Aussies V. Bahrain

[fish eel]

I was out there last night.

We were half paced.

No movement off the ball. No intensity.

Kennedy's club form was poor. He had a falling out with the coach and missed a lot of football because of it. Got back in the side late in the season and scored 2 in the last match v Hertha Berlin

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

Also, Holman is the worst player I've seen consistently get picked for NT sides. A-League players have a better first touch. He is garbage.

brett holman.

geez what a f**king hack.

FFS.

he better not get near the world cup.
as for Mcdonald. he f**ked up his chance. he probably deserves a go with another striker though.


however i dont see that happening.

were playing bahrain. weve already qualified, playing at home.....why not 2 strikers?

whats doing there?

 

[CC_Eagle]

For the record I'm a massive Kennedy fan, can't help but be cynical that's all.

I'd love to see him in the EPL, he'd suit Stoke perfectly for example.

Carle looked better in the 30 seconds he was on than Holman has looked his whole career. I'd prefer f*cking Hutchinson over LOLman.

Is anyone one else fearful that the 4-3-2-1 will be ever present in South Africa? If we play that kind of formation with that slow a tempo, quality teams will rip us apart.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

McDonald should be playing alongside Kennedy up front, at least give it a go FFS. McDonald is not a lone striker. He is a fat midget. You do not play a fat midget up front alone. At club level he works best alongside a partner. Maybe he will still be f**king sh*t alongside another striker, but we'll never know if he doesn't try it.

[I will be the first to admit that Verbleak doesn't have alot to work with, but playing two DM's and a lone striker against the likes of Bahrain and China is just wrong, wrong wrong.

As for Kennedy, I could not give a stuff about his club form - he scores goals for us when given the chance.

Also, Holman is the worst player I've seen consistently get picked for NT sides. A-League players have a better first touch. He is garbage.

You either don't watch or you just forget easily. Kennedy and McDonald played with each other 4 or 5 times last year so I don't know where you get this idea that they need to "give it a go."

McDonald has also played with other partners up front. As for him being a midget, why is that Tim Cahill provided perfect service for Kennedy against Qatar (I think? The game at Sandcorp) last year? He was nodding headers up to Kennedy during the first half. He would probably be the smallest man in the team and he would go close to being in the smallest players of the EPL group but is easily one of the best to head the ball.

You also didn't answer my question. Who do you bring in to make the team play attractive football? Apart from Emerton there is nobody and Emerton is not flashy. Also, aside from Aloisi and Viduka (who didn't score anyway) Pim has pretty much the same squad that Hiddink had and we weren't playing relatively attractive football.

We play efficient, organised football and that is our strength.

You can say we SHOULD be playing this and that against China and Bahrain, but you also don't factor in;

a) Conditions. China had a terrible football ground and Bahrain is just ridiculously hot.
b) China game fell outside of a FIFA window. Again, who do you play?
c) When we played China at home he effectively played a 4-3-3 similar to what Chel$ki and Barca usually play.
d) Organisation is clearly the number one thing to Pim and we are a well organised team. We don't have the free flowing passing and we can be scrappy in attack but we are still an organised unit
e) Results. The most important thing. In his entire time managing us he is conceding a goal every second and a half games, or something to that effect. It is under every two games, anyway. We are proving to be a hard team to break down. Japan IN JAPAN could not break down

Pim has us doing the job and he is doing well with us.

 

[WireMan]

Cahill provided a good service because he is a fantastic footballer! To good for you lot! ;-)

I would love to see that guy at United.

Results are important, but once you are have qualified for the world cup you should try different systems and personnel. You may need a plan B at the world cup.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

You either don't watch or you just forget easily. Kennedy and McDonald played with each other 4 or 5 times last year so I don't know where you get this idea that they need to "give it a go."

They played together twice against Qatar (3-0 and 4-0 wins) and once when we drew 2-2 against South Africa in a friendly. So three times.

He has not played with Kennedy this year at all.

As for Cahill, he is great in the air. Has nothing to do with playing McDonald as a lone striker. Then again Verbleak also played Cahill as a lone striker, nullifying our most effective player, so he has already shown he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

You also didn't answer my question. Who do you bring in to make the team play attractive football? Apart from Emerton there is nobody and Emerton is not flashy. Also, aside from Aloisi and Viduka (who didn't score anyway) Pim has pretty much the same squad that Hiddink had and we weren't playing relatively attractive football.

It's not about the personnel, its about the way we are structured. There is no need for two DMs. Grella is enough. Grella and Valeri or Grella and Jedinak is just overkill.

Watch the game again and notice how far away our defensive midfield was from our defence when they were passing the ball across the backline. Almost every time. I'm assuming Pims instruction is to give the DMs plenty of time to push up on the opposition midfield, so our defense can hoof a low percentage aimless ball forward, and the DM's can compete for the second ball. It's effective at times, but ugly, cultureless and seemingly completely based on the idea that our side can't play the ball through midfield except after the breakdown.

When we get to the WC, will we also bypass the centre of midfield going forward even when there are options there? 80 percent of balls forward out of defence come from the fullback playing high in to the central attacking area, or from the central defence wide to the wingers. That kind of tells you the only role for our two DM's is to break up play. If they happen to be outmatched at any point in this area, we are f**ked.

Look how deep our back line was when we were stroking the ball around. I dont mind the backwards/sidewards passing as it opens up the opposition, however, we are doing it 20 to 30 metres in our own defensive half. So whenever Culina or Jedinak came to get it, they were so far away from anyone that the only ball was backwards. We need to set a higher line when we have the ball so our back line is closer to the half way line. We saw this more in the second half though im not sure if this was because Bahrain had to open up a lot more.

For mine, it is frustrating because I know we can play much better than we are with little change in personal, but just a different approach tactically. But instead we get served that dire game of football.

Playing one striker is fine, but not when that striker is a fat midget. If Kennedy is not available, then play two up front, but for christs sake blind freddy can see that McDonald would never be effective as a lone striker. Nor would Cahill.

As for personnel, a good start would be not picking Brett f**king Holman.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

They also played together in another game which says they have been tried and McDonald is just pure rubbish.

We are also more organised under Verbeek than we were under Hiddink and have a better structure and you obviously don't allow the DM's to be defensive cover for our use of wingers.

 

[CC_Eagle]

But we all agree, Holman out?

That's the important thing here.

 

[WireMan]

Its funny that nowadys you get DM's and AM's. This isn't football mangement you know!!

If you play two midfielders they are that midfielders. As long as your wingers are willing to work hard tracking back you don't need a pure defensive midfielder.

If you don't like McDonald which i'm guessing (this is just a guess mind) TT doesn't then play Kennedy upfront with Cahill supporting.

Two solid players behind him who are willing to support them, and two wingers who can track back when needed or supply an outball from defence.

And no, short fat people don't make good lone strikers.

I agree, Holman out!! Don't know who he is but i wanted to join in!! :lol:

 

[weasel]

Are there no wonder kids coming through?

Not really, no. Our current squad has a 22 year old midfielder, and a 22 year old forward, and the rest are pretty much all over 25, apart from two young defenders who have barely been given an opportunity despite probably being the most talented two.

Actually, the young midfielder I speak of is perhaps one of our more technically gifted players, Dario Vidosic, he's been in Germany for two years now with Nurnberg, hardly played the first season but in the back end of this year he's started to become a regular for them coming off the bench and they've just been promoted back to the Bundesliga, so he has a good opportunity to advance in a strong league next season. So in my opinion he's one player we should be grooming for a spot, but our manager seems to prefer 30 year olds playing in the English lower divisions as our impact players off the bench.

In terms of other youngsters who I reckon deserve a look-in for the Socceroos squad there's James Troisi, who is 20 now and after failing to make it at Newcastle United as a teenager he's just played a full season in the Turkish league scoring six goals from midfield. Here's his first goal in Turkey. Another player who I hope gets a chance is Nikita Rukavytsya who was bought by FC Twente in January, although he's hardly had a game for them yet, and if he's not playing he won't be a chance of selection. Speed is his biggest asset but he's got a pretty good range of skills, has the potential to be better than McDonald and Kennedy but we'll have to wait and see. Scores two nice goals in this vid. You can find some more nice goals of his on youtube, but you'll have to watch through whole packages of match highlights unfortunately.

In terms of real wonderkids, being prospects still in their teens, the two best are probably Ben Kantarovski, who is only 17 but has already been part of a Socceroos squad, albeit one made up of domestic players, and Tommy Oar, another 17 year old, but considering both players only play in the A-League it's hard to say how good they really are.

 

[fish eel]

Its funny that nowadys you get DM's and AM's. This isn't football mangement you know!!

If you play two midfielders they are that midfielders. As long as your wingers are willing to work hard tracking back you don't need a pure defensive midfielder.

If you don't like McDonald which i'm guessing (this is just a guess mind) TT doesn't then play Kennedy upfront with Cahill supporting.

Two solid players behind him who are willing to support them, and two wingers who can track back when needed or supply an outball from defence.

And no, short fat people don't make good lone strikers.

I agree, Holman out!! Don't know who he is but i wanted to join in!! :lol:

Funny thing is, I think Brett Holman will be the only Socceroo playing Champions League football next year.

Not really, no. Our current squad has a 22 year old midfielder, and a 22 year old forward, and the rest are pretty much all over 25, apart from two young defenders who have barely been given an opportunity despite probably being the most talented two.

Actually, the young midfielder I speak of is perhaps one of our more technically gifted players, Dario Vidosic, he's been in Germany for two years now with Nurnberg, hardly played the first season but in the back end of this year he's started to become a regular for them coming off the bench and they've just been promoted back to the Bundesliga, so he has a good opportunity to advance in a strong league next season. So in my opinion he's one player we should be grooming for a spot, but our manager seems to prefer 30 year olds playing in the English lower divisions as our impact players off the bench.

In terms of other youngsters who I reckon deserve a look-in for the Socceroos squad there's James Troisi, who is 20 now and after failing to make it at Newcastle United as a teenager he's just played a full season in the Turkish league scoring six goals from midfield. Here's his first goal in Turkey. Another player who I hope gets a chance is Nikita Rukavytsya who was bought by FC Twente in January, although he's hardly had a game for them yet, and if he's not playing he won't be a chance of selection. Speed is his biggest asset but he's got a pretty good range of skills, has the potential to be better than McDonald and Kennedy but we'll have to wait and see. Scores two nice goals in this vid. You can find some more nice goals of his on youtube, but you'll have to watch through whole packages of match highlights unfortunately.

In terms of real wonderkids, being prospects still in their teens, the two best are probably Ben Kantarovski, who is only 17 but has already been part of a Socceroos squad, albeit one made up of domestic players, and Tommy Oar, another 17 year old, but considering both players only play in the A-League it's hard to say how good they really are.

I agree on Rukavysta Weasel. I expect him to get more game time for Twente next year. Given they were performing so well in the league, and he was a mid season signing - it was always going to be hard for him.

Two young players you left out and our biggest young talents IMO - Nathan Burns.

Talk about a bad move, going to Greece. Had interest from clubs like Villa but wasnt going to get a permit. Has really dropped off the radar.

The other guy, Matthew Spiranovic. Massive future. Looking forward to seeing him back in the bundesliga next year.

It's not about the personnel, its about the way we are structured. There is no need for two DMs. Grella is enough. Grella and Valeri or Grella and Jedinak is just overkill.

Exactly.

Which is why the talk of the system, is rubbish, IMO.

There was no need for McDonald to be up front by himself the other night. The fullbacks could have pushed forward more with Kewell basically giving us three up front.

Likewise, we could have seen Holman not track back so much as we had both Culina and Jedinak - and Holman basically plays more forward as a second striker.

It's nothing to do with 4 5 1 or whatever. It's how the players are intructed to play and what their role is.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Not really, no. Our current squad has a 22 year old midfielder, and a 22 year old forward, and the rest are pretty much all over 25, apart from two young defenders who have barely been given an opportunity despite probably being the most talented two.

Actually, the young midfielder I speak of is perhaps one of our more technically gifted players, Dario Vidosic, he's been in Germany for two years now with Nurnberg, hardly played the first season but in the back end of this year he's started to become a regular for them coming off the bench and they've just been promoted back to the Bundesliga, so he has a good opportunity to advance in a strong league next season. So in my opinion he's one player we should be grooming for a spot, but our manager seems to prefer 30 year olds playing in the English lower divisions as our impact players off the bench.

In terms of other youngsters who I reckon deserve a look-in for the Socceroos squad there's James Troisi, who is 20 now and after failing to make it at Newcastle United as a teenager he's just played a full season in the Turkish league scoring six goals from midfield. Here's his first goal in Turkey. Another player who I hope gets a chance is Nikita Rukavytsya who was bought by FC Twente in January, although he's hardly had a game for them yet, and if he's not playing he won't be a chance of selection. Speed is his biggest asset but he's got a pretty good range of skills, has the potential to be better than McDonald and Kennedy but we'll have to wait and see. Scores two nice goals in this vid. You can find some more nice goals of his on youtube, but you'll have to watch through whole packages of match highlights unfortunately.

In terms of real wonderkids, being prospects still in their teens, the two best are probably Ben Kantarovski, who is only 17 but has already been part of a Socceroos squad, albeit one made up of domestic players, and Tommy Oar, another 17 year old, but considering both players only play in the A-League it's hard to say how good they really are.

Apart from Kantarovski, I don't think any of those players will ever be mainstays in the NT.

Matthew Spiranovic is probably our best talent at the moment.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Holman will be lucky to get a run in the CL.

I CBF looking, but didn't he make less than a dozen appearances for the entire season at AZ?

 

[fish eel]

it was closer to 20 appearances I think.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Holman is the only Australian league winner of 2008/09 from a decent league, isn't he?

 

[hybrid_tiger]

I haven't watched much Dutch football, but if Holman can get a regular gig, it can't be that good.

He is a f**king horrible player.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

i agree.

and if i can see that he's crap, he's got huge problems.

 

[WireMan]

So we are all agreed then. Holman isn't that good.

He'll probably score a cracker at the world cup now though...

United also have an australian wonderkid on there books...
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1012/1012658_wonder_kid_signs_for_united.html
He will be better than Ronaldo!!!

But he could also play for England.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

You don't even know who Holman is and you say he isn't good because 5 people on LU think he isn't good?

 

[CC_Eagle]

AZ's site is in dutch..

His wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Holman - 17 appearances.

He may scrape one or two CL games.