loriente

Malik has been inmense. Big turnaround from his terrible effort last week. Chris Beath deserves the ISIS treatment.

With Caceres out, I don't think we'll be seeing the 4-4-2 diamond. I'd go with Malik, Retre and Mooy but I reckon we'll see Melling again in midfield instead of Retre. Fitzy up on the wing.

I actually agree with you. Totally made up figures, but I would expect about 45/30/25 split w/d/l for teams with >55% of possession. I'm not fussed with possession either way. I just want to see positive, fluent football when we have the ball. Which was pretty hard to come by on Saturday night until Sydney fatigued (5th game in 2 weeks).

You didn't expect it because it's not true! I guess draws only exist when there is an exact 50/50 split of possession?

We were discussing performance v results and he started talking about an 'obsession with possession' out of the blue. Then his analysis didn't find a negative correlation at all! Add draws to the analysis and then we can talk. Premier League and Champions League stats are skewed by dominant teams; A League has a level playing field (a salary cap). I think you'll find that teams playing possession football have been historically successful in the A League for the past 5 years. Brisbane, Adelaide and Victory to name a few. The exception being WSW who were clinical on the counter for a couple years before they got figured out. Then Poppa moved them to an attacking, passing, possession based game when he found out his original style wasnt sustainable.

Hi Playmaker, Thankyou for your thorough analysis. Unfortunately, your logic that if you don't win, you lose, is incorrect. Also, nobody ever inferred that possession = performance. You can have a good performance without the majority of the possession. Saturday was not an example of this. If you require any further information regarding 'draws', please let me know. Kind regards, Loriente

If Abbas' opportunity had fallen to a Fornaroli or even a David Carney, it would've been buried. Watch the replay, it was not a 'half chance'. Even with Wilkinson to cover, I would've given Holosko a very decent chance of burying it. If Hoole wasn't a total spastic with no end product, they probably would've had a couple more decent chances. Simple errors were because players were looking up to find an outlet and seeing a wall of sky blue. We pretty much always have a wide outlet when playing 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, but on Saturday they would look up, see no one and panic. The 4-4-2 could possibly work, but it was the wrong tactic for the night and there is no doubt the team wasn't prepared enough to make it work properly.

When we lose next week, people won't be talking about the result, they will be talking about how the performance led to the result. And I will be talking about how we haven't played well against a half decent side since January. We can't rely on Bruno, Mooy and Harry pulling rabbits out of the hat for the rest of the season. Not with 6 point games against Adelaide and Brisbane.

I don't understand this whole 'didn't look like conceding' train of thought. Please see opportunities to Abbas, Holosko who would've been clean through if not for Kisnorbo's cynical foul, whoever it was that hit the upright. Sydney had more shots than us. Mooy, Novillo and Bruno being clinical is what won us this game. We got demolished for the entirety of the first half because our midfield was totally lost at sea and we had no width. Sydney were playing a 5-3-2/3-5-2 with makeshift wingbacks. When we played 3-5-2 we were destroyed constantly down the wings, yet JVS decides this must-win game is a good opportunity to try an untried and extremely narrow formation. JVS and the team deserve criticism for the performance. Yes the result is important, and there was a time where I would kill for a 3-0 win even if we performed poorly. Going forward, these performances will not be enough. If we play like we did in the first half against Adelaide, we will find ourselves 3-0 down at half time.

Shift f3 in Word. You're welcome.

We need a dislike button.

That is exactly my point.

This bloke continues to frustrate me. Never ever gives a second effort and rarely tracks back. Whines and moans when he doesn't get his way. Couple of telling moments of quality, still very influential. He could be so much better though.

Malik for Mauk looking like one of the worst trades in A League history. Should never have let Erik go...

JVS deserves the sack for fielding a narrow 4-4-2 diamond against a depleted Sydney side with makeship full backs. No width whatsoever. That half was fucking dire.

Not a signing to get excited about, but not bad for depth. Reckon this means bye bye to Trifiro.

Well that was fucking shit. Always hard to go over there and get a result tbh. Deserved at least a draw. Ref was pathetic. Praying for draws in all remaining games of the round. Rather lose 1 point on everyone than go 6 from top!

I thought our chances were very thin 2 weeks ago and now we're right back in the thick of it. The A-League is very competitive and unpredictable... lose today and I don't like our odds for the title at all, but you never know how other results will fall.

ITT: People forgetting that Wellington obliterated the top team away from home not even 2 weeks ago. This game is not a foregone conclusion and if we lose we are not out of the title race.

Missed a training session without giving a reason, too. Very interesting. They've dished out the maximum punishment they could. Something's definitely up with this bloke.

How many of them shots were set pieces? One of them was his goal (which was an accident and 99% Sorensen's fault) and another one would be his disallowed goal. I thought Malik had a stellar game. Gave me a bit of hope after seeing Retre and Melling struggle massively to fill Erik's shoes.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, mate. I bet you love those 'beats up his wife' and 'she said no' chants too. Keep up the good work .

Maybe she called him a luxury player and the truth hurt him? This is a shit look for the club. Even if it turns out to be nothing, the story will stick around (see Archie).

Yep. Wouldn't have happened if khalfallah was rightly sent off previously.

? It's 23 degrees at Olympic Park... We must go back to the 4-3-3 but we won't and we will not get anything out of this game, and indeed this season. JVS has screwed the pooch with too many changes within the squad and the tactics. No idea why we're sticking with 3-5-2 when we are continually being found out... it has worked at home against shit teams, and helped stem the tide against Sydney when we had half of our defense out. Prior to this, of course, we were putting teams to the sword home and away with our 4-3-3, including the last derby. In summary: Fuck off JVS and fire up you fuckers!!!