How can Greenacre be best utilised thread

Agree El G, we shouldn't be using him as much as we do with his back to goal, but that seems to be all the ball that he receives.

leave the sketch writing up to me mate

Send in quality balls. Players need to look up and think about there crosses, not just fire into in the general direction of the box.

I gather you haven't been watching a lot of a-league in the past few seasons then...he is, by his own admission, a bits and pieces striker who has battled his way through league one.

people keep making the point that the ball is going where he is not - a classic poacher will get himself in the right places; it's not a coincidence/luck that the ball happens to find those kind of players in the 6 yard box week after week.

But granted the delivery has not been good. I feel he would likely look much better working off a bigger player alongside him

Oh come on this logic is just terrible. We are talking about Greenacres entire season (2 goals in 10 games) vs a rock solid defence that has held 2 Cleans sheets and only conceding only 11 goals which in the A-League is very good. Of course I don't blame Greenacre for this but saying that conceding one goal is the equivalent of not scoring one is just not right.

Also based on this season, how you come to the conclusion Greenacre is one of the best imports in the league is just not understandable.wellyphoenixfan2009-10-18 14:06:14

Its not a coincidence, its who ever is crossing the ball using their brain.

play the ball to his feet, hes a small guy so he wont win many headers. give him the ball at his feet and he can drive it at goal like he did against newcastle in round 1

 

Did anyone ever see Greenie play for Tranmere back when he was scoring plenty of goals? scribbler2009-10-18 17:50:49

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8Yai5Bzb4 Greenacre's top 10 Tranmere goals, see for yourself. It does seem to me he's better with ball at feet and solid players around him. Although that's only 10 of his goals.
timmymadden2009-10-18 18:50:30

Think he's not much of a back to goal striker, and he's doing that a lot on his own for the team.
I think the point being made is that the attack is not synching...they don't read each other intuitively...

Ifill really isn't a strike partner...perhaps trying Greenacre and Chen together up front might yield results...or with Costa...Greenacre started brightly, but just has been a bit anonmous of late...I mean if he can't manage to do the job with the tactics we are using, perhaps we are better trying other options and using him off the bench for a game or two...

something has to change in the front third, not just Greenie...

The striker also has to put themselves into the right position too,dont forget that. He doesnt seem to be getting into these positions. Not that im saying to drop him. Would like to see Chen get a start maybe,he did look decent

I'm baffled as to what Jiang Chen people were watching. 

I can excuse 'it wasn't long enough, give him a chance' but I didn't see anything that said 'decent'.

Maybe i was drunk...

I thought he had a good crack at keeping the ball in play when he conceded a goal kick, not many would have put their head next to a defenders foot like that.

Well, with Greenacre up front by himself, we don't have the height to compete against other teams to use the wings to cross the ball in all the time.

Greenacre could use the ball at his feet, going via a central route for a change, since our wingers aren't really doing anything for our goal scoring.

But something does have to be said about timing of runs and the lack of it a lot of time.

The goals last night were from people timing LATE runs into the box. Brown and Fowler both ran in late behind the rest of the crowd, were both unmarked for clear headers.
Brown has done well with the goals he's scored on the back of good timing, more often late runs into the box.

The commentators last night comments about the Fury how they all run into the box together, almost in a line, all hoping the ball would come to the same spot - that applies to the Phoenix as well.

Nobody breaks for the near post, nobody slows down to come in late, nobody breaks to the far post.
Nobody looking for deflections or passes into the box from one post to the other.

And Bertos and Ifill need to look for more options before hacking shots wide of the goal. Greenacre would have every right to be pissed off with some of the runs he made and getting no service.Ard Righ2009-10-18 20:01:52

Yes I was very impressed with that aswell. Should be on the bench next week but should come on earlier.

Agreed, was very surprised with the late substitution. Was never happy at 1-0 any way.

I think Herbert would of been better taking Brown off instead of Bertos but of course as usual his subs are generally strange. Only reason they were good vs Bahrain was because that Aussie guy would of told him.

Exactly precise. As Greenacre has said himself hes more likely to get the Ugly goals, and they come from ball to feet in the box.

If we were getting more bodies in the box on attack the volume of work we do on the wings would consistently bring results, as it is everyone seems to be waiting for the ball to pop out and then fire from wherever. OK so it paid off on a couple of occasions but they were rare and should not be the way to aim to score.

Greenacre has a great work rate up front and he does make some beautiful runs, however they go largely unnoticed due to the fact that he doesn't get good distribution, so i would have to suggest a formation like this.
   Ifill                               Daniel
                  Costa
                         Greenacre

Thank you.

Nothing special at all here, if Ricki is going to give these guys a go, thats ok with me, but pick the right game and time to do it.

play Ifill on the left, Bertos on the right, and get another striker to play next to him. Ifill is too wide and Greenacre isn't the type of striker who can survive playing sole striker.

haha perfect, maybe Elrich if fred gets tired

I think a lot of is tactical... Postnote:  This coming from the worst player of Football Manager of all time!!!!

But ahem... It looks to be me as if he's too isolated.  I know on Fox they said we were playing a 4-4-2 system against the Fury, but it didn't look to me that way.  It looks to me as if Paul Ifill drops too far back.  In some ways, I would view Paul Ifill as an attacking minded midfielder.  He is our best player on the ball.

I'd suggest the ideal player in Greenacre's position would be a big tall strong lad who could hold the ball up well.  It looks to me as if Greenacre is being pumped a lot of long balls and asked to try his best, but I don't see him as that type of player.  He looks to me to be the type of guy who'll relentlessly hit either near or far post on a cross hoping to deflect one in, rather than being an overtly skillful, powerful or quick player.  In other words, a smart player.  At the moment in the final third he's often isolated and is taking a punt on when to make the run, knowing that usually he's the only man in the box and the only real target.  I don't think it's his game.  I think he'd work well with another player hitting the centre of the goal box with him, one with a deeper run, one up flat.  We cross the ball quite decently, but we are very singular in the goal mouth.

Perhaps if we view Ifill more as a central attacking midfielder, or perhaps, even as a left winger (maybe that's what he's playing now??  I don't really know, I'm no tactical wizard), and have Costa Barborouses up front with Greenacre, we'd be more effective.  I feel Lia and Brown are too similar, and one may have to make way in midfield.  Perhaps if we play Ifill on the left we go back to having Diego on the ball in midfield so we have another 'running' specialist on the ball, at th emoment we look too much to Ifill for the nutmeg or to beat his man in some sensational way to try and set something up.  Perhaps he could swap around to cause confusion with Leo Bertos, I suppose Leo is playing quite a central role at times and doing it effectively... meh, I'm just talking out my butt, the more I say these things the more it doesn't make any sense.  Anyone up for beating a team 5-0 on FM?? :-)

                         GK Paston

RB:  Manny Muscat CB: Ben Sigmund CB: Andrew Durante LB: Tony Lochhead

RW: Leo Bertos  CM (Holding Player):  Jon McKain CM: (Attacking):  Diego  LW: Paul Ifill

              Striker: Chris Greenacre Striker: Costa Barbarouses

Tough on Brown and Lia because while individually they've been quite good and given a lot of guts to the midfield, I just feel in many ways they clog up the midfield and don't get forward enough.  I know Brown is scoring a few goals, and good luck to him for it, but I'd just prefer a Diego in there instead.  Particularly given really our problem is scoring goals, not preventing them.

From there, I'd like to see us play patiently, but using both wings.  Not so much long ball.

Or... we could simply get Fred back.

That play you allude to in the first paragraph to me is endemic of whats going on.  I figure you make enough runs that don't come off because you're on your own, that eventually you see it opeining up and mentally don't respond.  It says to me that we're trying to play him as a 6'6" monster when that's not what he is, and he's starting to mentally crumble a bit under it. 

He's a poacher in your terms, he's just a smarter type player who anticipates well when in an appropriate system, which I don't believe he is currently in.

we can talk about this "till the cows come home"...

Good point, and to be honest, I've already shut cows away.

+1
Having had a look at those top ten Greenacre goals you'd have to think the problem is we are not playing well enough to him.

And if I watch Bertos fire another 25m+ shot with players begging for it in the box I'll scream.  We'd have been better off if he'd not got that goal from the 30m free kick cause it's encouraged him to butcher a number of good opportunities since then.

So wots it going to take for Ricki to drill these guys to get the best from greeny?

Bertos hasn't been up to it and he should be on the bench, Daniel and Brown shouldn't be far behind. Sorry it isn't Greenacre who isn't performing, the supply has been awful. Putting aimless balls across the box, or over the bar, or at the corner flag isn't god enough.

Greeacre and Ifil should continue to play as two strikers, we need a shake up behind them.

Why must people quote everything when it's plainly obvious like that..

Greenacre would be best utilised through sacking Ricki. 

play him at rightback?

after watching greenies top 10, I'd have to agree with the comments that we aren't really getting the ball to him in the right spots. Most of those goals he took from outside the 6 yard box, excluding the two bicycle kicks and the volley..we need to get him running at the last man and taking shots, he seems to have decent shot on him, lets utilise it. At the moment we are simply trying to bomb crosses and longer balls in the air to a short ground player. He's fantastic with the ball on the deck.

That's a good point.