Roar win A-League opener over Western Sydney 3-1

That's a good point, and for all the moaning out of NSWs about those missed chances - in the second half the three big chances were all Roars and we failed to put one away; had the game gone in 3-3 at half time we would be having the same conversation about finishing. That said, with all ten sides had patches where they were rusty, some for longer periods than others. Roars main lessons? Defend better !

Certainly this season for roar, jets and mariners fans looking down at the more fancied clubs after round 1 and wonderincg how long this might last! I expect brisbane to be tough at home next week, can't wait.

Harping on missed chances is a ploy used to make one feel good about a loss. I'm more concerned about the way Roar allowed those missed chances i.e. balls over the top which gave WSW their best opportunities to score. Hence my reservation about getting too carried away with the result. For WSW, if they think other teams will be generous with balls over the top into the penalty box, then they may be disappointed. For Roar this can be seen as a weakness which other teams may exploit. For several seasons in a row, teams ruthlessly exploited ball over Corey Brown and to a lesser extent Hingert. So to me ball over top is still an issue. I'm not totally convinced about North's ability to deal with balls into the box either. However the clear cut chances Roar created are good signs indeed - it's the build up that I am pleased about in that respect. Roar could have had back to back doubles (in season 2011-2012) if not for poor finishing particularly at end of the season when we finished second to CCM by 2 points. We can talk about missed chances all we want but in the end ppl only remember CCM finishing top of table. At the end of the day you have put away your chances.

I thought Wanderers looked better than Adelaide, Perth, and Mariners on the admittedly limited analysis if just one game. Close to par with Roar maybe but behind the current benchmark that is victory. City/Sydney both looked good and should be a real threat this year. Looking forward to Round two - a few surprises this weekend so let's see how we go hey ...

It is a shame we didn't land Thwait when we had the chance. Good at CB or in the holding midfield role

Both sets of fans will be happier today they they otherwise thought they would be this time last week. Roar v Mariners is shaping up to be a good game

It's a funny old game. No doubt the ffa will have posted both clubs the script telling them to get back on it ASAP ;) Ahhhhh, I love early season, so much hope and dreaming before reality bites.

got your point jb, and my cynical self says Petratos's best position is Left Back ....... left back in the changing rooms ;) but being fair to the bloke he has shown improvement preseason, lost weight etc so he may well be responding to coaching. But as I say the midfield should pick itself once Hervas is match fit; Petratos as a striker is maybe his better poison - that's where he was pencilled in to start against Wanderers had MacLaren not proved his fitness at the last minute. On hingert I do think the bloke spent a year out of the game with injury and his problems last season and this seem to be awareness and positioning, both will improve with time. The team picked on Sunday will tell us what we need to know - I'm expecting polenz back, McKay back and possibly Hervas starting for the first hour.

For what should be billed as a top of the table clash against two old rivals!

Waz- I agree wholehertedly with your observations liking most your final sentence. It is a managers job to get the best out of a player whom he selects and that is my point exactly,at present IMO we have three players who, due to the positions in which they are being played only contribute a fraction of what they could contribute were they simply moved to positions that suited better their style of play. I was not trying to pick a "better " team for there are other players to consider but simply to improve the performance we saw from those players the other night. Cheers jb

jb. The right is dysfunctional still (and has been in the preseason games) ... starting at the front Borrello isn't s natural winger as we've discussed before but I'll leave him where he is as "work in progress"; Hingert is ironically many fans preferred right back (over Polenz) but he seems weak when he is attached at pace which is how Wanderers went at him again on Thursday, the weak link for me is Petratos who, despite showing some decent touches, hasn't got the experience to play midfield - look at the number of times he passes up an overlap (a strikers greed?). However I think this debate is a bit mute - Roars midfield is likely to be Corona, McKay and Hervas ... The question remains who is the best RB (Polenz for me) and as far as Borrello goes he's no right winger but on the mantra of work with what you've got Aloisis just needs to figure out how to get the best out of him in conjunction with MacLaren

Lionheart you post a simple comment that forces me to think and as a fan ask you what your thoughts are on how the Roar team of Thursday night can be improved without mentioning those who are injured or unavailable.The team as selected won and won well by taking some of the chances offered where their opponents did the opposite,missed most of the chances they created. After the first 2 goals were scored I began to watch the team performance more critically than normal and look at how individuals were contributiong to the overall team effort. My thoughts based on those observations.The whole right flank of Roar needs re-vamped for they do not function as a unit,there appears to be little understanding between Hingert,Petratos amd Borello,each playing a type of game that appears to suit themeselves rather than to overall team effort.Let me explain,Borello as a winger appears to spend an unusual amount of time back tracking in order to do Hingerts job when the RB has thrown himself forward.Petratos,,who should be doing that covering job plays just like a winger attempting to take on men at every opportunity thereby stalling moves which the Roar system demands should be done accurately and quickly. To me Petratos's game suits the right wing role much better where he could try to get behind defences using his dribbling skills which when used in midfield can have disasterous outcomes. I have said this before but I would love to see Borello's aggression and sheer cussednes cut loose in the central stiker role with McLaren playing off him for as Robbie Slater pointed out McLarens pace and energy would be devastating in those two channels on either side of the centrebacks.Petratos could then be moved wide and a proper midfielder ,who can move the ball accurately and quickly introduced to help Higert come to grips with what his game incorporates.The lad Bowles continues to impress in the CB position,,IMO he should be given an extended run there with North helping him develop.Corona is a player no doubt and could well be the catalyst that Roar have lacked for a few seasons and Broich could get anew lease of life as their understanding increases.All in all it was a good performance and it is going to be interesting to watch if JA makes any changes in personnel for the next game. Cheers jb

I agree - I think Wanderers management and the Sydney press are doing a fair bit to try and talk their performance up, possibly with good reason as I think there's a lot to come from the west of Sydney this season and I'm pleased we've got one of our games with them done early.

It would not surprise me either :) At the recent fan forum in order if the greatest slapping: 1. Was the Bakries 2. Was the FFA 3. The media in the room.

Settled indeed. I would be happier if DeVere were fit as North is also proving injury prone and I sudodcf we will soon have Donachie/Bowles as our starting centre back combination.

The nature of the HAL means every squad has players like pepper and Neville, essentially there to make up the numbers. Perhaps alarming they started game 1?

There's a lot of doom n gloom in the WSW camp which seems premature - Roar played well first half but occasionally left their back door open which wanders capitalised on once, in the second half Roar defended well and they created 3-4 clear cut chances. Both squads look good - the question mark in both camps is whether the respective coaches are good enough?

Brisbane may have a formidable midfield coming together - not something that was ever said with brattan in the holding position.

I think you're being harsh on both sides there, especially Wanderers. Tell me why Adelaide would finish above either of these two for example?

There's reasons for both sides to be optimistic I think (ignore the actual result). Both should be able to put out a really decent midfield which is key to a title challenge