Phoenix vs Malben - Match Thread

coveny to start next week...we always look more dangerous when and smeltz are on together....where is young costa...the other clubs play their youngsters confidently and consistently but not us...as for ricki is he the messiah or just another pretender...new season,new players,same old same old....in being different everythings the same

Don't write them off after 2 games. Look at the warriors last 2 years.... start off slowly and make the play offs....

I think we started off well, looked good going foward but that 1st goal was one to be saved wet or not should have got down. we looked good always when going foward but when we go back we break down and then get forced to knock the long ball which is always going to be 50/50.

not writing the boys off but so often the other team seems to have more players on the field...does that mean our guys are not god enough,fast enough or just not giving a hundred

It means we were outplayed by a better smarter team unfortunately.

Just back from the game... So frustrating!

Clearly Victory saw a Mismatch in Allsop and Muscat and it proved to be the case. If he ever gets on the pitch again rest assured that the right side of CD is going to have a lot of covering to do.

Ferrante bloody great. Hearfield was good,I agree with you guys, but I still think Bertos has got a bit more.HarryHotspur2008-08-24 20:00:17

I can't understand why Daniel gets pulled when he's the only player creating chances. He and Smeltz were readin each other well.

Herbert has never made subs correctly imo. He either leaves them way too late (e.g. last week) or doesn't pull off the right players.

Hmmmm, I went into today's game expecting a draw but hoping we could snatch a win. It was exciting but I think we got outsmarted tonight.

To be honest, with the conditions as poor as they were Melbourne were very canny in playing a fast, counterattacking game against us, knowledgeable that they would get opportunities down the flanks and their quick balls were often dangerous considering the conditions. Berger was fantastic for them, very quick and had good delivery while Allsopp was clearly targeting the lightweight Muscat with his superior strength.

Playing a short passing game can be really difficult if the ball doesn't travel properly along the surface and tonight that really showed. It was hard for us to get quick lateral balls when we were trying to dominate the midfield, and therefore Melbourne had plenty of time to defend in deep, organized rows making them very hard to breakdown. Our goal game from the type of play Melbourne were using on his, with a long ball down the flank and a proper cross. Pretty ironic that after we spent last week lambasting the long ball techniques they were really what we needed more of tonight because despite the hard work of our midfielders playing a short ball game in tonight's conditions was really asking for trouble.

Ultimately a poor result for us, 1 point from two home games looks really bad on paper. Still, there is hope. Our next game is against Adelaide who could be very, very tough and we could well be bottom of the table after it finishes. However that match is followed up with fixtures against Perth, CCM, Sydney, Newcastle and CCM again. This is a relatively soft run of games and if we can get something going here we will hopefully get back in the thick of things.

Still, we cannot perform as we did tonight and expect to do well in the league. Very disappointed in McKain and Durante, they should have done better tonight but the biggest issue was certainly at right back. Likewise Moss needs to up his game, perhaps becoming a little complacent after the FZ was greasing him up last week! I'd still keep him in the XI though, he should bounce back strong for next week.

Anyawy, I don't like to dwell on the negatives so here are some positives from tonight:

1) Midfield. Despite my support of Dodd as a DMC I must now concede that Johnson has proven his worth. He is so much more comfortable in that position and he also offers a potent threat with his long range ability. Having him hovering outside the box on corners and free kicks is a nice plus and I bet it is only a matter of time before he finds the back of the net with one of those efforts should he get a decent run in the first team. On the basis of tonights performance I don't see why Ricki wouldn't persist with him. Ferrante was his usual self, ran tirelessly, defended well, saved a goal with a header off the line and also showed us his skill at creating space in the center.

2) Hearfield. Top prospect, he was fantastic tonight, should displace the off-colour Bertos from the starting XI, I don't really need to say anything else really, everyone saw how well he played tonight.

3) Smeltz. Deadly as always, I'm guessing he now tops the goalscoring charts as well? Great penalty considering the conditions and the fact that he had missed so badly in the PSC. Will continue to score should we give him proper service.

4) Daniel and Coveny. Both looked lively tonight, Daniel had his usual creative spark and I was confused that Ricki subbed him rather than the lukewarm Kwasnik for Coveny, who showed he still does have something to offer. I was concerned this was one campaign to far for Covs but perhaps he can still contribute something.

Changes for next week:

Kwasnik out for Gao (or Leo if Gao isn't fit). Not too impressed with Kwas, didn't offer enough dynamism to prove much of a threat and his CCM record indicates that he is not a consistent goal scorer.

Muscat out for Mulligan (once again, fitness permitting). Three weeks is surely long enough I'd imagine and Manny looked badly out of depth. Set pieces were a little better tonight but we still badly need what Mulligan has to offer.

therefore:

                               Moss

Mulligan      Durante   McKain   Lochhead

                   Ferrante    Johnson

Hearfield               Gao               Daniel

                            Smeltz

Bench:

Paston
Dodd
Bertos
Coveny

be tempted to give Costa a run but I might give Kwasnik a few more opportunities to do something useful first.

I hope we can be clever when we go and play the Aus sides away. Against Adelaide we should be looking to snatch a point with solid defending and a quick counterattacking game (via Gao and Hearfield), basically try and model our efforts on how Melbourne played tonight, although we can probably show some more nous through the middle, but we need to try not to over commit going forward (Lochhead and whoever is at RB need to be very careful not to leave the CBs too exposed).






KTBW2008-08-24 20:29:45

Explain to me how last week we played long ball rubbish, when we shouldn't and this week when we're in a swimming pool we try and play sexy football... aaaargggggggg !!!

First 30 minutes looked good in the middle of the park but no penetration. After that we were stuck with playing catch-up football.

Hit the nail on the head there KTBW. Agree completely with everything. Disappointing not to come away with a draw at least. Too damn relaxed after half time again and after scoring our second.

I was scratching my head too  simply

 

Agreed apart from Lochhead. Thought he was decent actually.

Muscat was badly exposed and Kwasnik may as well have not been on the park.

Bang on.

Yep. Exactly what I was thinking in the first 20 mins. The passes were coming off though.

In a funny way I think we over-compensated for last week.  Against Qld we stayed deep and fired fruitless long balls with Smeltz unsupported.  Tonight by contrast we got forward a lot, but kept getting hit on the break.  I think the team had worked hard on the attack plan � ball to feet, lots of 1-2s etc, only to be undone by a sodden track, and then our midfield was too far forward once we lost the ball.  Ironically a higher proportion of long balls might have been more effective tonight.  Must say hats off to Melbourne though, they played smart and counter-attacked superbly.  Fed off our mistakes.  Only negative is I did think they were cynical off the ball in the first half, I remember one outrageous shirt hold on Daniel by their No14, lucky not to be yellow carded more.

On our side most of the team actually played Ok.  Defence struggled as a unit.  Moss was uneasy with the wet ball, and at fault for the third goal, which really killed us off.  Muscat also had a night to forget, I thought him a contributor to two of their goals, perhaps emphasising the step up from VPL to A league.  I�d echo sentiments on Kwasnik, he hasn�t done enough for my liking.  I thought Ferrante was excellent (heading Aslop�s goal bound shot over the bar when we were 0-1 down a highlight) and most of the others individually OK.  Sign Smeltz up for next season asap.

Overall, disappointing, but actually less worrying than last week.  Nights like this happen during the season.  But not too much wrong, and with some quality players waiting in the wings (Gao, Mulligan, Bertos) no reason to feel down.

Pacwarior2008-08-24 20:34:40

I think he was pulled off because he wasn't playing well, we were losing and we needed a forward on. As for the comments about Kwasnik, he was better value than Daniel.

Ricki made a hash of the team selection last week with Dodd in midfield and this week he takes Daniel off when he looked to be the best player on the park. Tactically even my 9 year old brother figured out they were targeting the mismatch on the right with Musact and Allsop. They knew what formation we would play exposed us down both flanks. Ricki needs to lift his game.

Moss had an absolute shocker and his clangers could not have come at worse times in the game. I wish he was a bit more animated when it comes to penalties as he looks easy to beat. Strong words needed but should start next week given his previous solid form.    

Johnson and Ferrante solid in midfield. Ferrante gave his all, could have made better passing decisions at times and his corners were poor but if everyone played with his commitment we'd have done a hell of a lot better.

Royal2008-08-24 20:39:23

Overall I think we were simply outplayed by a better team.  Though, it was an improvement on last weeks performance. 

I agree with some posts here.  Daniel had a great game so why did Herbert not bring on Coveny for Kwasnik? Coveny played really well when he came on and perhaps he should be given a chance for next week?

Again, I am in agreement with some posts here.  We were playing sexy football in the middle of the park when we should have been playing down the flanks or long balls.  Conditions were better for having two strikers up (as evident when Coveny came on).

Melbourne played some devastating balls for the goals and were deadly going forward.  Don't think it mattered who was marking Allsop I think we need to admit that he looks like an accomplished striker.

Crossing seemed to be a tad better than last week but still the odd cross not making it past the first man.  What's that all about?

In my opinion the team seemed to do what was asked of them.  Not sure about Herbert's tactics though.

P.S If I am not mistaken one of their goals was due to a large hole on the left hand side so how can we blame Muskat for that?

lozenge2008-08-24 20:46:52

Kwasnik played better than Daniel? You're having a laugh!
Arsenal2008-08-24 20:50:09

Oh - dear

Thought Ricki made a big blunder taking Daniel off, should have taken Ferrante or Johnson off for Coveny if he wanted to be more attacking!

I think he was pulled off because he wasn't playing well, we were losing and we needed a forward on. As for the comments about Kwasnik, he was better value than Daniel.
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Kwasnik played better than Daniel? You're having a laugh!
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Last years problems have not been resolved. Our defence was no better today then it was last season and we still can't attack up the middle. We dominate for periods and have possesion but despite this we don't look dnagerous enough to score. Smeltz was classy today, getting two goals in such a poor performance and I can't see who else is going to get a goal in this team except maybe Daniel.

I think that playing two holding midfielders is a mistake. We need to play two upfront.

What about Hearfield playing up with Smeltz in a striker's role?
Arsenal2008-08-24 21:26:11

I was on Aisle 11. Their second goal looked offside - other than that, we got pasted. Fair and square.

I haven't seen the caketin pitch look that soggy before, but that is not an excuse. Horrible horrible memories of last season.


Horrible.

But we will get better. Why? Because I just know.

[QUOTE=muso]man im incensed by watching this game, on the one hand we are not playing very well, on the other the refereeing is HORRIBLE. how the heck can we play when he has no control on the game whatsoever. every time we get a break, beat a player and get brought down nothing happens, just a freekick, they must have had 100 warnings by now so WHERE ARE THE MELBOURNE CARDS. why did fabiano not get carded for diving TWICE. its absolutely pathetic, the a-league will go nowhere like this. it happens week in and week out. cards are there for a reason.

felipe2008-08-24 21:29:47

Oh by the way Arsenal, and this is off topic but I am strangely memorized by your signature picture. I hate it, yet I can not look away�
mikecj2008-08-24 21:31:48

Their 2nd Goal was Smeltz fault. He played it straight to the player who played the through ball.

I still feel sick and upset. 

Three amateur goals conceded by us (the penalty against us in my opinion shouldn't have been given, but neither did the penalty against Melbourne look deserved from where I was sitting).  Ricki won't be happy with the way the first three goals were scored against us, especially given the effort the club's made in the off-season to consolidate the defence and midfield.

From my vantage point, I saw a lot of yellow fluros amongst the Yellow Fever tonight. Seemed like a bit more than last week. Something go down over there or something?