Round 14 - Victory v CCM @ Geelong

[greenlig]

We have four really good players: Wout, Tom, Baro, DDS. A bunch of solid professionals: Rose, Golec, Powell, Kennedy, Appiah-ish. Then it's all potential - both realised and not. We looked very good tonight in patches, but when Victory were on fire, boy did they look more threatening. If we get two players - a winger with no fear + loads of ability, and an asshole forward who wants goals - we've got enough of a team to really kick on.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Was a pretty good match and how we didn't concede more than one I will never know. Low point in the away bay was a guy in a Geelong Cats shirt telling the whole bay, to stop swearing to protect the children. Apparently Victory active support never swear, despite telling us we were shit for most of the match. He then proceeded to complain to security and then the police to try and get the leaders of our active support kicked out. Lachie Wales' assist was terrific as was Powell's finish, Powell starting next week please Paolo. Our defending was atrocious for most of the match if we don't fix that by next week we are going to be destroyed.

 

[nebakke]

Do you think? On the face of it I think asdrubal has probably been our most underwhelming new signing, although it's tight between him and Golec

Wait what? I don't necessarily disagree on Asdrubal, but after the first couple of weeks Golec has been a goddamn revelation for mine. A number of the tight looking calls tonight, were kept out of goal courtesy of him doing his job, not just blind luck. And his intercepts have been excellent.
Ironically, considering where we started the season, I'm actually fairly happy with out defence now. Half the shit we run into is courtesy of a wasteful front third handing over the ball at really inopportune times.
As for Lachie Wales, from what I've seen tonight whoever on here said "young Mat Simon, with better speed and vision" seems to be on the money. Doesn't look like a technical player but seems to have really good vision and work rate. Im intrigued

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Kennedy good as usual.
Central defenders went well apart from one major stuff up. As I said earlier, worth keeping.
Roux, as Wombat keeps reminding us is not a defender, maybe he could play on the wing. Too much ball watching.
McGing made good runs and continues to improve.
Wout MOM. He was everywhere and showed remarkable foresight to close down Victory attacks. A beast.
Tommy, better than last week where it seemed he was still recovering, a great talent as usual.
Appiah, runs through players and ends up keeping the ball and then not much. Definitely an option coming off the bench but not a starter.
Paine, looks like he is a year older and a yard slower. Not nearly as threatening as last year. Not a worker.
Hoole, ineffective. I would see if he can play as a striker, if not move him on.
Asdrubal. I really do not know if he is a striker or not. Definitely not a poacher. Does not seem able to get in front of a defender to win a cross. Maybe he needs a #10 to play through balls for him to run onto. Maybe he suffers from no service when he gets unthreatening positions. I honestly do not know.
Subs:
Wales great run and good cool pass for Powell, showed enthusiasm.
Powell. Looks like a striker. Probably the only one in the club who does.
Overall - the usual problems up front. No speed in attack , with all our attackers dwelling on the ball while they try and make a decision. No one touch, no one twos, no triangles, no threat.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

My player ratings:

Ben Kennedy 7:
No fault of his for the goal and made a couple of terrific saves. His distribution was a bit aimless and he had a few miss kicks but overall had a good game

Jake McGing 6:
Close to our best defender defensively but his crossing and passes were lacking today.

Alan Baro 6.5:
Positioned himself well when Victory attacked but was done a few times by Troisi/George. Was calm on the ball when under pressure but needed more support from Brama/Hiariej at times.

Antony Golec 5:
Caught out of position quite a few times and gave the ball away cheaply when going forward
and then failed to win the ball back or work hard to get back. Great scramble to block Berisha's shot.

Storm Roux 6:
In the first half was often our only real marauding player, overlapped very well
and put in some good crosses. Horrific defensive positioning and was constantly not goal side of his man. Looked out of place at left back when defending.

Josh Rose N/A:
Came on late and couldn't see his position as he was as far away from the away bay as possible.

Tom Hiariej 7:
Played some wonder balls but wasn't quite back to his electric early season best. Had a few poor touches and too easily hustled off the ball at times. Allowed to much space to Victory players at the edge of the box.

Wout Brama 7.5:
Broke up quite a few Victory attacks and kept the ball well. Often lacked options when he looked up but worked hard all match. Needed to be tighter to Victory attackers on the edge of the box.

Andrew Hoole 6:
Routinely hacked down but worked hard. Didn't link well with our front three in the first half but improved as time went on. Lacks awareness of when to take on players and when to pass.

Appiah 4:
Gave up the ball far too often and was clearly affected by the heat.

Lachie Wales 8:
Fought for every ball and his assist was all class. Hardly put foot wrong and grabbed his chance with both hands.

Asdrubal 5:
Was given a perfect cross by Pain only to take a very heavy touch and lose the opportunity. Was poorly positioned throughout the game and was unable to compete in the air. Gave the ball far too easily and apart from a decent shot at the edge of the box was invisible.

Blake Powell 7:
Great finish that numerous Victory players couldn't manage. Needed to press more in the last few minutes and let Victory defenders have too much space when passing forward.

Connor Pain 6.5:
Supplied some good crosses into the box and was unlucky not to have at least one assist. Often wasted one on ones with Geria and should have done better with a golden opportunity in the box.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Happy with the point under the circumstances but Okon needs to realise his possession game isn’t working in its current form. We are too slow and lack ideas in attack. Most of our goals come from counter attacks or balls over the top. Needs a rethink.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

Wait what? I don't necessarily disagree on Asdrubal, but after the first couple of weeks Golec has been a goddamn revelation for mine. A number of the tight looking calls tonight, were kept out of goal courtesy of him doing his job, not just blind luck. And his intercepts have been excellent.
Ironically, considering where we started the season, I'm actually fairly happy with out defence now. Half the shit we run into is courtesy of a wasteful front third handing over the ball at really inopportune times.
As for Lachie Wales, from what I've seen tonight whoever on here said "young Mat Simon, with better speed and vision" seems to be on the money. Doesn't look like a technical player but seems to have really good vision and work rate. Im intrigued

Perhaps I've been focusing on Golec's negatives, but we've let too many goals that he has been heavily at fault in - and that's doing stupid stuff like standing still, being flat footed, losing track of attackers, real basic stuff.

I know it's tough for defenders because nobody notices what you do well but remembers that one mistake.

 

[scottmac]

Too many goals? Maybe habe a look at the goals against stat and then look at how many we've conceded since round 2. We're probably the second or third best defensive side since then.

 

[Ozhammer]

Well happy with that result tonight, especially given the conditions and which gives the boys something to build from for the Jest game. Had we copped with a flogging, it would likely have been hard for the boys to lift for Tuesday but this performance should hopefully give them some confidence.

Our fans gave a good account of themselves in the away bay, which hopefully helped the boys during the game.

Stoked for Lachie Wales to get a chance and make an impact and Powell again showed tonight why he should be starting games. Okon needs to bench Hoole and play Asdrubal at #10 and Powell at #9.

 

[greenlig]

Stoked for Lachie Wales to get a chance and make an impact and Powell again showed tonight why he should be starting games. Okon needs to bench Hoole and play Asdrubal at #10 and Powell at #9.

Sounds like a fun idea, would be cool to see.

 

[Wombat]

Leroy George and Barbarouses totally outclassed Pain and Appiah.

My sons 3 legged staghound would outclass Appiah. Workrate and drooling about the same but the dog is a better passer, off either leg

 

[Wombat]

Ben Kennedy 8.
Good as usual.

Jake McGing 5.5
How not to defend on their goal. Get a f**king block in son!

Alan Baro 7
Good Game.

Antony Golec 6.
Superb block on the Gypo but also ball watched like McGing on the Goal. Mixed bag.

Storm Roux 4.
Horrific defensive positioning and was constantly not goal side of his man. Looked out of place at left back when defending.

Josh Rose N/A:
Came on late and couldn't see his position as he was as far away from the away bay as possible.

Tom Hiariej 7:
Looked our best player for me.

Wout Brama 6.5
Did alot of good stuff but sloppy at times.

Andrew Hoole 6:
Has a shocking Bogan haircut that is all the rage in Mayfield but just not nailing it but I can see a great player if he calms down.

Appiah 4:
Gave up the ball far too often and was clearly affected by the heat and lack of basic skillset.

Lachie Wales 8:
Fought for every ball and his assist was all class. Hardly put foot wrong and grabbed his chance with both hands.

Asdrubal 5
His worst game this year but has been mucked around by Paul so is allowed one bad game.

Blake Powell 7:
Great finish.

Connor Pain 5.
Cartman annoyed me tonight. Poor options all night.

 

[Wombat]

Credit to the Mariners support....great effort.

 

[shipwreck]

Lol so what's Powell's goals to minutes ratio compared to Asdrubals??

 

[Ozhammer]

Lol so what's Powell's goals to minutes ratio compared to Asdrubals??

It would have to be much higher I would imagine, given the limited pitch time Powell has been afforded so far.

 

[Big Al]

Powell was ineffective as a starter. Asdrubal has been as well. The goal was more about Wales breaking free and Powells fresh legs. His offside start helped as well. Maybe we should just start the CF 10m offside put the through ball in to the winger so the CF is ready and in front of the defence. Good plan worked well yesterday

Asdrubal had a good shot and on an Appiah dribble up the goal line was ready for the tap in but Appiah blasted it past him. Appiah just lacks that composure to do something at a slower pace with accuracy.

I’d leave Asdrubal and Powell where they are but with the short turn around then yeah swap them this week

 

[Big Al]

Was laughing at Roux being exposed continually. I was like do i tag wombat mid game and say there’s our man.

McGing has dropped back as well. Not doing anything on offense but not stuffing up either.

Golec I think they said leads the league in interceptions but the last couple of weeks his passing has been off and almost had massive stuff ups two weeks in a row almost giving the possession to their striker with no one in front of him. Almost tripped over himself yesterday.

Baro was good apart from not stopping Berisha

 

[Big Al]

I almost smashed something with the amount of times our attackers first touch was backwards towards our own goal. That one touch is all the defence needs to get back into position.

Hoole is turning back into the Newcastle boy everyone laughed at

 

[BrisRecky]

WELL, thats one point more we got and thats more than i thought we were gonna during the nine days of hell
fark moi, kwabi, astroboy, pain and roux all need a rocket fired in their general direction.....as opposed to Powelly, Lachie , Kennedy and Golec who earned high praise..The dutch duo were slightly quiet but did their bit , Hooley was almost on the shit list ,he really has to stop taking the corners, his dreadful....Im starting to think Astroboy is Pikey Mikeys own pet footballer, why else would you start the useless twat over Powelly, whose goal ratio is far superior....Charlesworth must of wanted his own personal spanish footballer and when he saw one of the fellas up for grabs, he signed him up, skilled or not....anyway, .if Okon has to play him at least play him with Powelly standing next to him....upwards and onwards then

PS To all CCM contracted professionals STOP MAKING THE FIRST TOUCH A BACKWARDS PASS YOU NITIWITS

 

[scottmac]

Sounds like a fun idea, would be cool to see.

The 2 of them could just rotate around as they both have the passing range. Would make it harder for the defenders to track