was grella the best defender in the seri a before the 06 world cup? Jedi is defending on a level we have never seen before from an aussie

Agreed on his defensive abilities and work-rate. But the fact that his passing was excellent today doesn't, in itself, make him a calibre above any player we have had in that position. Most of his passes were fairly conservative and City weren't looking to strangle Palace in the middle of the park. This meant that the vast, vast majority of Jedinak's passes were extremely high percentage and not overly difficult to make. This isn't a criticism of him, you can only play to the game plan/circumstances. But it means he can't get brownie points for something he didn't do. He wasn't often forced to play the ball around under lots of pressure, nor did he make many highly difficult passes or the kind of manoeuvres (passing and moving at speed) which tend to create lots of space. I think that Bresciano and Culina were of a higher calibre than Jedinak in terms of ball-carrying and distribution (the offensive part of a CDM), possibly Grella was too. But Jedinak is better than Bresciano and Culina in terms of tackles and intercepts, he's probably at least as good as Grella in the 2006 World Cup at it too, and that's very high praise indeed.

well I think its his defensive effort which is so impressive. He has the most intercepts per game in europe and 3rd highest tackles per game in the epl. The fact that his passing was decent today makes him a calibre aboveany pkayer we have had I his position. Of course he normally gets 72 per cent

To be fair, as regards the % passing, that's not enough information to ascertain how good he is (or whether that puts him in Australia's best ever). Regardless of how much pressure or whether or not they were low/high percentage passes, he has to be congratulated on getting 86% accuracy. But there's 86% passing accuracy and there's 86% passing accuracy. Obviously a player of Iniesta or Xabi Alonso's calibre is going to get a ridiculously high percentage of passing and some of those passes will be considerably more risky and have considerably greater pay-offs.

So, don't get me wrong, I'm not slagging Jedinak off. I was fairly impressed with what I saw in the City game and very impressed with what I saw in the West Ham game. But you do need more information about the nature of the passes before you can canonise him, so to speak.

jedi's stats
7 tackles 5 intercepts and 86% passing. If he averaged those passing stats each week he would be the best 6 australia has ever had

[youtube]RxI-Rfh9am4[/youtube]
;)

Is there a YT clip with Halloran's latest goal - alot of you guys have described it as a 'better than average' effort, at the least - Hopefully the rest of us can check it out?!



Interesting to hear, thanks for that guys. One wonders how Ange views him and if he may consider that?! Though with Bresc and Rogic about, as too our weakness/lack of depth on the flanks, Oar may just have to remain out there... Less Troisi slots in out there and Oar switched in middle - perhaps as some kind of more offensively minded, quicker, counter-attacking threat (With Leckie upfront and Halloran RW aswell?)?

I just saw that WC preview show and the interview with the Netherlands coach, Van Gaal, he emphasised how they utilise a 4-3-3 and seek to full press.

So, dare I say, Ange's tactical approach utilised against CR may've been some kind of preliminary preparation for, atleast the likes of they, aswell as Chile.

So mobility and quick processing/agility from our front half, as too ground coverage in our own tracking back and pressing, could be the part of the approach we seek, to exploit their higher lines? :-k

Leckie, Halloran, Oar, potentially Rogic and Troisi could play a strong role in that regard?!



Thanks Grazor - given form, Sarota should surely be 'all-but' on the plane to Brazil?! Seems to be our leading DM option now, behind the Milligan-Jedinak combo?

Edited by GloryPerth: 28/4/2014 02:22:38 AM

Actually, that may not be so bad a thing - Hearts are hopefully almost out of Administration now, via local millionaire and Hearts fan Anne Budge and the Fan-based, Foundation of Hearts, group.

They will be joined by Rangers in the second tier next season and the famous blue-half of Glasgow and they will be heavy favourites to top the 2014/15 Champ for promotion back up for the 15/16 SPL. TBH Rangers will surely dominate, but Hearts should be a clear enough second and a strong chance to win through the qualification play-off too. With Budge in-control and the TF Embargo lifted they should be able to sign some more 'experienced' players too, something their young, but talented squad desperately needs.

Dylan McGowan has played at this level before, not too long ago, via a loan stint and it should 'genuinely' only be a temporary/short-term drop down. At worst it should take them two seasons to see promotion, if say Rangers, as expected, secure the top, automatic promotion place and Hearts lose in the promotion play-off scenario (2nd to 4th place- But that would then leave them clear of the big/unusual scenario of a having to compete for automatic promotion with huge rival club like Rangers, in the following season.

Dylan McGowan is still 'relatively' young and even inexperienced, yet, he's one of the more experienced/'capped', senior, players in their 'present' squad. The more he features and stars, the more kudos for a lad who's come up through their youth system since his mid-teens and the more likely his status will remain elevated once the experienced/quality recruits are brought in.

Where, elsewhere, in the SPL or League One/Two in England, he would just be another 'squaddie' in the defensive rotation of more clubs than less. The 22 going 23 year old can build up his resume at Heart, adding a further 30-40 caps next season to the roughly 90 senior appearances he's accumulated in his career so far. That would also take him closer to 100 appearances for Heart. The then 23 going 24 year old would then be a key player in a team re-entering the SPL and a much more attractive prospect down south or where ever. Though again, even remaining at Heart could again bring more promise as their new ownership regime shows a potentially very promising long term future - with 'Fan Ownership' being the goal, 5 years or so down the line!

Once Heart are re-promoted, with their highly promising new ownership regime, with the quality and experience of their younger talent combined with quality signings - they could be right back up there challenging the Top 3, giving Celtic and Rangers a right push, just as they were at their strongest, just a few seasons ago!

Edited by GloryPerth: 28/4/2014 02:08:12 AM

Cap him.

jedinaks ball skills uncharacteristically decent this match :-k

Adrian Mariappa's into his S&M. Been reading too much 50 shades of Grey. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gerrard's shots from distance were troubling him a little.

Jedi sort of at fault for that goal gave toure way too much space some guys dressed as the phantom playing for palace also.

Edited by jas88: 28/4/2014 01:23:47 AM

Schwarzer pulled off some excellent saves in that second half. Mind you, Chelsea weren't parking the bus so much as creating a bus depot.

Two clean sheets for Schwarzer.

schwarzer chelseas highest rated player on whoscored

not a bad defensive effort from sarota 4 tackles and 2 intercepts but maybe could have done better for the first goal. He can break a line through dribbling and passing and has a good first touch. Despite it being a poor game for utrecht I would definitely include sarota in the wc squad based on what I have seen lately

3-1 heerenveen. Pretty dominant display actually

4-1 now.

Utrecht have looked worse since sarota came off so it probably wasn't his fault

Edited by grazorblade: 28/4/2014 12:19:36 AM

lol ffs..Heracles v Ajax, 85th minute, both teams happy with a 1-1 draw. Heracles literally just passing around the back and Ajax very happy to let them wind down the clock. Bizarre.

Schwarzer has started for Chelsea vs Liverpool this evening. Hasn't had a lot to do. Fumbled one shot, but recovered well. Aside from that he's been pretty quiet so far.

yeah I think if you use him as a traditional winger we have about 10 players ahead of him.

I can't say i've watched too many Utrecht games, but i've always thought he looks best for the national team when he goes through the centre. Becomes a bit of a one trick pony when he stays out wide.

oar nearly dribbles through the team and then gets a shot assist with a beautiful cross a couple of seconds late.

He plays quite conservatively oar. He looks very good taking players on in the centre. Much better than when he tries to burn them for pace out wide. I don't think he is very quick

Schwarzer doing quite well hopefully he can get the PL medal he deserves

Yeah who knows, Hearts have been good to his family so that's a strong tie, but there's probably a spot for him anywhere south of the border for him to improve with better resources.

Pretty unremarkable from both of them so far. Oar's finding it hard to get involved. Davidson must be doing alright, currently 1-1 v Ajax. Anyway, I'm gonna watch Schwarzer.

tough game at utrecht....utrecht struggling to work the ball through heerenveens midfield so resorting to hoofing it a lot. Since sarota is one of the mids you would imagine some of the blame would go to him though I havent seen him do too much wrong

39 starts this season incl. cup comps, not a bad effort. Hopefully he doesn't hang around in the first division next season.

Dylan McGowan on right now in the Edinburgh Derby for Hearts.

Also the matter of Jedi's Palace taking on the plucky underdogs of Man City.