Pre-Season Friendlies

[AJB45T4RD]

Bloody Hoffmong again! This isn't new, it became a frustrating habit of his two seasons ago...i really wanted to attend todays game, but glad i wasn't there to witness that shit all of the same...i might have jumped the fence!

[mattyh001]

What color top?

[mattyh001]

Golgol Off, Ramsey onto left Williams moved to up front

[Jestr]

Williams scores 1:2

[cadete]

So the Hoffmanless score would be 1 a piece...

[Jestr]

Red (0dd)

black cap & sunnies

[heartofmelbourne12]

Paddy injured

[mattyh001]

Gerhardts been taken off possible dodgy hammy Williams shoulda made it 2 but blazed over

[Caddy]

Well Gerhardt is suspended for Round 1 so he has 3 full weeks to recover...

 

Seriously sick of our pus form. Our insipid play better not rear it's ugly head again this season.

[Red or Dead]

The @MelbourneHeart twitter account has been quite active for this game! There's a tweet every few mins #MHvREDS

[theresonlyonebzamora]

Well Gerhardt is suspended for Round 1 so he has 3 full weeks to recover...

 

this has been discussed repeatedly in the last 24 hours and we have confirmation from S.Munn that he is not.

[mattyh001]

Full time 2-1 loss much better after the goal

[heartofmelbourne12]

No improvement from the club, just in denial. Can't admit that it's not up to par. Everytime aliosi speaks I just hear him avoiding the problems. I understand it's only preseason but to have that lanky pathetic excuse of a footballer at rb is beyond me, where was every one when walker had his standout game against sydney? Because I for one saw a future for the kid. We treat as a nothing game we'll nothing out of it. Pathetic the way we are playing

[jw1739]

Hate us losing as much as the next person but would rather us rest our best players and lose then win/draw with full strength XI and risk injuries. In saying that 2-0 in first half is shit even with the side we have in.

The problem with this philosophy is that the more games we lose against A-League opposition the less our belief that we can actually win. I make that 8 defeats and 1 draw in our last 9 games against A-League sides. And we've scored, what, 4 goals in those 9 matches?

[marteaux]

What a horrible performance.

[kingofhearts]

Fucking Hoffman fuck that dickhead off. Looked completely lost today, if we wish to win the derby than this cunt cannot be anywhere near the team.

[NuggetsMcGreggor]

willo our shining light again.

 

it's days like this i am honoured to be the #000-001st member of the David WIlliams Support Group.

u jelly?

[Jestr]

They packed up the tent quickly after half time. Smart, as no one was going to line up for membership after this performance.

Glimpses of hope with willo in second half...... Glimpses , nothing else :-(

Positive

I met Mattyh001

Good bloke had a laugh at classic hoff!

[Baresi]

100% sure Kisnorbo gave away the penalty.
No idea how people are saying Hoff, when Patty K gave a solid hip-and-shoulder to the bloke next to him.

Redders' effort for that penalty was laughable though.

Adelaide's second goal was lovely.

[Bannon]

gonna be a long season

[Red or Dead]

They packed up the tent quickly after half time. Smart, as no one was going to line up for membership after this performance.

Glimpses of hope with willo in second half...... Glimpses , nothing else :-(

Positive

I met Mattyh001

Good bloke had a laugh at classic hoff!

No wonder he wasn't tweeting as much as what he said he would!! 

[Red or Dead]

100% sure Kisnorbo gave away the penalty.

No idea how people are saying Hoff, when Patty K gave a solid hip-and-shoulder to the bloke next to him.

Redders' effort for that penalty was laughable though.

Adelaide's second goal was lovely.

Just going by this:

 

Melbourne Heart FC ‏@MelbourneHeart2h

25' PENALTY @adelutd_fc. Looks like Hoffman was the offender, going through the back of Cirio in the box #MHvREDS #HeartBelieve

[belaguttman]

can anyone describe how we played tactically? 

[Baresi]

can anyone describe how we played tactically? 

 

Messily.

Centre backs looked short, but rarely had any options.

Paddy G played square a lot of the time, and Paddy K went over the top, looking for the pace of our wingers a few times.

Retre and Mass both rotated in dropping deep looking for the ball, but neither had a real impact on the game.

Adelaide pressed them really well.

Schrön was used as a standard attacking midfield, pushing hard at the defenders, but trying to track into the midfield also.

Adelaide's press also meant that he didn't really get the opportunity to create attacks from the hole though.

 

GolGol and Willo, who played at centre forward for a half each, both tried to expose the Adelaide defense and use their pace.

Sitting high, hoping for a quick ball between the backs.

 

Aziz and Willo/Ramsay linked up pretty well, with a lot of one-twos and interchangeable passes.

Sat back most of the first half, but pushed pretty high in the second, rotating forwards as usual.

 

Hoff was staying put a lot more than Aziz, but was vertically higher than the centre-backs, in the typical wing-back spot.

Played long passes around to Mate much more than Aziz did to Willo/Ramsay.

Often cut inside, and played left foot passes back out to Mate on the right.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Baresi

[Peter]

Appeared to be more of the same as last season.

We got there 3/4 of the way through the first half (saw Adelaide score their second as we were walking towards the ground).

The second half I think we just had the advantage, looking slightly more dangerous and scoring a goal.

Andrea Migliorini looked good as did Mass. Paulo Retre looked hungry for the 15 mins or so I saw him. Kisnorbo did well in the air.

Over all though, not impressed.

[MaliMate]

Hoffman worst on ground with D-Mac a close second. Behich was best on ground, goal was all thanks to him.

[FB.]

If the club permanently moves to epping they need to widen the roads. It's been 2 hours and I'm still stuck in the carpark ffs.

[Parrot]

As Hoffman was given a new deal, very serious questions need to be asked about Heart's list management imo.

[Murfy1]

Adelaide United condemns Melbourne Heart to winless pre-season

 

David Davutovic Herald Sun September 27, 2013 4:49PM

 

MELBOURNE Heart will go into the Round 1 derby against Melbourne Victory without a pre-season win after losing 2-1 to Adelaide United at Epping Stadium.

 

Classy Argentine Marcelo Carrusca scored both goals for United, with David Williams scoring a second-half consolation. Williams also had a golden chance to equalise but blasted wide with just Eugene Galekovic to beat.

 

Four players came off because of injury concerns, with Heart striker Golgol Mebrahtu and Adelaide’s new Spanish winger Cirio coming off at halftime.

 

But of more concern ahead of Round 1 for both sides are Patrick Gerhardt (ankle) and Michael Zullo (knee).

 

Adelaide started with a full-strength side and dominated the first half against a Heart team which rested Harry Kewell and Michael Mifsud.

 

Carrusca opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 26 minutes after right back Jason Hoffman fouled Cirio.

 

Playing up front Mebrahtu found space minutes later but his shot didn’t cause Galekovic too many issues.

 

Cirio then cleverly cut inside from the left and offloaded to Carrusca, who hit it first time and delightfully curled it into the top corner and out of reach of Andrew Redmayne.

 

Heart coach John Aloisi introduced Italian injury replacement Andrea Migliorini and Iain Ramsay for youth team player Paulo Retre and Mebrahtu at the break and they helped Heart gain control of the contest after Adelaide played some swashbuckling football in the first half.

 

Heart’s 64th minute goal came after mate Dugandzic cut inside from the right and released Aziz Behich, whose deflected shot was tipped away by Galekovic.

 

The Adelaide keeper recovered quickly to swat away Williams’ header from the rebound but the Heart player was on hand to tap in the second rebound with Dugandzic also ready to pounce.

 

Four minutes later Williams - who moved from left wing to striker at the break - was released by youth-contracted attacking midfielder Marcus Schroen before bursting clear of Adelaide’s defence but blasted wide with just Galekovic to beat.

 

The game slowed to a halt with Gerhardt and Zullo limping off late in the game.

 

Heart, which has drawn one and lost three of its pre-season friendlies against A-League opposition, plays a Peninsula Select XI on Sunday at Frankston Oval at 3pm with the likes of Jeremy Walker and David Vrankovic set to play.

 

Adelaide is contemplating offering striker Brent McGrath a short-term contract as an injury replacement for Bruce Djite.

 

McGrath, who also trialled with Heart, played an hour for Adelaide before making way for Osama Malik.

 

 

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/football/adelaide-united-condemns-melbourne-heart-to-winless-pre-season/story-fnhq6mx8-1226728797755

Edited September 27, 2013 by Murfy1

[Torn Asunder]

Caught the last 10 minutes of the 1st half and all of the second...

If the game was won by the number of sideways passes b/w the back 4 and back to the keeper, we would be assured of winning the league title.

Here are some of my observations.

PG, (who defintely picked up some form of injury) and Kisnorbo are quite similar in that neither can play out from the back. Hopefully Wielart or Vrankovic are paired with one of these two, or we will see a lot of long balls and back passes to the keeper this season.

Hoffman tried really hard at right back and seemed to be enjoying himself ... but really offered nothing. The only highlight for me watching him up close was when he was passed the ball, and Kisnorbo told him "Forward, forward!" ... and he turned and passed it straight back under very little pressure. Apparently Walker was being rested ...

Mate and Aziz seem to be under done fitness wise, and Williams seems low on confidence.

The new Italian guy seems the best bet in midfield ... he can actually take the ball under a bit of pressure and still make a quick forward / positive pass.

Ramsay is good.

Murdocca tried hard but had little impact.

Both of the youngsters who played in midfield (Retre and Shroen) need further development and I cant see them getting much of a go this year in the senior team.

The goal we scored came on a break and was lucky and messy.

Adelaide are not all that impressive but against us they were able to dominate midfield / possession, force us back easily, and look dangerous when going forward.

I hope JA can turn things around when the real stuff starts in a few weeks ... if not, then a riot will be in order

Edited September 27, 2013 by Torn Asunder

[Sash]

 

can anyone describe how we played tactically? 

 

Messily.

Centre backs looked short, but rarely had any options.

Paddy G played square a lot of the time, and Paddy K went over the top, looking for the pace of our wingers a few times.

Retre and Mass both rotated in dropping deep looking for the ball, but neither had a real impact on the game.

Adelaide pressed them really well.

Schrön was used as a standard attacking midfield, pushing hard at the defenders, but trying to track into the midfield also.

Adelaide's press also meant that he didn't really get the opportunity to create attacks from the hole though.

 

GolGol and Willo, who played at centre forward for a half each, both tried to expose the Adelaide defense and use their pace.

Sitting high, hoping for a quick ball between the backs.

 

Aziz and Willo/Ramsay linked up pretty well, with a lot of one-twos and interchangeable passes.

Sat back most of the first half, but pushed pretty high in the second, rotating forwards as usual.

 

Hoff was staying put a lot more than Aziz, but was vertically higher than the centre-backs, in the typical wing-back spot.

Played long passes around to Mate much more than Aziz did to Willo/Ramsay.

Often cut inside, and played left foot passes back out to Mate on the right.

 

Thanks.

 

When we had Behich and Marrone as our preferred full backs, Behich always had licence to go forward while Marrone tended to sit back. Dugandzic  a couple of years ago would work hard back and forward on the right. Walker's strength as a right back is when he goes forward, like Behich on the left. I wonder if Hoffman is being groomed at right back to sit in that spot, in preference to having two all out attacking full backs in Behich and Walker? In any case, at this stage I'd rather we recruited for that position instead of trying to turn Hoffman into one. Was he at least disciplined in his positioning and effective when defending?

 

Retre and Shroen made for a very inexperienced midfield in the first half, so it's not much of a surprise that we were outplayed. I'm wondering how Migliorini was used when he came on, and did he have much impact in improving the overall performance?

 

I thought we might've used this opportunity to try Gerhardt as a DM with Vrankovic partnering Kisnorbo - afterall, that was apparently the reason we took Kisnorbo after Engelaar went down instead of another midfielder. But it sounds like Migliorini might be earmarked for that position now.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Sash

[mattyh001]

 

They packed up the tent quickly after half time. Smart, as no one was going to line up for membership after this performance.

Glimpses of hope with willo in second half...... Glimpses , nothing else :-(

Positive

I met Mattyh001

Good bloke had a laugh at classic hoff!

No wonder he wasn't tweeting as much as what he said he would!! 

 

 

hahaha not much to tweet about to be frank the game was pretty ordinary, neither side made heaps of opportunities

 

plus i do go by a different user name for twitter  

[HEARTinator]

"Four minutes later Williams - who moved from left wing to striker at the break - was released by youth-contracted attacking midfielder Marcus Schroen before bursting clear of Adelaide’s defence but blasted wide with just Galekovic to beat."

As much as I'd like to see him do really well, that unfortunately sums up Willo for me. Aziz also has a tendency to lack composure at critical moments.

[belaguttman]

It seems that our problems are still in midfield. We never seem to be able to play through a press and perform better against reactive teams. Long standing problems have been us playing too open between the back 4 and midfield, and our poor movement off the ball, any comments on whether we have improved in these areas?

[DieHardRed]

It was average at Best .
Paddy & Pat linked OK , and looks as though Pat was limping when he came off. 

Mate looks out of sorts - Willo was ... Willo 

[benzema23]

Williams = Gervinho of the A-League

[Murfy1]

Only got to the game moments after Adelaide's second goal.

 

Agree with pretty much everything said by Baresi and Torn Asunder.

 

We could barely get the ball out of our own half. Most of our passes seemed to be Kisnorbo and Gerhardt passing to each other.

 

Didn't think Hoffman offered much defensively or offensively.

 

Behich seems to be a bit jaded and bitter since he got back to Melbourne. He was one of our better players today, but I can't help but wonder if his attitude is holding him back

 

We had a pseudo-midfield with Retre, Schroen and Murdocca. Murdocca worked hard, but he seemed overwhelmed trying to do most of the work in midfield, and was not very effective. There is zero chance that Retre and Schroen will get senior contracts anytime soon, so they shouldn't have played today and should have been dropped from the senior squad a while ago. Apart from Schroen's fine through pass in the second half to Williams, which set up the glorious chance that he butchered, Retre and Schroen were anonymous IMO.

 

 

We looked much better in the second half all around, after Migliorini came on for Retre and Ramsay came on for Golgol. Although I think we might have been better if Williams went off instead of Golgol, so we could see how Golgol went when we actually had some possession in Adelaide's half (as we seemed to have none in the first half).

 

Migliorini was one of our best players on the ball, and I can only remember him giving away the ball once, and after he did he pressured the ball until we won it back.

 

As Torn Asunder said, the goal was lucky. A deflected shot that fell kindly. Nonetheless, there was some good application from the players to create the chance, and persist until we scored.

The team lifted a lot after the goal, and looked much better for a while after we scored. That doesn't suggest a very good mentality IMO, and it was too reminiscent of last season, where we struggled to get back into games after falling behind.

 

 

The main takeaway points for me after this game are:

- Our key weakness is that we lack players who can help us move the ball from defence to midfield (or we don't play enough players capable of doing so at once)

- Ideally, Kisnorbo and Gerhardt shouldn't play together. They are both quality strong defenders, but don't offer much in possession, so we quickly cough up the ball and have to defend a lot

- Midfield. Banish Retre and Schroen. Kewell, Massimo and Migliorini currently would make our best midfield IMO, and if any one of them was injured our midfield would become much less effective in possession

- We need to get our forwards sorted out. Ramsay should start on the left, and Dugandzic should probably start on the right, with Golgol being our central striker. I wish we saw these 3 today, and I'm not keen on seeing Williams play as our central striker

 

Not a whole lot that's new, but there should be clarity and consensus around Heart's main issues now.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Murfy1

[Jestr]

Hoffman worst on ground with D-Mac a close second. Behich was best on ground, goal was all thanks to him.

But D-mac wasn't playing today

[HEARTinator]

Looks like Migliorini could be our signing of the season.

[Gate7]

Sack aloisi or else we're gonna finish well outside the six lads. You'll see