Torn Asunder

During preseason I was very excited by how Garcia played. I was also highly impressed by Vrankovic, and by Tadic's potential, which looks to be coming good, and the really good thing was that against WSW he did not go to ground looking for soft free kicks. I was concerned by the form of Fred, Behich, Marrone and very concerned about PG, and that he would cost us goals and games as a CB. I was also hopeful that Williams would come good and deliver and he seemed to get his head in the right space, but is missing games for minor annoying ailments. JA is definetly still learning and I think he will eventually be a better coach than JVS, but he must start playing the best players, in the right positions, have a plan B and change it up during games...I am not liking the current excuses, they offer false hope. Simply put, Vrankovic or Grey must start ahead of PG and JA must play a true defensive midfielder. Grella 1st choice, Germano second and PG third option. Fred and Thompson should be interchanged, with Garcia the key attacking midfielder. Tadic should be the main man up front, with wingers continually rotated week by week. We also must improve at set pieces and a good set piece taker should be a priority for the club for one of our remaining spots - with our current list I cannot think of 1 decent freekick or corner where we scored

There is hope going forward. We need PG out for Vrankovic, who can play out from the back. Tadic must start and has the ability to rip the league apart. And the most critical thing that must happen - we need to play a true defensive midfielder (Grella 1st choice, Germano second and PG third)

Where not far off playing some really good football. Our structures and tactics are better than with JVS and although it didn't work for the boys today, supporters need to keep the faith rather than carry on like the world is ending. CCM are a hard team to break down and Arnie would have come to town happy for a draw. The main problem at the moment is our midfield. We currently play with three attacking midfielders - we need to get Germano and now Grella on the pitch so that there is a true defensive midfielder in the mix. We do this and we will carve up the league and Garcia will get back in the Socceroos.

I would play the current formation and system (which is an improvement on last year) and continue to rotate midfielders. Fred, Grella, Thompson and Garcia are no spring chickens. If we try and play a system where we fit all of them on the park at once, all of the time, when we suffer inevitable injuries / suspensions the team would need to continually change formations to cover player losses. This signing gives us great depth in midfield and hopefully allows JA the freedom not to overplay our midfielders to the point of injury. In my mind, there would be nothing wrong with Fred, Thompson, Grella, Germano and Garcia switching / changing, including off the bench (when all fit). All the great clubs have the ability to bring geniune midfield quality off the bench, and now that inlcudes us. Not sure there is another A-League club that would be able to bring a player into a game late, with quality of our top five midfielders. Also, I dont think JA will play Thommo at CB - pre season he deliberately talked Matt up as a box-to-box midfielder. JA is not as strict on the CBs to play out as JVS was, and he is happy for the odd longball, or for the midfielders to drop back in pairs to try and play the ball out. Now, with the team so strong, Heart can make a move on Victory in terms of grabbing some new supporters and stamping our authority as being the team to follow in Melbourne, especially with the current interested being generated by the marquee signings and the impending TV deal. We MUST start winning at home or we will miss out on a real oppurtunity to continue to build the club.

Disappointing ... MCG carpark closed (wtf), not enough food kiosks open (wtf), should have had the game wrapped up by half time ... good crowd, wonder how many will be back for the Mariners think we are playing better than last year in terms of game plan ... certain players are still finding their touch and we should continue to improve. We just gotta start to win these types of games at home (last year, we would have lost this one so a draw is not the end of the world). Early but still second on the ladder. Perth will be tough next week. Maybe Grey will play for experience / size, with Vrankovic (did well today) on the bench again. Tadic does look slow, but i think if he can get some confidence and fitness he will be some value. He is still a good choice sub for now.

Although in general Sydney were quite poor, Del Piero was a class above every other player on the pitch. In fact, I have not seen a player on Australian shores since Ziddane at the MCG for France, who stood out so clearly in terms of their ability. For a first run, with limited time to gel with his team, he was able to find time and space. His passing was clever, precise and creative. He made runs and showed vision that bedazzled his opponents and his own team mates - those around him will have to improve a hell of a lot for the club to reap the rewards of their investment on the park. Through the season, I hope that the young Aussie players that play with and against him study what he does and how he plays so smart. For example, there were a handful of occasions when ADP was involved in a 50/50, air ball contest. When it was in his favour, he generally positioned himself with very liitle effort and won the majority of these contests. When the air ball was in favour of his opponent (and there were times when he conceded the more favourale position), he let his opponent win the contest, and then immediately put them under pressure, before either stealing the ball or creating a turnover. Generally, in the A-league, which is played with typical Aussie gusto (not knocking Aussie gusto by the way), players will go hard for the 50/50 ball and it ends up scrappy. One can only hope that ADPs influence rubs off, which will invariably result in a better class of competition.

He suffered a minor injury which is why he is unavailable . I reckon it's good we are giving him a chance...he has raw ability so if the coaching staff can get the best out of him he will be good value. Rather take a punt on him rather than a Maycon type

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video/2283338277/Curtis-making-Good Marking Ben Afra... wow Get him in the Socceroos

This was in the comments in 4 4 2 FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA'S NEW FIVE-YEAR TV DEAL - Total revenue for TV rights = $175 million for five years - $35 million each year until 2017 - Fox Sports paid for most of the deal with the Federal Government tipping in for SBS TV's share of the rights - Deal starts when new 2012/13 A-League season kicks off on October 5 - Fox Sports will show all A-League and Socceroos matches live (outside the FIFA 2014 World Cup tournament due to the Federal Government's anti siphoning law) - SBS will host one live Sunday A-League fixture per week. The station will also host Socceroos matches on a slight delay - A-League clubs will currently receive $1.9 million in revenue from the FFA which is to be used for salary caps - about $700,000 short of the total allowed salary cap.

http://m.442.com.au/News/Article.aspx?CIID=316815 Some positive press...

They did, and they have promised to bounce back and give it to Victory! Great day for the club with unparalleled access to the players. All the kids there (and the mums & dads) had a blast

This would help... http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/soccer/ffa-contemplates-a-beckham-rule/story-fnddhv0x-1226479462070

I doubt we would get him ... but it would be freakn good http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1121443/Ballack-drops-asking-price-as-Wanderers-stall

I was at the game and it is fair to say that the performance was very, very poor. Twitter quote from Garcia "Bad day at the office..... All guys very disappointed, but it's how we bounce back that matters....." On the game, firstly our defence ... we could not play out from the back. It looks like PG and SC are similar in ability and unfortunately neither seem effective in playing out from the back, especially when pressed. Although he was only played for the last 10 minutes or so, when Vrankovic came on, he seemed assured in his passing and he looked solid and like he could be the right option if JA really wants the team to start its attacks from the back. Behich was perhaps our best player and will be better for the run, although in partnership with Williams, who played left attacker, the two need to work on their attacking partnership. Marrone was not at his best and was given a bath by Glory's new Japanese player Nagai (this guy seems to have some talent - get him in your Fantasy Team...) Our midfield was very disappointing. Our central midfielders, the trio of Thompson, Fred & Garcia are all naturally very attacking, but today were disjointed, turned the ball over, were ill-disciplined and did not provide the link between defence and attack, especially when the defenders were trying to play out from the back. Jacob Burns had an easy afternoon (1st half only, then subbed, then Ward did the same thing) moving between the lines, shutting down many of our passing attempts in the first half. In terms of formations with our midfield, in the first half, we looked to be playing almost a 4-4-2, then in the second half, our efforts in midfield improved slighlty when Thomo and Fred sat back almost as a defensive midfield paring. Mate was OK, but his free kicks were ineffective and for some reason, every time we got a corner, it was played short, then shut down by Perth. Williams tried hard but seemed lost and the few times he got a fast break, he checked back, effectively ending the attack. One more note on Garcia. He does have obvious talent and I think he will be as effective as Fred. Hopefully JA can get the midfield mix right. At present we really need an assured true defensive midfielder in the starting 11. I would go with Germano, and start Fred and Garcia, then sub on Thompson as needed towards the end of the match. With our forwards, Tadic had no service, but tried hard. Also, he did not look fully fit and he did not seem to be enjoying the sunny day, in fact most of the players seemed to struggle a little in the sun, fitness wise (compared to Perth). McAllister looked semi-dangerous and will be a good late sub during the season. Hoffman came on late and was disappointing. During the 1st half I stood near Fergesan to see and hear first hand how he coached. He and his assistant were both very active, encouraging their players, directing them constantly. He had good rapport with his guys and they seemed to respect him. He made a few jokes, telling Heffernan that he would have made a pass, "if you had my ability". He also told Burns to "Shut the F$#@ up" after he made a mistake and tried to blame some of his team mates. In the second half I stood near the Heart box to see how JA worked. Granted we were already three goals down, he seemed quite downcast, giving very liitle obvious instruction and direction to his players. When he did speak to them, he was quiet and seemed to be lacking in confidence and at times they would not have even heard what he was saying. Other than David Williams, the players did not look to him for guideance. Hayden Foxe was also quiet. In terms of inspiring the players and influencing change, today I saw no evidence of this, although he did exclaim often when the team played badly, and he did seem to know what he wanted them to do - just no obvious match day communication and impact today. The team normally bounces back after a really bad game so hopefully things click into gear for round 1 .... and I think with a few minor tweaks, some luck, and a general lift in confidence from a well constructed goal, we have every chance to start the season with a win.

New advert from Heart HQ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Heart-launches-Official-TV-Ad/49286 To be aired on Foxtel.... The ad itself, I like it. Great job. would love to see it on FTV ... this is the market that needs to be tapped into IMO

Curtis Good captained the Newcastle Reserve team against Sunderland last night. Another Aussie, Inman, scored http://mobile.nufc.co.uk/default.aspx?s=news-display&aid=2922776

Some words on the new A-League boss and on what he is hoping to achieve. Good to see he is meeting individually with each club. Wonder what was discussed with Scott Munn. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/new-aleague-boss-targets-growth-20120917-262b8.html

Interesting quotes from Munn on Del Piero.... http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/251106,forget-about-adp---its-all-about-the-derby.aspx

Here is the flyer for anyone that wants to post it at their work or club... http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=5_familydaypage.jpg

Not going anywhere just yet ... except maybe the Socceroos http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/250939,besiktas-target-behich-focused-on-heart.aspx

article on JA http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/The-coaches-%7C-Aloisi/49096

Not bad at all ... nice look and feel, and good message. Hope they advertise on FTA TV http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/are-you-ready-for-hyundai-a-league-2012/13-/49102

Get him in the Socceroos... http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1120187/Lazaridis:-Give-Babalj-a-chance

web article in Goal... http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4021/a-league/2012/09/12/3369363/from-switzerland-to-bosnia-and-herzegovina-heart-man-patrick

Go for it dude, you should contact Scott Munn and ask him and the club to grant you a scholarship (that is of course if you are any good!)