Sunday, September 28, 2008

A great weekend. Wellington 2 v Sydney 1, and Victory 0 v Roar 2

Why can't the Roar play like this at home?

And, the A-League evens up again.

If the Roar had strikers who can score they should have got 7. At the other end Reddy only made one save. The Roar were almost completely dominant except for the final kick.I counted at least 5 serious fouls that were play on and they were all in the first half when no cards were given. In the second half there were 5 yellows plus a red.

Firstly, Reinaldo should have won a last man foul just outside the box in the opening minutes and it should have been good night Vargas. Interestingly, Fox don't highlight the ref errors anymore, I guess they are trying to protect the game. Niel recons their was a blatant Roar hand ball in the penalty box (I didn't see this one). I did see the Tiatto - Vargas incident - you really can't obstruct Mr Vargas. I also saw the quick right from Muscat on Van Dijk in the box - but play on.

Van Dijk is getting more of the idea. He is lifting his physical game (maybe he got some lessons from Tiatto who seemed to be boasting about getting sent off in this game). And going down harder in tackles to win free kicks. He had one hit the post, another just wide and a header into the cross-bar. But Van Dijk's secret is now out, he can't kick with his right foot. In the second half he looked done, tripped himself up and he tried to change from his right to his left in front of goal.

The weirdest part of the game was Murdocca getting a head cut, bleeding on his shirt and being refused re-entry to the ground because the Roar didn't have a spare number 8 shirt that didn't blood on it.

Next weirdest was the Hernandez send off. What was the 2nd yellow for?

Next weirdest, Zullo scored in 90+5 in match with 3 minutes of extra time. But what great goals to Minniecon and Zullo. Both showed the other Roar strikers how to score.

The FFA scorecard shows possession 84% to Victory (don't see that often).

Miller missed two open goals. He tried to volley when he had time to shoot.

Reinaldo missed a one-on-one with the keeper, tried to nutmeg when chipping was the go.

The Victory mid-field was completely outplayed, their strikers almost out of the game till late in the 2nd half.


Former Newcastle player Tim Brown stared for Wellington as they turn their home ground into a castle. He got a nasty head cut and a goal.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

whilst he played better than usual. v-d is just getting annoying.

zullo and minniecon did more with less time. a perfectly handy line leading forward is over on the right wing ... so either slot v-d into a second striker role when miller takes a break or bench him.

frank! let the children play! i don`t get these comments about minniecon running at tired defences. is kevin muscat any faster when he is fresh? tony popovich and our own craig moore aren`t. free robbie kruse!

Z and Tahj came out and did something that mckay and murdocca cannot do. run at a defence. score. one of those guys has to head for the bench. all that running around and huffing and puffing. good defending. but creative play?

how can a 2 goal win over the comp leaders feel so blech?

clayton

john said...

I think you are being a bit harsh honourable Clayton san. Two teams were playing and one was the comp leaders. The Roar were hard done by - they could have had two penalties where the Victory defence had to do more than was legal to keep them out.

Look at the quality of players that the Roar kept out of the game.

V-D has learnt he must play harder or eventually be dropped. The shame is he doesn't have the stamina for a whole game and Reinaldo does. I think Frank will persist with V-D for a while longer, he and the club owners are likely to have been very excited about the prospect of a Dutch striker.

I agree running at defenders is the key. Tahj and Reinaldo will be an exciting combination.

Anonymous said...

grrrr, i will give sergio this.

he didn`t look to be sulking this time, ran well off the ball to make good opportunities, and does have a touch of class about him.

but no space for kruse? and reinaldo down the middle would be my first choice ...

clayton

john said...

Clayton san
I don't think the news on Robbie Kruse is very good.I understand he had swollen ancles after training last week - otherwise he would have been in the youth team and the A-L. I think he may be too young to get this type of injury.