Im saving my annual leave for a holiday later in the year. Sorry.
If this system was going to work with ALF and Reza up front then we should be seeing incremental improvements. I donât think we are, and I think itâs because the problems are structural.
It seems clear that neither ALF nor Reza are exceptional creativity dropping off as 10s, Caceres offers surprisingly little end product for someone I thought was more of an AM than a CM, and that leaves far too much creative burden on Ninko, who is simultaneously being deployed far too deep and given too much defensive responsibility to sufficiently fill the playmaking responsibility.
I wanted a diamond, but with Josh gone maybe thereâs not enough midfield depth. Maybe a 4-3-3 with Reza nominally RW and Caceres playing a bit deeper and taking more defensive responsibility to free up Ninko staying up higher at LW?
A bit late, but hereâs the match report:
I re-watched the first half of that game again for this. It was absolutely no better the second time.
You can view the match highlights here:
https://www.a-league.com.au/video/full-time-highlights-sydney-fc-v-melbourne-city-1
Remember to vote in the SFCU man of the match poll here:
3 things we learned
- Warland will be a big loss . Today the club confirmed that Warlandâs injury was an ACL tear and he will be out for the rest of the season. This is a massive blow for us in a season which has already been ravaged by injuries. Warland has added a lot to the defence. In the 14 League games before he was starting, we kept 3 clean sheets. In the last 8 games, where Warland was starting, we kept 4. While this isnât all down to Warland, thereâs no doubt that Wilkinson feels comfortable beside him and they operate well together.
- Our transition and counter-attacking is just too slow . Our best chance of the game was right near the start, where we played several passes forward to start a flowing attack down the left that led to Le Fondre crossing the ball to the top of the box. While no one was able to get onto the end of it, it demonstrates that an effective counter can still create chances. Unfortunately, so many times this game we would start a counter-attack well, then get to about half way before stopping and looking to pass backwards. We just donât seem to be keeping forward momentum, either through a desire to keep possession or a lack of confidence in the available options.
- Our heading up front has gone backwards . Our heading up front earlier this season wasnât too bad. We were capable of winning the occasional header and even scoring from corners. Lately though, we just donât seem to be winning everything up front. Le Fondre and Reza are not particularly tall and just donât seem to have the leap to make up for that. Combined with this, our crossing just seems to have gotten worse. Admittedly the pitch on Sunday obviously didnât help, but it is still remarkable how much worse itâs been lately.
Post-match Statistics
- Sydney FC have now gone 3 games without scoring. The last time this happened was over 4 years ago - 26/12/14, 30/12/14 and 3/1/15 against Adelaide, Roar and Jets respectively.
- This was the clubâs last game at Leichhardt Oval for the season. The clubâs all-time record at the stadium is now 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.
- This was Warren Joyce âs first win against Sydney FC.
Note: Appearances and goals only include league games, finals, FFA Cup, OFC and AFC Champions League and Club World Cup.
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Caceres has probably copped enough criticism already, but he got absolutely SMOKED by Rostyn fucking Griffiths in the race for that ball. Didnât look like he really wanted to get there tbh.
Caceres just isnât quick though, so I donât think it was even a desire thing.
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Already put back up 