge given some have been around a while and the emotional connection to the club. Again an independent wise head with no emotional ties might be helpful as he thinks about the hard calls.

He dribbles a lot and the opposition dont like it - you can see it all over their faces. (Ron Atkinson)

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

For my money he's done OK enough recruiting up front. Not sensational, but Caceres and Dadi were pretty special at the end of last year and were exactly what we needed to nearly make the GF. This year Ward/Toto and Mac/Pav have been targeted at the right area and, going on our goals for, have maybe been enough. I'm not that excited about any of those, except for Pav's potential. But you'd have to say coming in to join Ifill, Leo, Greenie they've added enough to have us 3rd best goals for in the league.

No left back cover, no specialist right back at all. 18 goals against. Second worst in the league. Most goals leaked from problems in those areas.

And I'm not sure that the budget has a Caceres/Dadi like late season recruitment save coming our way.

Hopfully hearfield can improve further. I reckon he's gone from totally-f*ckin-frightening-all-the-time, to nervous-wait-for-that-one-killer-mistake-that-costs-us. Quite a step up really. Manny + Siggy can maybe do enough at RB. Mind you we were never great in these areas, we just haven't improved and the best sides are getting better at exposing that sort of weakness.

North. Dunno. Hasn't looked superman. Needs new boots for the wet.

Yeh I agree, Caceres was good, hopefully Toto can step up, Ward scares me as a turnover king, hopefully Pav gets better every outing.

Fullbacks are the big problem tho, the way I see it.

Cmon Nix.

mjp22010-10-25 14:32:24

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

sometimes Rikki makes strange decisions, that I know I don't agree with (like starting Lia and Hearfield) but I don't think he needs to be sacked.
Look at what he has done just for New Zealand football! The All whites! Once 124th in the world we are now 51st! All we need to do it be patient, let Rikki work more magic on the phoenix.
Yes we've had a few draws/losses, but lets not be too hasty.

I just think we need some fresh meat, he should try out Toto/Pav/Ward a bit more.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

It's amazing what a big impact losing Tony Lochhead to injury has had on us-first the All Whites with the international series and now the Phoenix...is he the backbone of the teams??

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

KiwiChick1 wrote:

It's amazing what a big impact losing Tony Lochhead to injury has had on us-first the All Whites with the international series and now the Phoenix...is he the backbone of the teams??

nah just the only decent one with a left foot.
raynes2010-10-25 19:16:21

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

raynes wrote:

KiwiChick1 wrote:

It's amazing what a big impact losing Tony Lochhead to injury has had on us-first the All Whites with the international series and now the Phoenix...is he the backbone of the teams??

nah just the only decent one with a left foot.

It just makes you think though since we don't look the same without him.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Lochy gets regularly bagged on these forums but I reckon sometimes its a little unfair. He's played a lot of games only partialy fit with an ongoing groin strain.

He is a very experianced natural LB.....which is a rare species. Internationally he looks the goods. He did not look out of place at the WC. in some of the warm up WC games he looked very good. Against Mexico in LA I thought he was outstanding in defense. A full strenght Mexican side got no joy down Lockys flank. When they switched flanks and attacked down our right side we were cut to ribbons.

I will be more than happy to see a fit Tony Lockhead back in the Nix side. Then we can get Muscat back in front of the back 4 where he was so good last year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

^^ Totally this

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Completely agree. (others won't however)

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

zinidane wrote:

Lochy gets regularly bagged on these forums but I reckon sometimes its a little unfair. He's played a lot of games only partialy fit with an ongoing groin strain.

He is a very experianced natural LB.....which is a rare species. Internationally he looks the goods. He did not look out of place at the WC. in some of the warm up WC games he looked very good. Against Mexico in LA I thought he was outstanding in defense. A full strenght Mexican side got no joy down Lockys flank. When they switchedï¿½ flanks and attacked down our right side we were cut to ribbons.

ï¿½

I will be more than happy to see a fit Tony Lockhead back in the Nix side. Then we can get Muscat back in front of the back 4 where he was so good last year.

ï¿½

I bagged him but now I sit back and look at the team and wish he was here.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Yeah I agree as well. I think our team looks so much more balanced with Lochy in there, it means we have a natural left footer at LB and it means other players can be playing in their best positions.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

The only difference between this year and last year is tim brown.

last year he was the key to our success. It was not only his goals but his massive influence on the team

since the surgery, he hasnt been himself.. He's trying hard.. but still seems scared

we need timmy back in action

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

maynardf wrote:

The only difference between this year and last year is tim brown.last year he was the key to our success. It was not only his goals but his massive influence on the teamsince the surgery, he hasnt been himself.. He's trying hard.. but still seems scaredwe need timmy back in action

Far too much credit given to Brown, his goals were important but the differences to last year are much greater.

Ifill - outstanding last year, at best average this year.
Reddy - simply the best keeper in the league last year when with nix.
McKain - we have not replaced or covered him adequately.

Certainly agree need Brown to step up because he has been poor this year and is lucky to be holding a starting spot.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

yeah totally, Brown is out of form at the moment, but Ifill is currently being marked out of the game - because he had a blinder of a season last year.The other midfield players have not stepped up to releif the pressure, ie Leo and Brown....leo is coming around slowly but really needs to be playing 90, not 55 minutes. Losing McKain and Reddy hurt us abit (McKain more).

Queenslander 3x a year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

agreed re ifill...not enough variety in our attack makes him easy target for opposition defences...dont really understand all the anti leo buzz on here...seems to me he gets left to be our only offensive player and often noone is making room for him off the ball apart from greeny

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

as for ricki he has done too much that is good to be talking of getting rid of him but there are definitely holes in our recruiting process...we dont seem to attract the quality players other teams do which puts us on the back foot...still its early enough for everything to be turned around on the field as the season goes on

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Leo does a lot of good work but fades away after 55 minutes, well he has so far, although improved last game. It's a combination thing, none of the midfield seem to be working for each other, Ifill is always isolated with noone giving him a passing option - although often I'm not sure that he is actually looking for that out...

Queenslander 3x a year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I'm not totally convinced about all of this "Ifill is always marked by 2 or 3" stuff. Be nice for someone [not me] to actually watch to see how true this is or how often it happens. If it is, then there is no excuse for us not being able to exploit this mismatch by this stage of the season. Football is not the type of game where you can easily double mark someone without leaving yourself seriously exposed elsewhere.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

He either gets heavily marked or hacked down as soon as he gets it (or just after he releases it).

I have specifically watched for it.

Think...Felipe after the rest of the league realised he was pretty good.

Allegedly

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

it's happend to several of our really good players in their second season, DAniel in season 1 did really well, then season two he was marked, hacked out of the game. Felipe in his first season set the woprld on fire, then in his second season was marked hacked out of the game...this is exactly what is happeneing to Ifill this season...time will tell whether he is good enough to get out of it (Daniel couldn't and this has resulted in him being a bench rider, Felipe couldn't - he's gone burgers), or if somone else in the team takes advantage of the extra space. theprof2010-10-27 13:31:35

Queenslander 3x a year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

theprof wrote:

Reddy was never staying, always going to Sydney when we signed him. And is it really a loss, he's not had the same success with Sydney this season as he did with us?

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

maynardf wrote:

The only difference between this year and last year is Tim Brown.
Last year he was the key to our success. It was not only his goals but his massive influence on the team.
Since the surgery, he hasn't been himself.. He's trying hard.. but still seems scared
We need Timmy back in action

I reckon you could be right ï¿½ Brown's form is possibly a confidence thing. Whatever it is, I hope he gets over it quick smart.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

theprof wrote:

This often happens to Leo as well.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

true, but more often than not Leo has run away from the support into a corner where no support in the world will help him, when Ifill has the ball he gets surrounded by defenders and our guys just stop and watch him get around the opposition.

Queenslander 3x a year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

veteran diamond wrote:

Season is now not so early into it..a dramatic change is now required..better tactical thinking, maybe a fixed system of play instead of changing it every week....Tim brown scored against brisbane but didnt appear to do bugger all else...midfield constantly being outplayed....paston had the jitters at times......yep a big change is now needed!!!

" If you only have a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail" - maslow

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Think it's more of a player thing than a coach problem. We have too many slow players who can't track the likes of Murdocca and Kosta. Ifill, who is our best atttacking threat, can't track back at all and that really costs us as a defensive unit I think.

a.haak

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

^ this,

Queenslander 3x a year.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

valeo wrote:

It's a coach thing, sorry.

Tactics, clueless

Motivation, non apparant

P.s.and who signed everyones rejects?

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Changing to 3 at the back = ludicrous and helped us concede 2 more goals. Ricki has to take responsibility for that.

Additionally, at 2-1 down his plan B is to bring on McAllister and get everyone to hoof it up to him...although I don't think I saw McAllister win more than 1 header.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe_B5CzbTJo - Caceres winning penalty v Perth - footage from the Fever Zone

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Steve-O wrote:

Changing to 3 at the back = ludicrous and helped us concede 2 more goals. Ricki has to take responsibility for that.

Additionally, at 2-1 down his plan B is to bring on McAllister and get everyone to hoof it up to him...although I don't think I saw McAllister win more than 1 header.

Agreed.

The shape at the start was OK - though there was no plan for dealing with attacking fullbacks - and it's possible that the team could have somehow scraped an undeserved draw.

Going direct was a decent idea against the Roar (I have to say that, as it was my gameplan from the start), but Mac needed players closer to him to win the second ball.

Ricki's change of shape conceded the wide areas completely, which guaranteed a loss.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Despite a great three points against Perth I still fail to understand Ricki's sub policy. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for some of it, its either late, or players that dont make any impact and curiously , Pav, Ward and Hearfield never made the trip

" If you only have a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail" - maslow

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

paullt wrote:

Makes you wonder if there's some internal team politics going on or changing room room discontent as its commonly known ! I mean playing Macalister and leaving Pav in Welly seems a very strange decision given the latters form in comparison to Macs !

The answer to life's problems are rarely found at the bottom of a beer glass - but it's always worth a look.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

And why 1 minute for Royas? What was that about?

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Because Perth were lumping everything in sight and putting on a youngster who is small wasn't the solution needed ?

How's my driving? - Whine here

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Rojas at 89 was just to disrupt the flow of the game.

Mac and Daniel were fresh legs to surge forward on the counter attack, which they did. So I thought the subs that Ricki made were fine for the squad he had.

Unfortunately, leaving Ward, Hearfield and Pav at home is a very strange decision, maybe he's resting them?

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

just another reason to love our Ricki

Brisbane vs Adelaide

"The Roar were courageous in the top-of-the-table clash, and while Kosta Barbarouses was a stand-out with a double, it was an all-round effort that won the day.

Playing with 10-men, but clearly believing attack was the best form of defence, the Roar poured forward and the third came in the 62nd minute when substitute Mitch Nichols found Barbarouses clear on goal.

Brisbane were three goals to the good but far from done and when centre-back Luke De Vere went on a long run up the middle Barbarouses was on hand to take the square ball and hammer in a beautiful goal from well outside the area."

lol

didn't fit our system, but you have to say Ricki gave him his chance and Kosta's taken it

somewhere else

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

To be fair though, just because Kosta (with a C) is playing good elsewhere, doesn't mean he 'would' have done just as well here.

Don't get me wrong I think Kosta is a very talented young player, and when he did make the park for the Phoenix he hardly put a foot wrong, but you can't just assume things.

Didn't realise Kosta was one of those words

timmymadden2010-11-08 18:25:03

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Hard News wrote:

Because Perth were lumping everything in sight and putting on a youngster who is small wasn't the solution needed ?

Harnwell's deliberate swinging elbow into Mcallister's face was outright thuggery. Naturally the ref saw no problem with it.

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Hard News wrote:

Because Perth were lumping everything in sight and putting on a youngster who is small wasn't the solution needed ?

pfft. Common sense.

SACK RICKI

a.haak

Permalink

over 15 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Sack ricky - serious.

Permalink

This topic is locked.