vs Sydney ROF 7:15pm Sat

vs Sydney ROF 7:15pm Sat

Ward, Muscat and North in for me. Would have Lochhead dropping out but Hearfield was even worse for me against the Glory.

agreed.

Muscat and North will have both played 3 days before on the other side of the world.  Don't hold your breath.

 Paston

Sigmund  Durante  North  Muscat (in some combination or another)

Daniel  Ward  Lia  Ifill

Greenacre  Pav

North in could mean a back three. Which means Lochhead and Hearfield aren't as necessary...

In that case James Musa in, Hearfield out. 

Vukovic
North-Sigmund-Dura-Lochhead
Ward-Brown-Lia-Bertos
Pavlovic-IfillLuis Garcia2010-09-05 22:34:25

Pasty

SIGMUND IS NOT A RIGHT BACK.
But Id like to see pav start

+1.

if all are fit and ready:

              Paston
North Siggy Durante Muscat
           Brown Lia
Ifill       Greenacre       Daniel
             Pavlovich

Give Ward another week on the bench maybe. bertos on the bench still. Dmac/ lochy/ toto there too?

If we have 3 at the back, Siggy needs to be in the middle and Durante and North outside I think.

Siggy's best asset is staying in around the box IMO, Durante and North can do the wide work with Manny in DM playing sweeer to help

I'm terrified that Sydney will come right in time for this one.

                      Vukovic

         Durante   Siggy   North

                     Muscat

            Brown          Ward

Hearfield                           Ifill

                     Greenacre

       Pavlovic

Subs: Paston, Lochhead, Bertos, MacAllister

Hearfield's not a defender but could be better than Daniel and Bertos (possibly put together) and in this case he can still run back and fail in defence.

Well whatever it is, some serious tactical thought that doesn't include either of the formations on show today.

Troy demonstrated his lack of usefullness to the club today in his inability to cover right back properly. Though Dura or Siggie or Ritchie should've been talking to him...Sterjovski is a handy player- Ricki tactically out thought.

Muscat to the midfield!
martinb2010-09-05 23:38:28

If Durante marshalled his troops the way Ryan does we might get some backbone.

Daniel needs to be given another go in that play-maker role. One game away to Perth where we always lose is not a decent opportunity - and in any event I thought he did pretty well and showed the passing range we need

Whats your logic in dropping Paston? He's been outstanding in the last 2 games and covered our asses in some 1 v 1 situations. I'd take him over Almunia ATM.

Paston on fire. lovin him. he's quality

We should play 4-4-2 for this game, Greenacre & Macallistar up front, Ifill back on the right wing, Ward in for Lia, Muscat in for Hearfield.

When we play Greenacre in the hole behind a lone striker, he tends to drop back too far, and we look horrible when we give him that role. He has looked most dangerous against GCU, when we had him up front waiting for flick ons from Macallistar. Yes it leads to long balls, but I feel we play better when we are more direct.

I have been impressed with Pavlovic on his subs appearances, but unsure if he could fit into a 4-4-2 with Greenacre up front aswell.

When we play Ifill up front, he gets crowded out by defenders, if he is in midfield they cant commit 2 players on him everytime without giving room for someone else.

And how much did we miss Muscat

Ryan's Rovers2010-09-06 11:00:13

             Vukovic

Durante��     Siggy��       North
       ï¿½
              Muscat

Daniel                      Ward

               Toto       ï¿½ � � � � � �

Ifill        Greenacre     Pavlovic

Subs: Paston, Lochhead, Bertos, MacAllister

I'd go with something like this.

I'm a big Paston fan, but i can't continue to watch him struggle with a groin injury purely to hold his position. It's selfish, and it's not doing the team any good.

I think a 3-4-3 would work, but instead of relying on the 'wingback' strategy (meaning Troy and Ward would have to play defender) utilise Muscat to be able to drop back into the backs and either Durante or Ward push wide to cover.

This leaves both Ward and Troy to drop back into 'defensive midfield' roles on defence, meaning they can quickly turn and push forward on the break or attack, rather than us having them pegged back asking them to play so deep on defence.

Basically we switch from 3-4-3 on attack, to 4-3-3 on defence, will very little reshuffle required.

I also like Paston but I feel he had some serious wodden legs on the 2nd goal, got caught flat footed. And he is still shaky on crosses, completely missed one in the 2nd half. Needs time to get his injury right, why play him when we have a quality keeper waiting in the wings

Agree with goldienz. Vukovic to start and the 343 formation with a diamond in the middle. That is if North is even here for the match?

lol paston cracks me up the way he saves them he makes it look so akward but hes keeping them out so i guess he should keep ahold of his jersey.

The thought of Siggy in a back three terrifies the crap out of me. I love the guy to bits and his effort can not be faulted but his lack of pace is too often exposed. Paston has been a cause for concern this year. He is not handling crosses well, and seems intent on puching and parrying the ball. He has made some nice reflex saves but I certainly do not have the confidence in him as a keeper that I had in Reddy last year.

Yeah he is saving most - but we need him to get his injury right otherwise he will be useless when we need him at the end of he season.

Weren't we trying to convert Lia into a right back before he stuffed his knee (which is when we brought in Muscat). I wonder if that would work? Does he have enough pace? Then we could put Muscat back into midfield with Brown and Ward (reverting to the 3 in the midfield that seemed to work last year)

Pav has certainly impressed, I'd like to see him start instead of mac, he seems more agile and way better on the ball, whilst giving us the required height up front....still worried about Paston, as good as he is he shouldn't be playing injured especially when you have Vukovich waiting.....

Pav's looked sharp from the bench. Mac has also played the central hitman role well, but not done enough with his chances! I feel Greenies looked better dropping deeper than he has leading the line TBH.

Agreed.  He actually has vision and the passing/crossing ability to create opportunities.  Ifill can obviously create too but is a bit of a different player.  IMO Daniel (to start) and Ifill needs to be on the field as long as possible so to give him as many chances as possible to create.

I don't know what it is, but those long balls to D-mac isn't gonna do it for us really.

4-4-2 is fine.  Manny back at RB/North/Dura/Lochy (just).  Daniel/Ward/Timmy/Ifill.  Lawns/Pavlova.
Crockett2010-09-06 15:01:51

if we are going to play 4-4-2 put ifill up front and someone else on the flanks.

The prof is dead on imo. I cant see a 343 when we dont really have a LWB

                           Paston
            North   Durante     Lochhead
                          Muscat
               Lia                      Ward
   Ifill                                               Daniel
                 Greenie   BigMac

Subs: Brown Siggie Pav Vuk

Yeah that's gunna scare the sh*t out of some people, but I can't see any other way to make a back three work, maybe Sigmund for Lochhead?

true. Lochhead is that sh*t.

I love the guy but he can be so irritating to watch.  Back in the Knights/early Nix days it used to be his goalkicks after which he'd wince in the most annoying fashion.  Could be his punches, some of which are terrible, can't blame him for the missed punch yesterday when he sailed majestically beneath the ball, the sun was majorly in his eyes.

Having spouted all that I must say that I do think Vukovich is probably a better player.  Though, whether changing to a slightly better goalie is wise when the difference is small is another question entirely as the team won't be used to him and vice versa.  With regards to goalie I can live with whoever Ricki picks, just Hearfield and the like I have very firm opinions on.

I'd take Ross Nicholson over Almunia!

Early days yet, but metservice 7-day weather forecast is for slightly sh!t with rain.

Really wish we had more afternoon games on Sundays.

Paston

UKandy2010-09-06 19:29:45

there are some random comments on this thread - but this takes the cake

                Vukovic/Pasty

Muscat     Dura    Sigs      Lochhead

                   Lia  
           Brown    Ward

  Ifill         Pavlovic       Daniel

Vukovic/Paston
North/Toto
Bertos
Greenacre