A couple of intriguing A-League clashes turned into markedly different contests on Sunday, even if the two contrasting results will have left Marco Kurz and Robbie Fowler sweating.
Ola Toivonen strikes you as the sort of character who arrived in Australia not quite knowing what to expect before realising shortly after that he’s actually the A-League’s biggest star.
And it’s safe to say the big Swede had an eventful afternoon in Victory’s 1-1 draw with the Phoenix at AAMI Park on Sunday.
It might have taken the VAR more than two minutes to award an early penalty against Toivonen for handball, but it was the correct decision. And having had so many decisions go against them to start the season, the Phoenix were probably due.
(Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Mind you, Ulises Davila looked like he stopped completely during his stutter-step run-up – perhaps the VAR should have intervened – although it was nice to see Wellington not chasing the game for once.
It was interesting to see some new faces line up in a re-jigged Victory formation as well.
You know things aren’t going well as a playmaker when your replacement is Leigh Broxham. But no Kristijan Dobras in midfield meant a switch from a 4-2-3-1 formation against Western United to a nominal 4-1-4-1 formation against the Phoenix.
While wide men Elvis Kamsoba and Kenny Athiu frequently checked back inside to lend Toivonen support in attack, the pair were both guilty of giving the ball away frequently and spurning the chances that came their way.
Athiu plays like a traditional target man in attack while the pacy Kamsoba is more of an old-school winger, yet the problem for both players remains their inability to convert chances.
But when you’ve lost the likes of Terry Antonis, Keisuke Honda, James Troisi and Kosta Barbarouses in quick succession, new Victory coach Kurz can’t exactly afford to be choosy.
That’s especially the case with both Dobras and Jakob Poulsen making a mockery of the frequent online suggestion that any competent European player would “destroy the A-League”.
Poulsen was the 2009 Danish Superliga player of the year, but yesterday was the first time in the A-League he even looked like he knew which team to pass the ball to.
The practise of slotting players into specific systems is something Brisbane Roar fans will have to get used to this season too.
It should be noted that if any of Scott Neville, Brad Inman, Jay O’Shea and Dylan Wenzel-Halls were better finishers, Robbie Fowler wouldn’t have spent the second post-match press conference in a row lamenting how many chances his team had missed.
“It can’t keep happening really,” Fowler said in the aftermath of the Roar’s 1-0 defeat to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“We do a lot of finishing, we do a lot on team shape, we do a lot of work in all aspects of football, but if you keep missing chances like the chances that we’ve had, then it makes football matches a little bit harder.”
Fowler’s side certainly plays like a unit that has had its shape drilled into them but, like Victory, they haven’t had much success in a couple of key areas.
Against Adelaide, Jake McGing and Scott Neville were both deployed as wing-backs in a 3-4-2-1 formation and ultimately ran themselves into the ground. And like Kamsoba and Athiu for Victory, it was perhaps more a case of fitting players into a specific system rather than creating a system for specific players.
The question is: should coaches stick steadfastly to a system or completely overhaul tactics and personnel if results aren’t going their way?
Both Fowler and Kurz have shown they’re flexible enough to make changes on a game-by-game basis.
So should we expect more changes heading into their games against Melbourne City and Sydney FC next week?
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Wow - they are treasured memories indeed! Funny - I’ve never really considered trying to pick a handful of games that I have seen in person that I was so impressed with, or been influenced by or maybe even changed my thinking! I suppose on a negative note, the 1970 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leeds stands out as it reminds me of all the terrible things that used to take place on the football field and how skilful players like Eddie Gray and Alan Hudson were always at the mercy of “butchers” who would break legs for fun. If that game was replayed in 2019 it would have been abandoned due to not enough players being left on the field as the send offs would be well into double figures. I must give the more positive memory cells a run out soon though. Thanks for that JB.
jbinnie
Guest
Buddy -- My dates are correct. The Wembley wizards played England in the 1920's and such was the impact on English football the man who eventually took football to Hungary, Jim Hogan, a well known coach of the time, was ostracised by the FA for suggesting England should play football the way it had been played by the Scots in that game. I saw the Hungarian side of 1956 playing Scotland on a Wednesday afternoon in front of 102,000 fans and can say they were truly something else , playing a different style of football from the rest of the world at that time. When asked where the players had learned to play the way they did, the manager Sebes ,unhesitatingly put it down to the teachings of the aforesaid J Hogan. I also was blessed to attend the Real Madrid v Eintracht game which as you say was truly a master class to the 127,000 who attended that game. It should be remembered that as air travel was not so prevalent in 1960 the vast majority of that 127.000 were locals out to watch a spectacle. They got it. Cheers jb.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
JB Largely agree with your comment... I was simply trying to make the point that both MV & Roar appear slow this year
Mark
Guest
Exactly. There’s quite a bit of Ange legacy revisionism going on at the moment with Yokohama doing well, but many don’t know or have conveniently forgotten that he almost managed to get them relegated last season. He’s managing one of the better resourced teams in the J-League and if players don’t fit the system he can ship them out and bring new ones in. This week’s game against Jordan will be very interesting. Ange lost this one four years back. It was where his Socceroos tenure started its descent...slowly at first, then at rapid pace towards the end of the second round.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Ha ha - welcome back
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I take it you were referring to Hungary - somehow the five turned into a 2 so if correct would have been 1956. I have heard so much about that game but never seen anything other than a few grainy pictures so go forward a few years to RM vs Eintracht Frankfurt which was an amazing spectacle and a footballing master class although my own preference is to watch the Ajax videos of early to mid 1970’s - they are in colour too.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Damn - I should have done the jobs first and then gone indoors and sat and watched the second half!
Fadida
Roar Rookie
You're being a revisionist . Ange stuck at his plan A for the NT, even when it clearly wasn't working. It's called being stubborn and inflexible. He then became extremely sensitive when anyone questioned his approach, despite saying many times that he invited discussion as it was a sign of "football maturity ". In club football you can recruit players that suit your system
jbinnie
Guest
Mid - The conversation you talk of between JW and LM was hardly earth shattering to anyone I the least conversant with football tactics over the years. The first obvious description of a team playing in little triangles with fast ball movement was back in 1926 with a team christened the Wembley Wizards, a rather small physical side, thrashed England, scoring 5 goals against a team that was recognised as the world's best at that time. Today ,if you watch top football from Europe you will see that the ball is being moved, if not in one touch then at the most 2 touches. This in turn leads to fast transition from defence to attack, and is almost totally dependent on 2 factors. movement by players off the ball and a high degree of accuracy from the player passing the ball. Maybe that was what AP was trying to achieve when he undertook drills "with ball" when at Roar. Even there we have a problem, for that ,touch, is supposed to be developed between the ages of 6-12 according to our much lauded curriculum. I amuse myself when watching A-League games by trying to pick out local lads when observing their "touch" and "passing accuracy". Try it some time you will be amazed at the outcomes you will see. Cheers jb
RbbAnonymous
Roar Rookie
My take on the penalty is this. From a technical standpoint I can understand why it was given. I would have been happier if it wasn't given. I was annoyed that VAR intervened for what seemed an eternity and this notion of a clear and obvious error was thrown out the window. As for the Victory they are not playing as we all know they can, but they aren't playing all that badly either. We have to accept that this is a close competition and that anyone on the day can beat each other. Victory are just not getting a good run of decisions and its costing them games. Toivanen let it be known is an amazing footballer and is just a joy to watch.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
All they have got, is a better logo. :silly: :stoked: :laughing:
Waz
Roar Rookie
In Ange We Trust wait .... wot ....?
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Western United are doing alright entertainment-wise.
JimmyJax
Guest
++ "Thank God we have SFC to follow And watch". The SkyBlues are a good watch this season!
Waz
Roar Rookie
Apparently Roar were set up 3-5-2 yesterday which, as we both know, doesn’t mean much other than it’s a clue as to how a team intends to play. But it didn’t look that way at any time with ROD isolated all game. I agree on the need for a strike pairing up front. Holloway in theory should be it but he looked an utter pussy cat yesterday and us question whether he has the aggression to play up front. But come Sunday I’d start Holloway/ROD Mauk is increasingly ineffective in the midfield role. The central 3 need to be far more fluid than Mauk seems to be capable of and dropping Inman in to his position would change that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Courtney-Perkins start in Sunday. In preseason he slotted in to the side left role really well Fowler has to stick with 3-5-2 but he has to get his combinations right. The back three are all good, the midfield not at all, and the two strikers are shambolic
jbinnie
Guest
Waz - I would use a different adjective if that happened,I would call it "tragic" if not "suicidal". Fowler's starting system is not working, 5 games is enough to work that out, but what to do to change the status quo. First of all the lack of finishing has to be addressed and neither O'Donovan or Wenzell-Hall can be classified as "target men" whose job is usually to keep a defence on the hop by constant challenging and movement off the ball. They are goal 'poachers" and as such neither have the physique ,or aggression likely to upset a defence.. Holloway apparently is that type of player but seldom is a pairing of him ,with one of the poachers, put on in a starting line up, so we don't know if they will work together . For too long now Roar have been dependent on a "poacher' type central striker, (McLaren and the lad who went to Korea are classic examples.) Fowler has to improve immediately the "transition time" from defence to attack and to do that he is going to have to jiggle his squad. Cheers jb
Franko
Guest
If you missed the last 30mins you'd have missed Riley "he's found his level" McGree score his second match winner in as many games. 4 goals in his last 3 outings from CM, a nice return.
Nemesis
Guest
If the 3 benchmark teams this season are identified as: City, WUN & Sydney then I see nothing in any of those teams that bothers me. Sydney looked good in the Derby, but struggled to beat teams with 10 men in the opening matches. They smashed Jets, but I rate Jets as equally the worst team this season, with Brisbane. It's been announced that MV will be without 4 players for the match against Sydney due to international duty: Roux (NZL), Kamsoba (Burundi), Athiu (Sth Sudan), Deng (Aust u23). Add the injured: Kruse, Nabbout & Hoogland and that's 7 players missing.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Corica's men are the only players who are playing with confidence and all have bought into Corica's system and his football philosophy. It seems to me the rest of the field are too defence minded, cautious and too hesitant to go forward with numbers and pace. Thank god, we have SFC to follow and watch. :football:
Waz
Roar Rookie
Mate, don’t pull your punches the first half was utterly dire to watch. Awful stuff - that’s part of football alas we seem to have a “big bash” approach to entertainment in sports nowadays. The last thirty minutes was better to watch, unless you’re a Roar supporter watching chances go begging.