Missing Tim Payne for two games and potentially missing Pennington and Rufer up ahead.
I’d love to see us pull away from the other challengers. Maybe that means a bit of form from Kraev or Ball? Or Oldy. Or a starting spot for Oskar Van Hattum. He’s knocking on the door certainly.
It seems unlikely any of the kids will be game changers, but we’d love it if they were! A little Marco or Waino scoring spree to push us up there.
Who’s playing RB? And can they play from the back?
Sheesh- I’m firing up now! Still a long way to go…big tests for Chief and the boys.
Yesterday here on Sunny Coast, QLD was a horrible early 30s & humid as fudge. But today mids 20s with the cloud cover, a light breeze and far far more pleasant.
Either don't expect a high press from Jets. I'm sure Chiefy will have learnt from the 3-0 loss at the ROF back on the 9th Dec.
Missing Tim Payne for two games and potentially missing Pennington and Rufer up ahead.
I’d love to see us pull away from the other challengers. Maybe that means a bit of form from Kraev or Ball? Or Oldy. Or a starting spot for Oskar Van Hattum. He’s knocking on the door certainly.
It seems unlikely any of the kids will be game changers, but we’d love it if they were! A little Marco or Waino scoring spree to push us up there.
Who’s playing RB? And can they play from the back?
Sheesh- I’m firing up now! Still a long way to go…big tests for Chief and the boys.
I'd predict Al-Taay to start RB - filled in there during the Aus Cup and did a job. Failing that Pennington switched there on the weekend or youngster Matt Sheridan can play there too. Lineup prediction: GK Paulsen RB Al-Taay CB's Wootton + Surman LB Kelly-Heald CM's Rufer, Pennington, Old Wingers Kosta and Kraev Striker Ball (but van Hattum is close)
Sutton to RB? Inverted fullback style. A few options for Chiefy to play with. Have never thought much of OVH either but based on recent cameos I think it's definitely time he gets a solid half hour off the bench
Sutton to RB? Inverted fullback style. A few options for Chiefy to play with. Have never thought much of OVH either but based on recent cameos I think it's definitely time he gets a solid half hour off the bench
Odds are that could happen either of the next 2 games, away to Newcastle (6pm KO) and then a visit to Brisvegas (6.45pm KO). The heat & humdity is likely to be a factor the next 2 weeks.
Sutton to RB? Inverted fullback style. A few options for Chiefy to play with. Have never thought much of OVH either but based on recent cameos I think it's definitely time he gets a solid half hour off the bench
True - Sutts went to RB when he came off the bench 69' into the match against Victory last Friday and stayed until 83' when LKH went off and Sutts moved to LB. Another decent option although our wing-backs have never really inverted, they push on and look to overlap with the wingers. Will be interesting to see what Chiefy does.
Personally I'll be a little disappointed if we can't get 6 points from these two away games. I think that we're better than both Newcastle and Brisbane. If we get it, it sets us up for a 55 point season if we follow the adage of draw away and win at home.
Sutton to RB? Inverted fullback style. A few options for Chiefy to play with. Have never thought much of OVH either but based on recent cameos I think it's definitely time he gets a solid half hour off the bench
True - Sutts went to RB when he came off the bench 69' into the match against Victory last Friday and stayed until 83' when LKH went off and Sutts moved to LB. Another decent option although our wing-backs have never really inverted, they push on and look to overlap with the wingers. Will be interesting to see what Chiefy does.
Pennington was still at RB until Al-Taay replaced him, Sutton was in the midfield in front of him.
Watched the Jets v Roar extended highlights. The Jets seem to be a talented side and they love attacking the opposition. They also struggled a lot when Brisbane upped the pressure - even with a man behind. Hopefully we can do the same (11 v 11 this time though)...
Its 11 in the morning in Newcastle and already 37 expected to be hotter tomorrow and hot again Saturday. So think people need to be careful expecting the boys to demolish the Jets. Given possible temperatures i think the boys will do well to get away with a draw.
Oskar Zawada will travel with the Phoenix to Australia with a view to being involved in one or both of the next two matches (Jets, Roar). @newstalkzbsport
Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano said he was delighted to welcome Zawada back into the fold and did not believe his return would lessen Barbarouses’s impact.
However, Italiano was wary of rushing him back too soon and indicated he would have a bigger role in the Phoenix’s following match, against Brisbane Roar next Friday.
The team will remain in Australia between fixtures.
Seems it might be cooler than forecasters predicted. Currently 22 at 8.00am and forecast says to expect overcast and 23 at kick off. So might not be as bad for the lads as expected still humid though.
Scholarship player Matthew Sheridan is the only other specialist right back in the squad, but it’s more likely that Italiano will look to a midfielder to fill the void and find another way to exploit the opposition.
“I think from a tactical point of view we will adjust the squad according to what we have available, which might indicate a change in shape and a change in structure and change in how we approach the game,” Italiano admitted.
“We respect them immensely and I know their coach very well, he was one of my original mentors so we’ve always had a tactical mind shift whenever we play each other as we know each other very, very well.
Kinda hoping for an OVH start tonight. He's been making a difference in the limited minutes he's been getting.
Hopefully Zawada on at some point to get some match fitness after a long layoff. He'll need to get firing again pretty quickly if he yearns for a move back to Europe at the end of his contract.
