Torn Asunder

Great posting people....hope the club bigwigs have a read to see how much passion the true supporters have for this club. Now, on the game. That was frustrating... ...and what a useless place to play a game and those commentators...really, there should'nt be a NZ team in the A-League JA keeps showing he knows how to plan for a game, as we often start ok, but he has no confidence / awareness during a game to switch things around or make the right substitutions during a game, especially when the ascendency is with our opposition. Its also like his substitutions are all predetermined and that he sticks with them no matter what. Why did we go so defensive so quickly and allow the Phoenix so much possession? Yes, when you have a two goal lead you are a good chance for a counter attacking goal, but you will get more out of holding onto some possession, making your opponent work for their chances and tiring and frustrating them. Blind Freddy could see we needed Germano on the pitch to try and win back some control in midfield. On that, one of the reasons we have been so poor through the centre and going forward is JA's formation. We are always playing two holding defensive midfielders (but both, Thomo and Hoff, are natural attackers), with one attacking MF. If JA wants better results, he must play one chief defensive midfielders and two attacking MFs. This could be other PG or JG. For those saying the players aren't trying, I somewhat disagree. The players to me seem to be trying almost too hard at times....they are just playing in a team system that has fatal flaws and for an inexperienced coach who is struggling to influence change during a game, something that JVS could do. The only positives from today were scoring two away goals, Vrankovic and some more minutes for Germano. Grey is a worry...visa spot wasted IMO.

Great game atmosphere, gutted to lose... We lost a lot in midfield when Germano went off. He still looked fresh and should have stayed on the park a bit longer. Fred pushed really hard and played his best game for the year hands down. He was completely spent after his goal and should have come off for D Mac. With all our corners he would have been a chance to knock one in. Overall we were the probably the better team and at least deserved to get a point. Will watch a replay to make a final call on the teams effort, but my initial thoughts are the boys can take Heart from the performance, and that we won't lose any fans from the loss. I just hope JA keeps learning as I think we are losing as a result of poor tactics off the bench. IMO, PG should have moved into the DM role after Germano went off and Vrankovic should have been on the bench (rather than Hoff)

Maybe instead of a song, a club theme chant... The start of Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark comes to mind. Probably one of the best ever live concert anthems for metal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMWAsS2xP7E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This could work, and would be a good anthem song... *"Never Tear Us Apart"* - INXS Don't ask me What you know is true Don't have to tell you I love your precious heart I I was standing You were there Two worlds collided And they could never tear us apart We could live For a thousand years But if I hurt you I'd make wine from your tears I told you That we could fly 'Cause we all have wings But some of us don't know why I I was standing You were there Two worlds collided And they could never ever tear us apart

I'd be earning at least half what I'm worth... Mr SM has been pulling some strings lately to lift the clubs profile in the media at derby time. It has always been seen as the highest priority for the club to be successful in these games. I think its time to broaden the focus so that we are taken seriously. I was speaking to an ex socceroo today and he is a Visitors man, but not with any great passion. He ribbed me about Heart so I grilled him on why the Visitors....he didn't really know why, other than they were first. The battler / team unity thing being espoused at the moment will appeal to Aussie public. If we win Sat night, and the club can keep its nose in the papers with a consistant message,we will win new fans.

Tesla....probably the best thing I've seen....today anyway ! Brilliant

I do tend to recall hearing something....hence song book idea

To the Saints go Marching in. Oh Red & White Goes marching in, Oh Red and White goes marching in. Oh how we going to beat the visitors When the Heart goes marching in! Just a suggestion for you boys who run the Yarraside show, this chant section is a bit messy. Perhaps consider a new pinned locked topic (for mods only) with"official" yarraside tested and approved chants only...could be called Yarraside Song Book... ...just a suggestion lads...

http://m.442.com.au/PhotoGalleries/Gallery.aspx?CIID=326669 This business on pitch pre game, half time and post match...

Alois's OS club career: an opportunistic striker who would have done his job after a one touch tap in scrambled goal, who played in teams with highly defensive set ups, constantly battling relegation .... ...i can appreciate JAs tactics , but they just ain't gonna work consistantly with the current team set up, and it is disheartening (pun intended) to watch.... Especially as we have the players to win games...i hope management are tracking this forum, the club cannot afford to lose even a small number of its current supporters or there really will be doom and gloom. Team changes and a good attacking performance is absolutely essential in the derby...

Both Bojic goals would have been saved by Ryan. CCM are hard to break down and could not score in open play... we still had two gilt edge chances, but other than that, we had nothing in midfield or up front and out wide. Cheap turnovers, no link up play and no plan B after we went behind. Garcia and Behich looked tired, Vrankovic should have been used!! very disappointing and the blame needs to lay with JA. As Harper says.... We looked listless. Fred should be played back into form through the NYL or off the bench. We should only play one holding mid fielder, not two attack minded players in front of two CBs who can't play out. With tadic injured Williams should have started striker and Golgol should have started on the wing. There is no courage or zest in JAs coaching and he needs to learn fast from his mistakes...but there is no evidence that this is occurring

Building a club with tradition takes time. The passionate and true supporters of the Red and White, and particulary the regulars on this very forum, are part of something special...we are by and large responsible for how Heart evolve and will have a huge hand in the ultimate success of the club. In years to come, a Heart membership will be worth its weight in gold, like MCC memberships... In the meantime we need to stick by the club and keep being true supporters. I would also love for the supporters to come up with a crowd activity that becomes a part of the fabric of the club...Liverpool have their song, West Ham have their bubbles, what is there for us? Any ideas??

The problem, experience wise, is this game should be a cake walk, so in a sense not a true test... bloody Holger

Eli and Marrone starting, along with Rogic

Rogic on at the 80th minute and nearly scores with his first touch.... Aziz looked like he could have got a goal in the 1st half, but he tired in the second. I think he was marking HKs gun player...he did well. Babalj should have got some minutes, he would have killed it...just like Rogic...really not sure what Holger is doing ATM

JA is really feeling the heat at the moment. Rather than turn on him we should give him time to get things right and turn around our team's fortunes. To show him that he has our backing (for now at least) how about something that I can't recall being done by another aleague club...a minute of standing applause, at the 27 minute mark of the Perth game, based on the number of goals he has scored for the Socceroos. Surely this would have a better result than silence and may even give the boys on the pitch a lift...

Not liking the negativity and excuses from JA but I think each week, for the most part, there are subtle improvements to elements of the game plan. Two noticeable things I picked up on yesterday were low crosses, which if as a team we can implement at good speed will result in goals, and long low fast passes from defence, mainly by PG towards the end of the game, to the no 10 position, which was very effective in getting the ball into dangerous areas quickly. The main issue for Ja is SC (please play DV!)and not having a true DM

May get a game against Arsenal if his lone club get through their current round cup match. Pardew says the short term lone spell is due to the Reserve comp shutting down over xmas. Newcastle website reports that Good's senior debut for the club is inevitable this season. If he plays against Arsenal in a knock out game, what a test and what a way for his club to see him in action at a pretty high level before they risk playing him in the senior team

Entertaining enough game with six goals scored, and for the Heart some goals of real quality. bloody disappointing though not to win. Cant believe Zadkovich scored; 99/100 that shot would have gone into row Z..... Tadic / Garcia / Thompson are starting to click more often, but Fred doesnt seem to fit in the midfield puzzle at the moment. Once again, it was our CB pairing and our lack of a defensive midfielder that cost us. As much as I dislike him, put someone like Jacob Burns in our our midfielders in place of Hoffman and we would be killing it. Agree with BelaG, last year we would have lost this one

Very short term. NU making some cash I'd say

Good on loan to Bradford... http://mobile.nufc.co.uk/default.aspx?s=news-display&aid=2988568

Not a pretty game to watch, but this is the way Kossie coaches AU. Players stting back and defending hard without really worrying if they win the ball, creating stop / start situations so there is no rhythm to the game, making the most of set pieces and only really giving licence to one or two player to attack with freedom (Vidosic / Jeronimo), and if things go to plan, as they did against Heart, you win from your one chance....from a cheap turnover (one of three I can remember from SC). Also, watching the ball across the grass, the pitch was (deliberalty) slow, to keep the pace out of the game. AU didnt even start with their best attacking winger / full back (Ramsay) on the park or with a recognised striker, which is a true mark of their style of play. As most teams in the A-League (perhaps Brisbane are the exception) are not capable of efficently and consitantly setting up attacks that break through this type of game plan, AU have had success thus far this season. Some AU forum posters are saying that yesterday's game was the best they have looked this season. I think its great to win a few games ugly, but AU's style is not good for the game and hopefully teams will soon learn to defeat this game plan, and I really hope that Heart learn to do it sooner rather than later, or we will definetly lose more than we win this season. With our game yesterday there were a number of issues that contributed to our loss. I have said it before and I stand by it; SC and PG should not be our starting CBs. JA has tried to compensate for this pair's passing weaknesses by playing Hoff and Thomo in DM roles to provide options in playing the ball out, however, the reality is neither of these players are true DM and with both back we are then left short up front and sometimes exposed when they both push forward. Vrankovic needs to come into the side so that we have a CB that can play the ball out from defence. Since the WSW game, JA has given PG some licence to go forward and he has improved his game remarkably and added value to the team as a result. As such, DV and PG should be our starting CBs. I like Garcia as our attacking mifielder, but as good as he is, he cannot shoulder the load alone, which he has to do with Thompson and Hoff sitting as holding midfielders. To compensate for this, JA has brought Kalmar into the team on the left and when we are attacking, he moves inboard to support Garcia, but then we lose our width and Behich has to run the left side of the picth solo. On Hoff, he seems to be improving in his DM role, noticably since Grella has come into the team, but is still more of a forward player. Germano or Grella must start as defensive midfielder and Fred, Garcia and Thomo (and even Kalmar and Hoffman at times) should be rotated through the AM positions. Dissappointingly so far this season our right side of attack has been really poor, and although Marrone looks to be coming into some form, Duga is out of touch and down on confidence and would benefit from a spell in the Youth team / or coming off the bench. Golgol should be given a crack. I think yesterday we pressed too much too early for extended periods and as the game progressed, with AU's tactis on a hot day on a slow pitch, with the structural formation issues detailed above, the guys ran out of puff. As espoused by others on this forum, we also really need to be better with our set pieces ....teams like AU, PG, CCM win lots of their games through set pieces and we should at least try changing things up a little... we need a different kicker and the club should employee a part time or short term highly experinced set piece coach so we can improve. This IMO would be a good investment for the club. I still feel positive about the season and don't think we are far off things clicking. People just need to remember that its early on and if we can improve in a few areas (and there are signs of improvement) we are capable of beating any team in this league on our day ... so provided we can make the finals, we will always be a chance.

So proud of Aziz & Eli (and Rogic)...

Michael Thwaite at left back??? Wtf ... and a goal conceded just like that, through the LB zone ... Holga, play Aziz pls

We should hold onto this guy, make him captain (would take pressure of Fred in terms of fitness concerns) and offer him a new deal as our marquee Socceroo (sitting him outside the salary cap). With RG attacking in midfield and Josip upfront, provided we can sure up our defensive midfield position, and play Vrankovic at the back, Heart will do much better than last season and could even push for a title.