Duke can look good because he is what Popa's system employs. The role is made for him.
A good striker still needs service and the squad was never set up to provide that support, let alone the run on team - so anyone up front gets isolated and looks useless unless they are a chaser like Duke. In principle, Popa sets up a 7-3 system with the 7 players being dedicated to defence first and the three often left to create chances by themselves. Duke in the side makes it 8-2 really.
Similarly, the hideously grafted win off a brilliantly executed goal by Aziz "Why the f*ck did it have to be" Behich was the entire game plan from Popa. Put a team out there to avoid conceding if possible and jag a goal if possible.
We got a win we did not deserve in one of those tight games for once and anyone who says they were not expecting Japan to score the winning goal instead of us is a liar as far as I am concerned
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Fan-bloody-tastic how good it feels when you pinch an undeserved win like that.
Whatever valid excuses or reasons for Japan not winning, we have now beaten them 1 game in a row. Sounds a lot better than we have not beaten them for 10 years!
I always find the Japan sides go hard on players' feet/ankles/achilles tendons when they 'accidentally' apply studs to their opponent. Happens too often to be an accident and can really impair players for the rest of the game. That is the side of 'physical contact' that I consider to be hacking rather than good hard football.
I thought the ref let too much of that go without sufficient punishment when they did call it. That 'tackle' with the ball gone that involved a Japanese player rolling up the legs of the Aussie got nothing (not even a free kick from memory) but could have snapped or pulled something very easily.
