John Aloisi

[jw1739]

JA is coaching not to lose, or even to go behind and I reckon he knows his jobs on the line. His 1st real test will come when we go behind a goal...

 

 

If we can get the counter attacking gameplan to work and can actually be able to hold a lead for once, maybe he has a chance of doing a good job.

 

Hes looked at WSW last year and I think this is what he wants to emulate.

 

Overall, Saturday proved we have solid forward movement on the counter, but we need to get the final touch right. Hopefully Mifsud and Kewell can team up to be a very strong force in this comp.

IMO the overall question is whether the style of football we now appear to be intent on playing under JA is likely to win us any silverware.

 

If the answer to that question is "no" then there's no point in persisting with that style.

[Heart_fan]

 

JA is coaching not to lose, or even to go behind and I reckon he knows his jobs on the line. His 1st real test will come when we go behind a goal...

 

 

If we can get the counter attacking gameplan to work and can actually be able to hold a lead for once, maybe he has a chance of doing a good job.

 

Hes looked at WSW last year and I think this is what he wants to emulate.

 

Overall, Saturday proved we have solid forward movement on the counter, but we need to get the final touch right. Hopefully Mifsud and Kewell can team up to be a very strong force in this comp.

IMO the overall question is whether the style of football we now appear to be intent on playing under JA is likely to win us any silverware.

 

If the answer to that question is "no" then there's no point in persisting with that style.

 

 

Well it probably has a better chance than what we dished up last year.

 

I think it has potential to bring results, but certainly needs HK and Mifsud (Engelaar would be a huge bonus) to make it really work though.

[Sash]

Of course it can win silverware. Why wouldn't it? A solid defence is probably the most important ingredient when looking at champion sides. And so far, we're looking like being a hard team to score against. Also, for all the commentary of how good Friday night's Adelaide - Victory game was this wekend, I reckon we would've put plenty of goals past Adelaide if we played them given how much space our forwards would've had to get behind their defence. And if not for Pasfields left foot, we would've scored 4 against the Mariners, who traditionally leak few goals. It's still early and I'm not sure how we'll go against some other sides, but I'm pretty confident we won't be ninth this season.

[DieHardRed]

Fair comment Sash - We will not finish 9th 

Defensive counter attacking football can win you games and create success 

Look at CCM over the last two seasons. 

This team under JA will be playing in the finals come what ..... April 

[Red or Dead]

Aloisi only played one season with us mate. In that season he won our golden boot and scored in two of our greatest wins imo, the first derby and the late winner at Adelaide away. Was class that season and has always been a great servant of the club. Him and Aziz are the only two blokes who could be considered close to club legends.

Peter Fucking Zois? You dissapoint me! tsk tsk tsk 

[benzema23]

 A solid defence is probably the most important ingredient when looking at champion sides

 

Defence wins tournaments, eg World Cup, Euro, etc.

Attack wins the league, eg ManU last year

[n i k o]

The bid was made and got rejected I wasn't lieing. Not all of the Heart owners wanted out. I said it a month before the 7 mil offer was made public, you thought I made it all up.

Quoted directly from your post...

"In less than one month Sth melbourne will announce the ownership of Hearts licenses for next season! Games will be played at lake side.... If this does not happen you can ban me from this forum, or I will get myself banned."

Checkmate??? :-)

[Nate]

 

 A solid defence is probably the most important ingredient when looking at champion sides

 

Defence wins tournaments, eg World Cup, Euro, etc.

Attack wins the league, eg ManU last year

 

It's being good all over the park that wins you the league.

 

Organising the defence is the first step towards that.

[benzema23]

It's being good all over the park that wins you the league.

 

 

Organising the defence is the first step towards that.

 

 

wow, have you submitted your CV to SBS to be their next Craig Foster?

 

Teams with no defence do not win tournaments, teams with no or weak defence can win a league title. Although with the A-League having a play-off format at the end of the season, you may well need both a solid defence and attack in AUS.

Edited October 22, 2013 by benzema23

[Deluka]

It's no coincidence that CCM and WSW had the best defences last season. If you don't concede, you don't lose. Defences win titles, attacks win games.

[jw1739]

A team can "not lose" for an entire season, draw every game, and will end up with 27 points. They are likely to be close to bottom of the A-League (both Heart and Wellington had that number of points last season).

 

You will not win anything simply by "not losing." "Not losing" can be a sound strategy for certain matches for various reasons, but over an entire competition - most certainly not.

 

I'm happy with two points so far, and indeed will be happy if we can do the same for our next two matches. On the basis that it will build confidence within the playing group and help us psychologically. But sooner or later we're going to have to win to get anywhere.

Edited October 22, 2013 by jw1739

[benzema23]

CCM and WSW did know how to score goals when they needed them...

[fiz.heart]

JA said before the CCM game that we would go on the attack against them. What did we do instead? The total opposite.

 

There is no plan A, B or C at this football club atm. Hence why we threw away a 2 goal lead so quickly against CCM.

 

Respect JA huh?

[belaguttman]

JA said before the CCM game that we would go on the attack against them. What did we do instead? The total opposite.

 

There is no plan A, B or C at this football club atm. Hence why we threw away a 2 goal lead so quickly against CCM.

 

Respect JA huh?

We did attack but there are different philosophies of attack, possession or counter-attack, our style this season is counter-attack. There's nothing wrong with that and as you can see from watching teams like Dortmund it can be both attractive and effective. If we want to play possession based football then we need a strong midfield with the right sort of players. Hopefully Engelaar is a part of that plan but as he is not playing until the latter part of the season at the earliest then we have to find the most effective style that suits the balance of the team

[RedAndWhiteSoldier]

We have the players but not the coach. Simples.

[benzema23]

 

We did attack but there are different philosophies of attack, possession or counter-attack, our style this season is counter-attack. There's nothing wrong with that and as you can see from watching teams like Dortmund it can be both attractive and effective. If we want to play possession based football then we need a strong midfield with the right sort of players. Hopefully Engelaar is a part of that plan but as he is not playing until the latter part of the season at the earliest then we have to find the most effective style that suits the balance of the team

 

 

That's fine, but we also need to know what to do when we have the ball and not just keep waiting for a counter-attack involving 3 passes. We need to be able to string together some passes when we are in possession. We are better without the ball than with the ball, obviously because this is how the team has been set up. Classic Italian approach to the game actually.

[Jestr]

We did attack but there are different philosophies of attack, possession or counter-attack, our style this season is counter-attack. There's nothing wrong with that and as you can see from watching teams like Dortmund it can be both attractive and effective. If we want to play possession based football then we need a strong midfield with the right sort of players. Hopefully Engelaar is a part of that plan but as he is not playing until the latter part of the season at the earliest then we have to find the most effective style that suits the balance of the team

That's fine, but we also need to know what to do when we have the ball and not just keep waiting for a counter-attack involving 3 passes. We need to be able to string together some passes when we are in possession. We are better without the ball than with the ball, obviously because this is how the team has been set up. Classic Italian approach to the game actually.

I despise Italian system of play & miss JVS style

[Murfy1]

Having supported Melbourne Heart since the club's inaugural season, my appreciation for defenders and a good defence has grown considerably. 

 

In our first season we conceded 42 goals and finished 8. In our second and best season, where we finished 6th, we conceded our fewest goals: 34. Last season we conceded 40 and finished 9th. No need to even look at other teams, if we can keep defending very well during open play and can maintain our current average of conceding just 1 goal a game we're very likely to have a very good season.

 

I think it's right to look at other A-League teams as well, in particular CCM and WSW. Last season, WSW and CCM conceded the fewest goals, 21 and 22 respectively, and sure enough WSW finished 1st and CCM finished second. And the WSW didn't score a goal until their 4th game.

 

Or look at Postecoglou's Brisbane Roar during the 2010-11 season. Despite being renowned for their possession and attack, the team only scored 3 goals over their first 6 games (which were 2 scoreless draws, one 1-1 draw, 2 1-0 wins and one 0-3 loss). This Brisbane Roar team sorted out their defence first, and a number of people did call Brisbane 'boring' over their first 6 games. So even Brisbane had a strong defence, which shows that it wasn't simply their eye-catching attack that brought them success.  

 

One sure way to obliterate our away form is to have a strong defence. Its a must that we put our poor away form to bed, beginning this weekend at Perth, and Kisnorbo, Wielaert and our defence will be integral to that.

 

I'm sure our attack will steadily improve, like WSW's attack did last season, if our defence remains solid. After our first 2 games Heart players are 'brimming with confidence', and our attackers gain a lot of confidence from of our defence, as Golgol himself says: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/melbourne-heart-brimming-with-confidence-after-encouraging-performances-against-victory-mariners/story-fnibbvjo-1226743412784. And Mifsud and Kewell joining the team will take our attack up a gear or two, and I reckon we'll play a more attacking style of football when those 2 are regularly starting.

 

Aloisi has much more to learn, but he's noticeably evolving as a coach. I reckon like WSW last season, Heart under Aloisi this season will keep refining and improving as the season goes on, and if we can avoid major injuries we'll have a pretty successful season.

[Dylan]

Having supported Melbourne Heart since the club's inaugural season, my appreciation for defenders and a good defence has grown considerably. 

 

In our first season we conceded 42 goals and finished 8. In our second and best season, where we finished 6th, we conceded our fewest goals: 34. Last season we conceded 40 and finished 9th. No need to even look at other teams, if we can keep defending very well during open play and can maintain our current average of conceding just 1 goal a game we're very likely to have a very good season.

 

I think it's right to look at other A-League teams as well, in particular CCM and WSW. Last season, WSW and CCM conceded the fewest goals, 21 and 22 respectively, and sure enough WSW finished 1st and CCM finished second. And the WSW didn't score a goal until their 4th game.

 

Or look at Postecoglou's Brisbane Roar during the 2010-11 season. Despite being renowned for their possession and attack, the team only scored 3 goals over their first 6 games (which were 2 scoreless draws, one 1-1 draw, 2 1-0 wins and one 0-3 loss). This Brisbane Roar team sorted out their defence first, and a number of people did call Brisbane 'boring' over their first 6 games. So even Brisbane had a strong defence, which shows that it wasn't simply their eye-catching attack that brought them success.  

 

One sure way to obliterate our away form is to have a strong defence. Its a must that we put our poor away form to bed, beginning this weekend at Perth, and Kisnorbo, Wielaert and our defence will be integral to that.

 

I'm sure our attack will steadily improve, like WSW's attack did last season, if our defence remains solid. After our first 2 games Heart players are 'brimming with confidence', and our attackers gain a lot of confidence from of our defence, as Golgol himself says: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/melbourne-heart-brimming-with-confidence-after-encouraging-performances-against-victory-mariners/story-fnibbvjo-1226743412784. And Mifsud and Kewell joining the team will take our attack up a gear or two, and I reckon we'll play a more attacking style of football when those 2 are regularly starting.

 

Aloisi has much more to learn, but he's noticeably evolving as a coach. I reckon like WSW last season, Heart under Aloisi this season will keep refining and improving as the season goes on, and if we can avoid major injuries we'll have a pretty successful season.

 

 

I think the biggest and perhaps most critical challenge for the club and JA is to keep pretty much the same team for next season. We really cant afford alot of players moving on. 

[DieHardRed]

JA said before the CCM game that we would go on the attack against them. What did we do instead? The total opposite.

 

There is no plan A, B or C at this football club atm. Hence why we threw away a 2 goal lead so quickly against CCM.

 

Respect JA huh?

Utter Bollox - We attacked CCM for probably the first time since Roar at home. It was also the best we have ever played against CCM + that second goal for Willo was the best team attacking goal we have scored 2013 

[Tbitm]

Having supported Melbourne Heart since the club's inaugural season, my appreciation for defenders and a good defence has grown considerably. 

 

Truer words have never been spoken

[belaguttman]

Having supported Melbourne Heart since the club's inaugural season, my appreciation for defenders and a good defence has grown considerably. 

 

In our first season we conceded 42 goals and finished 8. In our second and best season, where we finished 6th, we conceded our fewest goals: 34. Last season we conceded 40 and finished 9th. No need to even look at other teams, if we can keep defending very well during open play and can maintain our current average of conceding just 1 goal a game we're very likely to have a very good season.

 

I think it's right to look at other A-League teams as well, in particular CCM and WSW. Last season, WSW and CCM conceded the fewest goals, 21 and 22 respectively, and sure enough WSW finished 1st and CCM finished second. And the WSW didn't score a goal until their 4th game.

 

Or look at Postecoglou's Brisbane Roar during the 2010-11 season. Despite being renowned for their possession and attack, the team only scored 3 goals over their first 6 games (which were 2 scoreless draws, one 1-1 draw, 2 1-0 wins and one 0-3 loss). This Brisbane Roar team sorted out their defence first, and a number of people did call Brisbane 'boring' over their first 6 games. So even Brisbane had a strong defence, which shows that it wasn't simply their eye-catching attack that brought them success.  

 

One sure way to obliterate our away form is to have a strong defence. Its a must that we put our poor away form to bed, beginning this weekend at Perth, and Kisnorbo, Wielaert and our defence will be integral to that.

 

I'm sure our attack will steadily improve, like WSW's attack did last season, if our defence remains solid. After our first 2 games Heart players are 'brimming with confidence', and our attackers gain a lot of confidence from of our defence, as Golgol himself says: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/melbourne-heart-brimming-with-confidence-after-encouraging-performances-against-victory-mariners/story-fnibbvjo-1226743412784. And Mifsud and Kewell joining the team will take our attack up a gear or two, and I reckon we'll play a more attacking style of football when those 2 are regularly starting.

 

Aloisi has much more to learn, but he's noticeably evolving as a coach. I reckon like WSW last season, Heart under Aloisi this season will keep refining and improving as the season goes on, and if we can avoid major injuries we'll have a pretty successful season.

Also look at our Melbourne 'friends', a great attacking philosophy but a very porous defence last season that cost them in the finals. I think that apart from Plan A we have Plan E and he's recovering from a broken leg. I expect that we'll play differently when Engelaar is fit as there's little need in signing him with the current style.

Edited October 22, 2013 by belaguttman

[The Aardvark]

JA said before the CCM game that we would go on the attack against them. What did we do instead? The total opposite.

 

There is no plan A, B or C at this football club atm. Hence why we threw away a 2 goal lead so quickly against CCM.

 

Respect JA huh?

What's wrong with a counter attacking game plan, especially when the cattle suits it? If we tried to pass our way forward with guys like Williams, Mebrahtu, Dugandzic and Ramsay up front that would be stupid. They are all very quick and perfectly suited to a counter attacking style.

 

If our squad will be most dangerous playing a counter attacking style, then play it that way. Maybe it'll be different with Kewell and Mifsud returning, but otherwise play to your strengths on the day. TBF we had 4 clear cut chances at scoring, and despite only converting half of them we still should have won. The attack did it's job last Saturday, it scored multiple goals, we were let down by giving away two penalties.  

[Nate]

 

JA said before the CCM game that we would go on the attack against them. What did we do instead? The total opposite.

 

There is no plan A, B or C at this football club atm. Hence why we threw away a 2 goal lead so quickly against CCM.

 

Respect JA huh?

What's wrong with a counter attacking game plan, especially when the cattle suits it? If we tried to pass our way forward with guys like Williams, Mebrahtu, Dugandzic and Ramsay up front that would be stupid. They are all very quick and perfectly suited to a counter attacking style.

 

If our squad will be most dangerous playing a counter attacking style, then play it that way. Maybe it'll be different with Kewell and Mifsud returning, but otherwise play to your strengths on the day. TBF we had 4 clear cut chances at scoring, and despite only converting half of them we still should have won. The attack did it's job last Saturday, it scored multiple goals, we were let down by giving away two penalties.  

 

I agree, scoring 2 goals against the Mariners within 10 minutes doesn't just happen by accident and to be fair we played some good counter-attacking football in the second half which is the best way to catch Central Coast out. 

 

Admittedly, the first half was dour but I thought JA's tactics were good overall and blighted by questionable refereeing. It's about time this club focused on results first and foremost and if you've got to do it ugly, then so be it because I want nothing more than for us to be there on the last day of the season.

[belaguttman]

Having supported Melbourne Heart since the club's inaugural season, my appreciation for defenders and a good defence has grown considerably. 

 

In our first season we conceded 42 goals and finished 8. In our second and best season, where we finished 6th, we conceded our fewest goals: 34. Last season we conceded 40 and finished 9th. No need to even look at other teams, if we can keep defending very well during open play and can maintain our current average of conceding just 1 goal a game we're very likely to have a very good season.

 

I think it's right to look at other A-League teams as well, in particular CCM and WSW. Last season, WSW and CCM conceded the fewest goals, 21 and 22 respectively, and sure enough WSW finished 1st and CCM finished second. And the WSW didn't score a goal until their 4th game.

 

There's an interesting article that expands on this at the Leopold Method

[jw1739]

Yes, it is interesting. But, as you know, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

 

I would simply point out that in terms of the Premiership, that is where the team scoring the most goals in the home-and-away season finished, you get a very interesting result.

 

2005/06, Adelaide with 35 goals, 1st.

2006/07, Victory with 41 goals, 1st.

2007/08, Adelaide with 31 goals 6th - Central Coast with the second highest goals, 30, finished 1st.

2008/09, Victory, 39 goals, 1st.

2009/10, Victory, 47 goals, 2nd.

2010/11, Brisbane, 58 goals, 1st.

2011/12, Brisbane, 50 goals, 2nd.

2012/13, Central Coast and Victory, 48 goals, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

 

So, just on that basis, it's pretty clear that if you score more goals than everyone else you will come pretty close to the top of the league table.

 

What I don't like about defensive football is that it essentially gives the onus of deciding the game to the opposition. What we did last Saturday was typical Heart. We allowed CCM back into the game when they were on the ropes. Ironically it was Arnold and CCM who believed in themselves, and we didn't. Deja vu to last season when we drew 3-3 with Newcastle. 2-0 up, back to 2-2, 3-2 up and then an 87th -minute penalty to gift a draw back to Newcastle.

 

Like I said elsewhere, I'm giving the season 8-10 games before we can assess whether what we are doing can possibly deliver a top four finish. Anything less is failure.

[Rellum]

Yes, it is interesting. But, as you know, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

 

I would simply point out that in terms of the Premiership, that is where the team scoring the most goals in the home-and-away season finished, you get a very interesting result.

 

2005/06, Adelaide with 35 goals, 1st.

2006/07, Victory with 41 goals, 1st.

2007/08, Adelaide with 31 goals 6th - Central Coast with the second highest goals, 30, finished 1st.

2008/09, Victory, 39 goals, 1st.

2009/10, Victory, 47 goals, 2nd.

2010/11, Brisbane, 58 goals, 1st.

2011/12, Brisbane, 50 goals, 2nd.

2012/13, Central Coast and Victory, 48 goals, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

 

So, just on that basis, it's pretty clear that if you score more goals than everyone else you will come pretty close to the top of the league table.

 

What I don't like about defensive football is that it essentially gives the onus of deciding the game to the opposition. What we did last Saturday was typical Heart. We allowed CCM back into the game when they were on the ropes. Ironically it was Arnold and CCM who believed in themselves, and we didn't. Deja vu to last season when we drew 3-3 with Newcastle. 2-0 up, back to 2-2, 3-2 up and then an 87th -minute penalty to gift a draw back to Newcastle.

 

Like I said elsewhere, I'm giving the season 8-10 games before we can assess whether what we are doing can possibly deliver a top four finish. Anything less is failure.

Completely agree with this. I cannot stand teams who sit back and counter attack. I am not interested in watching the other team play. 

 

Defence never wins games. Defence stops you from losing games. Attack is what wins games and leagues. I hate the saying "defence wins games/titles", it is complete BS. I would also argue that the teams with best attacks usually also have the best defence because they spend less time defending. 

 

JA is into his second year of his apprenticeship and I would think that if he was ever to change his counter attacking philosophy it won't be for another 8-10 years. In fact I would argue that the mismanagement of his appointment will permanently effect the way he coaches. He is only now learning how to set up a teams defence and he should be doing that in a less pressurised league where he can afford to fail whilst he is learning.

 

I don't disrespect JA, but I do not respect his philosophy. 

[belaguttman]

jw1739 I don't disagree with you but it is possible to play exciting potent counter-attacking football that is light-years away from catenacchio. I know that we have a long way to go before we match Dortmund but they are a great example for us to emulate if we want to play this style. We do need to be very fit though as the secret to Dortmund's success is their relentless counter-pressing - when they lose the ball in their attacking half the team moves higher up the pitch and relies on a team press to win back the ball close to their own goal. Our problem is that we retreat in defensive transition and then when we win back the ball we are a long way from our attacking goal, that's why we need to play long passes to get the ball there. The ball travels faster than the players so the player receiving the ball is usually isolated.

[Murfy1]

2 quick points:

- The first point. I reckon we will grow into a more attacking style. I don't believe for a moment that our first 2 games demonstrate the finished product of how we'll play football for the majority of our season.

- The second point. I think the binary of attack vs defence is ultimately false. The question 'should we focus on attack or defence?' is wrong, as we need to focus on both. So I agree with this sentence: 'defence alone never wins games'.

 

I would nonetheless argue that it has been much more important for us to improve upon our defence than our attack. I was always on edge when we had Colosimo and Matt Thompson in our defence over the past 3 seasons, and that's a key reason why I'm so satisfied that we now have top footballers like Kisnorbo and Wielaert in our defence.

 

Also, I fully reject the idea that merely keeping possession is 'attacking', 'pro-active', 'courageous' or whatever. If our opponents play like Victory did in round 1, where they pass the ball back and forth between one another on the half way line (like the Simpsons' parody of a football match), then that's not 'attacking' or 'playing' or 'deciding the game'. If a team wants to hog possession and keep the ball around the halfway line or in their own half, then I simply cannot understand how Heart could be blamed for not pressing into our opponent's half in an effort to win the ball. That's rolling out the red carpet for the opposition, by creating a lot of space in behind us. We have actually pressed a fair bit in both of our first 2 matches (especially in the second half of both games), but we shouldn't constantly press teams high up the pitch for the fear of being labelled 'defensive'.

 

I just loathe this lacking in nuance response too many viewers of football have (a good example, who's almost becoming a caricature of this, is Craig Foster. I have agreed with him often, but too often he falls into this simplistic, binary viewpoint), that a team that has less than 50% possession deserves scorn, whilst a team that has above 50% possession deserves respect.

 

I believe that Heart will become much better in attack, especially when our most attacking and most creative players, namely Mifsud, Kewell and Engelaar (who would effectively start off many of our attacks), become regulars in the team. But I don't believe Heart should have to apologise for having a competent defence, for the first time in the club's history.

[Sash]

I think the team we have at the moment is designed to play the way we're playing. We have more quality and depth in the centre of defence than we've ever had, our midfield works hard but doesn't really have the class to play a high possession passing game well, and we have plenty of speed in the front third that's dangerous when released into space.

 

Engelaar and Kewell in the midfield might give us more ability to dominate games, but without them, we might as well play to our strengths.

[DieHardRed]

Some good points expressed there, 

 

On Engelaar .... we are not going to see him till the new year and that may be optimistic,so we have to play to our strengths 

 

But imagine the team sheet when Engelaar is fit .. !!

 

Brisbane have a good starting 11 this season but take 1 or 2 out and they have reserves that are unknown/ untried or tried but not good enough for most teams =

                         - our subs will all be experienced 

 

The nitty gritty time of the season ( or squeaky bum time ) will be a very interesting run in .... MHFC will be in amongst em 

[heart_fan10]

Aloisi can fuck right off.

And take foxe with him

[RedAndWhiteSoldier]

told you's we should've got a new coach before round one. even Sydney has more points then us at this point in time lol... #jagone #nowinnoworries #woodenspoon #dejavu #mediocre #nothingnewin4seasons #lol #hashtags

[benzema23]

can we merge this with the Sack Aloisi thread now? I mean what the fuck was that? We can't actually put more than 3 passes together. Must be the Adelaide School of Coaching: Kosmina, Vidmar, Aloisi. All play the same rubbish.

[benzema23]

Unless...unless...JA is actually trying to beat other teams through a "total confusion" strategy, like where play so rubbish in the first half that the opposition players are like "huh? what the fuck are these guys doing?". Who knows?

[jw1739]

I don't think we should over-analyse any particular game, such as the one against Perth today. As supporters it's our natural tendency to do that - we have already demonstrated that from the first two games, looking for the positives and rationalizing the games so that those positives outweighed the negatives in our eyes. The media does it too - hence "Heart hasn't conceded a goal from open play" and so on. (Well, now we have of course.)

 

It's a mistake to look at each match individually and thence lose sight of the whole picture. IMO that's just what JA is doing. In any particular game of course he can find some individual highlights, and of course he can find some excuses for the final result.

 

But what we have to do is look at the whole picture. Each individual game is just part of that picture. Cumulatively the results we are obtaining make it very clear indeed that the path that JA is taking us down is a disaster for the club. We are playing negative and boring football, and it is not delivering what we need. It hasn't in the past, and it is not doing so now. We have now played 8 league games, and several pre-season games against A-League sides, without a single win. Enough is enough.

 

I cannot see things getting better until we have a new head coach.

[benzema23]

Bring JVS back now!!!

[KSK_47]

Bring JVS back now!!!

No! He was shit too. We need a coach that has actually successfully coached before.

[Herman Cain]

I have a feeling he will survive until Engelaar gets back because he'll be able to optimistically point to his potential to improve the team and make a charge for the finals.  He may then survive to the end of the season on the basis that Engelaar didn't have enough time to gel with the other players. 

[heart_fan10]

this counter-attacking play is rubbish. We are just not dangerous at all when we play like that, it's as if we wait to concede a goal before we start attacking.

 

We've got enough quality in the team to be threatening, and we saw glimpses of that today. We need to be going out every match and just playing our way, and taking the game to the opposition. We have a strong enough defence with Kisnorbo and Wielaert (+ Gerhardt is great cover) to not concede silly goals, so there is absolutely no need to sit back when they are more and capable of doing the job.

 

the way we're playing is absolutely ridiculous and uninspiring. There are no excuses this season, people are getting sick of bullshit, and sick of aloisi playing the blaming game.