Defence was terrible. The left side was exposed over and over again. Courtney-Perkins and Powell are too young and inexperienced. OToole and Reardon are better options

When your defence is exposed over and over again I’d look to the midfield for the reason why. 

On saturday night sydney olayers we’re able to turn out if a midfield challenge in numerous occasions putting the “tackler” behind them and free space in front of them. With the runners SFC have any defence would get exposed. 

The points difference between 10th place and 4th is only 5 points so the likes of Victory and Roar need not panic and WU not get complacent. 

Fowlers got a bit of explaining to do following Saturday’s mess because his side were badly exposed and he either got his tactics wrong or the team simply didn’t follow them - listening to his media comments it sounds like he believes it was the latter. 

And thats the theme of recent games with substitutions bring made either in the first half itself or at half time and what should be a rarity (early subs) is worryingly becoming the norm. 

WU becomes a must win game otherwise his critics, who aren’t very vocal outside of fan sites like this, will start to emerge publicly. And a win on  Friday would at least give him three consecutive home wins which hasn’t been achieved for a while. 

How he fixes things I’m not sure, there seems to be something systemically wrong with the squad - either he’s got someone who’s too strong a personality, or no one with a strong personality, or they’re over trained, or under trained, or one of a dozen other “either or” things that can afflict a squad ... it’s something he needs to figure out today when they return to training. But I’m guessing he’s clueless as to what it is though. 

I dont buy its a quality thing either. I said preseason this squad looked 2-3 (quality) players off being able to challenge above third place and that’s how it’s proving this season. 

But he needs to make some significant changes and here’s what I’d be thinking: 

DWH has an awful first touch and he’s no winger, it looks good when he beats players out side but he lacks the ability to get effective crosses in regularly and lacks the vision to see where to put the ball. He has to be played to his strengths which is his pace, enthusiasm and shooting ability - so he needs to be pulled in to a central position alongside ROD or in place of ROD. 

The Defence looked shambolic in the first half vs Sydney. I’m neutral on whether he plays a back 3 or back 4 but he has to lift Gillesphey out of there and put Courtney-Perkins alongside Aldred in a back 3, or add in Powell at LB in a traditional back four. 

Theres two easy fixes to the front front and back of this team. 

But then you come to the real problem child of what’s not working - the midfield. 

O’Shea is creating enough chances to suggest he’s worth sticking with, if he has a front two there’s a greater chance his assist rate will go up. 

But Mauk and O’Neill should be performing way better than they are but on Saturday night, as in a few other games this season, they were totally ineffective but there are no real bench options for either of them (Pepper? He has the engine for it but not the talent) and when you throw Inman in to that midfield mix the midfield is totally dysfunctional.

So assuming no departures/arrivals in January and working with what he’s got I would restructure around a 3-2-3-2 or a 4-1-4-1 formation which plays better to the players he has. 3-5-2 just isn’t working for him. 

In the first option:

Neville, Aldred, Courtney-Perkins;
Mauk, O’Neill;
O’Shea, Holloway, Inman;
ROD, DWH

In 4-1-4–1:

Neville, Aldred, Courtney-Perkins, Powell;
O’Neill;
Ingham, O’Shea, Holloway, Inman;
ROD;

The fly in the ointment in both of those set ups is Holloway who is incapable of playing a full game, much as I like him that’s unacceptable but he could be replaced by Akbari in either formation 

If I were Fowler I’d play 3-2-3-2 at home and 4-1-4–1 away. I’d also be strong arming the Bakries for a couple of January signings. 

I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the personality thing. There are a few in the squad that have not bought into what RF is trying to do.  There are also quite a few in the squad that i really question the mentality of. Players like DWH, Mauk and Inman clearly have drive and a love of the game, it is clear from everything they do that they has passion for the game and want to get better and win. Compare that to players like AAH or Inman who dont seem to care who they are playing for or if they win or if they are getting better. that sort of mentality can kill a squad. Even one player just doing his own thing when everyone else is trying to implement what the coach is doing can kill a team.

of course you dont have to live and breath the game, but you have to have the drive to do everything 100% and really want to do exactly what the coach is trying to do. broich was probably the best example of that, he loved a lot of stuff outside of football but he always wanted to do everything at his best and even with dud coaches like Franz and JA he was the on field coach making sure that everyone was doing what the gaffer set them out to do. 

Ange showed that a champion team will beat a team of champions, his recruiting was of average a-league players (plus one or two absolute gems) but they all gave 100% and all were pulling in the same direction. i just dont see that with this group. I really wonder how many of those players on the weekend were pissed off that they got towled 5-1? 

Agreed. I think there’s something in this. 

I hear what Harps is saying but it doesn’t explain why Roar have been able to get in top of Glory, Victory, Adelaide and WSW for large parts of those games? 

And if theres players I’m wishing weren’t in this squad right now it’s Mauk, O’Neill and Inman as Australians and Holloway and Gillesphey as visa players. 

I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the personality thing. There are a few in the squad that have not bought into what RF is trying to do.  There are also quite a few in the squad that i really question the mentality of. Players like DWH, Mauk and Inman clearly have drive and a love of the game, it is clear from everything they do that they has passion for the game and want to get better and win. Compare that to players like AAH or Inman who dont seem to care who they are playing for or if they win or if they are getting better. that sort of mentality can kill a squad. Even one player just doing his own thing when everyone else is trying to implement what the coach is doing can kill a team.

of course you dont have to live and breath the game, but you have to have the drive to do everything 100% and really want to do exactly what the coach is trying to do. broich was probably the best example of that, he loved a lot of stuff outside of football but he always wanted to do everything at his best and even with dud coaches like Franz and JA he was the on field coach making sure that everyone was doing what the gaffer set them out to do. 

Ange showed that a champion team will beat a team of champions, his recruiting was of average a-league players (plus one or two absolute gems) but they all gave 100% and all were pulling in the same direction. i just dont see that with this group. I really wonder how many of those players on the weekend were pissed off that they got towled 5-1? 

Agreed. I think there’s something in this. 

I hear what Harps is saying but it doesn’t explain why Roar have been able to get in top of Glory, Victory, Adelaide and WSW for large parts of those games? 

And if theres players I’m wishing weren’t in this squad right now it’s Mauk, O’Neill and Inman as Australians and Holloway and Gillesphey as visa players. 

I think RF has probably shown that he has some ability as a coach, in terms of recognising the need for changes and making changes during games, but I really think it comes down to the lack of quality in the players he has. Of course RF is largely responsible for many of these players being there in the first place.

Lookjng at some of this seasons recruits:
Neville - average/lower than average A League defender
Aldred - most (if not all) starting CB’s at other clubs are better players, he is too slow, has poor touch and not very mobile (and is a bit of a thug at times). Certainly not good enough for a visa player (mind you, what does it say about the bottom half of SPL, given he was a regular at Motherwell for the last season and a half).
Gillesphey - everyone agrees he is not near the standard required. 
McGing - squad player at best
O’Neill - looked promising when at CCM, but has been disappointing this season. I hope this is due to the poor quality of those around him.
Ingham - never more than an A League squaddie at either Roar or Victory
Inman - hasn’t shown very much, another English lower league recruit who hasn’t shown (at least yet) that he is at the standard of an acceptable A League player
Holloway - looks ok on occasion, but the fact that he appears incapable of playing any more than a half of football means he is a poor choice as a visa player.
ROD - not good enough, has been MIA for most games (despite getting most of Roars goals)
O’Shea - undoubtably the best recruit, but still no more than average quality as far as the A League is concerned. Wouldn’t be an automatic starter in the majority of the A League teams.
Crocombe - at least he has put pressure on Young, and has probably made Young a better player with his feet. Would not be a starting keeper in any other A League side though.

Depressing because it's accurate.

Anything RF tries with that lot is akin to shuffling the deckchairs of the Titanic

I disagree with that.

I think because of the prevalence of AFL and NRL where they have access to the worlds best players in their codes, the thinking translates in to football where - maybe not the worlds best players - the feeling is you need better players than your opponents. 

Its not true.

What you need is a squad that is fit, organised, motivated and has an appropriate game plan for the combined ability of the players within it. 

Fowler should be able to organise these players to make the sum total of the players more effective than the individuals within it. 

Leicester City are doing just that in England right now and football history is full of teams like them. 

Signing “better players” so I can be a “better coach” is right out of the John Aloisi coaching manual. It’s bollocks - Fowler needs to do his job and so far, he isn’t. 

Depressing because it's accurate.

Anything RF tries with that lot is akin to shuffling the deckchairs of the Titanic

I disagree with that.

I think because of the prevalence of AFL and NRL where they have access to the worlds best players in their codes, the thinking translates in to football where - maybe not the worlds best players - the feeling is you need better players than your opponents. 

Its not true.

What you need is a squad that is fit, organised, motivated and has an appropriate game plan for the combined ability of the players within it. 

Fowler should be able to organise these players to make the sum total of the players more effective than the individuals within it. 

Leicester City are doing just that in England right now and football history is full of teams like them. 

Signing “better players” so I can be a “better coach” is right out of the John Aloisi coaching manual. It’s bollocks - Fowler needs to do his job and so far, he isn’t. 

While I agree that good coaches are those who can organise and use their individual players qualities so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, there is still a requirement to have players of a certain level to start with, that level being dependent on the strength of the competition. My contention is that Roar have very few players who approach that (A League) level, and in particular not achieving that level with the imports is a significant problem.

I don't agree with the Leicester analogy, they have a number of players of class who would get a gig at most other sides at the moment (Schmeichel, Vardy, Maddison, Chilwell immediately come to mind).

I’ve struggled with a few people’s assertions that the A League is somehow better quality than League One in England, we’re not. 

Its an Aussie thing, we can’t accept things for what they are we have to be “the best at it” ...

So Roars recruits from League One/SPL are about the level of the A League. In theory better because they’re used to 50+ season games and scrapping (none of which seem evident though to be fair). 

If the A League were better than League One standard at say Championship level then it would put Korean, Japanese, and Chinese clubs at EPL level such is the gap in quality between them and the HAL. 

so lets get over ourselves, the A Leagues not a higher standard than League One so those players can fit in nicely (and we can still enjoy it for what it is!). 

And theres enough evidence of that from this season - Roar have only been outclassed once by a side who have a stable coaching team, a stable style of play, a stable playing group and confidence flowing through the club ..... meanwhile Roar have a new coaching team, 16 new players, a new playing style and are a club bereft of confidence. 

Other than that Roar have been in games all season and remain just 5 points off third place

And when you look at the first half goals conceded vs SFC, all three started in midfield when Roar failed to pressurise the ball carrier and block the passing lane - O’Neil, Mauk and Inman all have the ability to do that ... they just didn’t. That’s not a quality thing, that’s just shit football. 

And okay, Leicester might be a bad example for you - but you get my point that coaches can assemble squads for a fraction of the price/quality others do and get them to perform - Clough in his early years at Derby and Forest, Wimbledon ... I’m not sure there’s a  good HAL example but Amors Adelaide comes close. 

While I agree that good coaches are those who can organise and use their individual players qualities so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, there is still a requirement to have players of a certain level to start with, that level being dependent on the strength of the competition. My contention is that Roar have very few players who approach that (A League) level, and in particular not achieving that level with the imports is a significant problem.

I don't agree with the Leicester analogy, they have a number of players of class who would get a gig at most other sides at the moment (Schmeichel, Vardy, Maddison, Chilwell immediately come to mind).