@ Barca

Yes he did. He's an absolute class above the NPL/NYL level - hope to see a lot of him this season

To be all doom and gloom about this. If aloisi doesn't get the team playing well by round 5 he should be out. Preseason results and quite frankly the worst opening game i've seen from the roar. 

@ lolitsbigmic

Ni offence to the next 4 teams coming up, AU, Jets, Nix away and CCM, but if JA can't get results there it ain't getting any easier away to Victory and the two Sydney sides that make up three out of four of the following games.

If we don’t win at least 3 out of next 4 we are in big trouble
Not sure ist coach will go though but there will be huge pressure on the management I recon

@ Jonsnow

I recon you're right. The nes management feel they deserve credit for13 months of stability and generally keeping Roar out of the papers (and they do but ...) as it was pointed out rather bluntly by someone afterwards the fan forum, that's expected and considered normal -the real measure is on the field and if that's wrong there's an awful lot of pent up anger still to be unleashed

It's only one game in (but what else have we got to discuss) but it's alarming Roar didn't seem to have a pattern of play last night - 30% possession in the first half pretty much reversed to 63% in the second but the end result was the same number of chances. It's hard not to look at John and Ross and say "what the fuck have you been doing for three and a half months?"

That new Italian nonno, what's his name, Macaroni - needs to be played like Cahill is played in the national team. Neither have the cattle to play a full game but would be OK as impact players offering a point of difference that can change a game.

@ Paulc

Maccarone proved in preseason and v City that he's fit enough to play 90 minutes.

You mean he proved that he can stay on his feet to play for 90 minutes.

Has some good points but on this topic was slow, couldn't cover a lot of ground and hesitated to pressure the back line because that took effort. 

@ Paulc

I think were going to have to wait to judge Maccarone - there's three questions probably:

1. Is he good enough?
2. Can he last 90 minutes regularly?
3. Can he last a full season without age getting in the way?

He's a bit faster than Tommy Broich but I never heard anyone say Tommy wasn't fast enough? There's two things Maccarone isn't known for - pace and physicality so it's unfair for criticism in those areas unless we need them.

Maccers was fast but the kid couldn't cross a road or make a pass - but he could finish. And it's the same way with any player, what can they do for you?

Had Roar played well v City and Maccarone sh*t, criticism might be due, but we played poorly from front to back. The Midfield 5 deserves the most criticism and that's what must improve on Friday.

I recon Maccarone is fit enough for 90 minutes and the season, I'm ex-Army and saw plenty of fit 30-somethings so age isn't the physical issue some posters want us to believe; not if you're good enough.

That brings us back to the first question - is Maccarone good enough and a sub-question, are the team able to use his strengths? We'll know in a few weeks ..

Lol there were many that said Tommy has slowed down a lot.

Surprised to see Timmy put in a good shift last night. Like to see nonno Maca do the same if at all possible and he can start by pressing the defence.

You a quick mind in the box. You don't need to be a quick player.

It's rather embarrassing for people who think players in their late 30's can't play - Maccarone is a much, much better player than Timmy and just as fit if not fitter. It matters how good you are, that's all.

I dont think anyone is saying older players cant play.The issue is age and what it does to you physically.Its why players retire and wakeup sore.
It's why it takes longer to recover from physical activity.
Its why you lose sharpness and your mind works slower.Its why IQ tests allow for your age.
If age doesn't matter why is McKay so average these days?
Luckily Aloisi said Holman is back and he will solve most of the problems of last week...
:)
Against Adelaide we need to win convincingly at home or we are in trouble.Our home ground advantage is something we must maintain.

Yes BUT you and I at 38 would have very different physical attributes to Maccarone at 38. So citing age is wrong if you don't take into consideration the actual abilities of the individual - both technical and physical.

Whether Maccarone is slower today than when he was 28 is not the point, and we can't afford 28 year old Maccarone anyway because he'd be playing in the EPL and not HAL.

My point is, wait and see how good he is. If he turns out to be good this year then a few folk are going to look a tad silly.

FFA taking sponsors away from Roar again ffs:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1631730220225977&substory_index=0&id=1361064053959263

The rest of the team and JA are trash. Not gonna happen.

Waz, I know you are in love with Big Mac but please hand on heart how can you even put him in the same league as Cahill .
Cahill plays and competes as if every game is his last and has done so for the whole of his career , I don’t know if we will be saying the same about Maccarone at seasons end
Btw , hope I’m wrong

Part of the problem with the older players is defence.We have The big Mac and BKF who aren't looking like they are pressing .
Part of the Roar game used to be about pressing and winning back the ball.That's part of the reason for the quarion marks over so many old players.
Just what is JA's philosophy these days?No press ,no quick passing from the back and midfield question marks.It's like the plan is to get whatever players and work it out after.Like getting Bautheac and BKF?
I really have no idea what Roar is about these days.I wonder if the players do either.

Well it used to be hoof it to Maclaren/Borrello but I can't see that happening with the dads army squad we've got going. Will be interesting. 

Well, the previous comments were largely arguing the merits of Maccarone and the dubious fitness levels of the team. Round 2 has delivered the definitive answer to both questions.

Well, we had 5 outfield players over 30 and Adelaide had 6. So it's not an age thing. Aloisi just hasn't got the team fit. Why can't he when Adelaide can?

And I thought Maccarone looked class last night - he ain't fast but he was our best player and one of the best on the park. He'll score for us this season if we can get the ball to him and create plenty of chance but last week Caletti and Akbari butchered two good chances he created and last night D'Aggers butchered two in as many seconds.

We looked rather clueskess last night - unfit, lacking a game plan, wasteful in front of goal, suspect substitutions, and the finger only points one way .... the Aloisi twins.

Do we have a fitness coach. If we do he needs the sack. We where tired at the 40 minute. 

We did have some very good chances to kill the game. But it still the fitness cost us in the last 5 minutes.

Yep with you on this one Waz. Big Mac looked quality when given the chance. Daggers had another shocker (had high hopes for him this season), FBK went missing for large parts of the game and our midfield was woefully inadequate. Holding onto a 1 nil lead for 80mins then to lose 1 - 2 hurts... They looked out on there feet and you got the sense that once Adelaide scored once, they would get another...

Going to be a long season unless changes are made...

Aloisi bringing on a striker instead of a DM with less than ten to go was bizarre!!

I said this on the match day thread but it's probably more relevant here.

I have zero idea about the Roar behind the scenes however on "just for kicks" Robbie Slater provided an insight.
He made mention that Brisbane's training facilities resemble a cow paddock and there's a big reason why they have so many soft tissue injuries.

Perhaps Waz or a few other Roar fans could attest to this but is it really that unprofessional?

If so there's probably a key reason of why their fitness is lacking.

30 years ago everyone trained on cow paddocks (and usually played on them as well). I don't recall it affecting fitness or causing injuries.

I think poor substitutions played their part. 

The problem with Australian coaches is that they tend to substitute according to a game plan instead of according to what is actually happening on the pitch. In fact, it is almost like there is a rule that you have to tell the ref who your substitutions are and when they are coming on , before the game starts.

Last night, Kalfalah was obviously dead tired by the 60 min mark probably due to the interupted pre season, and had stopped playing well.  He should have been the first substitute, not Dagostino who was not playing that badly and who was obviously extremely fit.  That was the first mistake. Holman played well, but he would have played better wih Dagostino running wide instead of the tired kalfalah. It was obviously a preplanned move to get Holman into the game fresh and that part worked well but blind freddy could see he was subbed for the wrong person.

The next sub of Hingert for Papadopolous was obviously another preplanned one.  Good in theory before the game, but not what was needed based on the performance of the players at the time.  Papadopolous was playing fine and the defence looked sound.  Hingert was a good attacking option but to me it seemed obvious that the midfield was starting to struggle.  Certainly Hingert (or even Akbari for Kalfalah was the obvious choice but if not that, surely it seemed clear at this time that our midfield was starting to get run over. 

This leaves the third sub where Aloisi had obviously preplanned to give a promising youngster some minutes.  It was so obvious that our central midfield had lost their shape and were getting run over the top of.  Oxborrow should have been brought on for Caletti or Mackay (i would have subbed Calletti).  This would have at least given us a chance to control the centre of the park where we were having problems. It should have been obvious earlier than when that third sub was made also.  It was so obvious that it was worth the risk of leaving us exposed with no subs earlier than what is normal.

All in all, i think intelligent subs would have changed the perception of this game. (i have assumed that their was the correct illegal off the bench coaching instructions being sent out, although i doubt it) We really badly needed an organising midfielder in the last half hour.  I think Kristensen is a huge loss. Mackay and Holman have little structure to their game and caletti is a bit the same. He is the player that can and will provide the organisation.  

I think a full complement of players will and better balancing of the teams will fix this fitness problems that people are seeing.

In relation to Maccarone, after two games, both of which only really looked like ordinary performances where he wasnt really given much service, i think it is abuntantly obvious that he is a class above any striker Roar has ever had. His positioning is absolutely outstanding and his first touch is also extremely good.  I also get the feeling that he his conversion rate (in teh sense of chances to goals) will be in the same class or better than TimmyCahill.  I think he is a substantial improvement on Jamie Maclaren although admittedly they are different styles of players.

Good post Bender. Aloisi's subs have always appeared more of a formality than anything tactical. "Oh, is it the 65th minute already - time to start subbing."

@ Aussie pride

On the cow paddock- apparently the training pitch is shitter than normal due to a dry winter and Rugby using it again. Roar move to Logan in January with a pitch dedicated to them and their own groundskeeper

But the state of the pitch doesn't explain fitness or bizarre substitutions

I've no idea why FBK wasn't subbed at the 65 minute mark. Looked absolutely stuffed.