That was an improvement on our last game, and continues Zadkovich's rebuilding process.
Sydney, without Costa, Lolley and Hollman, are still better than us individually and hunting in concert they forced us to make stupid passes all night. When we were playing the ball out Sydney had 5 or 6 players sweeping in a diagonal wave towards the side that had the ball - putting pressure on every player in our back half and blocking off the centre. We did not have the composure or ideas to work around, through or past it with any consistency and got bogged down in one on one (or one on two/three) battles. Faster passing would have limited the effect before the press arrived but we just got stifled often.
For their part, Sydney always had an inside pass available when we applied pressure out wide and we seemed to get caught on the wrong side of most attackers frequently. Their attack was smooth and sharp and cut through us really effectively. With several players who can dribble well, we struggled to prevent individuals from running through our defence and especially between two close defenders quite often. The way it freed up support players to be found with accurate passing was always a danger to us.
It was not as comfortable a win for Sydney as many would have expected - but the quality and ease of their goal scoring when they did put it in the net made it their game all night despite us equalising twice.
The players had no respect for the ref - I think because he let a lot of stuff go, called the wrong way (in my eyes), and awarded a yellow to Jelacic when, at the ground, it did not look like it was near card worthy and might even have gone the other way (sliding in with studs seemingly exposed but given the free kick). The number of times the ref told players throwing the ball in to go back and they basically ignored him and stole another 10 to 20 metres, or on a free kick picked up the ball and walked away with it or kicked it away with impunity, showed that the ref needs to develop a stronger on-field presence. I was pretty disgusted when a Roar player picked the ball up and walked away, got told to return it to the spot, looped the ball back to another Roar player who also walked off with it, then in the refs face dropped it where they had walked to instead of even a token return. Both sides showed their 'professional' sportsmanship and got away with anything they could in the game - but the disrespect they showed the ref bothered me.
I have concerns about Warland and Van der Saag. Their passing and touch is off, and they both get beaten by structure or individual play too often. Without being able to feel safe at the back we cannot concentrate on the front half. Warland did some excellent timed tackles from behind to shutdown attacks but should not have needed to if he had been better at defending the ball carrier in the first place. Van der Saag, when we were playing the ball out from the back, waited up near halfway in open space every time - but as soon as the keeper passed it to our RCB would come halfway back instead of staying high and open. I cannot understand the mentality of getting into open space then running back to cramp up our progression when a very simple ball to him would have seen us at halfway and beyond the press. Very early on Burke-Gilroy made a full sprint up the right and behind the line but Van der Saag turned the ball back to our CBs instead of honouring the run. It looks a bit like Van der Saag is low on confidence and that is really hurting his effectiveness.
On the positives, Shour at DM and Brown at left back both had really good games. Walid is proving an excellent pick up for us, and while not flawless I like his speed, vision and reading the game in defence. Bility at CB does some things that work in underage football but need to develop further into senior football. He uses his strength and body well but at times has the ball taken off him when he could have held it or makes a decision to dive in that worked against younger opposition but exposes you in wily, senior fox football. I like what I see in him and he will continue to develop into a good player.
O'Shea held his place with the ball as always but I did see more wayward passes from him than I can recall. Whether to credit the Sydney marking and pressure on other players with that, or to consider it a bit of an off night for him I don't know. Not anything that I am worried about though - it was just unusual.
Burke-Gilroy had another influential game - but again saw him played 'out of position' on the right wing. With Van der Saag as his link bringing the ball out we were not smooth or fluid up that side. Playing a 4-4-2, I would rather have Burke-Gilroy and Brown on the left where they are both more effective.
Halloran is not doing it for me yet. The fact that Adelaide let him go when he had been such an influential player for them may mean he has lost too much speed to be played like we want to - or perhaps it is still too soon for him to have developed the understanding that his fast paced style requires of his team mates. Time will tell how that goes.
Jelacic played within himself last night - to the extent that his impact as a breaking attacker was limited. In a pre-season game running up the left wing he used speed and guile to beat his man wide or cut inside and draw defenders in desperation. Last night he played more controlled and slower football allowing his opponents to control him. When he made a run up the wing later in the first half and had three Sydney players looking to shut him down he only ran at moderate pace and looked for a quick (rushed) pass when a stop/start or momentary change of pace could have let him then accelerate into space behind their line and give him time to pick a good option. I hope Jelacic does not get 'structured' out of his creativity. The early yellow was obviously going to limit his involvement.
Waddingham and the rest of the team are not on the same page. We go long, he stands with his back into his defender looking for a pass to his feet or chest. We go left he runs right. We go to his feet and he has turned off his opponent and is running in behind. His goal and first half 'poster' were really nice, and well taken. He spent more time last night being Mitch Duke and applying running pressure to the ball carrier than being Thomas Waddingham 'opportunistic striker'.
Most of our disjointed play and stuttering play can be fixed simply by time and having the same basic players week in week out. I really am hoping that Zadkovich can settle on and sticks with his first eleven and structure so the team can get the cohesion and smoothness we see from teams like Sydney. It is certainly within us to do that.
Will be interesting to see what Zadkovich does with our structure and squad when Neville comes back. Whether Warland gets swapped out or we go to a back three again - who knows.
The crowd felt like a good start to me (8200) on the back of recent seasons and hail an hour or so before the game.
Our play was better than against Auckland, and against better opposition - despite Sydney missing some key players. We scored goals and went close to at least one more and played out an entertaining game. Lucky we now get to play the minnows of Victory in Melbourne next round. Easy three points for us there
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This side (with a couple of question marks) is showing the potential to play really good football. I am enjoying the start to this season despite the results.
