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Australia @ 2015 Asian Cup


Tesla
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We sat near the active area and they only had about 3 chants, ole ole Aussie, super Tim, and clap clap Aussie. Heard more chants passing the pubs in Swan St. There were moments where there was no singing or chanting at all. But we enjoyed the game and the Socceroos deserved better from the crowd.

As I read somewhere, more of a "special event crowd" than a true football one. We're 3-1 up, pressing for a 4th goal and they're trying to start Mexican waves and throwing paper planes :-)

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Behich looked good tonight

Really? He had a horrible first touch, his passing was mostly to the CBs and I can't recall any good crosses of his.

He also got caught out defensively a few times.

You've missed a lot of good work that he did on the attacking front. A very good attacking performance, you can't fault it at all. I'm not sure what was going on with Kruse & Leckie, if they were switching or what, but seemed like Leckie was on that left wing more (or just more noticeable because he is better than kruse). And you had Troisi getting wide often as well. So there wasn't really a lot of opportunity or need for Behich to be pushing all the way up. But he was fantastic supporting them. Seemed that's where a lot of his passes were going (up to Leckie and Troisi), rather than to the CBs, so not sure what you're talking about there. I think Ange would be delighted with that performance, so selfless every time, playing the team role, supporting the guys in front of him every attack, but also dropping back when he clearly wasn't needed. 10/10 attacking display. Not one that will get much of a run on the highlights reel, but if you watch the game closely, a very important performance. And when he did get a chance to move further forward, he made some nice runs. And how could you miss the couple of good crosses he put on? I would have thought that would be the first thing any one here would be watching from Behich, where were these crosses in the Melbourne Heart days? The one to Burns was so close to being a fantastic goal.

Defensively, not as good as his attacking performance, but that's Behich. He is a modern fullback, he is an attacking fullback. But I don't at all think his defensive performance was poor. he did the job, did quite well a few times in particular, but also a few times you could question his defensive play. Overall not a bad defensive performance. And you'd take that when he offers so much in an attacking sense.

Franjic was far worse defensively, though more of Franjic's attacking play will make the highlight reel (not necessarily a better attacking display, I just think he had more opportunity to push all the way forward as it seemed Kruse was ahead of him most the time and Kruse is okay, while Leckie was in front of Behich most the time, and Leckie is very good and was basically running shit on the left for large periods of time).

Leckie might also be why you think Troisi didn't have a good game. Also didn't get much chance to shine but was involved in a fair bit of support play. But I didn't watch Troisi that closely.

Seriously how is Kruse playing for Leverkusen while Leckie plays in the second division. Leckie is clearly the better player.

Hopefully Leckie and Luongo can get moves to bigger clubs out of this tournament, both really need to be playing at a higher level than they are.

Edited by Tesla
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Hard to believe luongo plays for Swindon town, should be in a team that is higher than League One

Did wonder last night how Mooy would have gone in that side last night instead of say Luongo. I'd bet he would have done pretty well but Luongo certainly distinguished himself with his work on and off the ball. Deserved MoTM. Ryan in goal was excellent and Behich made big contributions. Wasn't impressed by Franjic and Sainsbury makes me nervous.

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Might cop shit for this,TBH I'd be tempted to rest Cahill against Oman. While yes he's one of best outlets to goal as he's a terrific poacher. Juric and Burns appeared to offer more going forward in build up play.

 

Also needs to be some development of an Aussie terrace. The continuous chants of Ole Aussie were starting to get annoying but at least it's simple enough that most could join in. Was anyone able to make out the message of the tifo? Just seemed like a sea of red and yellow to me :huh:

Edited by Hammerhead
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Looking from the Southern End the Northern End tifo appeared to spell "2015." Although some people can't follow the simplest of instructions...

 

Enjoyed the game. Usually get so frustrated with the NT but last night I thought they did the job nicely, so one of the better ones for me. Agree with Tesla above - I though Behich was really good. Overall a bit more creativity from our forwards in the final third and we're not a bad side by any means.

 

Also thought that the crowd got into it fairly well. Keeping the chants simple might not please all the "active" types, but it helps everyone join in and that's how it was last night.

 

All in all a good night.

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Thought we looked quite good in patches. Not sure the Jedinak, Luongo, Troisi combo will be viable against better opposition. In order to have a #10 he needs to take the game by the throat to make up for his defensive inadequacies, Troisi was innefective for 90% of the game, but made an inferior opponent pay late on.

 

Would rather see Bresciano or Oar in the #10 role as both have a better passing range and would allow Leckie and Kruse to be less accountable defensively. Mooy would've been perfect in this role against South Korea as his workrate and tackling will definitely be needed.

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Hard to believe luongo plays for Swindon town, should be in a team that is higher than League One

Was at Spurs up until a year or two ago. Spent most of his time on loan at Ipswich and then Swindon.

 

Would never have made it at Spurs considering our need to buy every single 'OK-but-not-great midfielder' in existence. Way too much competition.

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Luongo was mostly responsible for the corner that led to their first goal

I guess he was responsible for Jedinak and Behich being dragged out away from goal. And also responsible for Spiranovic losing his man as well. You know, the guy that actually scored the goal.

 

But I suppose if you were to listen to Andy Harper early on in the game, Luongo was also responsible for the Socceroos losing to Iran back in '97!

Edited by Pete Heartspur
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We sat near the active area and they only had about 3 chants, ole ole Aussie, super Tim, and clap clap Aussie. Heard more chants passing the pubs in Swan St. There were moments where there was no singing or chanting at all. But we enjoyed the game and the Socceroos deserved better from the crowd.

As I read somewhere, more of a "special event crowd" than a true football one. We're 3-1 up, pressing for a 4th goal and they're trying to start Mexican waves and throwing paper planes :-)

I was next to the active area too and I thought the atmosphere was good, especially in the second half from the active area. Only a couple chants but the ole ole Aussie sounded loud and good on tv when l watching the reply.

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After watching the replay it seems Andy Harper believes Kuwait have about 5 fantastic players and a couple of sensational players...

 

 

I really hope he uses those words loosely coz to me they looked like a bunch of skinny clueless mugs wearing 1982 chelsea training kits.

Edited by HeartFc
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Luongo was mostly responsible for the corner that led to their first goal

I guess he was responsible for Jedinak and Behich being dragged out away from goal. And also responsible for Spiranovic losing his man as well. You know, the guy that actually scored the goal.

 

But I suppose if you were to listen to Andy Harper early on in the game, Luongo was also responsible for the Socceroos losing to Iran back in '97!

Yes his extremely poor defending and marking did lead to the corner that gave the goal. Show us how smart you are now by pointing out where I ever said he didn't have an amazing game otherwise or any of the other bullshit you wrote?

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I was simply pointing out, albeit sarcastically, that Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal. Yes it was his fault for giving away the corner, but that was the play before the goal. How likely is it that a corner will result in a goal? Most of the time they are defended successfully, am I right?

Behich had the job of staying on the near post and he didn't. Had he stayed there he would have had a decent chance of blocking the shot. There's a good reason cahill's immediate response was to him as if to say 'Where the fuck did you go?'.

And Spiranovic totally lost his man who had a free shot at goal. From memory, before the cross came in they were out towards the edge of the box. For his man to have such a clear, high percentage shot on goal there was only one direction he was going to go. Towards goal. Spiranovic's main objective should have been, at the very least, to stay between his man and the goal. He didn't. He failed miserably.

And that is why Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal.

As for the remark about him also being responsible against Iran in '97. That was a dig at Andy Harper, not you.

Edited by Pete Heartspur
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Behich was on the post, but Jedinak failed to mark his man so Behich ran to him, and then the bloke Spiranovic was meant to be marking scored.

Jedinak and Spiranovic are too blame. Behich might be liable for some blame for leaving the post, which in hindsight he shouldn't have, but really that was Jedinak's fuck up for losing his man and putting Behich in the situation.

Luongo is not to blame any more than he should be for giving away any other corner. They are separate plays. A corner always carries a risk, and shouldn't be given away cheaply, for that Luongo deserves some blame. But it then doesn't have anything to do with him whether it's a goal or not.

So I pretty much agree with Pete, but I don't see how Behich takes more blame than Jedinak.

Edited by Tesla
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Watched the Korea v Oman game and feeling confident we should come through this group easily now. Oman offered almost nothing and Korea looked shaky at the back whenever they had a physical battle. Cahill will score a hat trick of headers if Korea defend in the manner they did today.

Definitely got some talent in the forward areas and are more technical but I see our midfield and forwards monstering theirs. Will definitely be goals in that game.

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I was simply pointing out, albeit sarcastically, that Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal. Yes it was his fault for giving away the corner, but that was the play before the goal. How likely is it that a corner will result in a goal? Most of the time they are defended successfully, am I right?

Behich had the job of staying on the near post and he didn't. Had he stayed there he would have had a decent chance of blocking the shot. There's a good reason cahill's immediate response was to him as if to say 'Where the fuck did you go?'.

And Spiranovic totally lost his man who had a free shot at goal. From memory, before the cross came in they were out towards the edge of the box. For his man to have such a clear, high percentage shot on goal there was only one direction he was going to go. Towards goal. Spiranovic's main objective should have been, at the very least, to stay between his man and the goal. He didn't. He failed miserably.

And that is why Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal.

As for the remark about him also being responsible against Iran in '97. That was a dig at Andy Harper, not you.

That's why said he was mostly responsible for the corner, not the goal itself. Defensively he wasn't great but going forward FWI I thought he played great.

Tesla I disagree with you somewhat because the replay shows Jedinak clearly marking their player that was running towards the cross. What Behich did was simply misjudge the cross and thought he could get to the ball first before their player, and as a result left the area in front of the post exposed. The real question is though who was at the top of the penalty box that let Fadhel have a free run onto the end of the cross?

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I was simply pointing out, albeit sarcastically, that Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal. Yes it was his fault for giving away the corner, but that was the play before the goal. How likely is it that a corner will result in a goal? Most of the time they are defended successfully, am I right?

Behich had the job of staying on the near post and he didn't. Had he stayed there he would have had a decent chance of blocking the shot. There's a good reason cahill's immediate response was to him as if to say 'Where the fuck did you go?'.

And Spiranovic totally lost his man who had a free shot at goal. From memory, before the cross came in they were out towards the edge of the box. For his man to have such a clear, high percentage shot on goal there was only one direction he was going to go. Towards goal. Spiranovic's main objective should have been, at the very least, to stay between his man and the goal. He didn't. He failed miserably.

And that is why Luongo wasn't 'mostly' responsible for the goal.

As for the remark about him also being responsible against Iran in '97. That was a dig at Andy Harper, not you.

That's why said he was mostly responsible for the corner, not the goal itself. Defensively he wasn't great but going forward FWI I thought he played great.

Tesla I disagree with you somewhat because the replay shows Jedinak clearly marking their player that was running towards the cross. What Behich did was simply misjudge the cross and thought he could get to the ball first before their player, and as a result left the area in front of the post exposed. The real question is though who was at the top of the penalty box that let Fadhel have a free run onto the end of the cross?

That's what I mean, the first Kuwaiti player was Jedinak's man, and Jedinak ended up behind him, quite a fair bit behind him as well. And you're right about Behich, he tried to get in front of him because Jedinak was so far behind the Kuwaiti player. He did misjudge it, but Jedinak put him in a difficult position by letting his man get so far ahead. Interestingly, watching the replay, I think Cahill could have done more as well. Also, earlier I mentioned Spiranovic, because that's who Pete said was marking the goal scorer, but I'm not convinced, it looks like it was someone just outside the box and they were watching the ref rather than the corner. The goal scorer made a long run from outside the box to score that goal. Basically seems like half the team is to blame for that one.

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Haha, well fuck me dead! I misread your original post and am therefore responsible for being a big dickhead. Niko, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Tesla, I originally blamed Jedinak as well as Behich and Spiranovic, but thought the latter two examples were more conspicuous. But yeah, Behich made an error acting on instinct rather than just failing to carry out his duty.

Edited by Pete Heartspur
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Not enough talk about Mat Ryan, I expected big things from him at the WC, and I think it was too much too soon for him. But now with a bit of international experience, we are seeing his true ability. An exceptional keeper. Will no doubt be moving to a big club in the next 6 months.

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Not enough talk about Mat Ryan, I expected big things from him at the WC, and I think it was too much too soon for him. But now with a bit of international experience, we are seeing his true ability. An exceptional keeper. Will no doubt be moving to a big club in the next 6 months.

Didn't he get 'Goalkeeper of the Year' in Belgium?

That save he made which pushed the ball into the crossbar was ridiculous.

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Not enough talk about Mat Ryan, I expected big things from him at the WC, and I think it was too much too soon for him. But now with a bit of international experience, we are seeing his true ability. An exceptional keeper. Will no doubt be moving to a big club in the next 6 months.

Didn't he get 'Goalkeeper of the Year' in Belgium?

That save he made which pushed the ball into the crossbar was ridiculous.

Yes, hence why so much was expected of him at the WC.

The big thing is that he is still in great form for his club. After a great season at his club last time around, and then not getting a move to a bigger club, and having an average WC, he could easily have let his performances drop this season. But it looks like he is on track for another Goalkeeper of the Year award.

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Not enough talk about Mat Ryan, I expected big things from him at the WC, and I think it was too much too soon for him. But now with a bit of international experience, we are seeing his true ability. An exceptional keeper. Will no doubt be moving to a big club in the next 6 months.

Didn't he get 'Goalkeeper of the Year' in Belgium?

That save he made which pushed the ball into the crossbar was ridiculous.

 

Yes, hence why so much was expected of him at the WC.

The big thing is that he is still in great form for his club. After a great season at his club last time around, and then not getting a move to a bigger club, and having an average WC, he could easily have let his performances drop this season. But it looks like he is on track for another Goalkeeper of the Year award.

 

I think another big thing is that he is still improving his game and has seemingly learned from his mistakes at the World Cup.

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Haha, well fuck me dead! I misread your original post and am therefore responsible for being a big dickhead. Niko, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Tesla, I originally blamed Jedinak as well as Behich and Spiranovic, but thought the latter two examples were more conspicuous. But yeah, Behich made an error acting on instinct rather than just failing to carry out his duty.

Love the sarcasm and lack of sincerity but none the less appreciate it :up: :up: To be fair I probably should have elaborated on my post on Luongos performance for the rest of the game but meh.

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First time I've been able to post since attending the game so here are my observations:

 

- 4-1 scoreline was magnificent and could easily have been more
- Cahill is our greatest Socceroo of all time
- Luongo had a terrible opening to the game but ended up the best after his goal
- Both keepers were outstanding and made world class saves
- Spiranovic + Sainsbury combo works and was quite strong
- Behich and Franjic good in an attacking sense but defensively vulnerable
- Jedinak starting to really show his EPL form
- Kruse, Troisi and Leckie good
- The atmosphere was actually better than I thought it'd be despite singing the same chants over and over and retards throwing planes and trying to start Mexican Waves

- There were significantly less cops at the ground for an international than there are at a Melbourne derby
- Tony getting booed pre-game was funny

 

 

edit: forgot to mention, I was SURROUNDED by Victory flogs everywhere and they all sang their stupid goal chant to the point where by the 4th goal, it could be heard around the whole stadium... wanted to cry  :droy:

Edited by Nate
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