Roar Rookie

Lucas Gillard

Roar Rookie

4,125 Article Reads
7 Articles Written
18 Comments Written

About

Stats hungry sports nerd who supports Carlton, the Socceroos, the Carolina Panthers and cold-hard-facts. Follow me on Twitter @ljgillard

Member Since:: April 2018
Based In:: Melbourne
Favourite Sports:: AFL, Football,

Latest Articles

Showing articles 1 - 7 of 7

Trent Sainsbury: Our key, hook and bolt for Russia 2018

4 days ago

In Italy, deep lying playmakers are called they are called the regista (director). In Brazil – where playmakers are more likely in the forward third – they are the meia-armador. In Australia, we call this player Trent Sainsbury.

Unlocking the doors of footballing parlance

5 days ago

With the 2018 FIFA World Cup all but upon us, let’s indulge in some footballing idioms.

Does the A-League hold back our national team?

16 May 2018

A popular US brokerage firm in 1970s and 80s popularised the tagline “when EF Hutton talks, people listen.”

Can Arnold's Sydney FC model work for the Socceroos?

8 May 2018

Many articles have been written and many teeth have been gnashed over the appointment of Graham Arnold as full-time Socceroos coach at the completion of the World Cup.

We need to talk about Mile

27 Apr 2018

Mile Jedinak has been a gargantuan presence in the centre of midfield for the Socceroos since he became a regular in 2011.

How Juventus Champions League tactics can inspire the Socceroos

19 Apr 2018

Amazing thoughts enter the mind in World Cup years. Otherwise sensible people turn into parrots peddling unreasonable and unjustified levels of hope and optimism. And I am no exception.

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Lucas's Recent Comments

Lucas Gillard has written a total of 18 comments

Trent Sainsbury: Our key, hook and bolt for Russia 2018

Leckie is a must for me to help sure up the right. If we had a reliable right back he wouldn’t be as necessary but against France he’s a must. Arzani will grow into the campaign. One fact about our formation is that it’s going to be lopsided. With Behich we can leave him to offer width on the left and allow a normally central player like Luongo or Irvine to be named at “left wing”, or use a striker like Nabbout to offer width on the left for vertical passes.

4 days ago

Trent Sainsbury: Our key, hook and bolt for Russia 2018

It's a tough question. There's "what unrealistic formation would I run" and then there's "what I realistically think Bert might do". I wrote in another article that I'd use Rogic as a false 9 with Irvine and Leckie in front of Luongo, Sainsbury and Mooy - but there's a reason why I'm writing volunteer articles and BvM has won a UEFA Cup! BvM mostly plays with a back block of 6 and a forward tribe of 4. Against France he will want to use Mooy in the back block and probably not provide much licence to get forward. France's only real positional weaknesses is at right back, which means he will also need Leckie to keep some defensive shape on the right to cover Mendy. That really only leaves 3 forward players. So for that I would probably use Luongo as someone who can carry and collect behind Rogic and either Juric or Nabbout. Nabbout he can use to pull to the left and provide dash, however Juric's best skill is holding up the ball and bringing runners in that we'll likely need against France. At a gamble I would say he'd start with Nabbout to make space for Rogic centrally and have Juric as a plan B if A fails. If plan A fails he'll likely swap Rogic as well and maybe give Arzani 15-20mins. Denmark he can structure fairly "normally" up forward. Rogic as the "enganche" with Leckie on the right and Juric up front and Luongo notionally on the left but tucking in to let Behich cover the wide space. Again if that formation is too lopsided he would be really tempted to bring Arzani in for another burst. Peru is really plan A. He can forfeit one of the midfield anchors and run with Mooy and Luongo at central midfield and give Arzani his start on the left. I will be first to admit that I have convinced myself of a romantic Arzani-as-Michael-Owen-in-1998 scenario. Call me fanciful, stupid of crazy, but I hope we chuck him on at the end of games to just see what happens

4 days ago

Unlocking the doors of footballing parlance

Zelic was a master and a man ahead of his time. As a Regista in modern football he would have been at or near the top of the tree!

4 days ago

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