Very excited about the last two performances, and in patches the two before that. Not sure how far we can go this year but it’s going to be an enjoyable season (for the first time since Aloisi season one at least?). 

Thanks for the heads up on travel, Waz too, I live about 30 mins away from Dolphin stadium but with traffic took about 40 mins, there was a roundabout close to the stadium that slowed to a stop but overall it was a good test run for the future at least, going to the next two home games as well.

Dolphin stadium, what can I say, great little stadium, loved the atmosphere and it really felt like you were close to the action on field compared to souless suncorp. Crowd wise, I was in pod 15, western stand I think, in the sun but the cool breeze helped, feel sorry for the people on the other side with no shade at all, god it must have been hot.

Overall it was great experience, honestly couldn't believe that we scored 3 goals in 15 mins, I was shocked to be honest, in a good way. I missed that feeling, the good old days of scoring freely, passing game was like the old days, good triangles and movement and created plenty of chances, was great to watch. Victory could have scored a couple more thanks to our own mistakes but we really should have put in another 3 or 4 giving our chances.

I think as Roar fans, we have been through some rough years and I think finally we could be in for a great season, let alone a great future under the new coaching of Moon.

Yep, I love Young, fantastic shot stopper, controls the box well, as in doesn't stuff around, punch the crap out of it etc but his distribution is pretty woeful.
Who knows where the ball is going when he kicks it, its always been problem and nearly cost us plenty of times in the past.
I agree Frekes distribution is above and beyond compared to Young.

If you come in across the bridge to Redcliffe, have a look at the turning one street back from Anzac Avenue (or even at Anzac Avenue) then turn left into Ashmole Road. Until everyone does it, it saves a lot of the congestion. Coming from North I don't think you can do much about it but it is not that bad.

If the sun was at your back you were definitely in the West stand.

Don't know why you are surprised by our quick start. We have scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of every home game you have been to this season ;).

Yea, I was going to go left onto Ashmole but missed it, wasn't paying enough attention, will do that next time.

Yea, sun was on the back, by the second half though the shade had moved over so it was all good.

I should have clarified, I was shocked because being my first home game I thought I would be cursed and jinx the team, so many times in the past it has happened :laugh:

I am the opposite corner of the ground from Brown in the first half so I missed most of his performance that half. Even in the smaller stadium, with the small 'big screens' I see big ants running round in the far corner and cannot catch any detail.

In the second half Brown just did not seem to have that many opportunities to engage, with the Victory attack avoiding him (or him not being able to join in).

On the right hand side though, Moon had Brindell-South playing higher up the field than Hingert usually plays. More using 3 at the back with genuine wingers than the back five with with fullbacks pushing forward.

I wonder if Moon traded off our defence somewhat and instructed both Brown and Brindell-South to play higher and create more in attack - making them far less useful going back. For my part, I got the feeling that the right side was weaker than usual which I put down to Trewin and Brindell-South being newer to the structure. Maybe it was tactical instead.

My new member pack cap offset any jinx you might have brought with you.

Great result, very, very enjoyable game. Defence looked a little shaky. If we defend like that against better teams, we could be in trouble. Well done to Brownie, he’s kept up his streak of at least one brain fart per game.

Unbelievably that is the fastest any team has got to three goals in the history of the AL 

Not a single negative knocker on the forum this year....I wonder why?

where have they all gone?

I actually thort Brindell South did fine for first a-league  run in 6 years.
and I also thort Akbari wasn't that bad. , I think he faded in the heat maybe but a team can't play that well in the first half  if a cm is having a bad day but we all see different things. 

Pass of the game from Alfred to front third and DWH scores. Quality!!

Alfred has a great pass, true.

I agree on Brindell-South. Have seen him a few times now (maybe a couple in pre-season games) and he has plenty to learn but doing well. A good future prospect for us if we keep giving him time.

Akbari was the best I have seen him the previous game, so that is my benchmark for him and he wasn't as influential against Victory over the course of the game. I'm expecting to see more of his best each game, and I do not think he is out of place in the squad.

I was in Pod 15 last week, but it was overcast so no issue. This week in Pod 13, plenty of shade. Great spot to sea a great game.

Realistically are we going to be at dolphin for longer than this season? I can't see the club returning to suncorp and losing money renting there. 

Unless Suncorp come up with a better deal I think we are where we are for a few more years - remember with concerts/boxing etc the availability of Suncorp will be really low once we’re through this. 

The RSPCA is interested in names and footage for anyone seen struggling with dolphin.

Lol

Game day and im excited to get to the game tonight (even battling after work traffic). I think moon will opt for us to go back to 4 at the back keeping the defensive duties simple. I suspect daley will come back in for Trewin. The bulls attack down their right hand side significantly more than their left so i think Danzaki will be tasked with pinning Franjic back and DWH will be set to try to exploit that space in the pocket. 

I have enjoyed trying to figure out how moon will set up it is really good to see a strong tactician in the league and a team that is flexible. 

The back 3 (or 5 if you count the wing backs) has been very effective and enjoyable to watch. We have the players for it. Interesting to see how a back 4 pans out. I think you’re right he may well go more defensive. I can see a 1 - 1 coming up.

Yes that sounds fair. I’m warming to Dolphin more and more. As long I have a good seat on the west side. The reduced crowds we get due to Covid makes the size of the stadium quite suitable at the moment. But next year will be a different thing and I think Roar needs to have a plan other than Dolphin. Any snippets on Roars potential new home / stadium?

A back 4 doesnt have to be more defensive. in fact the 4-3-3 is generally one of the more attacking formations used. Moon has so far gone for simplifying defensive duties as much as possible, this has meant mostly adapting the formation so it is man-to-man in defence for the most part. this hasn't meant that we have played more defensively overall, just that moon has adapted the attacking roles to suit this simplified defensive set up. 

of course this is just my reading of what he has done and is only based on the 5 games I have seen from him. he absolutely could be happy with how the 5-3-2 formation went last week and deploy the same sort of formation looking to exploit the gaps behind franjic. Interestingly we are one of the worst teams for passing, bottom 2 in passes and at 10th in the completion rate at 79%

Could bottom two in passes tie in with our faster attacking style in comparison to our old pissing round the backline tactic?

Lower completion rate might suggest we are looking for more killer passes rather than just trying to keep the ball too.

Be nice if it was a deliberate decision and not just that we are becoming inaccurate with our passing and not respecting possession enough.

patince mate, patience, it will come :)
Enjoy the fresh air while it lasts, I'm sure opposing members will re group and deliver when the time is right :)

Still here, to be fair Roar have had an easy draw and are yet to beat a top 6 team at this moment in time. Makes a difference though when you don't have a coach who parks the bus. Real test for Aldred and Gillesphey will be against Sydneys and Perths attack. But top 4 is virtually locked in imo.

Completely agree except for the top 4 bit. Too early to say.
It will be a bigger test for Moon tonight rather than the players. I have been cautiously optimistic these games (notwithstanding the pleasure watching the team) but the real tests start tonight.

Playing with wingbacks provides a strong emphasis on attacking from out wide. With a back 4 it relies more on the midfield which incidentally I thought we were a bit light on last game. Very keen to see how we perform with a change in formation if Moon decides that way.

Did Moon have us playing too defensively for the first half hour? I can understand needing to lock out the quality of Macarthur's attack, but at the same time it came at the expense of control of the midfield and gave Macarthur the opportunity to dictate play. We had played in heat three days before so perhaps saving legs and protecting players.

Just did not look like we could find our form for a long time into the first half and we were unsettled like we were against Victory in the first half of our first game against them.
We sat back and let them play their safe possession football when a higher press might have yielded better results and helped us breakdown a very tall, strong defensive setup.

For some reason we have always struggled against structured and set defensive teams (like our traditional challenge team Jets), especially when they are tall. More high balls crossed in to a set defensive line than the clever creative play we have been developing lately, and most of our promising attacks were rushed due to congestion in the box.

Even with that there were plenty of good chances throughout the game that we just didn't manage to convert. On another day a couple will go in so not that bad really.

This was a game where the 5 sub rule made a difference. With 3 subs Milicic could not have altered the way his team was playing so significantly. Clever use of the subs by him to play out his game plan. Pressured us early without offering much in attack then changing up to better attacking players later.

Danzaki continues to shine. DWH took advantage of a great through ball and had the composure to at least hit the post - that deserved him a goal. Macca burned some energy late in the game trying to force turnovers; that was quite impressive for him late in a game. Corey was less effective than usual in my eyes. A few times long cross balls were just too far ahead of him (or he did not anticipate them in the wind), then gave the ball away cheaply a few times as well.

I think I would have preferred Jesse Daley starting over Akbari this week. We needed something more in midfield and better composure playing out of the back and I think he might be able to do that better.

Kudo still yet to have any significant involvement although I did see him touch the ball last night. Odd how little time he is getting with the ball at his feet. I cannot recall any other player who has subbed on like him over a few games and just not had the ball come to him.

A last chance to practice breaking down defences against Jets next week then a challenging road trip of SFC, City and Glory. Going to be good to see how we go.

Next game...

with the way we were set up there was no way to effect a high press as we were always well short up front (because one or two had to drop to cover midfield players). I think moon got the tactics wrong, with the 3 at the back as it gave the midfield away and let the bulls dictate play. our defensive set up was too slow to pass players on so we always had 2 or 3 free defenders while they attacked meaning we were well and truly out numbered in the midfield. 

still it nearly paid off, if DWH scored when he hit the post it would have been all over as the bulls would have been forced to go searching for goals leaving space to exploit. back to the drawing board. the back 3 doesnt work against the set up the bulls played if you want to play exciting football, to win you have to go back to fowler ball where you grind teams into the ground.

Thats pretty spot on RIMB.

Yes, I think we were too defensive, like 5 at the back. Also correct we let them play their game and we did not play our usual game to pressure and break down their backs. 

Noticable player performance:
1. Young seems out of form since returning
2. Gillespie’s and Aldred remain consistently solid
3. Not sure why Hingert came on. The young ginger haired bloke was playing quite well.
4. Brown, well what can you say we haven’t said before. By far our weakest link.
5. DWH still has a first touch major problem.

We lack a midfielder that can control the game, take it by the scruff and dictate it’s  tempo. When DWH doesn’t fire or is substituted, we have negligible strike power. A good back up is required.

Finally Moon. A set back for him but unlucky to lose.