In 19/20, O'shea was third best in the league for assists with 7. However Inman also had 7 assists and had more goals in the same season. 

The fact that he's been our replacement for Broich says everything this club's fall from grace over the past years. 

A couple of seasons between one finishing and the other starting, along with the idea that we could simply replace our greatest player, and arguably the greatest league player of all time, makes a Broich/O'Shea comparison less useful as a yardstick for the club.


That does not take into account all the assists that might have been if the person receiving the ball had netted it though. Every game he was creating quality chances that should have been converted. My point is that if he had a more capable front two or three to finish what he set up people wouldn't be debating his quality as much - it is not his fault that what he created did not result in goals.

Inman was more of an individual attacking threat on goal - O'Shea the better chance creator by a long way in my eyes.

In a team of average players JOS is probably the best.But he isnt a Broich or even a Corona or Kristensen before his legs fell off.

Jamie Young abuses his defenders a lot. Not to be  confused with leadership. Frankly, I think his defenders should tell him to STFU when he goes on his rants. 

Essentially went have a NPL level team. Obviously the Bakries are running on a minimum spend but even so, you'd think we could do better. 

Any thoughts on performance vs Sydney. 
Final third is a major problem. 

I prefer the formation with o'shea at 10. Some ok passing triangles. Parsons wasn't great.  

Lescano actually worked pretty hard off the ball and was strong. Our crosses are dreadful. Mileusnic doesn't fit in. Rather play Adams 

Need to replace hingert. Out of position for goal and offers little going forward. Olsen was ok but final ball let's him down.  Long season being dragged out by covid.

I missed the game ,but scoring is a real real problem.What is that now ,one goal from five games?

It is really hard to watch us play at the moment. we had sub 40% possession in the first half, our defence was reasonable but it is only a matter of time before we concede when we have so little possession. everytime the defence clears it just comes straight back at them. lescano works hard but when he is deep inside our own half defending for most of the game we cant get forward, he is not good enough with the ball at his feet to make something himself and surprisingly poor at holding the ball up for a big man (he might be a decent poacher but he is never going to get the chance when all we do is whip aimless balls somewhere near the box with no one attacking it).

Melusenic is absolutely terrible. all he has is pace and we just arnt using it (not that it would be any good trying just pumping long balls for him).

i have been a member since year 1 but i think this is the season that breaks me. at least with other poor seasons we have had something to entertain us, whether that be still trying to play possession based good football, a young player showing promise and exciting the crowd, or just going to the pub drinking some beers and going out before/after the games. now we are playing shit defensive, reactive football, with no possession and no skill, none of our youngsters can create a chance or excite, we are playing in a stadium that is not even in brisbane with no chance of going out after the game and it ends up being 4 hours + round trip. worst of all, there just seems to be apathy all round, none of the players seem to care (no one is giving rockets or saying it is not good enough), the coach is making excuses and saying "the players battled hard and gave it their all", the club is saying "the coach is doing his best under difficult circumstances and the club is doing really well", none of the media is saying that things need to change, no one seems to care. we dont have an identity, we dont have a home, we dont have a club.

Basically Roar are a weak side and the coach has to keep defence tight  to avoid the team getting flogged.It follows there aint much scope for taking risks in attack.
RIP Roar.

Agreed, so the opportunity was there to make a statement in the Cup and get into the Semi at least, but we went out with a wimper. The intelligence of the coaches is being severely tested and found wanting. Should have been far more aggressive last night. This is the sort of raw cunning that Cups and relegation fights are supposed to instil in the playing and coaching staff. Unfortunately, a closed league makes these sort of decision making processes redundant.

We have gone from a side with a main attacking option and several alternate attacking options to just a side with the alternate attacking options. Desperately short of a target and goal scorer and Lescano has not provided that (yet?).

Parsons seems to becoming more conservative and predictable with the ball - more than the opposition just knowing he only has a left foot. His spark has gone for the moment and I hope it is not being trained or structured out of him.

Mileusnic had a really great moment once in the game where he pushed the ball into space and beat the defenders getting to it, but once in a game is not good enough for this level of play. He obviously has attacking quality but we are not using what he can do.

Steinmann was hopeless with the ball in the first half. He was unable to hit a moving pass and gave the ball up consistently under no real pressure. His passing was like the first game back after a long break - which may be exactly what it was.

We had moments in attack, but no attacking presence as such.

Midfield we did OK - bringing the ball right through the middle and through the Sydney press consistently and well.

Olsen and Zabala played well - both offering something positive at this level.

Hingert was responsible for the goal, but he also played very well defensively at other times. He took awhile to get his head into the game properly - a bit like Steinmann off a looong break perhaps. A long discussion we have had on this over the last couple of seasons but I would still prefer Hingert alongside an established and solid defensive team of Aldred, Longbottom, Trewin and Brown over anyone else we have. When the defensive group are thrown together, it is a different ball game and speed of reaction and youthful enthusiasm can produce better results than experience in any moment.

I think Moon deliberately fielded a weaker side in this FFA Cup game to save players for the game on Saturday. The season is what people will judge Moon and the club on and I think we will see a very different game tomorrow - or at least that is what I am hoping for. We did better this year in the Cup - let's not forget that - although against NPL opponents up till now.

Ivanovic, Aldred, Hingert (fully back), Brown and Akbari would all have made that a different game - but would we have had a better final third? Can't say that we have shown enough to be able to say that at this stage. 

Tomorrow's game will be the one I base our fortunes and future on more than the Cup game.

Might be a season where we cheer for the small on field victories rather than the table position and game victories for awhile.

Come on you Roar. Play like we know we can.

There's little doubt in my mind that Brisbane are firming as favourites for the spoon.
Not sure any coach could discuss much with this NPL level squad, but Moon needs to extract more than her is. 

although hingert is slightly out of position for the goal i dont believe he is responsible for the goal.  at the start of the play they score from we had 11 players behind the ball between the top of the D and half way up our defensive half (sydney had 5 players). it is truly unbelievable that with our entire team behind the ball and within 1/8th of the pitch sfc were allowed to move the ball completely across the pitch and forward into our final 3rd with out a roar player getting with in 5 meters of the player with the ball. 

firstly parsons lescano and melusenic  are out of shape, too deep and too wide meaning SFC's DM can pick up the ball and dictate play as there is no pressure on him. Steinman is in no mans land doing nothing because Oshae has to put "pressure" on the ball (because lescano and parsons are out of position). Olsen is too compact and cant get anywhere near the player or the ball when it is played forward twice (because steinman is out of position).  before the cross is put in Daley lets Ninkovic run completely free into the box, this draws hingert in because trewin has gone too far across and let his striker get in behind him which draws Neville across. 

the biggest culprits at fault are firstly lescano and parsons being out of position (minor error and should have been recoverable by a hard press or foul on the DM), then steinman (big error and probably un-recoverable but not all his fault), Daley (big error and really criminal to let a player of niks quality run free, all daley's fault, no excuse), olsen (minor positional error should have been recoverable though if he didnt press the first pass) hingert neville and trewin all finally at fault with positional errors, not to mention Freke being too far across as well. 

hingert was closest and last at fault when they scored, but any one of our 11 players could have stopped that goal from happening and all of them are at fault. 

Fair call - I watch in greater ignorance and just think 'Hingert could have taken a couple of steps towards the flight of the ball as the ball came in and stopped that'.

I did think he was more than half covering the SFC player looking to dart between Hingert and Trewin if he got a sniff too.

Much more in depth than me. 
What are people's thoughts on steinmann ?
I think he adds to the team and worked ok with Daley. He provides more defensive break up than oshea. Some passing was off but some broke the lines quite well.  I think he should play Saturday.  
O shea looked lost yesterday at 10.

I am for Steinmann - his poor passing cost us a lot of energy and pressure yesterday, but when he gets his head on he adds to the strength of the backline and can contribute going forward. We just seem far too unsettled every game even though we are getting some really good combinations working bringing the ball forward.

Sometimes I think coaches make to many changes.
Yes I know all about squad rotation, but you gotta settle on your Best starting 11 and play them consistently so they get the “groove” happening.

the problem is we dont have a best 11 and none of the players are winning their spot. so far in 5 games there have only been 4 players that have been certain inclusions (and i think one of them should not be anywhere near the starting 11). Melusenic, oshae, Neville and Trewin. i have made my thoughts on melusenic clear, the other 3 earn their spots.

apart from those 3 no other player on the pitch has shown any desire to take a game and make it their own. 

Well that was the most satisfying performance from Roar for some tine. Young boys better than the higher paid experience of Sydney and OShea just about 10 out of 10. Better still we created more than Sydney. Maybe a season not done and dusted!

Much better - but did you notice just how settled we got the moment Brown, Hingert and Akbari came on? We instantly had time and control of the ball and we even had O'Shea holding up the ball surrounded by Sydney players and delivering a pass off successfully.

Loved Mileusnic scoring - just because he has been such a poorly used resource so far. He did that just to get up the nose of his doubters - scrappy as the goal was.

I got so frustrated when we gave the ball away all night - either panic clearing or just bad passing - but far too much of it.

Well done team.

Please don't be injured for long Ivanovic.

I am inclined to write Lescano off now. He may come good yet, but he has had plenty of chances to prove that he knows where the net is and it just isn't working.

Ill take it, I have said that melusenic has not been anywhere near good enough to to earn his spot in the team but on Saturday he performed really well. A subtle change by Moon playing him and parsons on their correct sides and in a wide role instead of central made a huge difference. I thought we were much better at using lescano as well (though there were still too many aimless crosses), he wasn't picking up possession in our defensive 3rd rather more in the attacking 3rd if we keep doing that he will eventually get on a roll. 

However overall the only difference between Wednesday and the weekend was a bit of desire from the players to work a bit harder, press a little higher and get back a little quicker. our major problems from wednesday were still there. way too many miss played passes, way too little possession, way too many aimless crosses to no one. sydney really should have scored 3 and we were lucky to score once. less than 35% possession in the first half and ~40% overall, XG of 1,  XG against of just under 2, statistically we should have lost that game. 

What site do you use to get those stats?

I wasn't having a go with my Mileusnic comment - just amusing myself with the thought that he must know he has not been producing and gave everyone a 'cop that' moment.

It was the composure that our experienced players gave us that soothed my concerns most of all. When they came on the game changed from frantic energy to much more controlled and efficient energy. I actually felt myself breathe out the first time we brought the ball up the wing through traffic after they came on and we looked like we had an idea what we were doing and had the time to make it happen.

Misdirected passes I expect to drop away over the next couple of games. First game in a month has to show some sign of unpractised skill. I think that our misdirected passes were as bad as any game we have ever had - the whole first half was littered with winning the ball by good play then simply giving it away to produce the one-sided possession stats we saw.

XG of 1 seems low to my unskilled eyes. I thought we had terrible attempts at finishing 3 or 4 times at least - and would have expected those chances to rate higher. My assumption is that the chance calculation is based on all the environmental and physical factors but not influenced by the actual player taking the shot. So it is based on a generic 'capable' player. To use a quote from bundesliga.com "if a player has a higher xG figure than actual goals scored, it will likely be a result of poor finishing or bad luck". Surely some of those chances would bring the total higher than 1 and the quality of our player in the moment is where we fell down (not on chances themselves).

Stats don't lie in that regard - I know it is my biased view of each chance that makes them seem more like 50% chances at least - but bloody hell some of them did look like we had at least a 50/50 chance if we had hit them right...

footmob

A thought on Roar and covid...

My observation at our home games is that we have a significant number of older fans. I have no idea if that is fairly common across clubs, but for us I expect the covid peak we are expecting will have quite an impact on people attending games if they are in the older, and more vulnerable age group.

I would not be too surprised to see mostly 'younger' people at games for a bit.

better performance again last night but it is still a performance of a bottom 4 team. way too many errors by us, particularly in the final 3rd and a fitter, better team takes advantage of that and kills us. we are still whipping too many aimless crosses to no one (though that is getting better) and we are still not creating clear cut chances (4 big chances from 21 created is quite a poor result)

It was clear that we were trying to play a counterpress, you could even hear moon yelling for the immediate press when we lost possession but the players were not switched on and way too slow resulting in a very ineffective press that should have been punished by perth but luckily wasn't. We were good enough to get back behind the ball and reasonably disciplined enough to not give up chances when we were set though which is a positive. Adelaide are a much better team at the counter so if we press like we did last night we will concede a few on Saturday. 

I still think that Melusenic needs to be played on the right and parsons on the left, they started that way and I thought we looked less likely to concede and more likely to score than in the second half when they switch sides. Lescano is getting better but he really needs to put away the chances that he gets, he is still definitely not on the same wave length as his team mates. 

On the positives I think Zebala has been excellent at right back and is putting Hingert under pressure for his spot. as pretty much everyone pointed out earlier in the season Oshae is much more useful further up the pitch and starting to get back to his usual self setting up good chances. our back 4 seem a bit more settled, it will be interesting what happens when Aldred comes back. 

I missed last nights game, but my general consensus is I don't think our squad is as bad as some say at least not in general terms. But it is definitely lacking 2 or 3 top quality players which makes all the difference. O'shae can't do it all. If you get Aldred back and Lescano (or one of the strikers) to start really making an impact that may go some way. But in a league this tight, one or two top quality players to bring the squad together can be the difference between 3rd and 8th.

In positive news, I think Lescano has been more active and involved than Kudo all of last season. But compared to other strikers in the league, not sure yet. I still think a lot of that is down to the way we play, we still haven't quite worked out how to bring that number 9 into the game.

You can see what the team is trying to do, a bit more consistency on the ball and getting those passes to stick will go a long way. Will they get there this season though, not so sure.

Cheers

The positive for future games is that we are actually creating chance. Before the covid break we were not even looking like we would even get a shot on goal. Just need to have the right composure in front of goal.

In saying that Perth were extremely poor. It's not the biggest excuse saying they haven't played for awhile as we up until SFC games. I mean time wasting in first half was a great look for Perth. 

O'Shea is so much better up front as he's at his best when he can run at players before passing. Which is too risky when starting in a DM position. 

At the moment we got results from two bottom 6 sides which means we could scrap into the 6 but that is all. Need massive improvement if we want to beat the table topping teams to be anything but making up the numbers.