vs Victory Wed 9:30pm SS1

vs Victory Wed 9:30pm SS1

It is Victory on Wednesday right?

Well, quite simple, providing everyone is fit:
Paston
Muscat Durante Sigmund Lochhead
Lia
Ward Brown
Ifill Greenacre Bertos

Bench:
Vukovic
Pavlovic
Daniel
North

Though we could see some changes, as I don't think Bertos will be up for 3 games in a week.

Sif bench north 

Nope, gotta put Manny back in midfield. He's owning there which provides cover for Hearfield. Give Bertos a start but only a half, and utilise Daniel for that.

I'd like to try this:
          Pasty
Hearfield Siggy Dura Lochy
           Manny
Ifil       Ward       Daniel
       Macca    Greenie

Bench: Vuk North Brown Pavbrumbys2010-09-12 00:29:48

          Paston
North Siggy Dura Lochy
           Manny
       Ward    Brown     
Ifil                   Leo
          Greenie

Bench: Vuk Pav Daniel Lia (if fit)
valeo2010-09-12 00:47:02

this will be good game, hopefully we can put a decent performance away...

If we were to drop Troy for North, how about Manny to right back, North into def midfield? Dunno if he has played there before tho.

I think North played further forward when he was younger but has played right back pretty recently. Think that him playing right back just makes sense at the moment. Neither Siggy and Dura deserve to be dropped and it's pointless changing formation again and basically starting from scratch when we just won a game.

I do prefer Manny at right back but I believe he's the only one in our squad capable of doing such a good job at DM as well.valeo2010-09-12 01:34:19

I hope Manny gets a day off this week after his performances with Malta and with us. He was absolutely outstanding yesterday but we want to make sure we don't burn him out. Also, what's wrong with Paston? What injury does he have and how long is he out for?

Would like to see Lia to the bench. Yesterday I think we all freaked out when Durante got a knock and Daniel was the most defensive player on our bench!

Would love to see North as well.

Manny is a Machine. He'll be fine.

Plus i'm sure he wants to play in front of his family.

Thinking about it - I don't think Dura will be able to back up from yesterday so North will probably just replace him unfortunately. Would be a big blow as Dura has been our best player.valeo2010-09-12 11:45:06

Why don't we let North earn his spot?

And has played an unbelievable amount of consecutive minutes for us. A chunk of season 2, all of last season and all of this season.

By this do you mean he should get a chance or should have to wait?

I don't think he shouldn't be there as of right- especially if it's at Siggie's expense. I can't remember seeing him play. I think it is a real strength of Ricki's coaching he doesn't play anyone on reputation. 

Paston
Muscat Durante North Lochhead
Lia
Ward Brown
Ifill Greenacre Bertos

In training.

Assuming Paston and Lia are injured for this one (Haven't heard further news on either of them).

                Vukovic

          Durante    Sigmund
North                            Lochhead

                Manny
 Ifill                              Daniel
               Ward
 
         Greenacre
                   Pavlovic

McMaster
Hearfield/Bertos
Brown/Toto
Macallster

                Vukovic

          Durante    Sigmund
North                            Lochhead

                Manny

       Brown       Ward

 Ifill                              Bertos
              
         Greenacre 

Subs:
Paston
Pavlovic
Toto
Hearfield

Step one in completing team sheet / line-up; Manny plays in front of back four. Whitby boy2010-09-12 14:04:08

I wouldnt mind seeing pav get a start tbh. Dont know if on the road is the best place, but with 3 games in a week its probably not the worst time either

Ward should be well up for this one.

Because he's our marquee and we brought him in for a reason?

+ he has to do a better job than Hearfieldvaleo2010-09-12 14:44:21

I think every player you buy is for a reason...

And Sigmund was very good last night, doesn't deserve to lose his spot. Making players work for their spots is very beneficial to the whole side imo.

(Just putting it out there )

Marquee status isn't important. Form, ability and chemistry is. I don't think North would have much trouble with any of those factors, but "because he's our marquee" isn't a good reason for anything IMO.

Officially our Australian marquee isn't he? A grandiose title meaning very little. Simon's right, he must earn his spot like everyone else.

Hopefully Kosta and co can give these guys the runaround today so they are still feeling the effects on Wednesday.

Lia for Toto if fit
                    Vukovic

               North   Sigmund 
Hearfield                           Lochhead

                    Manny

             Brown       Ward

     Ifill                              Bertos
              
                Greenacre 
 
Subs:
McMaster
Pavlovic
Toto
Daniel hamezilla2010-09-12 18:01:55

Durante?

any word on Dura and Paston (and - out of politeness - the Vinster)??

if Dura is fit i'd give Jade a run at rb and keep the same midfield 3 as Sydney

a more balanced bench might be a good idea if anyone is carrying a knock into the game


if we do start with someone alongside Greenie I really hope we resist the urge to go route one unless there are clear spaces behind their cbs

Why does North have to earn his spot.? That is nonsense. He has just been playing for the Socceroos and people are saying he isnt able to just slot in in place of Hearfield, and do a better job??

Plus Ricki was seriously looking at playing him when he had just got off the plane on Sat night, that shows his intentions.

Manny stays in midfield for me, he has been great for us there and we have been good with him there.

This - Ricki was very keen to play North last night, and unless major happens in the next couple f days, think he'll slot in at CB along Durante against Victory.

Expect this to be the only personnel change from Sydney game, unless Paston recovers full fitness by then.

Assuming injuried not an issue ...

Do you really want us to move away from the formation that worked so well for us last season, and which we employed for the first time this season last night and actually looked like a football team for a change?el grapadura2010-09-12 19:58:31

We do not look like a football team at the moment. we are just clubbing it long and playing off loose ball and turnovers. 

I don't know. Think you're a bit harsh on last night's performance. Thought we showed more control and composure last night than in all the previous four games combined.

i thought we were v sound defensively - and in a few patches in the second half knocked it around ok, mainly when Ward got on the ball. but first half was almost entirely wallop and so was good chunk of second.

Well, I haven't seen the replay so can go by only what I remember from seeing the game in the zone. But, we kept possession well in the first half (to the point when you heard people saying, just get it forward, was really a facepalm moment), threatened down the flanks (minus Hearfield's crossing learned straight from the Ahmad Elrich academy) and had no problems defensively (despite a couple of Vukovic's gaffes), largely in part because Manny played as a defensive screen so the backline wasn't overwhelmed the way it had been in the earlier games. Ward was very good, it's just such a nice shock to see a Phoenix central midfielder who demands and shows for the ball, and is not scared of it when it's at his feet and looks to get it as far away from him as quickly as possible. The added advantage of this formation is that it also allows Browny to make late forward runs without ridiculously exposing us on the counter, because Manny reads the counter-attack situations much better than Lia and is more effective in closing them down. And I feel we need to have Brown in there for his goal-scoring ability from midfield, because I don't think our central forwards will be very prolific.

Sure, it's not perfect - partly because we're not Barca or Chelsea, so we have the players we have, partly also because some of those players aren't even in their best form. But, this style of play worked for us last season, it worked for us last night as well, and I'd hate to see us abandon it until the day it proves to be absolutely disastrous for our results and performances. And the evidence so far has been the exact opposite.

el grapadura2010-09-12 20:44:27

understood and those are reasonable concerns, but i dont think we will will the A-League playing the way we do - and I think our brand of football is very much of the long ball variety, last night was no different.

Kosta and the roar didn't get the email about this.

I think that 3 CB's could work against a team that showed today they are incapable of playing with width (subbing off their 2 wide players after a shocking first half and then playing everything through the middle)

In the past when we've played well against Melbourne we've had Timmy/Manny/Lia shutting the likes of Hernandez down though

Think that North could do a job at right back as well - has played there for extended periods when at Newcastle and for the Socceroos too.valeo2010-09-12 20:54:22