Elrich - Not doing enough to warrant his place?

Elrich - Not doing enough to warrant his place?

I've been quite disappointed overall with the effort he's put in last 2 or 3 games. Low work rate alot of the time, looks like he can't be assed quite a bit of the time. Crosses often leave something to be desired, and hardly ever takes on his man. I think he is resting on his laurels and either needs to be dropped to the bench or be given a good verbal boot up the ass by Ricki. Whats everyone else think of him?

i think him problems are symptomatic of our efforts in the final third at the moment. lacking a killer instinct, had that amazing goal and since then has seemed reluctant to pull trigger. as have the rest of the boys. but yea he does need a boot up the ass

Interesting that a lot of people on different threads have made these very points about Elrich, so it's not just some sort of disgruntled fan beat-up. I'm not saying he's playing badly, just not up to the level he's capable of, and a large part of this is that he wont take on his man (much), either on the inside or outside to the byline.

Cos I'm lazy, I'll just cut and paste what I said in another thread:

As for Elrich, is it just me or should our marquee player be doing more than standing on the touchline firing in average crosses. I could do that. The old "he's not fit" line's beginning to wear a wee bit thin. I'd be expecting him to start imposing himself on games a bit more. Having a run at the full back would be a good start. Everybody seems to be making excuses for him but, maybe it's just me, I'd expect our "star" player to look the goods and Elrich hasn't yet.

He is crossing too early.  He needs to vary it up a little in terms of cut back inside and slot one or take it into the box, or get more to the byline and drag the central defence across also.  He's better than what he's shown us, and it's really letting the team down IMO.

He keeps trying to beat his man but it doesn't work. He's not fast enough anymore and I don't think he's adapted to that.

He needs work on his crossing, half of them (maybe even more) hit the first defender and went nowhere. There's no denying he is a quality player though.

I'm annoyed with him for another reason though. Before the Galaxy match when he was stretching, I bellowed at him until he looked at me and when I asked for his autograph he shook his head - Vince Lia did exactly the same (and Johnsons either deaf as a rock or ignored me).

Perhaps if he signed one autograph, then the folk round you would notice and would want autographs - he'd spend ages singing autographs, and if someone got injured on the park and he wasn't warmed up properly and he himself got injured - Ricki would give him a rocket.
ginger_eejit2007-12-02 19:16:55

his crossing was poor on friday - but i think it has been ok before that. Early crosses are ok - but not if they never make it.

Yeah I know, but I'm still frustrated.

Better to ask for autographs after the match rather than interrupt a player's concentration or warm-up beforehand.

Anyway, I'd agree about Elrich; I don't think he's shown us his best yet - apart from the CCM goal; that's goal of the season!

I would have thought the marquee player should be the best one on the team. At the moment it looks like Moss, Lochhead and Daniel are better than Elrich. Smeltz and Felipe roughly the same form as Elrich.

I want to see him do well, but we're running out of games for it to happen in ...Bevan2007-12-02 19:56:09

I just wish he'd score a few more like "that goal"

yeah LG, it was memorable goal, let's hope we get a few more like that so we can get them mixed up

interesting elrich seemed to be trying to go past players more v galaxy, either knocking the ball to one side and going round or  - once- flicking the ball over the defender, didn't create a clear break (from memory) but a good sign if he's prepared to vary things and take players on

I don't think he deserves the marquee tag, but if he can get back in form I'd like to see him back next year. He does need a kick in the arse though.

I'm in the minority here, I think Elrich is doing well, getting into very good positions, and then being ignored!  On Friday he was often in a good spot, arm raised (which I'm sure means "pass the ball to me"), and only when defenders had tracked back did he get it.  We need to use his abilities better.  Early balls and let him run with defenders on the back foot.

after watching a couple of games on tv now after being at the games for the first half of the season i have noticed that elrich is liable to throw his toys a little bit. hell put his hand up and if the ball doesnt come to him he has a little tanty instead of going after it. maybe believes his own title a bit.
hopefully once he gels completely it will get better

seems tio me that Rikki is trying to find that balance between individual flair and team effort - so we're now seeing less of the individual runs (and goals), but  more passing - and nobody prepared to take a shot?

If he dont take on his man I'm going to go mental.

But fair-play he did say hi when i saw him on lambton

I'm still yet to see a Phoenix player up close yet. Grrrr.

Ouch. Just this weekend I've seen/shaken hands with/any other greeting:

Seatter
Ricki
Pignata
Elrich
Old
Ferrante
Brown
Moss
Spoonley
Draper
Ngata
Steve Price
Dennis Kostanos

Meeting Dennis isn't anything special.

Damn... Lucky.

I know that

13 name drops in one post! That has to be a new yellow fever record!!

I am to with Danielsleftball and Cantona Fever. I like Ahmeds play at the moment. Is spend alot of time unmarked and ready for the diagonal ball (that he never seems to get). He has good pace and once, as with the whole team, his crosses fall into place I reckon teams will have their hands full with him. mrmegamowman2007-12-03 08:56:35

He is making good runs and getting in the right places for the ball but it's what he's doing after he gets it. I was very excited to see him take on the Galaxy defenders on Saturday, hopefully he's starting to turn the corner.

This guy is our 'marque' player. Right? 

His crossing is predictable at the moment.  Just look how many were blocked on Friday by the defender.  If he's not going to go around the player (which I think is due to fitness and confidence) he has to make one or two cuts on the ball to see if the space for a cross opens up, or lay it back for someone else to cross over which may give us time to get a few more in the box.

I was happy with Elrich when he played against Melbourne. He helped set up Lia goal.

Elrich has had his moments, like most of our guys. all of them seem to have their 15minutes of fabulous play, and then they'll try something and it won't come off. I think Elrich is in the sam eboat at the moment. Has had some fabulous runs, aweseome goal, just the consistancy thing needs to be dealt with - this is a team issue at the moment, I don't see anyone in the team who is consistantly on song and playing his best the entire 90 minutes.

I'd like to see him run a channel now and again rather than sitting on the train tracks out wide waiting for a Beckham like pass. We often lack movement into that diagonal channel  and don't drag defenders around as much as other teams do against us (hence our inability to cope and the all too familiar consequences). Look at what Adelaide did to us on Friday, they tore us apart up front with pace and diagonal runs. We need to do that more, Elrich sitting wide an d playing 50 / 50 balls into the middle for 3 defenders (and an often too late arriving Smaltzy) is too easy to defend against.

excuse horrific spelling, almost as bad as some of our defending ! :-)

Are you serious?

His crossing is poor mainly because he doesn't have the pace to outrun defenders when put in a bit of space, and he also doesn't seem to be able to take people on successfully in order to put in dangerous balls. He's still clearly unfit, which is very disappointing given that he's been here for over 6 weeks and I'd have thought that he'd be close to full fitness by now. I really think that time is nigh when Ricky will have to bench him and revert back to 4-4-2.

He used to be astonishingly quick, whether his injuries have taken the pace (a la Michael Owen) or he still needs more strength before it returns is the question. Hard News2007-12-03 17:19:47

Yeah Felipe does all the hard work and gets into great positions - just needs composure at the end. He always falls over the ball or sends it 100m wide unfortunately

Hard News - I think he got a broken leg didn't he? He definately lacks pace now and I don't think any amount of fitness training will get him back to how he was before. Unfortunately pace was his best attribute. (though it was a big part of Coveny's game too and he's adapted well)
valeo2007-12-03 17:23:50

I know, which is why I was really excited when we signed him, and why I've been bitterly disappointed with his recent performances.

I sorry if I'm wrong about this, but hasn't he spent a couple of seasons bench warming in England?  If so it'll take him at least a season to get back to his best, on that basis I've seen enough to want him here next season where hopefully he'll be on top form.  Having said that I think he's good enough now to warrant a start.