R17 v Newcastle Jets | Sat 20th Jan | 7.30pm | SS3

Game this weekend against the high flying Jets. Paracki is out because of 5th yellow, so should see Ljujic into the starting XI I think.

Trouble is, neither he nor Riddenton are known for their defensive qualities...so that could pose some problems, give how shaky our defense has looked since the start of the season...

Weemac to play deeper? 

I wonder if Darije might give Rufer a go (unlikely, I know)

On current form, I really hope not.
I know we're short of options, I just think WeeMac has been needlessly aggressive in MF recently and his tracking hasn't been up to scratch. Don't really know where we go from here. Rufer played well in that position earlier in the season IIRC but he's been out of the team for so long that I don't think that will happen anyway.

Pumped for this game.

I think we have a real shot, and a win would be a result to make us look serious about making the 6. And really turn our season around.

Also against Ernie will be epic to take a win!

FIRE UP!!

I'm rather pessimistic. Preparing for a thrashing and anyone complaining about Paracki's form to eat their words to some extent. I don't think out midfield will function without him.
Will a CB (Fox or Mullen?) have to fill the DM spot?

Oh, I think Paracki is the best option we have there, but his form still hasn't been amazing.

Fox and Paracki out really dents our defensive structure. I thought Fox was superb for those one and half games, it's just a real shame that he has so many problems with injury.

I recall Weemac doing a pretty good job at 6 v Peru at the tin.

The one time I'll be happy with a back 5. Yep Mullen to CB and Galloway to start.

Mcglinchy will drop further back to form a midfield of weemac, Ljujic, and ridenton.

Up front Krishna and Kalu9.

Park the bus and get them on the counter, could work. And seeing at the jets like to play on the counter they may struggle against a deep and numbered back line.

We hope I Win

I think he played much better against WSW, now that our midfield looked a bit more solid.

And I hope win

This is gonna be tricky but I hope we win.

I hope we gonna be tricky enough to win

Not sure i've ever shared this on the forums before but I really really really hate the Jest!

I want the 5 at the back formation scarped, play 4-4-2.

yep give em a good scarping

Win is gonna be tricky but I hope

This

We'd be better off if the back five were sculpted.

was this not 3-2-3-2    When in possession  looked more 4-4-2 or 4 -3-3 2nd half  On defence 5?-3?+1-1 

On defence more often it was scramble.  

I actually think that starting with a more defensive formation is the way to go against the Jest.  Merrick plays attractive, possession-based football but nothing gets up his teams' nose more than playing well and going down a goal.

How many times did this happen to us while he was coaching us?? And how many times did we concede a second as we started pushing further up the pitch to look for an equalizer?

We know that 4-4-2 with the addition of Burns and Ljujic (who will probably start) works, but it's also a nice ace to keep up your sleeve for later in the game.

EDIT: forgot to add nose

I thought our defensive structure in the 5-3-2 was fantastic. Ridenton/McGlinchey did a great job of pressing the fullbacks when they got high, and Paracki and the other CM were then able to shift centrally to cover the gap. One striker dropped in on the deepest midfielder and we were able to number up nicely and blunt their attacks. It was pretty clear that they've had those positional plays drilled into them because of the consistency of how they pulled it off. 

We looked less threatened in the 4-2-3-1 because we simply had more ball, but I think we're far more vulnerable to counter attacks with that shape given our CBs extreme lack of pace.

Kalezic looks like he knows what he's doing from a defending standpoint, and the players are starting to execute it properly now.

Fire up

It's Wednesday.

12 games left this season and only 4 at Westpac.

This is where interest starts to wain.

Really do need to add more teams to the league. Urgently. What's FFA's current thinking on expansion? 

They seem reasonably preoccupied with keeping their jobs and ruining the game in Australia for now, so probably about to push it back til 2024

Looking to replace us

Otherwise SFA

2 games home, 2 games away, can the finals please.

wow..what a weird draw.  Still thats 8 away games to win...

In order to get Burns into the same XI as AK9 and Krishna he's either going to have to scrap the back 5 (unlikely) or move to a flat 2 in midfield (5-2-3 or 3-4-3). With Paracki out this week it could be a good opportunity to move to the latter. Assuming Fox is out (anyone heard?):

Italiano; Galloway, Mullen, Dura, Rossi, Doyle; Ljujic, Ridenton; Krishna, AK9, Burns

Doesn't give Ljujic much licence to roam forward though ...

Someone should post a line up of what will actually happen. Not what they want to happen haha.

Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic confirms Dylan Fox is out for 1-3 weeks with a hamstring. Goran Paracki suspended this week for 5 yellow cards. Everyone else fit to face Jets @ALeague

— Jason Pine (@pineyzb) January 17, 2018