I have to agree .JOS as the playmaker makes as many mistakes as good plays.If we were to upgrade,I would be inclined to replace him .
Macca is better technically.Just old and slow.
When Macca comes back,should JOS be pushed back or should he be left out so Pepper and AON can stay as a pairing?
Bring on JOS in the second half with Marutovic when defences are tiring.
Marutovic at this stage is wasted playing in the first half.So probably DWH and AAH are the options for the first half.

Never miss an opportunity to put the boot in.Lol
Every player did good and bad stuff.Including Inman and JOS.
The plan is clear.
Work hard in the first half  and stay tight .Then go hard the second half.Get the goal and stay tight.
Inman and Marutovic as a second half combo works.But it makes sense to change it up from time to time so opposition defences dont get set.
The good thing is our defensive structure is looking confident.Very SFC.WU couldnt get through.

O neill adds a lot to the team.  Odd mistake but links play well and makes forward runs.  Pepper is surprising me. His best attribute maybe to allow o Neil more licence to attack. 

Some of the passing triangles is exceptional. The improvement in results and performance since xmas has been brilliant.  Leaving suncorp after the wu game I was pretty disgruntled. 

Fowler has tough calls to make - o shea and inman... I d be tempted to keep inman as an aussie but o shea disappoints. Holds the ball in tight spaces well but finishing is awful.

Hingert frustrates again with poor crossing. 

Great performance in parts. Looking at the game as a whole we are starting to bully teams which was missing in the early parts of the season. We are definitely going harder for the ball and it's starting to pay dividends.

We are still giving up done guilt edge chances both in attack and in defence but they are getting fewer and fewer. Still good teams will punish us for those defensive lapses and poor finishing. 

It would be really good to put in a performance where we dominate and put multiple goals away. I think of that happens then a lot of the whingers will disappear. Funny but have we still only scored one first half goal all season. Surely a record

Agreed 100% some of our passing was off but now we seem to go and have the confidence to say.... oh shit I better fix that. 

Its apparent to me RF wants a careful first half, I don't think defensive.... just careful. 
Save a little in the tank and if the opponent comes at us hard in the second half...we can go at them back. And gotta say it is working.... whether or not we win next week.

sure passing can be improved at times but we are the most improved team in the comp from season start. 

no no one can dispute that and if they do they are absolutely clueless. 

Well done lads, and as WU have their supposed gun players....Kone, berisha, Diamanti, they couldn't get a shot on target hardly. 

And i I must say it was so nice to beat Rudan and his buddy Durante. And all without MacD. Very petty Rudan. 

All good, I might have jumped the gun a little, I thought I was the only one really complaining in that thread, besides nomates.

Happy with the win, like I said I see the glimpses of great football, I see the team evolving and its great to see but I can't let the poor passing and poor decision making go bye without saying something.

Clean sheet and a good win away from home, on to the next game.

As I said, I don’t think Roar fear anyone at the moment. If they could finish (a new striker, Inman, O’Shea) and made better decisions out wide (Hingert especially today) they would be outstanding. 

I wonder lightheartedly if Robbie asks DWH and Muratovic "who wants the 60 and who wants the 30?".

They both get a bit lost and are often ineffective in the first hour. They are both often effective when they come on against tired legs and full of enthusiasm to impress.

It is almost a case of the last 30 minutes earning them a start in the next match while the other gets their last 30 minute chance to earn a spot the week after that.

No-one has claimed the starting spot outright.

The next couple of weeks are our next "critical match-ups". Intriguing how every week has something critical about it these days.

We can expect both AU and the Nix to win - while we face Glory and Melbourne City. Our battle to stay 6th hinges on us staying ahead of the pack (obviously) - but to keep in touch with our chance of 5th or 4th we have to at least match the wins of AU and the Nix.

Trouble with sitting in the middle of the table is you play as many teams who are above you as you do teams who are below you. SFC have it easy - everyone they play is below them in the table ;)

Exciting times.

I’ve pretty much given up on the match day thread. It used to be people talking football with the odd troll, now it’s people trolling with the odd bit about the football. 

Well done to the team. This has been quite an enjoyable run they’ve been on. Long may it continue. 

MrB - I wasn't naming you (or anyone specifically) as whingers by the way. You have the right to comment as you see it.

It is the constant dirge that accompanies any Roar game that I label whinging. Neither increases nor lessens my enjoyment (or frustration) throughout a game - but it amuses me to call it out afterwards.

The only bit that is squarely on you is if you want curried chocolate cake - nobody can help you there.

:)

First half dour football as we are becoming accustomed to - or at least expecting. No goals conceded - first half success.

Passing was sometimes piss poor and sometimes quite phenomenal throughout the whole game - but a lot more good stuff in the second half.

Second half WU pushed harder to begin with, but the way we passed through them, outnumbered as were and under a heavy press, was bloody awesome. I can't remember when we forced our way through a press time and again instead of going back to our backline at first challenge.

We were passing to players surrounded by three opposition players and they were taking it and passing to the next player - making WU out of place and desperately trying to recover.

They were much more than glimpses today and a sign that something we have been missing so long is coming through...the ability to ignore the opposition to advance the ball to the right end of the field.

Well said roarinmeblood,  after 71 goals conceded last year, its great to see the determination of the team not to concede in games this year. 

Boring soup the first half, mild curry the second half.
I'm sorry but it just wasn't anything special, passing was piss poor and the decision making was terrible the first half.
2nd half was better after they scored, really should have finished the game off with a second goal.
I saw glimpses of skill, but like always its just glimpses, sorry if all roar fans don't have our roar glasses on.

FMD - the whingers on the matchday thread.

There were many times in that second half where we played magnificent one touch football to not only maintain possession in very tight spaces, but we advanced and created danger time and again.

We did not score more than 1 - that's the down side of the attack - but we did not park the bus and wait out the game. We played strong defensively yes, but we went for the second goal as well; in a controlled and very smart fashion.

Frustrating as hell to see us playing half-pitch football from the 60th minute - expecting a defensive lapse to allow the equaliser, but credit to the defence. They held well.

Another defensive first half in the Roar style - another clean sheet.

WU played a very physical defensive game and quite often went through the back of a player to get the ball without any penalty. But not always.

Great work to take the ball off WU's feet and in those 50/50s that we won so often. A couple of our players seem to have an extra 10 centimetres of invisible boot the way they won the ball.

We made a lot of mistakes throughout the game - passing to WU players seemed a common one - but the good play (and there was a shitload of that today) was as good combination play as any team in the league. We got through heavy defence and greater numbers so many times - shows our on-field presence is improving along with everything else.

Well done lads. It was never in the bag but we were always better than them as a team. A draw or loss would have been a travesty.

"Another boring Roar game" for some - another piece of chocolate cake for others.

We could start with DeVere can’t play in a back three? 

After watching the Welly game - why ever did we let DeVere go. Massively effective 5 years later.

I hope Roar win if only to rub salt into Rudan for not letting MacD play. 
rudan wouldn't play him but was afraid to play against him. Very petty Rudan. 
I used to not mind Rudan but he's becoming the new Muscat !

Agree. Can’t afford him to go a string of games without scoring 

Would like to see Inman on the scoreboard again this week. He scores, we win,  simples.

Leave my stick out of this .... 

Easy to poke the bear when your stick is getting longer by the week Waz...

Yeah but, Brexit ... 

You underestimate paulc Waz - he clearly gave us a chance of being top four ;)

That said - I would never doubt that paulc would be as happy as any of us if Roar play well enough to be top four.

It isn't about likelihood - it is just a funny/interesting mathematical possibility that we could be 4th after this weekend.

That is something in itself for all Roar fans.

Can't see either 3 happening.............

paulc would turn in his grave if that lot happened 😂

It was a quote in an article published today

I think I have now.

But when something current comes up (like Thwaite's comment) it is perhaps too sour a dish on the palate for everyone to swallow it.

Now, here's some fun...

CCM beat Adelaide
City beat Nix
Roar beat Western United

Roar are top 4.

Still putting crap on JA , maybe it’s time to move on ......