Title contenders LOL

I copped some stick early on the for being underwhelmed by Champness but my call then is looking on the money now. 

Hard to watch the way Brisbane play.
So many long balls , stupid crosses and poor passes.
Gol Gol is a very poor Footballer.
Maybe next year. 

Mid table contenders, if lucky and egg on face to some Roar supporters on here.

Well we definitely have a problem that was some of the worst football we played. I can't see any players in the squad that can come on and make a difference. Golgol is absolutely terrible, I prefer an anonymous kudo than him. At least he won't turn over the ball all the time.

Corey again switching off and ball watching and Trewin has been making to many mistakes. Most importantly our midfield is non existent and we just electing to bypass it.  When we look back on when we play well it's when we control the midfield and play through the centre. O'Shea really needs to step up to be honest he's not getting involved enough.

I know we had a massive debate on the back 3/5 and the 433. But we really need to look at having 3 central midfielder rather than the two wide play nonsense. 

You would put egg on the optimistic faces of your fellow Roar supporters? Oh Paulc - if you need to get your wins that way then go for it.

My so called wins are indicative of the way we play. Egg on face are own goals.

Another game of real opportunities not taken.

Such a difference though in how we create most of our chances in moments of pressure and frantic energy rather than actually constructing them like we do when we are working properly in the final third.

I have said it before, and I say it again - the difference Scott MacDonald makes to our side (or another player with those skills) by creating time and space in a busy area has been demonstrated in every game since his injury.

We can apply consistent and sustained pressure to any opposition and yet still not actually feel like 'we are going to score'.

And I'll wear my own goals with pride then come the end of the season...but in the meantime I will continue to expect better from our team every game and look forward to the next team we face.

Seriously, did Moon really think that Gol Gol was the best we could do for a player to lead the line? 

“If” we only had MacDonald in the team LOL.

This is starting to look like a bottom 4 team. 

Scotty Mac does make a difference .But isnt he 38?

Also keep in mind that WU were playing their 3rd game in one week and tested their better players until late in the game.

But if we only had .......and if that shot only.........and if there wasn’t ...........ROFL

Cannot see anything in Gol Gol. What did he do overseas ....sit on bench. He plays the ball back all the time even when he can turn ??
at least Champs has a go at the defence, so why isn't he the late impact player??

still we live in hope

rudan tho true to form, time wasting in the last few minutes. 

Brindell South coping a mouthful for not returning the ball but WU time wasting, so whose at fault ??

I would like Moon to pick a first team and go with it. The mix up of our front half every game cannot be helping build any sort of cohesive environment.

@Crimson - I agree we have been playing like battling underdogs for the last several games - just playing to stop the opposition scoring and looking like we have no attacking structure beyond a few basic tactics. I think losing Scott MacDonald is more about the loss of focus than his actual contribution. O'Shea has to play with a forward focus to create but he is being pulled all over the place.

Aldred and Gillesphey are still great at the back, and for all their occasional faults Trewin, Hingert and Brown are still holding out most of the flashy attacks by teams with pedigrees. The problem is not at our defensive end, where we berate Hingert and Brown comfortably and perhaps even think they cost us the game - but the problem is the same one we had last season. If the front end doesn't convert their chances the back is going to concede under pressure at some point.

I still wonder if Moon is holding out for Scott Neville to return so he can go with 4 at the back and move away from the flying wingbacks having to cover both front and back. That gives him 6 players to build into a strong midfield with some pointy end players who don't have to continually drop back to defensive duties and to bring the ball forward.

Do we even have a DM in our current structure? Everyone in front of the 'back 5' seems to rotate and adapt to whatever is happening at the time.

I worry that Kudo was great for Japan because he had skilled crafters giving him the service he needed. We are not that team. Mehbratu either needs time in the game to work out what to do, or otherwise when he comes on he needs to be making a difference. Champness - sure he would be a better impact player if we had someone else who could provide something different in attack for the first hour but we don't.

That WU rested their stars until later in the game is not a major factor to me. A few teams have been putting out a more defensive, solid line-up to start games and bringing on game changers under the 5 sub rule like they could not afford to when limited to 3 subs. It has become a tactic this season to try for a goal if possible but aim to concede none - then sweep the board with multiple quality subs in the last third of the game. Scoring early is the best counter to that, and again, putting away our early chances specifically is something we are really struggling with (yes, along with our middle and later chances).

In Moon's post game interview I think he sounded a bit baffled and rather frustrated about how to get players who he knows can score goals to actually put them in the net in games. A real challenge for him to work his way through since all the planning, tactics, strategies, structural changes and Hail Marys still require someone to put the ball in the net.

We might see DWH benched and Danzaki and Kudo leading the line next game to give him a rest and get some of the mongrel hunger back. Something has to change if waiting it out has not worked.

All that aside - we put on another very competitive performance tonight, often had WU rattled, and made their keeper earn his pay. Nothing that required an exceptional keeper mind you, but some very well hit balls on target. Easy to write the team off for another loss, especially with no goals scored again by us, but that was not a hideous performance.

And once more for the paulnut gallery - IF we put away one or two of the genuine chances we create each game then we ARE title contenders. Glad to be the one light moment for you in the face of another loss. My skin is thick, my shoulders broad - I am a Roar Supporter.

I agree with most of the bold part. We looked like we had a great crop of up and coming players, and some small flashy bits added this season, but when Moon makes substitutions now I am not feeling like we are stepping up a gear at all.

The players have speed and commitment, and their skill level is good enough to make an impact, but when they come on for the most part they are sort of what we already had but with fresh legs. That is great when we have a functioning and effective structure to slot into but does not work so well when we are chasing a game.

I think they can make a difference to the outcome of the game but don't feel like they have much impact on the way the game is shaping up.

What about now?

You got no-one who can finish. Who cares how good the teams plays if there is no end product. 

Ive been saying it since the game after adl. Oshae is wasted as the deep lying play maker and we are always going to struggle when we are looking for hingert and brown to be our play makers (particularly when they are just whipping crosses into DWH). the only game we looked good with the 5 at the back is against Adelaide.

as much as Trewin has done well at not giving up goals having him in the team has meant we attack with one less player, 2 goals in 6 games shows where we need the extra player, it is not in defence. 

                young
hingert aldred gillesphie brown
         akbari     daley
                   Jos
Smac/danzaki          Danzaki/DWH/Champness
                     DWH/Kudo

I just had a thought about Moon inheriting the bulk of a team that Robbie Fowler picked for a very specific type of gameplay.

Then I wondered how many other head coaches were playing with teams that they had no involvement in selecting.

It is quite scary when you look at the number of coaches that have been in charge of their teams for more than two years....Corica.

You mean the coach that won a premiership and 2 championships?

Also I would argue. Rudan and milicic both selected their teams they started from scratch. Also nix is practically talays team. Same as Vidmar stanjic. WSW even had a massive influx of players for Robinson, I would say it's close to being his team.

It's really Perth, MV, city, jets and roar I would say not their squad. 

I agree with that - but my thoughts had moved past the squad side of things and more onto how poor the career prospects are with a singe club in our league.

Yes, two teams have not been around for more than two years, but only one coach has actually been in place as head coach for more than two years. How can clubs develop for the future in that environment? Is it an unreasonable thought that a coach who has five years with a club has a better chance of bringing through players and developing both a cohesive team and a club identity?

I wasn't having a go at Corica - so apologies if that misled you.

This looks like something I'd be trying

WSW just shot past us on the table. We’re now 7th and the two teams below us have games in hand.

Sunday’s game vs Wellington will be interesting. Nix are further down the table again but based on tonight’s game they deserve to be well above us.

I’m scared to think where we’ll end up this season.

IF we continue as we are we will end up much further down than I expected.

Lucky for us Nix will be calm, relaxed and sated after tonight's performance. Wouldn't want to face them fired up and hungry...

The Nix are a really good side just hitting form. For my money, Talay is the best coach in the comp. 

Our play is too pedestrian. It's almost as if we go on to the field with this mentality that our first aim is to keep it tight at the back, and hopefully we will create something going forward, which is why we look poor going forward. 

If you watch our forwards and midfield, it's often heads down kind of play. So no one is really situationally aware and essentially we find ourselves in positions where we have a player outnumbered or running without purpose. You can't see what is trying to be done. Sometimes it looks like a lot is being and at the same time nothing is being done.