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Melbourne vs. Brisbane - AAMI Park - 9/11/12


Jimmy
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There were some promising signs but also a few concerning signs. There was still a bit too much pointless hoofing in the first half, and looking a little clueless in opponents half. Big dissapointment was the drop in form after scoring, went from nice pressure and control to no possession.

Garcia, tadic and gerhardt were the outstanding players, and the team definitley has potential for top 6 finish thats for sure. Winning home games is a must till end of season, really need to make it a fortress.

I think our supporters were good in making an atmosphere out of it so credit to them.

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Tadic is a top player seems to have the ability to do the unexpected also. Gerhardt copped it last week but I think he has shown his value already. He gets stuck in and gives it everything a couple of great runs forward tonight (reminded me a lot of watching a Chelsea central defender stepping forward and scoring). Aziz was great again always is also Marrone back to old self. Roffman and Thommo shared the dm spot and rotated at times allowing Garcia to support in behind Tadic all night. I think people are right in saying Garcia should play as a more attacking player he really set the game up for us and with Tadic upfront these guys paired up really well.

A few negatives. When we didn't really press 10 mins before half time and 15 mins after Brissy got on top. When we pressed again we were all over them like a dirty rash. A few times they got in behind I thought their first goal should have stood.

All in all a decent step forward when Vinnie comes in I think we will be looking pretty good.

**(NOTE: No Fred probably biggest thing really)

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At last playing out from the back quickly, mostly along the deck, shorter passes, using the width of the field. So good to see after a long drought! Tadic and Garcia classy - the latter seems to be our MOM pretty regularly. Four great goals, and two that could have been.

Maybe the Brisbane disallowed goal should have stood, but them's the breaks and it's time something went our way for once.

What a way to start the weekend!

Edited by jw1739
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**(NOTE: No Fred probably biggest thing really)

So we can win without him.

Great showing by the boys.

Garcia (who otherwise had a very good game) was too busy arguing with the ref and linesman and allowed the cross for their only goal. We should have had a clean sheet and could have won by more.

Having said that it was fantastic to see us boss a team around. Very happy tonight.

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An improved performance at times, although the result was a little flattering as roar were very poor for much of the game. We started well using a team press aggressively and controlled the game for the first 20 minutes. Ball speed was much better and so we had more penetration, helped by Roar's disorganisation. Inexplicably we backed right off after the first goal and sat much too deep for the remainder of the half. That along with the complete lack of pressing allowed Roar to dictate the game for the remainder of the half and against any other team and linesman we would have been deservedly punished.

Second half was an improvement. It looked like Gerhardt was pushing forward into midfield at transition so we changed to a 3-4-3 in attack, certainly he and Garcia were both excellent, Garcia in particular offered some of that creativity that Fred provides. We pushed up the field again, raised the ball speed and had good movement. Why can't we do that every week? Tadic looks like he's starting to play well in this league, in fact the best is yet to come from him I think. Behich really deserves the credit for the last goal, his ball retival and pass created a goal out of nothing and his effort was rewarded with a quality finish from Williams.

Negatives: We still can't deliver good balls into the box from corners or set pieces, Mate is not the answer for this. We sat too deep for long periods of the game. We should have scored more.

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We have no peers when it comes into counter-attack football.

We showed how we should be playing in the first 20 minutes:sharp passing, good movement off the ball, playing out from the back, pressing the opposition when not in possession. And then went to the Bolton long-ball rubbish for the remainder of the half. Why?

Tadic is all class, people writing him off because he received no service in the first few games and being played out of position can eat their words. Showed why he kept Berisha out in Germany.

Gerhadt had his best game for us.

Garcia? Fred who?

Thompson: too slow. Want Germano back ASAP.

Kalmar: uncanny Viduka-like with his touch and close control with that turn.

Dugandzic good cross for the goal but poor corners, lost the ball too often, easily brushed off the ball.

Marrone gave the ball away on numerous occassions.

Bolton as per usual gave everyone a couple of heart scares. I wish he retired last season tbh

How quickly does Williams grow his hair?

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Firstly, congratulations to Yarraside. Although your numbers were down, you sounded great and kept rolling all night.

Wow, what a night!! Felt depressed walking to the ground given our recent form, and left with the whole family totally pumped. And the best thing is that there is so much room for improvement. The big plus was watching Tadic with the ball at his feet. His turning, vision and shooting were pretty damn impressive. When the ball was on the deck he was creative and threatening. Willo was dynamic coming off the bench and Hoffman surprised me. Much maligned on the forums, he was solid as DM, disciplined and did a fair bit of directing traffic. At the end of the day a huge win for the club and, but for tiredness and arguing with the ref for an offside by Garcia, we would probably have kept a clean sheet.

There are still some concerns. With Tadic so good with the ball at his feet, he's equally poor in the air, so the repeated long balls he was dealing with for the first 60 minutes were incredibly frustrating. Dugandzic was monstered aerially as well. If you look at the stats for the game, just under 20% of all our passes were long balls which means we're surrendering possession a hell of a lot. We really can't play out from the back at the moment and that is to do with personnel. Colossimo loves hoofing the ball upfield, and we didn't have our best ball playing defensive midfielders in to link with the forwards. Bring on Grella and Germano, but Colossimo really worries me. Vrankovich may be the solution. My only other concern is with Behich's defensive side. Admittedly he had to deal with Thomas Broich, but he dives in very readily and got turned easily numerous times tonight. I hope he gets a run with the Socceroos and under the tutelage of national coaches may learn a few things.

At the end of the day it was a great night out and a well deserved win. The thing I'm really happy with is that I really feel we can play a lot better. This team is only getting to know each other and, with more understanding of each others strengths, it could be a fearsome outfit. It's going to be a good ride.

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Proud of all our players. Everyone was switched on and played their part in this valuable win.

I said last week if Tadic keeps his confidence up and keeps performing at the level he did against WSW he'll be immense, and he showed why I said that against Roar. He and Garcia were the standouts, and it looks like Tadic has the goods to fill Babalj's shoes. He provided a superb focal point for our attack and held up the ball very well (something Didulica said he does well preseason) and combined excellently with our attacking players. Some of Aloisi's best coaching IMO has been to ease Tadic into the squad. Aloisi rightly favoured Macallister for the first few games, who was scoring for fun in preseason, and made it clear to Tadic that he'll have to bring his A game to start as striker. Aloisi also gave him minutes when possible to help him adapt to HAL, for instance playing out of position as LW for a half against Wellington. Then Tadic came good against WSW. End result, we have a top 25 year old striker with fine European pedigree who could quite conceivably start in all our remaining season games, and I believe he could be a decisive factor in helping us make the finals.

Garica continued to provide quality in midfield. He's been our best player overall this season and easily our most consistent. Great to see him get on the scoresheet and win a penalty. He got forward a lot and combined magnificently with Tadic. I hope to see, and expect I'll see, Tadic and Garcia combining more this season (especially when Grella comes into the sqaud and Garcia can push up in midfield).

Gerhardt bounced back very well and was a rock in defence. Thrilled that he scored a good goal and was confident enough to dribble out from the back on multiple ocassions. Colosimo was sturdy in defence as well. All together the defence was defensively solid and played out from the back well, and did so much better than in the past three games, despite Roar's high pressing.

Other noteworthy players were Behich, grease lightning, and Williams, who was a supersub and wasn't profligate in front of goal. Kalmar was solid despite playing out of position (he can turn on a sixpence) and Hoffman did enough in midfield.

Roar were unlucky to have that goal on the 40th minute disallowed and ruled to have crossed the line. But welcome to the A-League. Also I reckon Roar got a number of favourable calls with regards to fouls. And all up if Roar supporters were to claim this call changed the match they'd be equal to those stubborn English fans who claimed Lampard's disallowed goal against Germany at the 2010 World Cup changed everything. Roar created precious little besides the disallowed goal and their late consolation goal.

While I agree that Roar didn't create enough going forward and were far below their best I reckon Heart deserve more acknowledgement in explaining the 4 Heart 1 Brisbane scoreline. This was some of the best football, and certainly some of the most clinical football, I've seen Heart play. It was no coincidence that Brisbane were poor against a very good Heart.

Perhaps the thing that fills me with the most confidence is how well we played and won despite missing several valuable players. Playing Kalmar out of position in LW, having Hoffman play 90 minutes in midfield and having youth team player Mitchinson on the bench are clear signs that our squad was stretched. I expect we'll be able to lift a gear when Fred and Grella come back into the squad, and probably into the starting XI. Germano, Mebrahtu, Vrankovic and Garuccio will provide us with strong depth as well.

This win should lift a lot of Heart heads up and provide multiple reasons why we can expect to get results and achieve things this season.

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Tadic - Only a matter of time until he found his form out there. Too many "expert" dickheads that wrote him off after the first game lol

Garcia - Fantastic game, big cudos to his stamina and fitness, didnt stop working from start to finish

Gerhadt - Strong on the ball, great goal, exactly what he needed after last week. Shit happens, some people dont understand that though.

Behich - Solid performance

Marrone - First and second touch dissapointing tonight from him, lost the ball a number of times.

Dugandzic - Had a good game but needs to grow some balls when going for 50/50 balls.

Kalmar - Imposing player out there tonight, held the ball up well

Williams - Best game yet, finally started to do what hes supposed to do in that forward position

Bolton - A few shaky catches but didnt have to do too much tonight. Still kicks the ball in a retarded way, one day he will knee himself in the head i swear

Collosimo - Had a descent game, but everytime he goes near the ball you just dont know what to expect

Fred - I know he didnt play but with all the good things he has done so far this season he has fucked up a lot and was great to see him not playing. Schip would have pulled him off the pitch by now with his performances.

Edited by n i k o
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Fred - I know he didnt play but with all the good things he has done so far this season he has fucked up a lot and was great to see him not playing. Schip would have pulled him off the pitch by now with his performances.

Why are you bringing a past coach up? JVS would have done a shitload of things different. But it's not about him. JA seems to be just finding his feet now.

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Unbelievable night and fantastic performance. Hopefully this kick starts the year. Really looked the good last night. Yarraside sounded awesome. The crowd should have been around 10000 not half that. Maybe some doubters thought we were going to get killed. I guess they will be back next week. LOL

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