The Adelaide game thread

Shane Smeltz had a good game
But the rest well lets start at the back. Big mistake plaing Patson ahead of Mossy whose played well considering the lack of defence. I'm a fan of Lockhead but tonight neither him or Christie pushed up like they have done in previous games. There's no pace in the back four, how many times have we been beaten by a simple through ball!!
Lia is average. The midfield hasn't worked together or fallen back when appropriate. And when ever we are going forward we are always facing the wrong way and playing it back then a wild ball over the top. Aloisi is very over rated he's slow and lacks skill.
Ok we've got some Brazilian flair but they lack agression and passion. Daniel's always falling over. Vaugh Coveny super sub. YEA RIGHT. Costa Babaros the young guy should be on the bench atleast. He's quick and has enthusiasm which is essential.
Just look at Queensland Roar and the young guys theyve bought in up front; they add a new dimension to the game as well as speed.
Elrich and Filipe were quiet but thats understandable. I guess we are still a new team but we are better than the team that played tonight thats for sure.
I'm coming over for the Sydney game on jan 4th so hopefully Ricky sorts them out by then. Sydney looked good today.
Atleast it wasn't another 2-1 loss looking at the positive side! We've stopped that trend.
If we win one of the next two then I'll be happy. Frustrated at the moment though!!!

They had more passion more desire ,they looked sharper fitter and more aware and composed than us!
Why the HOOF BALL  in the second half ?
Thats twice that Casio has ripped the arse out of us ,and bringing on a cart horse like Coveney was hardly inspirational !
We so desperately need a big ugly hard bastard at the back and a captain who at least looks like he is communicating with his team!
Wheres my medicine!!
Kiwi Jambo2007-10-28 21:06:12

 Can't wait till 17 November...this old bastard will be screaming the Caketin down ..ON PHOENIX ON. 

Spot on. Every other team in the league seems to have one except us.

Yeah and how does he buy players with no open spots in the squad....

There's a huge difference between being dissapointed with your team and saying you're going to 'sell your scarf' and jump off the bandwagon.

Jeez - doesn't make for very good reading...6 Losses, 2 more than the Glory and we have hit the twenty's in goals conceded...what the stroy for the next transfers period? God I hope we have a few experienced defenders in mind. Still have the 2nd best attack...jesus, how crucial is this Perth game for this club?? God, it's going to be a loooong week at work this week!

ahh well  sh*t happens we played poor (to say the least)  smeltz for mom  played well all day
lets hope we can pull off another victory against the glory  and hope for some draws further up the table to help us out

 COYN 

You were making sense until the Aloisi comment then you lost it totally

  We don't want Gerry Brownlee..

smeltz was briliant, shame about the rest of the team, first half we were looking good.

Some of our passing is disgraceful and we can hardly string more than 3/4 together without it going tits up.For every good thing one of our supposed stars does they seem to make more cockups.Some consistency is all we want,and not the sort of consistency we are getting at the moment either.

Last couple weeks I also think has shown Ricky  may not have been correct in some of the decisions he is making either.For a team that should be working on their defensive work it sure isnt showing where it counts. 

I think the hoops were there to make sure the fan numbers were high enough and the support strong enough. We have a fraction of the population Sydney has and we manage almost as many fans at a home game. i love football, but understand that to the men at the top it's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$ and currently we bring in the cash.

The Warriors made the top 4 this year. What are you talking about?

Lets push FFA for a long term license then and really plan going forward.

Overall that was a pathetic effort. Showed glimpses in the first half, but apart from Smeltz's goal, nothing came of them. You could see how badly the wind affected us in the second half, but we can't use that as an excuse as we should have stamped our authority on the match when we had the wind.

You can see just how badly we need someone in defence. With Dodd, we are like a leaking tap, without him we are shocking. We really need to free up a spot and buy a good centre back.

I'm quite frustrated at the moment, but am looking forward to cheering the Phoenix on next week.

[/QUOTE]You were making sense until the Aloisi comment then you lost it totally[/QUOTE]

Ah i dunno, he hasn't played that well really. How do you justify him as a good player? i'd rather have his brother in the team

Yeah, but we need one who can actually play

well done new zealandpower near the start of the thread for predicting we'd score first --- brave prediction- but on the button --- yay we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first yay we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first yay we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first  we scored first yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

there's only one person to blame for us having sh*t defense and thats Ricki! We had a golden opportunity to grab Danny Hay but Ricki and his seemingly f**ked up ideas had decided against that, only to regret it - "I'd like to revisit that option" - Ultra-poor performance from a team that could with some decent coaching go on to make it big, poor selections i.e. No Moss and bringing Coveny on late in game (why? the mans 102 years old!), and poor tactics only means one thing A LOSS!

C'mon boys! show them your not a bunch of easy beats!
Danny_Biggie2007-10-28 21:25:28

I'm afraid that could be it for Pasty for a while...... COME ON PHOENIX! SORT OUT THAT DEFENCE!!

P$ss poor effort all round.  Perfect start and then we concede within a minute due to poor marking.  I hate to say it, but we need a re-think and I would start by giving Ross A a rest next week.  Good player but lacks pace and he's not showing enough leadership.  We must start with Brown - and make him skipper.  Felipe did nothing today.  Coveney must start next week.  Daniel went missing second half.  Moss should also come back in.  I would also leave Lia out.  He's not impressed me at all yet.  We should probably give Cleberson a run in the middle of defence.  We've tried just about every other combination so stick him back in with Dodd.  It can't be any worse.  We are fast becoming the laughing stocks of the A League.  Just what we didn't want.   

Well Ricki would disagree and since none of the defence CAN play as a team, why not have someone who can defend not just punt the ball back up the field and wait for another attack.

You're just repeating what was said in the article earlier today/yesterday. I doubt you even knew who Danny Hay was before that article.

Feel sorry for the chaps who said they'd bet $100 on a Phoenix win. Goes to show bettings not worth it.

Wouldve been better than the 3 muskateers. Then again, who wouldnt.

I can see your point Danny but if you are Ricki and somebody, whose judgement you trust offers you a Brazilian centre back who's playing in Europe would you have chosen Danny Hay. I sure as f**k wouldn't. Yeah, he might have made the wrong choice, but hindsight's a wonderful thing.

p.s. Just for the record, I reckon Danny Hay is just as much a donkey as Clebo seems to be
Auckland Jag2007-10-28 21:32:02

MOSS copped so abuse about his command & aerial ability with his tendency to punch.....I say Paston is just too slow off his line & lacks in his shot stopping ability....how them apples MESSIAH2007-10-28 21:29:01

Nah Danny Hay would of been an awful signing mate i'm afraid i have to disagree with you there. There is no way i'd want to see Hay in a Nix shirt EVER!!

Agree, I've been disappointed with Aloisi all year. Glad that Ricki finally took him off. If someone is your highest earner, and he is outside Elrich, and your leader, and he is, you expect more from him. His distribution has been poor and his lack of pace is being exposed.

But again, defending begins from the front and if the likes of Felipe, Daniel and Elrich can't be bothered to turn on their heels and track back what hope does our defence have?

It's time they all got a size 10 up their arse and got some desperation into their play. We are now playing cup football every week if we want to make the top 4 or barring that just winning games by being more desperate, more hungry than other sides.

I've got to question Rikci's tactics away from home. Playing Felipe, Daniel and Elrich is asking for trouble. Where's swamping the midfield and hitting on the counter? I know he was hindered by a new centreback pairing but FFS - we brought this on ourselves.

It's just like watching Spurs ....

DOUBT ALL YOU WANT, i've been following Danny Hay since the Kingz and hes always impressed.

BEN SIGMUND IF YOUR READING THIS PLEASE SIGN WITH THE PHOENIX!