Hmm...
Sometimes I'd feel tempted to knock Roly down to a 5 on the basis that he was our star and engine and he went missing.
Finkler up a little - he was our second top scorer! Without him things would have been much worse...
I'd definitely bump Parkhouse up- I'd say he almost won us the game in Hamilton. Certainly he had a big impact in that game and it wasn't his fault he was played out of position. Ran at defences with pace, combined well and swung in a variety of dangerous crosses. Should have scored. But I actually like Parky! Wish he'd been the impact sub, not Smeltz because of his pace.
Smeltz and Watson I'd bump up, at least .5. No way were their contributions two below Lowry's or 1 below Fox's. But yeh, if Smeltz or Watson had scored goals we would have been in the six. That simple, unfortunately.
Still we're comparing Watson to Matt Simon who is currently 3rd behind two prolific strikers at Sydney FC. Watson is fine as 3rd choice striker at a club at the moment, but isn't up to being a starter. Needs to work on his aerial game in the box.
I'd bump Italiano down.
Not sure about Dura. Would I bump him up or not? An accomplished defender and leader of a settled defence, but struggled against McLaren and real pace.
Agree Tratt, Rossi and Krishna were our best. Can be persuaded about Mossy. Don't think it was a vintage season for him though.
Kosta had lots of endeavour throughout the season. Started to bring the quality at the end of the season. Think he will only improve and could be one of the Phoenix greats. Scored some really nice goals. Needs to be on the same wave length with other attackers. Not always his fault!
Don't think McG played enough for a 7. I'd bump Lowry down too. Deputised very well, but I his last ditch tackling was often to cover pace and positioning, and 7 implies he is the same quality as Doyle. I wouldn't be happy with him as a starter at this stage going into the season. Not quite up to the Manny grade.
A Rod mystifies. Has to show more against the top teams. But- does this mean his team mates have to move into space and play a better short passing game against the big teams?
Agree Ernie shoulda stayed. It would have turned around with him for sure. Think he was clashing with Roly. Certainly seemed to want him playing deeper. And I think playing with more width helped us. It's hard to say if Ernie would have continued his tactical inflexibility and we would have passed the ball back and forward in front of the opposition's defence with no ideas about how to break through.