R15 vs Newcastle Jets | Sun 17 Jan | 7:00pm | SS4

Newcastle currently in a 559 minutes goal drought. So expect them to score.

Roly and A-Rod back.

And if they don't score for 49 minutes they will break the NZ Knights record (608 minutes) against the Nix

48 minutes.

How much is another 0-0 draw paying at the TAB?

I can see this or Lia/Rodriguez being removed for Sarpong.

It's a weird problem for the Phoenix to have (when looking over our history) but we really have a log-jam of midfielders at the moment. Trying to fit Riera, Lia, Rodriguez, Bonevacia, and McGlinchey into one team really doesn't work in a sense, and forces us to play some of them out of position, or at least muddle with our shape. WeeMac for example looked a lot more comfortable in a more traditional AM role on the weekend I thought. But these players have all been some of our best performed at various times, and definitely more worthy of a start than the likes of Powell, Sarpong and Appiah. Tricky one really.

Looking forward to seeing the same back four get another shot though.

I think it works if you play a 4-5-1 and you can tell the likes of Roly, McGlinchey and A-Rod that they can attack with reckless abandon and tell Riera and Lia to be mindful of their position on the pitch. We get caught on the counter a lot and am not sure the players have the execution right yet.

But we had Roy Krishna there, and he made a key difference for both our goals.

Agree with JV except Appiah on bench ahead of Sarpong.

Re: the midfield logjam - I think some of the problem is with Roly and WeeMac both trying to play the same creative role behind the forward line, drifting laterally across the field and trying to find pockets of space. If they're both there then they basically get in each others way. 

I said earlier in the year that I'd like to see Roly play deeper and I stand by it - if he's further back on the pitch he gets more time on the ball and more opportunity to play the killer ball as a result. He's always double marked further forward, so if he dropped back it would also create more space outside the opposition area for WeeMac and our forwards to exploit too. Seeing as we lack natural width, we can't use the breadth of the pitch to pull defences out of shape. What we can do though is use the depth of the pitch instead - try and use the space further back in the pith to stretch the opposition's defence out of shape instead. 

Make other teams midfielders choose between pushing up on Roly and leaving space between the lines, or not focusing on him as much to preserve their shape but allowing him space and time on the ball to dictate play.

Actually need 3 points here

TAB has Jets as slight favourites.

Gawd we must be sharke!

Like it. Though the natural lack of width seems to be better with Gulley and Danaskos - Danaskos in particular spent a lot of time as the most advanced player, out on the left wing.

Agreed.

I am pleased with have gone with Danaskos lately ahead of Doyle, he seems to be less wayward. Also, Gulley is a different player to Fenton. Maybe not as fast (not a real overlapping fullback) but less tentative about getting into a tackle.

a defender.

I also liked Doyle coming on to replace Gulley, it gave the Raw a different skill set to cope with, when they were getting on top.

I am actually a bit hopeful on this one - I should know better by now but...

Sarpong is out with a calf strain

http://www.a-league.com.au/article/hyundai-a-leagu...

Thinking a 4321 with WeeMac and Roly behind Powell and ARod replacing Ridenton and being on the the 3 CM. Same back 4.

That's interesting. I would like to see Appiah play, myself. Someone made a good point that Roly would be a better player if he was further back in midfield as he would have more space. He couldn't do that in your formation.

yeah, I did say that, simply because I do not think Roly and WeeMac interplay all that well together (as forwards). 

Roly could be more useful a bit further back so he is closer to Riera (similar skills / thinking) and he wouldn't get fouled so much.

So..I've been away for about a month gallivanting around Europe - tried multiple times to watch Phoenix games with Hotel Wi-Fi failing me every attempt. (followed on twitter instead)

It seems like I haven't missed much.

Obviously we will win now I am back. Put your money on it.

Done.

Put my life savings on it (you had better not be wrong).

for the lols?

I hope we win

We got humped at the beginning of the season. I'm still pissed. We have to smash them!

Yep - I am also cut up about that bad loss in our first home game of the season. 

I still wonder if that was the sign that our backline was too slow (especially for Carney's header). 

The Jets were not a better team but they outsmarted us. We did not score even one goal despite having plenty of possession.

We had all our first choice squad playing on the day - and they managed to get away with a clean sheet by parking the bus.

I need to be on the 1:19

We weren't the only team they did that to. They played negative, horribly unforgivably boring football in a league where you can't get relegated.

Anyone got a stream?

yes, it runs through the back garden, little wooden bridge over it, lovely on a sunny day like today.

When we purchased our home, we were seriously looking at a house that had a stream running under the master bedroom. It popped in one side and out the other. Would have been pleasant to fall asleep to that noise, but then the house was listed as having pile problems, was going for under  RV. And having pile problems when it's a three story house and built on top of a stream, well that doesn't sound cheap.

Hmm, wasn't it 2-1? Or have I completely lost the plot?

On today's game, I'm tempted to wager everything I own on 0-0.