Elrich to sign ? (Marquee speculation V.207)

i could be wrong but im pretty sure scot gemill was our marquee player,

Maybe Elrich could play in a Bertos role for the Phoenix and next year get rid of him for Bertos when Bertos' contract expires.

You're wrong Cantu. Li yan was our marquee player!!

Li Yan is class too. Such a shame we got  to see him so little. Came on for ten mins in one game, nuts someone then the game finished. I rekon we are going to sign Elrich and as Marquee, especially after reading todays Dominion Post.

Elrich to sign? Elrich HAS signed. Trust me.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/a-league/phoenix-to-unveil-elrich-as-marquee-player/2007/09/20/1189881658105.html

Supposedly he has agreed a contract BUT The Bling have come in with an offer at the last minute! The mariners pulled out because he's not fit and poison in the dressing room very negetive attitude! Hopefully ricky can sort him out?

Benjamin there is Fit and Match fit. If you miss out on pre season you will be dodging injury every game. the Mariners had it last year with  Vidmar,Gump's, Spencer et al. Getting 40+ min's out of a player is not really good for both team and player. I would have loved to have seen him in the Yellow of the mariners but it wasn't worth the risk. I would really love to see Ricky prove me wrong and get Elrich becoming an important part of the team.

yes elrich has signed.confirmed.press confrence tomorrow

2 year contract

interesting...seems like this guy might be a bit of a gamble, could be awesome or horrendous maybe?
i guess any new player'a a gamble, but ya know...

Yeah It might be next season before we will see the best of him, hopefully he can get fit though.

The only thing stopping Elrich from showing his class is injuries so if he's injury free we are going to be a real title contender because he is that good! (well last time i saw)

The Dominion had an article saying that he will be unveiled today. 

All the sport insert had heaps of Phoenix news.  Great stuff!!

yeah WELL DONE DOM POST

ye really good! All i gota say is GREEEATT signing. Thought he would be good from when this season started. Hopefully he plays up front next to Smeltz. Hell add heeps of pace upfront which we need. Im starting to think George was a huge waste of time especially since he hasent been given a chance to play yet. Maby Elrich will play on the wing. Wel c. Great signing however.

that certainly does look impressive.... with ferrante, covs, O'dorr and Paston on the bench.... wow

Hey Pavlos (fever HARRY!!) I rekon you should take up coaching.

I must say I'm starting to get really excited.  I mean I was already, but with our first win, Terry spending money for LA Galaxy, new signings, two home games on the trot.  I'm starting to feel a real buzz again.

This is awesome.  I'm definatlely Phoenix 'till I DIE.

Agreed except O'Dor or Old at the back instead of Cleberson.

And for the people saying it;s a gamble - sure it is. But so were Felipe and Daniel.

From Fourfourtwo:

The fortunate thing is that other teams must be envious of our squad because we have depth everywhere except left back. Depth creates competition, competition means that you are going to see the best guys on the pitch each week (according to the gaffer) and they will give their best to hold their spot because of the guys behind them.

There are some flaws I think with your lineup above although it does look impressive.

Who are your ball winners? Your grunt man to get stuck in and win the ball and make the tackles? Ok you have Aloisi, but in a 5 man midfield and 1 striker, surely you can't expect him to do it all by himself and leave the rest to be glory boys? Teams would come straight at us down the middle, run at Cleberson all day and eat our midfield alive. In this league, there ain't no second chances as we have seen the last 2 years. The reason we played well last couple of weeks was that they had Aloisi AND Johnson gaining possession in the middle and that allowed Daniel and Felipe to be the two dobbermans off the leash attacking goal with free will. They had the grunt men behind them giving them the opportunity.

I've also read that Elrich plays right back, right midfield and you have him as an attacking right midfielder. Where does the guy actually play?
*If he is a right back, is it fair to Christie to be dropped when he is playing well? (and I will be the first to admit I don't rate him, but he has played well the last 2 weeks)
*If you slot him in the midfield, you've got Daniel, Felipe, Aloisi and Smeltz already set. That leaves 2 spots to try fit in Johnson, Ferrante, Brown and Elrich. Other than the missed shot on goal two weeks ago, Ferrante is ok, Johnson has got stuck in, Brown has done nix and Elrich is coming in with no preseason and (rumoured by media) to be out of shape. If you rationalise as I did above that you need a 2nd grunt man, that leaves 3 men into one. Everyone here is so enamored with Brown so who sits out??

He wont play for, I would think 3 weeks and even then, he'll be a bench player due to unfamiliarity and conditioning. Someone will have to play themselves out of the starting lineup for him to get a look because of the competition. You simply can't drop players that are performing. That creates an unhappy squad.
Having said that, there are World Cup Qualifiers coming up so he may get a look in based on rotation. Ricki has also been loyal to the starting unit and made changes only when change is needed, not for the sake of it and team chemistry on the park. Its no co-incidence that the reason they are playing well is because the line-up is settled in most positions, hence why I think it will be hard for Paston to get a look back in.

I also think the O'Dor/Dodd combination is more organised that the Cleberson/(whoever) combo.
DrQuack322007-09-21 10:49:05

He's a Right Wing, I don't ever remember seeing him make a tackle in his life.

I also think the O'Dor/Dodd combination is more organised that the Cleberson/(whoever) combo.

With the Cleberson issue.  I think he is a good defender.  Do you think it is lack on English that may be hindering him from playing his best.

Not sure. Viewing both sides of the argument, you could say yes, English is a problem however they are taking lessons and he plays along side either O'Dor or Dodd and everyone knows Aussies can't speak English very well anyway (note tongue firmly in cheek)

You could also say that a player with his reputation, ability and skill and leagues played in, his position and assignments and ability to close down a striker should be 2nd nature so why is he struggling.

If I could speculate, I think he is just a bit unorganised and likes to hoof it out of defense which is not really Ricki's style. Hey we are getting plaudits for being one of the more attractive sides to watch at the moment....
DrQuack322007-09-21 11:00:38

Cheers mate,   there are some good points.  As mentioned before having good depth creates competition and it is always good to keep the players workng for the game day positions.

Similar story to the fourfourtwo story was in the DomPost sports extra pullout this morning.

First 2 pages again dedicated to the Nix.

I think that in the article about elrich - Ricki said he had no plans to play him at right back anyway

yeah i said he might be a gamble but i was just reacting to others' comments...i'm excited to have him in the squad! and those formations that people posted look really good

and if he's fast, that's awesome - pace is sooo important in football i reckon
Cosimo2007-09-21 11:58:40

Confirmed - just saw him come out of ASB tower with Rikki and Tony P

I've been waiting to hear the confirmation on Radio Sport, nothing so far (they've just gone through 10 minutes worth of news and ads)...

I think it will look more like this once everyone is fit:

---------------------------------------------------Moss-------------------------------------------------------

Christie--------------------------O'Dor--------------Dodd---------------------------------------Lochhead

-------------------------------------------------Aloisi (holding)----------------------------------------------

Elrich--------------------------------------------Brown-----------------------------------------------Daniel

------------------------------------------Felipe-----Smeltz--------------------------------------------------

Look how much depth we have now: Paston, Cleberson, Old, Ferrante, Johnsen, Lia (who will be lucky to get a go all season now), Coveny, George,  Brownlie all pushing for 1st team football. T

This is all so very exciting haha. How things have changed these past 2 weeks!

I like it. Maybe Tim Brown in for Johnsen

looks good - I would like to see Ricki put two up front though.

mijk2007-09-21 15:08:51