Man of the Match vs Queensland

Man of the Match vs Queensland

As above. Not putting in subs cause didn't play enough

I was considering voting for George, but in the end it was Kwasnik for me.

Dodd had a miserable game.

I thought HN mentioned a new system for this?

As with loyalgunner, the lack of George option really threw me.

Bertos had some good runs when he got space but his delivery wasn't fantastic and drove a couple of free kicks straight into their wall.

Durante looked v solid again - a couple of times there were 2-3 roar strikers around him and he evaded them all to play an attacking ball...

But my vote went to Smeltz, he showed us that he's got the goods again - played a hard game of holding the ball up for the midfield to advance and making the best of the attacking balls that he got.  Beautiful goal and that shot on the turn from 30 yards was so so close.

It was great to see Moss and Smeltz take up where they left off last season. Smeltz was once again superb at controlling and holding the ball under pressure, and that goal was beautifully placed.

Smeltz was fantastic but everyone knows that. I actually went for Ferrante because during our moments of ascendancy he was absolutely fantastic. Played some beautiful balls to get our attacks going and his skills when surrounded by McKay and his lackeys were a delight to watch.

He played well, but what a fat bastard...

Did you see El**ch on Friday ?

Durante

Lochead

Durante

Unfortunately some of Leos crosses tonight resembled a certain "crosser" with us last season. Not the best of games from him. I know Dodd is finding his feet in his new DM position and ok he screwed up a bit early in the game but he did some good stuff towards the end of the game and saved our butts a couple of times. So  I am tempted to vote him. Smeltz or Moss but I'm going to write tonights game off as a cobweb blower. After all, it's the serious stuff now, the next level up. I'm sure the lads will get there.

A rather dark coloured kettle....?

Tight call between Moss and Smeltz for me, went for Mossy.

Went for Manny. Had a tough night at the office but never gave up and am sure the pace of the game was quicker than anything he has experinced before. Stuck to his task. 

We didn't really look like the same team last night as we had in pre-season games.

Exactly, have a read of my post in the 'why did we boo seo thread' for my thoughts on the physicality of the A-League. Daniel go nailed by QLand and although he did go down somewhat theatrically he was basically just trying to catch the refs attention because up to that point he had recieved very little protection while the likes of McKay, Tiatto and Murdocca were hacking our guys down left right and center. Good on Daniel for showing the ref what a hopeless shower he was, a yellow worth picking up in my view.

No way Daniel should be benched for Gao, have you guys forgotten the fact that he created our goal? Or the huge lack of creative spark we had against Melbourne? Daniel is by far our most creative and skillful player, and in a league season that is likely to be tight we need him to unlock the defenses for Smeltz. He also has the added bonus of being a good corner taker (rubbish at direct free kicks though) and having the height and ability to be a threat in the air, (see goal against CCM in preseason and last seasons goal against Melbourne in game1) something  that Gao and Bertos simply do not offer. 

Finally, for the people who criticize Daniel's performance, there was a period of about 20 minutes when the game came to life and Daniel was very much involved, this occurred because we stopped playing the long ball and started to move it around with short passes. Up until that point Daniel had been innocuous because our defense had been going route 1. Seems pretty unfair to criticize him when he wasn't even given the opportunity to do anything, and when he finally gets some decent service he sets up the goal.

Bertos' free kicks were a bit off last night too huh?

agree with your comments about Daniel KTBW (and the earlier ones about Ferrante)

Smeltzy was great

Daniel drifts in and out of games but Gao is worse in that regard. Daniel is still our best player. It's not his fault Dodd kept passing it to Queensland.
valeo2008-08-18 12:42:49

i still like daniel.

overall we did not really perform and it's a shame that I wouldn't even consider over half the team for MotM, dodd was shocking, Ferrante also gave up a few pretty lame  balls, and kwasnik and Bertos were far from noticable (except kwassaz shot off the bar). As KTBW said Daniel had 20 or so minutes of his usual srlf but apart from that he failed to get in the game.

Daniel for me. He did a ton of work off the ball.