Nix vs. Melbourne B Sat 10th 7:30pm

Maybe the wrong option in hindsight, but I totally understood why he shot. Was good to see him back himself- he beat the defender brilliantly, and then put in a pretty good shot which the keeper saved really well. I would actually like to see more of that from Leo- he is great when his confidence is up.

What about something like this

             Paston

Muscat   Siggy      Durante     Lia

              Smith

Bertos                      Ifill

       Sanchez     Greenacre

              Brown

Stop pretending, and put Brown up front. He's supposed to be the beep test king, so let him run his ass off until he can't walk anymore. He's terrible and dropping back, so let him play that way.

Greenie in behind as a real second attacking option would be great. I always thought he would have made a better Attacking Mid if we had of signed an out and out striker this season.

Allow a bit of flexibility in that front third, where players can move about on positions. It seemed over the last couple of games, even Bertos has ended up in the middle of the park as a striker.

And FFS, get Sanchez back central. He has been at his most prominent and dominant.

Not going to happen I know, but if we as fans can pick how Smith had to hold up the entire midfield against GCU , while Brown turned into a seagull (although that was hardly the first time), then you can bet the Jam Tards have picked up on this as well, and will put pressure on him and open up the middle.

Either that, or someone needs to don the headbandage to help get the job done.

Or has even that lost it's aura.

Which means Ricki may not even put him on the plane again.

Remind me again....are we not in third place enjoying our best season ever?

I spoke to 'a man not-quite on the street' who speaks to Ricki for 20 odd minutes on a one on one basis approximately once every 3 weeks, in a customer/service provider type exchange...

Yes, play to our strenghts. Absolutely.

What I would like to see Leo do more of is bench warming.

He is a very uninspiring winger in this league. 

You are quite right.

But, while trying to avoid the '3 points is 3 points - be it ugly or beautiful' argument, i don't think that detracts from the fact there are some glaringly obvious weaknesses which often get exploited.

I'm happy we're third, but we can't get by with a "she'll be right" attitude coming into the grand finals can we?
goldienz2012-03-06 13:57:12

It would also be foolish to depart drastically from what has worked would it not?

The away wins against GCU and the Jets were not based on sitting back and hoping to score on the break - my recollection is the games were pretty even and the wins were down to two very good finishes.

I'm not sure what's so foolish or drastic about my suggestion:

* Sanchez is an attacking mid. Not a winger. He's been lost a bit since being out there, certainly not as effective. Is it foolish to want to see him deliver the good he's proven he can from a position we signed him to play in.
* Ifill has been known to, and has stated he likes to, get into wide positions and attack. Is it drastic to play him in a role that we've often successfully played him in the before?
* Brown recently has spent so much time up around the edge of the box, forcing Greenie to drop back, that all i'm saying is make it official. Maybe that's the drastic part.
* Greenie has shown that he has a deft touch, and the work-rate to play a good attacking mid. He can also defend well when called upon too. He can also interchange with Brown as necessary. I think others would agree, it wouldn't necessarily be foolish to have someone like him as an attacking mid either.
* Smith has been a great find in the defensive mid role. Massive in the air, good distribution. Admittedly, I'd prefer to see Muscat there, but i'm not sure we have a good enough RB replacement yet. We did, however, all see how drastically, foolish it was for us to play Lia at RB, I personally think it's been quite drastic playing him at LB, but what are we to do while Lochhead is out. I'm certainly not an advocate for Tsatallios or the like to start there at this crucial end of the season. That too would be foolish.

Ok, admittedly the formation may be seen as drastic, but swap Brown and Greenie around, and what's really so foolish or drastic about that? You're pretty much looking at a formation that we've put on the park before.

I guess I'd prefer to see us control, or even dominate, the game and win, as opposed to watch us scramble a lucky win where we barely managed to hold on.

Yes, 3 points is 3 points, but 'sheer luck' is not a great footballing strategy in my opinion.

SHHHH! You'll jinx us

Sack Ricki!!!!!

Just hoping Sanchez plays where his coach tells him to and manages to successfully accomplish the basics of passing, crossing and tackling.

Then let's put Sanchez as Left Back, and play Warner up front for a bit of mongrel.

I thought it was great that leo took the shoot on. If he had scored, I think the lid would have lifted on his game. He needs a goal

It would have been great if there was a defender marking Ifill. There wasn't, Ifill was open and had a tap in, but Leo didn't pass. Very poor choice.

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/Heart-out-to-secure-finals-berth/45958


http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/Weekly-warm-up-Melbourne-Heart-v-Wellington-Phoenix/45969
George Costanza2012-03-07 13:12:39

Funny thing about Greenacre and Brown is that being assistant coach, he can tell Brown to the eff back into midfield joshyboy0072012-03-07 18:46:58

Remember, Greenie is only a "forward coach", but Brown is somehow listed as a midfielder, so probably Greenie can't do that

Someone of Greenie's experience has probably forgotten more about football than Tim will ever know.

Speaking of Warner, can we have him back please?

Ummm NO!! That is the last thing we need from Bertos....

...Do you not remember last season his freekick against the gLOLry was deflected and went in, after that he wouldn't stop shooting and wasting chances!  His shooting is about the same level as Zadkovich's and I would rather not watch the ball fly into rows D-Z
homer_simpson2012-03-08 09:16:00

I agree that he shouldn't be taking shots left right and centre, but I think the goal would have given the boost of confidence he needs. He  is most definately a confidence player, and you can see how his game started to dip a bit after the miss.

As long as its a Phoenix win!!

And now he's a confidence type player who stuffed an opportunity for a certain goal and to put the team in a much more comfortable position in the game.

Agreed

....if you don't shoot you will never score...keep shooting Leo

Saturday, 10 March 2012
Melbourne Heart v Wellington Phoenix
AAMI Park, 5:30pm
Referee: Peter Green
Assistant referees: George Lackrindis, Matthew Cream
Fourth official: Lucien Laverdure

Head-to-head
Played: 5 Wins: Heart 2, Wellington 2, Draws: 1

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/Preview-Melbourne-Heart-v-Wellington-Phoenix/46027



George Costanza2012-03-08 23:17:18

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/wellingtonphoenix/news-display/Muscat-Hoping-Neveah-Will-Bring-Him-Luck/46032

Why is his wife and child living in Melbourne and not here?  Must be difficult for them being apart

Family support until footy season ends perhaps?

Agreed. Leo cant win on here, but maybe one of his goals will win for us 

His performances this season don't deserve him to win on here.  He (and maybe Timmy) have been by far the least consistant of our starting players this season and constantly put in ahead of Daniel despite Daniel performing far better all season.

I don't think they've been inconsistent

Seems Ricki may be actually going with Smith as first choice in the mid, and that's with both Brown and Lia available!

Will be an interesting lineup. Can't bloody wait for this one.