Team for Friday against Sydney

Team for Friday against Sydney

What will be the team for Fridays game against Sydney.?

Brown,Lia and Daniel definetly out.

Probably Rickie will field the same team that played so well against the Jets. Brown will be replaced by Johnno or even Aloisi if he's fit. Dodd will be back in defense for sure. Replacing Lia on the left will be more difficult....probably the best option is to move a natural lefty like Lockhead up in his place.

I would like to see O'dor in place of Old. My nerves could'nt take another 90 mins like the Jets game.


                 Moss
O'dor   Dodd    Rees
Lockhead Ferrante Johnno Felipe Elrich
       Smeltz    Coveny

Thats probably the team I would have aswell.

yea i agree

looks like a decent side, but I'm not sure about O'Dor as a wide defender - he looked woeful against CCM in that position early in the season

Yes, I agree about O'dor....but its him or Old..take your pick.

Playing what are essentially 3 centrebacks in defense does leave us exposed for pace, but there are not a lot of options. Personally I think Rickie will play Old again. He seems to have a lot of faith in him.

can't we clone Rees 

Yep that would be the best line-up. I thought Daniel was gonna be back for the 4th.

But is Lochhead a 'natural lefty'? I've only ever seen him on the right this season, and I assume this is where he is comfortable.

StopOut, when Locky looks like he's on the right on your tv screen, he's really on the left on the field!!!! He's never played on the right!

He's only on the right if you watch it standing on your head!!!!!

2 game suspension for getting 7 yellows over the season.

But hasn't daniel now missed 2 games? or has december just been a big drunken blur for me?

Daniel, Lia and Brown are all out for this match with suspensions!!


I think it will be

               Moss
Old          Rees       Dodd
Elrich Ferrante Johnno Felipe Lockhead
       Smeltz    Coveny

Subs   Odor, Christie, Draper, Paston


Ricky hasnt changed much when we have won and he seems to favour Old even if most on here dont.

he's only missed one fitz, have you got any L&P in the fridge? 

this team would be perfect (except I'd have locky  on the left and elrich on the right :P

L&P, what kinda beer is that?

Dunno's team looks pretty good, I'll be picking another 3-2 win though as the back 3 looks a bit marginal.

depending who plays on Friday, we might have five players on the park who are one card away from suspension (luckily Brown, Lia and Daniel will be back in the frame for Melbourne)

currently on 3 yellows are - Lochhead, Aloisi, Johnno, Jeremy - "i'll say what i like, cos I'm not on the park ... oh sh*t" - Christie , and Ahmed -"'get those bastards back 10 metres ref" - Elrich

interesting times

Hopefully Karl Dodd has recovered from his virus. Will be a very welcome return.

O'Dor is a worse player than Old in his present state imo - I think that O'Dor has huge potential for the future though. Old doesn't.

Lia and Brown aren't unreplacable losses imo. Lochy can push up into midfield like a few people have already said and Johnno is a more than able replacement for Brown.

Dodd would be a huge boost. He is our most able defender. Rees looks more comfortable with Dodd there because he knows he can push forward more and be covered. I just wish we had a right back because Dodd or Rees cannot and should not play wide.

valeo2008-01-02 02:16:45

Sydney team news from Sydney morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/news/a-league/bridges-set-to-end-season-as-spectator/2008/01/02/1198949899526.html


Bridges not playing, Santalab and Biddle keep their spots, juninho on the bench (as already noted on here somewhere)

Bridges rumoured to be on his way back to Hull City

Milligan is out injured too.

Absolutely agree with all of that.

Why not give Christie a run at the back? Surely wouldnt be as uncertain as Old seems to be...?

i've wondered about christie coming back in on the right, but since the switch to 3 at the back he seems to have fallen out of favour

if Lochy is in the back 3, then Rees is the choice on the right side for me

if lochy is wingback then it seems that Rees fills the right and Old is considered a better bet than Christie on the left

i couldnt care less as long as smeltz and felipe start and we get a team on the pitch and belt the sh*t out of these arses

I'd definitely keep Covs in the line up because he's really impressed me playing as a holding man for Smeltz. When he's been played earlier in the season he was just another striker who seemed a little too slow for the league, but Ricky has used his height and strength to knock the ball down and through for Smeltzy and Felipe. He won't score many, but he's making sure Smeltzy is scoring lots.

I think you have to play Lochead in the backs even though Danial is missing. I just don't see Old or O'Dor making the starting lineup at the moment and I don't really trust Christie at the back either. This probably means Christie will come in as a midfielder (probably on the left)  if they stick with a 3-5-2 but could come in at right back if they revert to a 4-4-2.

I'd not be too surprised if we see Ricki revert to a 4-4-2 on Friday night, rather than play people out of position.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10485165

another pre-match piece from the Herald (the nz one this time)

a few quotes from Ross and Ricki but no additional team news


re the match squad from the front page of our site

Wellington Phoenix squad: 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 2. Jeremy CHRISTIE, 3.
Tony LOCHHEAD, 5.Karl DODD, 7. Ross ALOISI, 8.Vaughan COVENY, 9. Shane
SMELTZ, 10.Michael FERRANTE, 12. Richard JOHNSON, 13. Steven OLD, 14.
Steven O'DOR, 16.Kristian REES, 17.Vince LIA, 18. Ahmad ELRICH, 19. Greg
DRAPER, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 21.FELIPE, 23 Costa BARBAROUSES. *three to be
omitted

we can take Lia out and make that 2 to be omitted

could be DLB, but i'm not sure how that would necessarily help solve the lack of a recognized left sided midfield player (presuming Lochy stays at the back)

You would probably see Felipe play on the left if they did move to a 4-4-2 and just tell Lochead to get forward a lot.

Why would you change a winning formation???

3- 5- 2 has been working for us. We have got 7 out of 9 points in the last 3 games using it!

Dont bet on Old being on the bench, Ricki rates him in the right back position, he has left him there even though we have all moaned about him.

Something like this

Old Rees Dodd

and the midfield

Elrich Ferrante Johnno Felipe Lockhead

Thats my pick. Ricki seems to be conservative, and has changed winning sides as little as possible so farhepatitis2008-01-03 16:57:09

we know what team he's playing, and its 3-5-2. It will be great to see Lochy pushing forward again. All this talk about left and right in a back three doesnt really make any difference. It is all about defending and closing the wide men down, not playing the ball out with a a particular foot and overlapping. They are merely three stoppers.