Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar has called for a change to the A-League’s system of naming teams after the late inclusion of Craig Moore in the Reds’ round two match against Queensland.
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The Roar skipper injured his knee at training on Friday and missed their final session on Saturday.
Team sheets issued an hour before Sunday’s match had Moore as an omission, but the 32-year-old defender took to the Suncorp Stadium pitch for the warmup.
Vidmar was surprised to see Moore in his playing kit and quickly sought clarification from match referee Mark Shield and Roar coach Frank Farina.
“They told me he was having a test,” Vidmar said.
“I know that you can change at the very last minute, but he wasn’t listed as one of the subs.
“It’s something I probably need to talk to the FFA about, just to have a clarification about that ruling. But certainly we know that you can make a change right up to just before the game starts.”
An FFA spokesman said changes can be made to a side any time before kickoff, as long as the referee approves and the opposition is informed.
Asked whether there should be a change to the rules, Vidmar suggested Moore should have been listed as an extra substitute rather than ommitted.
“Once again Franky (Farina) has done a shifty on us,” he laughed.
“No, I would prefer a little bit more clarification. Even if you have a fifth subsititute named so at least we know that he’s actually testing, and … there’s a possibility that he might start the game.”
While Moore’s late inclusion did not alter his tactics, Vidmar said he would have preferred he hadn’t played.
“In that situation I would prefer to know who’s lining up where, because even Craig Moore with one leg is probably just as good as a centre back or a pairing at the back,” he said.
“He adds a lot of experience and I would have preferred Craig Moore not be there.
Moore played the full 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw,and said after the match he was only able to take to the field after intense physio work on his knee.
“It was good because I was desperate to play, missing the first league game. It was nice to get out there.”
Pippinu
Roar Guru
I've always found it quite quaint in the world game the way managers earnestly pronounce their starting XI to all and sundry, and more often than not - they actually stick to it! I say this because I can recall in the old VFL as long ago as the mid 1970s that coaches like Barass were already starting to play funny buggers with team selections. The public had an expectation that if someone was named at full back or on the wing - that they would line up in the said position - within a couple of metres of where one would expect it to be. Amongst public outcries, and fines levied, Barass did whatever suited him because at the end of the day, he was there to win a game of footy, not appease the public, and most certainly not provide valuable info to his opposite number. Similarly in the World game, to this very day, if a manager names a starting XI, and say they are going to play 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 or whatever the hell it is, we have a general expectation that that is precisely what would happen. Can you all see what a quaint notion that is?! Why on Earth should anyone outside of the dressing room 5 minutes before a game have the slightest notion what the manager is intending?? Least of all, his opposite number. Not only that, any manager sticking to strict formations, and players sticking to specific positions is managing a team playing in the past. The modern game is evolving and you can see it on the field if you look hard enough. Formations are becoming looser and looser, it is far more accurate to talk of a basic framework within which a game plan is founded. Players will have a variety of instructions and expectations placed on them, depending on timing, where the ball is, who has it, what side, how many foward or back, general tempo at any given moment of the match, etc. You know you are viewing a game in the modern era when players appear to be bobbing up all over the place, yet there remains a structure and logic that is not that easy to immediately assess. Thankfully, Ernie Merrick is such a manager, and that's why the Victory is on top of the HAL and favourites to take out the double for the second time in the HAL's short history.