Played well and MV really posed little threat.
Mo the 16 yo beast, what a freak he is.
Thought smith, Kitto, Lopez played well and Juric did a lot of grunt work.
Safe smoke was unexpected and looked pretty good.
Beath was terrible but because he has no feel for the games and seems to have a 10-15 minute period each game where he just loses his mind and does the opposite of what he has done For the other 75, he was the reason the skirmish broke out. Game changed for the worse because of the ref, even the commentators made a comment about the fluoro being more prominent than it should around that time.
Anyway, hopefully consistency over the next few games.
I would like to see D'Arrigo a little deeper though. During the game he often showed that bit of mongrel he has in him which is what is needed for protecting the back four and giving the opposing midfield pause.
Went to the match despite the punishing heat and I am so glad that I did. The atmosphere was fantastic - proving once again that Hindmarsh is the best football stadium in the country, bar none. Even Robbie Slater, who hates us and would kneel before the Sadney players every match if he thought it would help them, said how much he loves coming here for the AUFC/filth matches.
Anyway, some thoughts ...
1. Mohammad Toure. Star in the making - and we have 2 of them. (Al-Hasan must still be injured?) He tore holes in the filth defence at will. He has what no coach can instil and which every coach craves - a kid who can run like Usain Bolt and who also runs fearlessly at defenders, instead of knocking the ball around sideways or backwards for safety. I reckon if we can keep him and his brother until they are 20 - 21 before they are sucked into the European leagues, we'll have done well. Future Socceroos, both of them.
2. Beath. Just don't understand how someone who can be so astute can make such blatantly wrong calls. Dylan Ryan wrestles Toure to the deck, in front of Beath and the latter waves play on? Juric was pulled back, had his feet stepped on and given old fashioned hip and shoulders all night and hardly any of them are called, yet one of our players places a hand on a filth shirt, the filth player dives and Beath immediately blows up. Shotton trod on Juric's foot so hard in the filth box at one point that Tomi's shoe was wrenched off; he held up his shoe to show Beath and he still waved it off. The bias was so obvious that it would have been laughable if it wasn't so damaging - both to us and the league generally. We can whinge all we like, but the FFA will, of course, do nothing.
3. Javi Lopez. Came on for Strain in the second half and what a signing he is. You can tell the quality instantly; he was crisp, in control and never looked like being bested. I wonder if CV will push Strain forward to a traditional RW now and leave Javi at RB? There was talk at the match of Javi being a DM but the RB position is his if he wants it.
4. Ryan Kitto did well, considering how long he has had out. Not sure why there is such a question mark over him on this forum; he throws himself into everything and while he is not the most technically gifted player, he goes on gutbusting runs and leaves nothing in the tank.
5. The rest of the league must be in awe of the production line of incredibly talented African kids we have coming through. This season and the next 2 - 3 are looking very promising for us - if we can hang on to them.
6. The filth fans were noisy in the first half but went very quiet in the second half, especially after the Toure goal. It must be disheartening for them to know that they have 3x more population than us and yet we field a far better team than them and have a much better coach. Must have been a long trip home to PlagueLand.
7. Loved the banner at the start of the game - well done to whoever in the Red Army sorted that.
8. Jako was giving some onfield coaching to Delianov at various points about his positioning and when he should be coming out or staying back. Great to see - and Delianov listened too, which is encouraging in someone who is 19.
9. Overall, a wonderful match and we could easily have been 3 or 4 up by halftime. The filth have not won in Adelaide now for 4 years ... let's hope that that continues!
10. Final point about the filth - Brebner is my tip for the first A-League coach to be sacked.
So so very happy with thay response to the perth game. The youngsters will have bad patches.
Toure was immense, please sign him for as long as possible and when a big club comes knocking we must cash in. To think he is just one of 3 brothers and all look like real talent! Our (socceroos) future is looking so promising!
How long has it been sinve the tards have had a goood time at hindmarsh? We have started to make it a nightmare place for them.
Who doesnt love the A league!
So 4-4-2 is not dead after all
And as someone who always ends up reverting to it with my FM teams I couldn't be happier
Seriously though, it's going to be really interesting to see how United line up for games from now on. Carl obviously isn't averse to shaking things up after a poor result, not just the names on the team sheet, but the formation as well. Great signs from our club legend coach in terms of flexibility and adaptability
So 4-4-2 is not dead after all
And as someone who always ends up reverting to it with my FM teams I couldn't be happier
Seriously though, it's going to be really interesting to see how United line up for games from now on. Carl obviously isn't averse to shaking things up after a poor result, not just the names on the team sheet, but the formation as well. Great signs from our club legend coach in terms of flexibility and adaptability
I agree.
I think a counter-attacking 4-4-2 formation really suits us. It allows us to play without a 10 which we obviously don't have, we get to utilise the extreme pace we have out wide and allows us to to give all of our strikers some game time as well.
Just saw this tweet from a very unhappy filth fan ....
"Match in Gosford just over 12 mths ago, has been the catalyst for MVFC's total demise. Robbie Kruse was back. MV going for 3 consecutive wins. Leading 1-2 vs bottom club [CCM] with stoppage time to play. Instead, lose 3-2. Coach is sacked.
A League results since then: LLLDLDWLLLLWLLL"
I make that 8 points out of a possible FORTY FIVE for the filth in the past year.
What is that German word ....? Oh that's right .... schadenfreude ....!
Just saw this tweet from a very unhappy filth fan ....
"Match in Gosford just over 12 mths ago, has been the catalyst for MVFC's total demise. Robbie Kruse was back. MV going for 3 consecutive wins. Leading 1-2 vs bottom club [CCM] with stoppage time to play. Instead, lose 3-2. Coach is sacked.
A League results since then: LLLDLDWLLLLWLLL"
I make that 8 points out of a possible FORTY FIVE for the filth in the past year.
What is that German word ....? Oh that's right .... schadenfreude ....!
Odd sentiment as I thought Kruse coming on brought MV back into the game. Still, their run of poor results at Coopers has been a delight.
