Sydney FC Steal Last Parramatta Derby

 

If fit the so called marquee striker should have been on in around the 60th - 65th min, maybe a double substitution. It was pretty clear to all were were laboring and huffing and puffing and getting nowhere fast. We were passing the ball backwards as quickly as pushing forwards at time. No real urgency in our game.

We need a player that could hold the ball up tonight actually. Our movement was going backwards at times anyway, someone to hussel and try and hold the ball around the penna area would have been good for us in this game. Bridge and Pio should both have ******* played together more game time, they are not both centre forwards for fook sake.

Not 100% sure on this, we needed players who can unlock defences not somebody to hold up the ball, the game was played in the oppositions half the whole game. I disagree we were huffing & puffing, though I think it was a mistake to take Nichols off.

 

Also we are playing to retain possession, we value that over giving the ball away. We can go for the miracle pass or the long ball but higher chance of giving the ball away than creating anything meaningful.

 

 

And how do you unlock packed defenses? You get someone to hold the ball with their back to the opposition and try and create little lay offs / one - twos. What we got was balls in to the final third either going nowhere or backwards.

 

Strength and holding the ball high up the pitch are absolute key to unlocking packed defenses. I usually agree with everything you say post game wise, but tonight for the first I think you are talking a bit of bullshit.

Edited January 16, 2016 by WSWBoro

Don't understand the Redmane bashing. The firte goal was a point blank header and the second was a thundering volley from an unmarked striker. What was he expected to do? For me the only thing he did that cost us was putting the ball out for a corner instead of a throw in.

My issue was that he came out off his line to get the ball, then realised he wasn't going to get it but by that stage he is in no mans land. In saying that it was a good volley would he have stopped it? Also 3 players ball watching while ESFC strike the ball into the net.

And yet the only time we seem to score is when play it quick. The goal today came from the quick passes with the ball from half way to goal in 10 seconds exactly.

Don't understand the Redmane bashing. The firte goal was a point blank header and the second was a thundering volley from an unmarked striker. What was he expected to do? For me the only thing he did that cost us was putting the ball out for a corner instead of a throw in.

Disagree. Both goals he hesitated. U/6's stuff you are told never hesitate, you either go or you stay. Both goals he was caught out with indecision and backtracking.

The two most vital things is we don't press as hard as we used to and we don't counter quickly enough like we used to. Especially with the latter we have really fallen off.

A few other things might be that Andreu might have lost some of that early form he had. Our defence is also becoming a liability. Would prefer Reddy to Redmayne, and will also be happy to see Aspro come in next week as our defence looked rock solid when he was playing as a starter.

I said last week that were not releasing our wings quickly enough. That makes our counters especially slow. We should be able to switch and release quickly as well as do the whole possession based thing. But most of all, we should be burying the ball up front.

Really with the way we play holding the ball we need to get some more quick 1-2 passes inside the box. That is when you will eventually score if you have the abiIity to execute that well.

 

Popa also needs to get some more mongrel in our players. Jamieson for me is the only one in our team who really has that.

 

 

After today's performance I have to say I don't agree with Popa that we are good and don't need to sign new players. If Pio was not injured why would the marquee be used in the last few minutes?

Are you saying why did he bring him on at the 80th minute or are you saying he shouldn't have brought him on?

If you have confidence in your marquee player and he is not injured then he should be playing. I don't think we have the depth to use a marquee as a sub. The question is was he injured?

You have answered your own question , Popa has lost confidence in Pio . Bridge is a way better than Pio and popa knows he is a better chance of winning with bridge as striker . Had to be a tough call for the coach as he is basically admitting his recruiting has been wrong .

And how do you unlock packed defenses? You get someone to hold the ball with their back to the opposition and try and create little lay offs / one - twos. What we got was balls in to the final third either going nowhere or backwards.

 

Strength and holding the ball high up the pitch are absolute key to unlocking packed defenses. I usually agree with everything you say post game wise, but tonight for the first I think you are talking a bit of bullshit.

My initial point was that Pio has been excellent holding the ball up around the half way line but I feel he is the type of striker who prefers to be facing the goal rather than having his back to it (just based on what he has done for us). So not saying you haven't got a valid point but I'm just referring to where I think Pio's strengths lay.

 

I agree that is a good point, definitely not as effective when you've got Castelen or Vidosic trying to do it as a player like Pio but I felt that back 6 they were playing made it very difficult to get the ball through the middle (they sat a lot deeper than they did in the first half) which is why I think we were stretch them wide by attacking through the wings.

 

 

If fit the so called marquee striker should have been on in around the 60th - 65th min, maybe a double substitution. It was pretty clear to all were were laboring and huffing and puffing and getting nowhere fast. We were passing the ball backwards as quickly as pushing forwards at time. No real urgency in our game.

We need a player that could hold the ball up tonight actually. Our movement was going backwards at times anyway, someone to hussel and try and hold the ball around the penna area would have been good for us in this game. Bridge and Pio should both have ******* played together more game time, they are not both centre forwards for fook sake.

Not 100% sure on this, we needed players who can unlock defences not somebody to hold up the ball, the game was played in the oppositions half the whole game. I disagree we were huffing & puffing, though I think it was a mistake to take Nichols off.

 

Also we are playing to retain possession, we value that over giving the ball away. We can go for the miracle pass or the long ball but higher chance of giving the ball away than creating anything meaningful.

 

 

And how do you unlock packed defenses? You get someone to hold the ball with their back to the opposition and try and create little lay offs / one - twos. What we got was balls in to the final third either going nowhere or backwards.

 

Strength and holding the ball high up the pitch are absolute key to unlocking packed defenses. I usually agree with everything you say post game wise, but tonight for the first I think you are talking a bit of bullshit.

 

Kenny Dalglish had the best bum in the game.... could hold off an army with it and either lay the ball off or more likely make a half an inch of space and turn and put it in himself. Maybe we should fit Bridge and Pio with bustles?

 

 

 

After today's performance I have to say I don't agree with Popa that we are good and don't need to sign new players. If Pio was not injured why would the marquee be used in the last few minutes?

Are you saying why did he bring him on at the 80th minute or are you saying he shouldn't have brought him on?

If you have confidence in your marquee player and he is not injured then he should be playing. I don't think we have the depth to use a marquee as a sub. The question is was he injured?

You have answered your own question , Popa has lost confidence in Pio . Bridge is a way better than Pio and popa knows he is a better chance of winning with bridge as striker . Had to be a tough call for the coach as he is basically admitting his recruiting has been wrong .

Exactly, and having our highest paid player on the bench is a waste, time to find a replacement or adjust the style to use him better

 

 

I mentioned the two most obvious ones earlier.

A lack of movement up front (often the only movement will come from the fullback and winger involved in the play, sometimes one of our DM's will move to create an option). It's very noticeable in the final third.

The other is we are very flat up front. Most of the time we have a line of three flat players (striker, and two wingers, sometimes our AM included) when our midfielders and sometimes defenders are advancing the ball with a little time up their sleeve (the perfect opportunity to play a pass).

Both of the above issues mean we either hold onto the ball, with little happening or give it away from pushing a pass that wasn't there (short and long).

I encourage you to have a look at our next few games and see what you think

Agree matty.

What I said before is as a result of what you describe... you can see the opportunities that we should have but the link doesn't happen or the very small window goes unnoticed or unused.

- Can I ask what sort of movement you are referring to? Is it when we have the ball on the half way line or is it when they are sitting really deep?

- The options out wide is what this type of formation tries to exploit, it is the reason why we always seem to attack through the wings. It would be very different if we were to play a 4-4-2 or try to play narrowly.

- On being flat, not something I take notice of as I tend to follow the play rather than analyse the formation & position of players. Are you trying to say that our front 4 are too high up the field when are attacking?

Movement that creates a forward passing opportunity and eventually a goal scoring one that doesn't rely on a hopeful cross (see Baccus' excellent one-two)

 

Both

 

No. The front three sit across the oppositions back four and are flat. Both in terms of movement and positioning.

 

 

 

After today's performance I have to say I don't agree with Popa that we are good and don't need to sign new players. If Pio was not injured why would the marquee be used in the last few minutes?

Are you saying why did he bring him on at the 80th minute or are you saying he shouldn't have brought him on?

If you have confidence in your marquee player and he is not injured then he should be playing. I don't think we have the depth to use a marquee as a sub. The question is was he injured?

If he was on the bench, then I would say he wasn't injured.

 

Personally I think it was a tactical decision. Bridge is a lot more mobile player than Pio & when you consider the type of game we were playing it was a good call. The bulk of Pio's contributions the last few weeks has been about his hold up & link up play however this game we were holding the bulk of possession & needed to unlock the defences. Playing bridge technically would have given us better movement in between the lines & running off the ball. I also think Bridge has been in good shooting form (to a degree) & he is able to close down quicker. I think it was the right call.

 

 

Bridge worked his socks off but struggled with his back to the goal. So many times his control was off was a nudge in the back, yet we were not direct enough to play the ball ahead of Bridge.

 

The two most vital things is we don't press as hard as we used to and we don't counter quickly enough like we used to. Especially with the latter we have really fallen off.

Pressing the way we used to would be extremely dangerous with our advanced fullbacks. Melbourne City do it and get punished often. They get away with it because they have Mooy feeding Fornaroli at the other end, who is quite possibly the deadliest attacker we've seen or will see in the A-League for some time. We lack that sort of playmaker and goalgetter.

 

Tbh it seems other teams have now figured us out.

 

 

Yep, we are predictable. Easy on the eye with some nice passing at times, but just firing blanks.

The other teams in the league will employ similar tactics against us from here on out, for the rest of the season. If we don't become more clinical with our finishing and learn to defend better on the set piece. It will become a very frustrating second half of the season.

Imagine being the club with the 2nd highest wage budget in the competition & playing the way ESFC did? I would rather lose all 3 derbies than play that way

 

Don't understand the Redmane bashing. The firte goal was a point blank header and the second was a thundering volley from an unmarked striker. What was he expected to do? For me the only thing he did that cost us was putting the ball out for a corner instead of a throw in.

My issue was that he came out off his line to get the ball, then realised he wasn't going to get it but by that stage he is in no mans land. In saying that it was a good volley would he have stopped it? Also 3 players ball watching while ESFC strike the ball into the net.

 

 

I thought Redmayne was more at fault for the first goal. The SFC player was on the goal line heading the ball back across. Redmayne came out but not enough to attack the ball/close down the angle. Tough to expect more here, but he redeemed himself later on.

 

The second goal was pure naivety from the defense. Really? Three players to challenge the ball? Not one player paying attention or alert to the ball bobbling back? Redmayne had no chance if our marking is going to be that poor on a last minute set piece.

 

 

If fit the so called marquee striker should have been on in around the 60th - 65th min, maybe a double substitution. It was pretty clear to all were were laboring and huffing and puffing and getting nowhere fast. We were passing the ball backwards as quickly as pushing forwards at time. No real urgency in our game.

We need a player that could hold the ball up tonight actually. Our movement was going backwards at times anyway, someone to hussel and try and hold the ball around the penna area would have been good for us in this game. Bridge and Pio should both have ******* played together more game time, they are not both centre forwards for fook sake.

Not 100% sure on this, we needed players who can unlock defences not somebody to hold up the ball, the game was played in the oppositions half the whole game. I disagree we were huffing & puffing, though I think it was a mistake to take Nichols off.

 

Also we are playing to retain possession, we value that over giving the ball away. We can go for the miracle pass or the long ball but higher chance of giving the ball away than creating anything meaningful.

 

 

And how do you unlock packed defenses? You get someone to hold the ball with their back to the opposition and try and create little lay offs / one - twos. What we got was balls in to the final third either going nowhere or backwards.

 

Strength and holding the ball high up the pitch are absolute key to unlocking packed defenses. I usually agree with everything you say post game wise, but tonight for the first I think you are talking a bit of bullshit.

 

 

It was a shame to see Nicholls subbed off. I think by that stage, Romeo was fatigued and not offering much. Gol Gol looked hesitant distributing the ball or attacking space. Piovaccari didn't have much opportunity to receive the ball. Bridge was being physically bullied by stronger players.

 

Andreu didn't have too much to offer with forward bound passing. Baccus should have scored after Nicholls(?) played him that 1-2.

 

It was frustrating that Santalab was ruled out injured. I'm sure Popa would have loved to have had Santa coming off the bench, if not starting.

The way we played last week against City pointed to us monstering East Sydney. Pio should have started. He doesn't seem to be an off the bench player to count on producing a dramatic turn around moment. I still love Jamieson's pure mongrel. Castelan just couldn't produce that magic moment we all expected and the goal a game Bridge has been frozen out. The RBB was primed and all the pieces were in place for a memorable night. The loss is inexcusable. The emptiness too much.

Sure it's pretty upsetting losing to the smurfs but to dominate them like we did is pleasing . Ultimately we had our chances and they could hardly get a touch . Arnie might be saying what a great defensive display it was but he must be shitting himself how poor they were with the ball . Have faith in popa and the boys my fellow Wanderers fans our success is assured *

 

 

* would be nice to have striker and a keeper thou

Too annoyed. We had lots of possession without doing anything with it. They sat deep and hoofed it

This loss hurts a lot. The miserable members in front of us, who in the past have had our confetti confiscated off us, today brought two smurfs to the game who ridiculed us at the end. The supposed Wanderers members thought that was funny and said it was the highlight of their season and swore at us too!. I lost my marbles over it and am still furious...all too much for me. Then I had to put up with the texting from my smurf brothers and nephew. Arghhhhhhh!

@DammedUnited

You will forget about the loss tomorrow, and we will march on to the Central Coast. A dominating performance with two gifts. These things happen.

Yeah the referee was good lol

I thought I was gone banging on that security hut out the front as we marched past it..

Imagine being the club with the 2nd highest wage budget in the competition & playing the way ESFC did? I would rather lose all 3 derbies than play that way

When you look at when we played very similar in season 1 & 2, it was borne out of a necessity to be competitive very early on. Don't get me wrong, it hurts to lose a derby but I'd much rather have our problem of playing an attractive brand of attacking possession based football & trying to fine tune/tweak our play it convert more goals or unlock defences rather than going back to S1/2 style wise just to get 3 points against East Sydney. We've got trophies we want to win come season end.

A few positives from tonight's game.

Tifo was great

RBB fantastic as usual

Strebre showed the "professional" referees how it should be done.

Yeah the referee was good lol

We bag out referees when they do **** & I think they deserve praise when they get things right. For me he was excellent tonight (admittedly there were no contentious calls) but his consistency in calls, not handing out cards for every foul, letting the game flow as much as possible & nipping events in the bud to prevent things getting out of control. He had a great game tonight. Meanwhile should have seen Williams in Perth, what a joke

Rough. Absolutely spewing. I think previous posters have summed up our issues really well.

 

I was sitting pretty far from where the Smurfs were sat, but at least for the first half I could hear them fairly easily. In the second half they seemed pretty much silent until the goal at the very end. Guess they only cheer when the going is good...

 

Win against central coast is a must.

Pio gets 90 minutes against the Mariners. If he can't score, release him. Enough will be enough.

Pio gets 90 minutes against the Mariners. If he can't score, release him. Enough will be enough.

Good plan, let Popa know

Don't understand the Redmane bashing. The first goal was a point blank header and the second was a thundering volley from an unmarked striker. What was he expected to do? For me the only thing he did that cost us was putting the ball out for a corner instead of a throw in.

 

He comes out and dominates the box neither goal is scored.  First goal you said yourself, pointblank header, if a ball is looping on the 6yd line it is his, NTS should have challenged as well no doubt as well, second goal, thundering volley but watch the replay once again, yes. no, yes, no, if he comes out and dominate the box, that attack is dead.  Im not blaming him for both goals but he could have prevented both with a more dominant presence in the box.  As for Neville, mate he doesnt want to be there any more, his first pass is always backwards (meaning less space/time for Castelan) and he doesnt want to overlap any more in case he has to put one of his crosses in.  He needs a rest, he was awful.

What we need is speed. Our players don't seem to have the speed in their play they had a month or two ago.

I couldnt fully make out the tifo but was it a Nato tribute? I thought it was, and if right, do classy.. puts the result and football in perspective.