Lewis might also be an option for Auckland as he and Tommy Smith should have enough on-field understanding. Would fix their likely early season wobbles. If you add the likelihood of Nagasawa bolstering their midfield, that would make more sense than Lewis and Nagasawa being Phoenix candidates.
Lewis might also be an option for Auckland as he and Tommy Smith should have enough on-field understanding. Would fix their likely early season wobbles. If you add the likelihood of Nagasawa bolstering their midfield, that would make more sense than Lewis and Nagasawa being Phoenix candidates.
Nah but on a serious note (I had to go waaay back in my messages for this one) but before he became part of the Bulls Betfair Brigade there were some pretty solid overtures from Auckland for his services. (Guess it would have turned out similar to Galloway - Mutual termination, immediate signing).
Needless to say that was all shark-canned upon his arrest. He's kneecapped his future pretty solidly, even if he does somehow manage to clear his name...
If Lewis is found innocent, I'd say MAC will want to retain him. They have lost/released Kearyn Baccus, Lachlan Rose and Davila. Lewis's partner Narelle Sindois also has her dream TV football job in Sydney so I doubt she will want to leave.
But yeah if Lewis is cleared but still leaves MAC, I reckon Auckland would be very keen. Currently they look light in midfield, he's a Kiwi, and a proven ALM performer.
MAC have torn up his contract havent they?
No, but he's not training with the squad (which he's allowed to do). Lewis is the only one of the three to have instructed his lawyer to enter a not-guilty plea. Davilla has pretty much admitted to it (which is why he was fired) and Baccus's contract was not extended.
I don't think they'd be allowed to terminate his contract until he was proven guilty, but I also doubt he's in their plans for next season.
If Auckland FC fans start celebrating that they pulled one over us by signing Lewis "before he re-signs with the Nix", I will not be in the least surprised.
If Lewis is found innocent, I'd say MAC will want to retain him. They have lost/released Kearyn Baccus, Lachlan Rose and Davila. Lewis's partner Narelle Sindois also has her dream TV football job in Sydney so I doubt she will want to leave.
But yeah if Lewis is cleared but still leaves MAC, I reckon Auckland would be very keen. Currently they look light in midfield, he's a Kiwi, and a proven ALM performer.
No one is found innocent in the Australasian systems! I think it’s the Scottish system they have innocent, not proven and guilty as options.
Chiefy did say Rojas wouldn't sit centrally as a 10, more with a free licence to roam. So the boss must have a plan to use Nagasawa that complements what he has in store for Macro, as a guess.
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Bit of a concern if your back up forward is Ball. I see him fitting into the position you've out Nagasawa. Or as one of the wider players with Kosta at the pointy end.
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Really hope we are in for a import ST too. I wasn't convinced we were gonna use all our import slots but relying on Kosta, Rojas and Ball as the senior forwards to get the goals doesn't inspire me with much confidence as the Japanese import seems more of a creator than a goal scorer.
Other than OVH all the other youth attackers are still probably too raw to be really helping with the goal contributions.
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Bit of a concern if your back up forward is Ball. I see him fitting into the position you've out Nagasawa. Or as one of the wider players with Kosta at the pointy end.
Eh I just put him where it would look least messy on the lineup. Realistically he’d be playing wide or as a 10.
What's Deklan Wynne doing does he wanna come play left back for us? Could probably allow LKH to be his height more centrally if that's the route chiefy want's to go down. Admittedly I've hardly ever seen him play but stats make him look like he can offer a decent amount going forward from left back.
#1 Our midfield is now fudgeing stacked. Would have to be in the conversation for the best midfield in the competition next year.
#2 We need an import striker. I don't really even mind if they're tall or not but they must be astute at finishing - that is really it. Provided Chief gets our midfield working it will create a lot of chances. We need someone there good enough to finish most of the chances.
#3 If we sign a good striker I am going to get very hype for this season. I will have fairly high expectations.
#1 Our midfield is now fudgeing stacked. Would have to be in the conversation for the best midfield in the competition next year.
#2 We need an import striker. I don't really even mind if they're tall or not but they must be astute at finishing - that is really it. Provided Chief gets our midfield working it will create a lot of chances. We need someone there good enough to finish most of the chances.
#3 If we sign a good striker I am going to get very hype for this season. I will have fairly high expectations.
Wonder how Oscar Faulds is going with his trial in Denmark? The mere fact that the Nix gave him that trial opportunity, says yes they want to bring in a another striker, and likely a tall one.
So yes I think you already have good reason to be getting at least a little excited, without yet knowing who that new no 9 will be.
#1 Our midfield is now fudgeing stacked. Would have to be in the conversation for the best midfield in the competition next year.
#2 We need an import striker. I don't really even mind if they're tall or not but they must be astute at finishing - that is really it. Provided Chief gets our midfield working it will create a lot of chances. We need someone there good enough to finish most of the chances.
#3 If we sign a good striker I am going to get very hype for this season. I will have fairly high expectations.
Wonder how Oscar Faulds is going with his trial in Denmark? The mere fact that the Nix gave him that trial opportunity, says yes they want to bring in a another striker, and likely a tall one.
So yes I think you already have good reason to be getting at least a little excited, without yet knowing who that new no 9 will be.
He got COVID in the first week of his trial over there. Floored him, missed trainings + 1 game they had lined up. They couldn't offer him a deal because they 'couldnt form enough of a judgement' despite getting excellent feedback during his time on the pitch while there...
He was back in Sweden the last I'd heard from him.
#1 Our midfield is now fudgeing stacked. Would have to be in the conversation for the best midfield in the competition next year.
#2 We need an import striker. I don't really even mind if they're tall or not but they must be astute at finishing - that is really it. Provided Chief gets our midfield working it will create a lot of chances. We need someone there good enough to finish most of the chances.
#3 If we sign a good striker I am going to get very hype for this season. I will have fairly high expectations.
Wonder how Oscar Faulds is going with his trial in Denmark? The mere fact that the Nix gave him that trial opportunity, says yes they want to bring in a another striker, and likely a tall one.
So yes I think you already have good reason to be getting at least a little excited, without yet knowing who that new no 9 will be.
So we're already getting excited and our first game is 59 days away? Fudge!
Got to say the signings thus far have been first class.
As long as it also involves getting a first class number nine as well, honestly I think the starting line up stacks up pretty well compared to last year and may even be better.
How about our defence though. Wootton get injured and out CB's are Hughes and LKH. Payne at a pinch, but I far prefer him at RB. Not suggesting we sign an import but think we might need a bit more depth there.
How about our defence though. Wootton get injured and out CB's are Hughes and LKH. Payne at a pinch, but I far prefer him at RB. Not suggesting we sign an import but think we might need a bit more depth there.
Have heard we are looking to address this. But can't say anything more than that as i've no idea how much truth there is in it.
Got to say the signings thus far have been first class.
As long as it also involves getting a first class number nine as well, honestly I think the starting line up stacks up pretty well compared to last year and may even be better.
Of course anything can happen and who knows what form players will be in. But, based on the signings we've made and hopefully everyone is playing well and trusting the Chief is brilliant again as a coach yet again - I am looking at it this way:
-Defensively we would have to be slightly worse than last season. Hopefully we sign some cover but even then without Surman we must be slightly weaker.
-Midfield I would say is significantly stronger provided this Japanese signing comes through.
-Our wide forwards are a slight improvement I think. I rate Rojas highly though - Kraev was still very good though.
-Just need a #9 to complement us and we'll have a better starting 11 than last season.
-The bench I think is where we are potentially going to shine also. Lots of young and exciting attacking players mixed with some genuine starting 11 A-League players and some solid, young defense players. Definitely better than last season in that respect.
Don’t forget that last season *targetman* was a back up plan and that Kosta was our 9 for most of our season. We hardly scored a battering ram goal all season.
Our midfield was very good last season. However, that depends on what you call the midfield- were Old, Kraev and Ball in the midfield? Definitely some times, but all could step into the forward line. Outside Kosta we could score from anywhere and rotated our goal threat. Payne, Pennington, Al-Taay, Kraev, Old, Rufer…Bally! A veiled threat last season.
As well, was Pennington’s contribution to our attack, particularly transition attack constantly underrated? Yes. Al-Taay was also very good.
The last thing was everyone was cohesive- very much on the same page about how we’d play. As England showed Gerard, Lampard and Scholes don’t mean much- it’s the champion team, not vice versa.
Nagasawa-san seems to be a player who will be about replenishing our attacking threat, as well as our pressing ability.
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Bit of a concern if your back up forward is Ball. I see him fitting into the position you've out Nagasawa. Or as one of the wider players with Kosta at the pointy end.
Yep we still need a striker if we really want to push for the title. Ball is a utility/sub at this point of his career.
Sheridan should be starting too. If that means payne moves to cb then I say do it...
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Doesn't Nagasawa play deeper now?
A little confused what type of player he is, as he's listed as CAM but he's never been a goal threat Aside from no striker, I think the biggest issue this season will be at the back - one of those guys goes down and we're extremely thin
Just looking at Vegalta Sendai's fixtures - they play at 7pm on Sunday Japan time so that's 10pm NZT.
That'd finish a bit before midnight - so we should have his comments by the time we wake up on Monday morning, which would probably also be a good time for the Nix to announce it
Just looking at Vegalta Sendai's fixtures - they play at 7pm on Sunday Japan time so that's 10pm NZT.
That'd finish a bit before midnight - so we should have his comments by the time we wake up on Monday morning, which would probably also be a good time for the Nix to announce it
I'd say that it could be likely we are waiting to announce it on Monday morning
Maybe something like this with Rojas/Striker/Barbarouses quite fluid?
IMG_7220.jpeg490.23 KB Harsh on Al Taay but you can only really fit him if you take off one of the forwards.
Doesn't Nagasawa play deeper now?
A little confused what type of player he is, as he's listed as CAM but he's never been a goal threat Aside from no striker, I think the biggest issue this season will be at the back - one of those guys goes down and we're extremely thin
I may be wrong, but expect him to be picked as either a better Salas or a replacement for Pennington.
He's currently playing in the J2 league, and the ALM start is still 2 months away. Would you bother? Just trust the medical team at his J2 club to report that he is fit.
Chiefy may have met him in person when recently in Japan.
