We are playing an away game so the best we can hope for is a draw.
If we play McKay Holman and Caletti in midfield we will concede goals.
WSW have pacy wingers and a tall striker who heads the ball well against an inexperienced CB combination and weak defensive midfield.
More changes mean more disfunctionality in attack and defence.
The CB's will be a new pairing.
Franjic,North,Bowles are not match fit.
WSW have their first home game under Gumby and lost their first game yesterday.They love to send the ball down the wings,where we have Hingert and O'Toole.
They have midfielders like Bonovacia who can score long range goals ,through the middle,where we like to sit off players.
Do you go with the facts or the heart?

@ crimson

The facts as you present them make perfect sense, there are three areas of threat - from the wings, an aerial striker threat, and a long range shooter.

All perfectly defendable with the right tactics.

So does John send the boys out doing the same thing and prepare the “we’re getting better speech” or does he vary his tactics?

Answers on a post card please ... the winner will be drawn shortly after 6 PM on Saturday. First prize, a days coaching clinic with the Roar staff ... second prize, two days coaching clinic with the Roar staff lol

Based on the cattle we currently have, I'd be playing to try to get any result. To avoid leaking goals we have to go 442. If north, Franjic and Bowles aren't match fit but fit enough to take the field, then assume that two of them can cover CB for 90 mins.
Hingert North/Bowles Pepper O'Toole
Bautheac Calletti McKay BKF
Holman
Macca

@ clockwork

Slight change if we’re going 442 (which I think is a good idea)

Young
Hingert North Pepper O'Toole
Franjic, Holman, MacKay, Bautheac
Scapetis, Macca

Bench: FBK, Bowles, It doesn’t matter who else ...

Caletti is going backwards and probably needs to be withdrawn completely, Franjic could hold the central defensive mid role although with 4 in the middle there’s less need for it.

I was assuming North, Bowles and Franjic were still unable to play out a game (hence didn't want to go with all three). But I could live with your proposal.  I honestly believe that Macca would do better with someone running off him.

@ clockwork

Fair point. Maybe add Ingham to my bench?

On Maccas, totally agree - even on Saturday night the amount of times he beat defenders in close contact was astonishing but he hasn’t got the speed to go on from there - give him a runner and he could make it count but he’s lonely at the moment.

Confirmed yesterday Roar will have to play two games to qualify for the Group stage of the ACL - a home game in late January and then away in China again.

Jeez ,Roar barely have a squad fit enough for the HAL ,let alone an ACL campaign.Maybe by the time the playoff comes along they will forget the HAL,like AU have in the past.In any event unless we have improved dramatically,by next year ,we wont progress.

Can’t see us winning in China.

Bowlsie is back 😀:

@brfc

Two key defenders are in line to make their long-awaited returns after being named in our 18-man squad to face Western Sydney Wanderers in the Club's first ever Hyundai A-League game at ANZ Stadium.

Daniel Bowles features in the extended squad for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury back in February as does defending Gary Wilkins Medallist Corey Brown.

Brown's last game was in Round 3 against Newcastle Jets when he was substituted in the first-half hurting his hamstring.

Entertaining attacker Corey Gameiro is also in line for his second Hyundai A-League appearance for Brisbane Roar. Gameiro was at his elusive best in the Young Roar's 4-1 Foxtel NYL win over Melbourne Victory on Sunday, netting a first-half brace.

Winger Petros Skapetis has also been included in the 18-man squad after missing last weekend's game against the Sky Blues.

MATCH DETAILS

Hyundai A-League 2017/18: Round 9 - Western Sydney Wanderers v Brisbane Roar
ANZ Stadium
Saturday, 2 December (4:35pm KO QLD time)

Goalkeepers: 21.Jamie YOUNG, 31.Brendan WHITE

Defenders: 2.Dane INGHAM, 4.Daniel BOWLES, 5.Corey BROWN, 8.Jacob PEPPER, 19.Jack HINGERT, 24.Connor O'TOOLE, 77.Ivan FRANJIC

Midfielders: 16.Mitchell OXBORROW, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 18.Joe CALETTI

Attackers: 9.Massimo MACCARONE, 11.Corey GAMEIRO, 14.Fahid BEN KHJALFALLAH, 22.Eric BAUTHEAC, 26.Nick D'AGOSTINO, 33.Petros SKAPETIS

Ins: 4.Daniel BOWLES (returns from injury), 5.Corey BROWN (returns from injury), 11.Corey GAMEIRO (promoted), 33.Petros SKAPETIS (promoted)

Outs: 6.Avram PAPADOPOULOS (suspended), 10.Brett HOLMAN (knock – 1 week)

Unavailable: 1.Michael THEO (gk) (finger – 2 weeks), 3.Luke DEVERE (knee – 10 weeks), 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN (hamstring – 1-2 weeks), 13.Jade NORTH (groin – 1 week), 20.Shannon BRADY (broken foot – TBC)

At least Holman is out.Maybe we can get some continuity.The C backs look vulnerable.
Unfortunately i just can't see us winning this.Hopefully we aren't slaughtered.

The more injuries we get the more excuses the coaches have 😞

Bowles needs to start, leave Brown on the bench. LB has been our best position lately.

Midfield? Fark - MacKay, Caletti and ???

Surely common sense is to put Franjic in there????

Not enough Midfielders by Round eight sorry, but for mine that is coaching incompetence of teh highest order

I wonder how recruitment occurs at Roar.I get the feeling Moore says ..i can get you this player..do you want him JA.JA says well he looks a good player ,i am sure we can fit him in somewhere.
Meanwhile back at the training ground ,a body count reveals four fit midfielders,including a youth player , a Perth reject ,a Jets reject,who never performed last year and a Captain (fittest in the club appparently-not a great measure) who is on a rapid decline and hasn't had a quailty performance for a long time.
Then there is a motely crew of forwards of all ages,from under 20 to almost 40.A lot of them strangers and injury prone.The only one with regular game time last year is 39.
Go figure ?
Position on the table..second last.....hmmmmm not a surprise.

"Entertaining attacker Corey Gameiro ...."
Juggler or stand-up comedien?

A confidence boosting 2-0 win, that’s about the best you can say about that game. We were much better after Franjic came in but was that because we went 2-0 up the moment he came in or because the midfield improved?

Bowles is a very underrated player. A shame he's never really had a clear run without injury.

I was impressed Bowles could last 90 minutes. I think he made one mistake when he dropped off Riera allowing him that free header but otherwise a very solid first outing after 8 mths recovery.

Pepper has found his place too, CB seems to be more natural for him than DM and overall I thought the back 4 looked good for a change. Poppa and Bowles are probably are two best CBs tbh

No point in judging improvements vs an inept Wanderers but the confidence boost that result gives is huge with 5 home games in the next 6 coming up.

When North comes back,what are the odds of Bowles moving to DM?
I keep watching that midfield during a game and when we are under the pump noone can hold the ball or pass it.The result flattered us,just like the MCity result.
Confidence has a part to play,but the only time we can play is when we arent pressed.Every time we get pressed in midfield we collapse ,losimg the ball,making poor passes and long balling to noone.
The lack of cohesion in the front third after 9 games is ridiculous.Still as disfunctional as ever.
Did anyone know what structure we were playing?I saw a 442 and 3 at the back.
I get the feeling a lot of teams are coming down to our level.We are being outplayed and then for whatever reason we come back into it by taking our few oportunites.SFC excluded of course.We were clearly second rate against them.
But look at our form.Against WP,MC ,SFC and WSW ,they clearly were outplaying us,when they pressed us into our half.We dont press high ouselves,because we get ripped on transition,why ?Because our midfield cant defend.

@ crimsoncrusoe

Midfield is the problem. And any midfield that has MacKay AND Holman in it is going to struggle.

Either Poppa or Bowles could probably play DM.

But I recon next weeks best option is:

Mackay. Franjic.
Oxborrow

I recon that would be very solid but never spectacular

@Waz,I am thinking McKay,Bowles and Franjic.They are used to playing together.Bowles likes to pick passes ahead of him.Hence some heart in mouth moments at CB.Put him further up.He has the strength to hold the balland vision to play forward.Being further forward means less risk from trying to pick passes from the back.One more attribute is he is pretty quick.So he can run forward.
Pepper and North CB's until Pappa is back.

Agree that Bowles has the attributes to be a holding mid. He's also an absolute beast in the air so playing him ahead of the defence would give him license to make runs into the box to get onto crosses.

Find it funny that pepper is a better CB than DM. While Bowles is better DM than cb

I am pretty sure Bowles was a winger before being converted to a CB.
Peppers limitations with passing make him a better CB if he can read defensive postions,which he seems able to do.

I think Bowles is better CB than DM but like Thwaite, can play either.

Recommend ban is 6 games, Avraam cops 7.

https://www.brisbaneroar.com.au/news/brisbane-roar-club-statement-avram-papadopoulos

Can’t actually argue with the ban, but unfair the “independent” disciplinary committee decided to get harsh on this one and not some of the sh*t that’s already come across their desk this season.

Roar coaches and a bus load of talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtsTbX85lgo

SFC running away and Roar , WSW and MV are in a world of pain .Only another two thirds of the season left.Does it get any worse ?
Aioooooo!

@ crimsoncrusoe

Let’s scrape the barrel of positivity - we didn’t lose, back to back clean sheets, only 1 defeat in 7 games now, and we, err, got a point.

Then let’s return to reality and talk Aloisi - last weeks performance v WSW wasn’t much better, it was just punctuated with two good goals. Replacing O’Toole with Brown was classic Aloisi - a settled LB playing very well is replaced by a player based purely on reputation; Skapetis replaced by Franjic was more in hope than anything else and - although Franjic has a good game it wasn’t until Gameiro and Skapetis came on that we gained any forward momentum.

And let’s take the “John Alosi sub test”

Q: The game is 0-0 in the first half, your star French winger is injured and you need a sub do you:

(a) replace him like-like and put on Skapetis who played well last week
(b) replace him like for like and put on Gameiro to add a little zip up front
(c) send on a defensive midfielder

Answers on a post card to John Aloisi please.

Overall the performance was god-awful, the discipline appalling, team selection surprising, and substitution plan baffling. Oh, and we were so ill disciplined we were a bit lucky not to see Skapetis sent off.

Aloisi has no game plan, or he’s the worst ever coach at communicating it lol.

A raft of players are returning to fitness so expect to see Theo, Holman and FBK return next week, you know, the players that took us to 3 straight defeats in the opening rounds.

Roars MOTM has to be Young closely followed by Franjic, D’Aggers did okay (and won the ground award) but the team performance was dire

The worst thing is Brisbane are still in the top 6, even though we are horrible to watch. Just shows how bad the A-League is, Johnny can make the finals and think it will be a success :laugh: