Two offside goals disallowed appropriately under the VAR rules - but so close to a different result.
Have to bag Zadkovich out for his starting structure before anything else I am afraid. In the stands we could all see that Pierias was trying to get isolated with Zabala - he rotated to get Brazete onto someone else so he could go one on one with Zabala. It was a no-brainer that Burke-Gilroy should start in that left fullback role to cover Pierias's speed.
As Pierias ran in on the back post the few of us in my immediate vicinity could all see that Pierias was coming and Zabala had no idea.
A piss easy goal like that was not a fair reflection on our play but it is what we deserved.
Having bagged out Zadkovich, now to commend him. He rode the team all game, encouraging them to push hard to shutdown Adelaide and soon as they got possession and to play forward. One advantage of low attendance is that you can hear a lot more of the coach calling. The game plan was sound and effective, and you could see and hear Zadkovich's frustration when things went wrong due to poor execution of a good situation. He was literally pulling his hair out. No hang on a minute. Something about that doesn't scan right.
Brazete and the Hooters Van (a-booby-car) spend a lot of time running round in circles and across field probing for weaknesses as individuals. They can both produce excellent strikes - and both did tonight - but they do consume a lot of energy running with the ball so much. I find it hard to criticise them because it is so much better than the stationary football we have been known to play and it certainly moves opposition players around. Offside put aside, both of their netted shots tonight were worth the lack of "making the ball do the work".
Brazete is lively and I am sure he terrifies his opponents - who have to concentrate every time he is near - but he showed his age tonight when he had a little frustration tantrum over whoever put the ball up the sideline to him but sent it wide and out. Minutes later a cross from Brazete went straight to an Adelaide defender - but I did not see him berating himself for that.
Adelaide had good moments in the game where we were in trouble, but for the most part it felt like we ran the game. Our pressing, combining in numbers to dispossess, holding and passing in danger, and getting to the second ball were all up there - and only our speed getting back on turnovers lacked really. We tended to run back at two thirds pace rather than 'wasting' energy getting back fast and in numbers. The results saw us making a lot of bloody good desperation tackles but I would prefer the style of the good teams who stream back at speed as soon as there is a turnover so there are no free runs into the final third.
Having also bagged Zabala for not keeping an eye or awareness of Pierias, I also have to give him credit for the way he is bringing the ball out through traffic - holding up the ball and maintaining control until he can get a good pass away. He also ran down players a couple of times and made a couple of excellent tackles.
If that was a pre-season game I would be bloody happy about how our season was shaping up.
We are fallible bringing the ball through traffic as individuals, but the team cohesion and times when it comes together are lovely to watch and well worth a good oooh or ahhhh. Bility is that most damned of enigmas though - winning so much and producing great moments both in defence and in possession - then one of those moments... I think on balance he had a good game tonight.
Hingert, Herrington, Bility and Zabala actually seem to be getting their defensive act together finally (the obvious moment aside). With other players coming back however fast or slow to put some sort of pressure on our opposition, I felt those horrible sinking feelings of the train light approaching and the car stuck at the crossing quite rarely tonight. Without being truly resilient we did not do all that bad.
Klein and everyone else who spent time in the midfield made a fine effort of countering Adelaide's constant presence there. We were most often outnumbered through the middle but we were not limited to passing up the flanks this time. The variety in our play is a real plus under Zadkovich lately - with teams surely finding it hard to build any defensive plan against us other than marking up in the defensive third, trying to apply bodies around the ball carrier, and generally getting behind the ball. We are attempting options through, round, over and across and although they go astray too frequently we appear to have an idea what to do these days.
Can't let the night go without questioning when a double handed push in the back became acceptable in this league - because that is two games in a row I have watched where different officials have decided that it is play on. It is an obvious and visible action but they let it go at the expense of football. It does not help that at other times a single hand in the back and a drop gets awarded the free kick - making it both inconsistent and bewildering trying to figure out what the refs decision is based on in any incident.
An enjoyable and frustrating night at the stadium - it was not a bad game to watch and it gives us points from two games in a row now. Maybe we have not left our run too late.
On the Adelaide side - I cannot remember a less annoying, vindictive or whinging performance from Mauk. To some extent, the game flowed with both sides mostly concentrating on playing football (attempted trips, grapples and nudges before the ball arrives being loosely included as football in that statement).
Damn that offside ruler.
