Player ratings v Asian Champions

Mossy 8 A couple of super saves to keep us in it

Louis 6 Did well down wing, made one great block, Missed two goals that he should have got on target and carried off. A busy night. Poor bugger.
Siggy 6.5 Solid
Dura 6.5 Led team well
Manny 5.5 Did get owned several times but also some good moments winning the ball
Riera 7 Held the shape really well
A Rod 6 His best game in the A League
Lia 7 Nice passes, a good link in the chain
Roly 7 Making some things happen, but too often there's no one available to get into their defence
Burns 6 Scored, but too often his touch wasn't as good as usual. Better second half.
Mikey 6 Would have been more but a poor pen dropped it
Roy 7.5 Hooray something up front, did the trick very well
Boxy 6.5 Added something too, even though he as just replacing injury

Ernie, hmm, very narrow game, no one gets in behind the defence, but it worked so, I guess I won't complain!
YF 7 Sounded good and looked great at 80 mins!

Roly was good, but he shouldn't be our front man imo.

I honestly think we have looked a more dangerous attacking team with him in the middle and Brockie up front. Lia did well, but we lose something with the current set up. 

Would drop Fenton to about a 3 and Manny a 5. 

Def think we need to play Brockie (or any striker). It just balances the team a whole lot better. Several times Burns or Weemac would break and nobody would be central

Louis covered some sereous miles, I thought he did a good job.

Not sure that Krishna did enough to warrant a 7.5

I'd give Siggy and Dura more than 6.5. Even though to an extent the WSW forward line misfired I thought those two were very, very good, especially Dura, who for me produced his best game of the season so far. He was on hand 3 or 4 times to save Manny's bacon, while I noticed that Siggy was getting in lots of those trademark interceptions he was well known for a few seasons back. 

Although the incredible amount of activity going on in midfield probably took most of the attention it was the solidity of Moss, Siggy, Dura and Riera just in front that was the basis of our first clean sheet in god knows how long.

Special mention for Fenton too: although he did butcher that chance he also saved an almost certain goal in about the 5th minute when he flung in a great last ditch tackle on Fofanah just as he was about to pull the trigger six yards out.

Serious?

Dura did this when Doyle cocked up with the og against the Mariners. He has been excellent this season.

You must be the only one.

Fenton ran a lot but can someone count how many times he actually got past their defender? I think it was about twice. He's just not very good.

He won a few free kicks though... and his crosses were generally dangerous.

That been said, I though boxall looked very good.

But how many times did anyone else beat their defender? He only lost the ball in possession once last night.

Their left back was by far their worst player, Fenton should have exposed him more. For me he didnt do enough. Poor guy out for another season!

Think Siggy has come back quite well after his mini-mare against Perth too. His distribution is much better - strangely it's better than Dura's at the moment.

Dura needs to cut the complaining out of his game, though - it seems to filter through to everyone else; he complained about a possible handball for a good ~20 seconds when it was never going to be given. (and the was complaining while the ball was still in play and even turned his back to it)

I find it extraordinary that people believe that Fenton should have done better in the one on ones. To cover those kinds of miles out of right back and expect him to crack out the futsal moves when he gets down the far end is crazy. TBH he was actually getting past their LB more than Burns aswell even though he was covering those miles. I think 6 is the right rating

I totally agree about the complaining but it's so much part and parcel of the game now days that I've thrown up my hands in defeat. Coaches actively encourage their players to get in the face of the ref at every opportunity with the kind of abuse that 20 years ago would've earned you an early shower for sure. Then when refs finally crack under the immense pressure put on them and make a mistake we all put the boot in. Frankly it amazes me that anybody would want to be a ref.

btw, valeo complaining about complaining is a nice irony!

Really? In the first half he was bloody good on our side of the field. Him and Fenton both had good games and because they didnt have a left midfielder, there was a lot of space that both full backs enjoyed. It was a great tussle.

Everyone is saying Fenton looks good going forward, but he just cant defend. His positioning is horrid and he has terrible acceleration, he gets schooled by anyone that has some ball skills.

Ernie asks a lot of the players that play in that position. You have to get forward at pace and get the ball in and then you have to get back to defend. Last season I thought Boxall actually did ok there.

How many times did anyone else miss two clear cut goals ?

I'll give you the header, but where was the other one?

The shot into the side of the net? No composure, he didn't even look at the goal just whacked it. From that position at 0-0 in the second half you have to score. Simple really.

And to all the people defending his performance based on "he only gave the ball away once" just sums it up. I'm glad Boxall is back. Now you will see the beast unleashed.

The one from a tight angle with one defender and one goal keeper in the way? Had a very small narrow of opportunity to score. Try to pop it top corner and missed. Hardly a clear cut miss.

Why don't people give Roly a 3 for missing from 4 yards out. Or Burns when he misses one on ones?

See the cards fly.

Ridiculous, you don't piss around with a loose ball in the box. He did exactly what he should have, blast it near post. Fenton was a really good wide outlet for us last night, no two ways about it, whenever we needed width he was always there. Sure hes not solid defensively but you take any other left wing in the A-league and put him at  right back and see how well he does.

Fenton has clear further potential.  His development at this level has not been straightforward due to positional fucking around/redeployment to suit the team/ and his injuries. 

You'll be the business for us Louis, in a white shirt and the yellow and black - hang in there.

Ian Ramsay.

Josh Rose

Josh Rose only ever plays well against us

Ernie clearly likes him for this reason though. We obviously had a plan of attacking up the right and Lia would tuck in and cover Fenton. If Fenton was playing in a way Ernie didn't want him to then why would he keep picking Fenton?

Yep, think that was Fenton's job - Manny was the more defensive of the two and as you said Lia was there to cover. I thought that actually worked okay.

It worked okay against the bottom of the league team who were knackered. What happened last Monday? Fenton got turned inside out more times than I could count. Their first goal was a result of Lia trying to cover Fenton but fucking up and awarding them a free kick in which they scored from.

I'm sure Louie is a nice guy but I want better players in the team I support.

Im not hating on Fenton, I think he has real potential in the front third, but he shouldnt be learning how to defend in the a league.

If you guys feel that way you need to be blaming Ernie Merrick and not Louis Fenton. Merrick obviously wants a wing back who offers something in attack which makes sense when you play a narrow 4-3-3. I just don't think you can blame Fenton.

S.A.C.K Ernie

or *cough* penalty? 

Man, we beat up our home grown players. Burns was in the right place for the goal, but 2/5 of f^&* all earlier in the game. 

Yeah, and Roly bombed one from right in front early didn't he? Until someone else mentioned it above I thought I had imagined it because no one else said anything.

As I see it the issue wasn't with Fenton, but with the whole balance of the side. Manny always looks to get forward more from RB than LB I think, probably because he's right footed and therefore more comfortable dribbling and crossing from the right. When he was at RB and Doyle was at LB we linked up well in the wide areas on both sides. However, with an extra centre mid and one less striker we are narrower so there's more pressure on the fullbacks to do work down the wings. Manny didn't get forward or link with WeeMac really at all, so Fenton stands out as the only fullback going forward. But with Burns more central he just lacked options a lot of the time. It's also easier to defend against a man running at you if he doesn't have many options to pass to.

Totally agree and yet no one is bagging Manny, who as pointed out earlier needed a hand from Dura a few times defensively as well.