Roar Gifted Three Points In Brisbane

Two things...

 

Well played to the traveling support. Excellent all game.

 

And

 

Can't blame the refs. Refs don't make your centre backs not mark up, or your mids give the ball away or not close out on the winger.

 

Disappointing to hear popa take the blame the refs approach. We hammer Arnie for doing that.

 

This is true. Ben Williams was ****, but it wasn't the difference. We only had ourselves to blame for losing that one.

Brisbane came with a game plan that worked. Pressured us early and stopped our passing game. We will learn from this and will be better next time. I'm glad it happened now and not finals time.

Going forward, our lack of depth is concerning. I feel our best XI could very well win the title, but if we have a few injuries and suspensions at key times, we are in trouble. The minute we lose a couple of regulars, like last night, cracks start to appear, at both ends of the field.

1. It's one thing to say Williams was terrible (he was), but it's another to blame him for the loss - at 2-1 up with 10 to go, we only have ourselves to blame

 

2. Reddy has his first average game, but still best option.

 

3. Hammil "experiment" backfired - he's had 1 ok performance this year, the rest below par. Playing without confidence, panics under pressure and defensively inept. Topor back next week, but he's hardly been good

 

4. Jamieson on slide last 3-4 weeks, been outstanding all year tik then - hasn't missed a game and won't get any better if he has to play the last 4 games plus finals without a break - he has to be more diligent defensively - ok to push forward, but going back to the wellington game many of the goals we've conceded he's had a hand in - he'll be back, but looks jaded

 

5. Neville is Neville ... Tries hard - Just ok

 

5. The Spaniards ??? Collectively their worst performance of the season - no news of their re-signing yet - not happy

 

6. That'll be the last we see of gol unfortunately - decision to start him was understandable - but in hindsight, Santa would have been better - super sub and all

 

7. Sotirio - don't know what to say - tries hard, but just doesn't make any real contribution

 

8. Can castelen please pass the ball early once

 

In the front third, with Dario and bridgey out, we really lacked firepower - apart from Santa, we didn't have anyone on the bench (or at home) who could have come on to make an attacking impact after we went down 3-2

 

Defensively we have some major issues - Some of the players who have played well most of the season to get us to where we are, are showing signs of wear and tear - popa has some tough decisions to make across the park

We were clueless last two games. Santa saved us last week but not this week.

Opposition have worked out that if they just sit back we will self destruct and cough up possession allowing them to counter.

Our passing from the back is too slow and passes are telegraphed. Wing backs too scared to cross from decent positions and pass it back instead.

 

Castelen's is only dangerous when he receives the ball out wide and his marker is isolated 1 on 1. But instead he has been positioning in the hole behind our striker where he offers nothing.

 

We didn't loose due to player x being ****, we lost due to lack of urgency and predictable tactics.

I hope this game was a wake up call for popa and the boys.

How's the panic! Savage AF!!

 

That's a disappointing loss because Brisbane have been absolutely **** for the past few months. With a full strength squad we would've murdered them but we were missing our two most influential, senior leaders in the squad plus Dario. It was by no means a world beating performance but with what we had to work with, we went 2-1 up and then lost the game to a hospital pass that 99 times out of 100 Dimas probably wouldn't even attempt.

 

Are some of you aware of how a table works? Cause we are still on top of it and even if Adelaide win we are only 1 point behind. To write our chances off of winning the plate now is ridiculous.

I dont know why everyone is blaming ben williams for the loss?? It was our shite inept defending and lack of closing off a match that cost us 3 points! Yes he gave some questionable fouls and cards against us but he did award a penalty and we did hold a 2-1 lead with 10 to go. Our inept defence cost us the 3 points. Is it that hard to dig in and defend it out for 10mins?? The real issue is the concentration lapses that have been occurring for most part of the season.

WSW sat too deep after going 2 - 1 up. Both sides were guilty of sitting far too deep at times in the game. All well and good trying to park the bus but parking the bus does not involve turning over possession around the final 3rd.

 

What you do is slow the game right down, get a few players to go down with 'cramp', you frustrate to the point the home fans booooo and accuse of time wasting, you make a few game slowing subs to break the flow of the game.

 

WSW know all out attack is coming if they let it and played right in to Brisbanes hands with dumb football.

 

Dont agree with manager blaming the ref for it all. The ref was **** but do were we.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Corcaigh

IMO we were lucky not to be more than 1 goal down at half time, lucky to be 2-1 up and at the end we got what we deserved. Cannot blame the ref ...he wasn't the one not marking players or passing the ball to the opposition.

The only reason we are still top (untill this evening at least) is because the others have been dropping points. The one team that can find some form will win it.

disappointed as all .....but calm your farm peoples....cant believe the roasting that people are giving dimas for god oh god making a mistake....let alone some questioning is he on the take for that wayward pass....wtf??? the guy is human ...like all our other players and they make mistakes.....ESPECIALLY WHEN UNDER PRESSURE.....HAVE A LOOK AT THE PRESS THAT WAS PUT ON HIM WHEN WHICH LED TO HIM TO TAKE THE WRONG OPTION AND TRY AND CHANGE THE POINT OF ATTACK INSTEAD OF BOUNCING IT BACK TO HAMILL...

whilst we were not at our best last night we need to give roar credit for the way they played and were tactically set up.....for **** sake people rambling about how poor we were like its the end of the world.....have a look at what the opposition didn't let us do....thats play our normal game and let our two cmid spaniards dictate the tempo......we were outnumbered in the centre of the park all the time.....you think that happened by chance????

put it into prospective...they had 2 significant losses going into this top of the table clash at home....you think aloisi wouldn't have his troops revved up like its the fricken game to end all games???? he wanted a response from his lads and he got it cause their intensity and tactical discipline was excellent last night....look closely and how compact they were when we had the ball and how quickly in numbers they pressed without the ball let alone in transition how quickly they moved the ball and made the field big when they had it...furthermore they had a lot of their players who had strong games unlike us....nevertheless we dominated periods of possession yet as always lacked a cutting edge in the final third....expected seeing we haven't been playing with an out and out #9 all season.....

we are still top ...just ....but lets not overreact and carry on like its the end of the world....missing fat head, vidosic and topor was going to be even more of a test for us....

hopefully we lick our wounds and bounce back asap...we need to if we want to win the plate...

 

I dont know why everyone is blaming ben williams for the loss?? It was our shite inept defending and lack of closing off a match that cost us 3 points! Yes he gave some questionable fouls and cards against us but he did award a penalty and we did hold a 2-1 lead with 10 to go. Our inept defence cost us the 3 points. Is it that hard to dig in and defend it out for 10mins?? The real issue is the concentration lapses that have been occurring for most part of the season.

WSW sat too deep after going 2 - 1 up. Both sides were guilty of sitting far too deep at times in the game. All well and good trying to park the bus but parking the bus does not involve turning over possession around the final 3rd.

 

What you do is slow the game right down, get a few players to go down with 'cramp', you frustrate to the point the home fans booooo and accuse of time wasting, you make a few game slowing subs to break the flow of the game.

 

WSW know all out attack is coming if they let it and played right in to Brisbanes hands with dumb football.

 

Dont agree with manager blaming the ref for it all. The ref was **** but do were we.

Well said! That is exactly what we should have done.

'Ben Williams' and 'consistency' don't go in the same sentence

I'll try: "Ben Williams is consistently bad."

 

I'm not blaming him for the loss, but he sure did contribute to it. Those unnecessary yellow cards would've impacted on the mindset of the players.

 

Agree with others that the marking was second rate and the movement was lethargic apart from a few exceptions.

 

Castelen looked like he was going to butcher his goal just like the chance he had not long before it - lucky to score.

 

Matt Sim - WTF?

interesting run home for us, Adelaide and Brisbane.

 

Adelaide have to play WEL (A), City (H), WSW (A), CCM (H), SFC (A), City (A)

Brisbane have to play Vic (H), City (A), SFC (H), Jets (H), Vic (A)

We have to play Jets (A), ADE (H), Vic (A), CCM (H), WEL (A)

 

I think the draw is in our favour at the moment, but not much in it. Adelaide has the worst run home.

 

if we can be leading with 2 rounds to go, its ours to lose.

The loss was definitely due to us switching off... No doubt about that...

But Ben ****in Williams needs a kick up his arse. Like Popa said its ok to give out yellow cards but the consistency is not there. If he was consistent, Bowles would have been sent off early in the second half.

Ship him to Greece, PAOK are looking for a foreign referee.

Yep we should beat those 3 lower teams and if we draw with Adelaide and Melb even a loss to Melb will probably enough

As long as city, esfc and victory take come pout s from Adelaide and roar

 

Anyway best finish I can remember to any A-league season

 

 

First goal was Hamill forgetting to track/mark his man. Second goal was Hamill forgetting to track/mark his man. So, if Popa had listened to me and played Aspro like I told him to we would have won 2-1

First goal Sotirio lost the ball cheaply on the halfway line and their break led to a corner and we never recovered and they scored. Second goal totally down to Dimas with that misplaced pass. You can't blame Hamill for elementary errors further up the field.

Underestimate me at your peril

Hammils positioning was very poor for second goal.

Our wingers were pretty useless last night.

 

Castelan never plays wide, not sure why, it's like having 2 AMs with him and Nichols.

 

Sitorio is on the same level as Appiah, just running and no end product.

We probably threw away the premiers plate last night. 

 

But really, I think our weaknesses are being exposed and I would rather it happen now than it the finals. 

 

I agree with another comment - our best lineup is unbeatable. But we don't have depth - Hamill is case in point. That could cost us compared to other teams. 

We probably threw away the premiers plate last night.

 

But really, I think our weaknesses are being exposed and I would rather it happen now than it the finals.

 

I agree with another comment - our best lineup is unbeatable. But we don't have depth - Hamill is case in point. That could cost us compared to other teams.

Adelaide, perth, city and roar have better strike options than us, and i would actually place us outside of the top 6 for strike options up front on paper when you include victory and esfc. Our midfield has ensured top spot for us this season and the spaniards have contributed along with castelen, nichols, bridge from this part of the pitch. I dont know why we have carried such a light weight squad considering the season goes for 27 rounds plus finals.

To be fair most squads in AL without the 3 most senior players (bridge, nts and vidosic) + no marquee would struggle to get a result away to Roar, esp this season.

 

Our squad is ok for just the a-league but would struggle with ACL commitments.

 

I think most clubs would love to have Aspro/Hamill as back up CBs.

 

In terms of strike options, we signed a marquee striker who flopped but had decent depth if we did well with Santa and Bridge.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Stokz

Post loss hangover anyone ?

 

If Adelaide win today we need a win next week to stay competitive, anything else is just not good enough.

 

How the **** we are still first eludes me, scraping goals against poor opposition.. We can only ride our luck for so long.

 

Prepared for the rollercoaster road

Think we'll be a different team next week with Bridge, Vidosic and NTS back in the team. A bit more solid all over the park. It shows when we have to use the likes of Gol Gol, Hamill and Sortirio that we just don't have that same cutting edge. Agreed with what one poster said though that our tactics have become predictable and teams are now pressing us which is giving them an edge. We also have a habit of relaxing after we score and take the lead which lets the other team back in the game.

 

Also just wondering if our super sub should be a starter? We pose a much greater attacking threat whenever he seems to be on the field.

ridiculous match, not much else to say about that

We probably threw away the premiers plate last night. 

 

But really, I think our weaknesses are being exposed and I would rather it happen now than it the finals. 

 

I agree with another comment - our best lineup is unbeatable. But we don't have depth - Hamill is case in point. That could cost us compared to other teams. 

I'd prefer the weaknesses to show up AFTER we've won the league and qualified for the ACL! This is as likely a year as any that a team from the bottom half of the table is crowned "Champions".... ridiculous!

 

We probably threw away the premiers plate last night. 

 

But really, I think our weaknesses are being exposed and I would rather it happen now than it the finals. 

 

I agree with another comment - our best lineup is unbeatable. But we don't have depth - Hamill is case in point. That could cost us compared to other teams. 

I'd prefer the weaknesses to show up AFTER we've won the league and qualified for the ACL! This is as likely a year as any that a team from the bottom half of the table is crowned "Champions".... ridiculous!

Considering it's never happened before I'll believe it when I see it. Only teams who finished first or second have ever won the GF.

Lot of discussion here of how poorly we played, and the referee.

 

What hasn't been discussed is how well Brisbane played. They pressed us and put pressure on our passing/possession game, and we didn't fare well because of that. Sure, we were missing a few players that are integral to that style, but Popa has always stated (and it has generally been ok) that our replacements will do the job of the omissions. That didn't quite happen last night.

It was quite clear from the outset that Brisbane were "up" for this game. Their energy in chasing down the ball, the one on one contests, the closing down of Gol Gol and Castalan, the pressing that prevented us from playing out from the back etc.......

They were streets ahead of us in enthusiasm, and that is where I think we lost the game - not with Sim, nor Neville, nor Jamieson, nor the referee, nor any of the multitude of other excuses that have been thrown up here. They were just more committed, enthusiastic and willing than we were.

 

It frustrates me that Popa won't revive Pio. Or at least start Santa. Popa can be so ******* stubborn at times. It also frustrates me that he won't (or doesn't appear to) change our formation or tactics to suit different teams, or at least tinker with them. In saying this, we are still leading the competition, so who am I to question what he does? Last night's performance was insipid though, and with us this close to the finals and Premiers Plate, that is a concern.

 

I'm confused as to why Aspro wasn't given a start. He has been a stand out replacement this season when asked to do a job. Was he injured or unavailable? To me, if one of our CB's is out, he is the person to step in.

 

Anyway, we have the most forgiving remaining rounds of all the top teams.

This competition is there for us to lose if we are not switched on when required. In hindsight, last night's result was not a surprise.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Wanderboy

We peaked too early

Criticism of Popa may be warranted but he's also delivered a successful season thus far without a marquee or genuine striker. Fair to say he must cop blame for recruitment but he has done what many might not have this season.

 

Given all the weaknesses pointed out above, we have travelled pretty well this season.

Lot of discussion here of how poorly we played, and the referee.

 

What hasn't been discussed is how well Brisbane played. They pressed us and put pressure on our passing/possession game, and we didn't fare well because of that. Sure, we were missing a few players that are integral to that style, but Popa has always stated (and it has generally been ok) that our replacements will do the job of the omissions. That didn't quite happen last night.

It was quite clear from the outset that Brisbane were "up" for this game. Their energy in chasing down the ball, the one on one contests, the closing down of Gol Gol and Castalan, the pressing that prevented us from playing out from the back etc.......

They were streets ahead of us in enthusiasm, and that is where I think we lost the game - not with Sim, nor Neville, nor Jamieson, nor the referee, nor any of the multitude of other excuses that have been thrown up here. They were just more committed, enthusiastic and willing than we were.

 

It frustrates me that Popa won't revive Pio. Or at least start Santa. Popa can be so ******* stubborn at times. It also frustrates me that he won't (or doesn't appear to) change our formation or tactics to suit different teams, or at least tinker with them. In saying this, we are still leading the competition, so who am I to question what he does? Last night's performance was insipid though, and with us this close to the finals and Premiers Plate, that is a concern.

 

I'm confused as to why Aspro wasn't given a start. He has been a stand out replacement this season when asked to do a job. Was he injured or unavailable? To me, if one of our CB's is out, he is the person to step in.

 

Anyway, we have the most forgiving remaining rounds of all the top teams.

This competition is there for us to lose if we are not switched on when required. In hindsight, last night's result was not a surprise.

We peaked too early

We did to a certain extent. In the lead up to Christmas we were unstoppable and haven't seen that dominance since. However, we have managed to remain first for close to all of the time since so there's still the consistency there. I hope that over the next few rounds we start to build and peak again perfectly for the plate/finals.