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!
Grumpy old bastard alert
In terms of performance, Fenton did some things well and some things he needs to improve on
He did cover a stack load of miles and he is bloody fit, and he was always available for the outlet pass and bombed up his flank. I don't recall him specifically giving the ball away but that's not to say it did not happen however in light of no evidence, the defence rests that he did not.
What I see is that being the more attacking of the two 'wing backs' then he needs to offer something attacking being a deliberate ploy. Yes he bombed forward in space. Great. What came of it? He did not beat that left back once. He didn't whip in any low (or high) crosses. If his role is to beat the man, get to the bi-line and cut it back and be an attacking threat then great, he failed. If it was to be an outlet and carry the attack forward to get us up the park, then great, he passed. I challenge those who say he was great on attack to ask what was generated from him runs. The answer is nothing cause he could not beat the left back whom was bloody good. I think you share that blame around for someone not identifying that the tactic was not working and try something else.
I just looked at his performance in an attacking sense and it was very one note. If you can't beat the guy, try something else. He did not try anything else. That's why I rate him as a fail. It had shades of Totori in that Totori was all about 'give me the ball and I'll just run past him' How did that work out for him. More to the point that he needed to look at other options when his main trick failed
Grumpy old bastard alert
In terms of performance, Fenton did some things well and some things he needs to improve on
He did cover a stack load of miles and he is bloody fit, and he was always available for the outlet pass and bombed up his flank. I don't recall him specifically giving the ball away but that's not to say it did not happen however in light of no evidence, the defence rests that he did not.
What I see is that being the more attacking of the two 'wing backs' then he needs to offer something attacking being a deliberate ploy. Yes he bombed forward in space. Great. What came of it? He did not beat that left back once. He didn't whip in any low (or high) crosses. If his role is to beat the man, get to the bi-line and cut it back and be an attacking threat then great, he failed. If it was to be an outlet and carry the attack forward to get us up the park, then great, he passed. I challenge those who say he was great on attack to ask what was generated from him runs. The answer is nothing cause he could not beat the left back whom was bloody good. I think you share that blame around for someone not identifying that the tactic was not working and try something else.
I just looked at his performance in an attacking sense and it was very one note. If you can't beat the guy, try something else. He did not try anything else. That's why I rate him as a fail. It had shades of Totori in that Totori was all about 'give me the ball and I'll just run past him' How did that work out for him. More to the point that he needed to look at other options when his main trick failed
Our attack was too predictable- just through Burns and Fenton. When we began to move around more it was a bit more dangerous.
I should probably add to that this morning, I don't think Fenton had a bad game. I just want to see him look at the game and the options available to him
Grumpy old bastard alert
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.
The real problem is that in a country of 4.5 million we can't produce a couple of fullbacks / wingbacks good enough for the A-League....
Big Pete 65, Christchurch
To be fair, it's been a problem for most teams since the A-League started.
a.haak
In terms of performance, Fenton did some things well and some things he needs to improve on
What I see is that being the more attacking of the two 'wing backs' then he needs to offer something attacking being a deliberate ploy. Yes he bombed forward in space. Great. What came of it? He did not beat that left back once. He didn't whip in any low (or high) crosses. If his role is to beat the man, get to the bi-line and cut it back and be an attacking threat then great, he failed. If it was to be an outlet and carry the attack forward to get us up the park, then great, he passed. I challenge those who say he was great on attack to ask what was generated from him runs. The answer is nothing cause he could not beat the left back whom was bloody good. I think you share that blame around for someone not identifying that the tactic was not working and try something else.
I just looked at his performance in an attacking sense and it was very one note. If you can't beat the guy, try something else. He did not try anything else. That's why I rate him as a fail. It had shades of Totori in that Totori was all about 'give me the ball and I'll just run past him' How did that work out for him. More to the point that he needed to look at other options when his main trick failed
You need to look at this, you are wrong in your assertion above
http://www.australiascout.com/2014/wellington-phoenix-western-sydney-wanderers-tactical-analysis/
He actually beat the fullback 2 or 3 times and had more luck than Burns. I think you should watch it again.
Also, his main purpose was to be a threat - to push the fullback back and force Rukavytsya to sit deep in defensive positions. He passed.
a.haak