Off the mark
Friday, 28 September 07, 05:42 PM
Its nice to be able to finally leap out of your seat and scream in celebration as your team finally puts the goal in the back of the net at their home ground. Something which they hadn't done for over 240 minutes. And last night we got to do it twice as the Melbourne Victory snapped its drawing sequence with a 2-0 win over the Queensland Roar. But with all the joy of winning our first game of the season, there is still some questions that need to be answered.
Our first half was abysmal. We barely created two chances on goal. I thought I was having flashbacks to season one. Our midfield lacked cohesion and lacked any type of creativity. The lack of creativity is my major concern. I don't think we can have Muscat, Broxham and Brebner all playing in the midfield together and for me the one that has to go is Brebner. Last night he looked slow and was often beaten to the ball or stripped of possession all too easily. Its time for Merrick to bite the bullet and play Hernandez in the centre of the midfield and play our game through him. Also I can't believe a talent such as Caceres is left on the bench along with Hernandez. We always look better when he is on the pitch and its no coincidence we scored both our goals after he came on. Our insistence on the long ball out of defence is starting to wear a little thin as we constantly get beaten in the air and the ball comes straight back in. You could see Theoklitos getting frustrated as he often wanted to throw the ball out but no one was giving him any options. Players such as Keenan and Vargas should be giving Theoklitos an option to bring the all out of defence in a much more controlled and reliable manner.
It looks like fellow bloggers Hamish and Jessica are both in for a long season supporting the Roar. For the most part their attacking third of the pitch lacked inspiration with their best chance coming from Craig Moore, whose shot was acrobatically saved on the line by Vargas. The crowd was in fine voice again last night and even the normally reserved gold member section was lending its voice to some of the chants. A real camaraderie is starting to develop between fans in the area where I sit and opinions, jokes thoughts and high fives are shared. I missed most of the lead up play to our second goal as I was laughing at the string of amusing insults in Spanish that were being hurled at the Victory players by an Uruguayan fan sitting in front of us. I don't think I will be repeating them in my next Spanish lesson.
Looking forward we have a couple of tough road trips as we head off to Sydney and then Adelaide to take on our fiercest rivals. Our midfield issues are still to be sorted but things are looking promising with Thompson coming into form and Leandro Love proving to be an excellent acquisition. Once these have been sorted we will start to go from strength to strength. Lets hope so.
Our first half was abysmal. We barely created two chances on goal. I thought I was having flashbacks to season one. Our midfield lacked cohesion and lacked any type of creativity. The lack of creativity is my major concern. I don't think we can have Muscat, Broxham and Brebner all playing in the midfield together and for me the one that has to go is Brebner. Last night he looked slow and was often beaten to the ball or stripped of possession all too easily. Its time for Merrick to bite the bullet and play Hernandez in the centre of the midfield and play our game through him. Also I can't believe a talent such as Caceres is left on the bench along with Hernandez. We always look better when he is on the pitch and its no coincidence we scored both our goals after he came on. Our insistence on the long ball out of defence is starting to wear a little thin as we constantly get beaten in the air and the ball comes straight back in. You could see Theoklitos getting frustrated as he often wanted to throw the ball out but no one was giving him any options. Players such as Keenan and Vargas should be giving Theoklitos an option to bring the all out of defence in a much more controlled and reliable manner.
It looks like fellow bloggers Hamish and Jessica are both in for a long season supporting the Roar. For the most part their attacking third of the pitch lacked inspiration with their best chance coming from Craig Moore, whose shot was acrobatically saved on the line by Vargas. The crowd was in fine voice again last night and even the normally reserved gold member section was lending its voice to some of the chants. A real camaraderie is starting to develop between fans in the area where I sit and opinions, jokes thoughts and high fives are shared. I missed most of the lead up play to our second goal as I was laughing at the string of amusing insults in Spanish that were being hurled at the Victory players by an Uruguayan fan sitting in front of us. I don't think I will be repeating them in my next Spanish lesson.
Looking forward we have a couple of tough road trips as we head off to Sydney and then Adelaide to take on our fiercest rivals. Our midfield issues are still to be sorted but things are looking promising with Thompson coming into form and Leandro Love proving to be an excellent acquisition. Once these have been sorted we will start to go from strength to strength. Lets hope so.
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A Season with Verona review
Wednesday, 26 September 07, 06:14 AM
I have just finished reading A Season with Verona (Vintage, 2003) by Tim Parks, probably one of the quintessential books about football fans every written. That is apart from Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (which I haven't read). The basic premise of the book is that Tim Parks, an English author who lives in Verona, and supports Hellas Verona, decides to follow their fortunes to every game, both home and away, in the 2000/01 season. I'm probably not the first to review this book and most definitely not the last, but I have given it a show anyway.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its insight into the culture of Italian at one of the most controversial clubs in Italy. One of things that draws me to watch games every week is the interaction between fans and their team as they cheer, criticise and chastise them. For many it is a chance to escape the humdrum of their lives and lose themselves in the game of football for ninety minutes. For me Parks, has captured the essence of the fans that follow this very proud club. He encounters many fans on his footballing journey through Italy and lets us in on their feelings, thoughts and hopes as well as his own. He doesn’t solely concentrate on the football as he puts the season in the context of what is happening in Verona and especially Italy, who at the time was going through an extended election campaign. This allows the reader to understand the culture in which this story resides.
This book is essential reading for all football fans and fans of the culture behind the game. Many would relate to the fanaticism shown by the fans of Hellas Verona. This book has reignited my passion for Italian football that I used to follow quite closely by watching the one hour highlight show that was used to be on Sunday morning on SBS. I am also keen to read Calcio by John Foot to get a wider understanding of the history of Italian football and its culture. An occasional eye will be now kept on the fortunes of Hellas Verona, who unfortunately are now in Serie C1 and currently in last position after four games. A must have for all football fans.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its insight into the culture of Italian at one of the most controversial clubs in Italy. One of things that draws me to watch games every week is the interaction between fans and their team as they cheer, criticise and chastise them. For many it is a chance to escape the humdrum of their lives and lose themselves in the game of football for ninety minutes. For me Parks, has captured the essence of the fans that follow this very proud club. He encounters many fans on his footballing journey through Italy and lets us in on their feelings, thoughts and hopes as well as his own. He doesn’t solely concentrate on the football as he puts the season in the context of what is happening in Verona and especially Italy, who at the time was going through an extended election campaign. This allows the reader to understand the culture in which this story resides.
This book is essential reading for all football fans and fans of the culture behind the game. Many would relate to the fanaticism shown by the fans of Hellas Verona. This book has reignited my passion for Italian football that I used to follow quite closely by watching the one hour highlight show that was used to be on Sunday morning on SBS. I am also keen to read Calcio by John Foot to get a wider understanding of the history of Italian football and its culture. An occasional eye will be now kept on the fortunes of Hellas Verona, who unfortunately are now in Serie C1 and currently in last position after four games. A must have for all football fans.
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Class overwhelms tenacity
Monday, 24 September 07, 07:13 AM
Last night saw the Matildas put up brave performance in their 3-2 quarter final loss to Brazil and thus ending their World Cup run. It was a great effort by the team but in the end, the class of their Brazilian opponents shone through. Their ability to control the tempo of the game with all players looking comfortable on the ball was the key difference. Too often we gave the ball away cheaply in midfield and resorted to the long ball, with which the well drilled Brazilians had little trouble. Credit must be given to the Australian girls who although clearly outclassed, never gave up and their two goals were well taken, especially the header by Lauren Colthorpe. It certainly gave the Brazilians a wake up call after they took an early 2-0 lead. The two goals from Formiga and Cristiane were examples of pure class and great finishing. Although Formiga's goal could have been avoided if she was closed down quicker by our defence. The Brazilian penalty, although clearly a foul, was questionable as to whether the infraction occurred in the penalty area or not. A possible penalty call to Sarah Walsh in the dying minutes was also waved away and with no replays to be seen it was difficult to assess her claims.Overall, it was a great tournament from the team and now it is time to build on their results and interest. The team from Brazil clearly showed the gulf in class between the setups of the respective countries in both technical ability and football nous. A lot can be learned from countries such as Brazil, Germany and the USA in the way the women's game is developed. Also, our girls need to be playing at a high standard on a regular basis. Against Brazil, many looked tired and for some playing four games in close succession was having its affect. The reintroduction of a professional league in US in 2009 will help in this quest, but some sort of national league here in Australia needs to be put in place. We need to give our team members a chance of regular football and an opportunity to focus solely on their sport and not have to worry about making ends meet. An idea might be to affiliate teams with current A-League clubs and have them play before the men's games. Its just a thought and I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this matter. I know it has been topic of hot discussion on the Melbourne Victory forum. I am looking forward to the remaining games of the World Cupand it is great to see SBS showing the games live. I am tipping a Germany vs USA final.
Photo "borrowed" from FIFA.com
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1/2 ordinary play + 1/2 better play = another draw
Friday, 21 September 07, 11:37 PM
Last night I went down to the Royal Melbourne Hotel to watch the game versus Newcastle Jets with my friend, Rosie. I had seen her in a while and she hadn't seen the Victory in action in a while so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. We got an early idea of what the team selection would be like as we spotted Kaz Patafta in the hotel, there to watch the game with the fans as part of the official Victory viewing. Was a bit disappointed not to see him take the field and to be honest I was a little starstruck, which is kind of odd because he is an 18 year old kid and certainly looks it.
When we finally settled down to watch the game we began to watch what was a pretty ordinary first half from the Victory boys and I am of the belief not much of it is worth talking about. Although special mention must go to Stuart Musalik of the Jets who scored a wonderful goal but should have never been giving the space and the freedom to take the shot in the first place. All is can say is that the defending was very casual and the midfield was giving the ball away far too easily and it looked like we were in for a long night as memories of the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle in the final round last year came flooding back.
After some half time entertainment where our host interviewed both Patafta and Evan Berger (who is even smaller than Patafta, Note to Ernie: we need to recruit some taller players.) and gave some sponsors a plug we got the news that Keenan and been replaced by Hernandez at half time. With the introduction of Hernandez our midfield appeared to have a lot more structure than the first half. He was playing deeper in the midfield and we were playing with him as our fulcrum. It was probably his best game of the season and he is threaded through some delightful balls. Two of note were the pass to Love who subsequently sent in a great cross to Thompson who nodded home our first goal (and 6 points for my fantasy football team), and to Caceres (who came on with ten minutes to play) who then slammed home a great goal from close range to beat Covic at his near post.
It was good to see the team fight back from a seemingly lost position and gain themselves another point. Hopefully this is a turning point for the team and we can rack up our first win next week against the Roar and bring some disappointment to both Hamish and Jessica. Standout players for me on the night were Hernandez, Love and Theoklitos. Special mention must go to Theoklitos as he made a number of stunning saves to deny the Jets from running away with the game.. He is definitely the standout goalkeeper in the league at the moment. So after a fairly entertaining match, both Rosie went and separate ways knowing that the Victory were still unbeaten and the our second half performance was much better than our 'crap' first half and next time we watch a game at The Royal Melbourne Hotel we hope to see Patafta on the field and not watching the game on TV.
When we finally settled down to watch the game we began to watch what was a pretty ordinary first half from the Victory boys and I am of the belief not much of it is worth talking about. Although special mention must go to Stuart Musalik of the Jets who scored a wonderful goal but should have never been giving the space and the freedom to take the shot in the first place. All is can say is that the defending was very casual and the midfield was giving the ball away far too easily and it looked like we were in for a long night as memories of the 4-0 defeat to Newcastle in the final round last year came flooding back.
After some half time entertainment where our host interviewed both Patafta and Evan Berger (who is even smaller than Patafta, Note to Ernie: we need to recruit some taller players.) and gave some sponsors a plug we got the news that Keenan and been replaced by Hernandez at half time. With the introduction of Hernandez our midfield appeared to have a lot more structure than the first half. He was playing deeper in the midfield and we were playing with him as our fulcrum. It was probably his best game of the season and he is threaded through some delightful balls. Two of note were the pass to Love who subsequently sent in a great cross to Thompson who nodded home our first goal (and 6 points for my fantasy football team), and to Caceres (who came on with ten minutes to play) who then slammed home a great goal from close range to beat Covic at his near post.
It was good to see the team fight back from a seemingly lost position and gain themselves another point. Hopefully this is a turning point for the team and we can rack up our first win next week against the Roar and bring some disappointment to both Hamish and Jessica. Standout players for me on the night were Hernandez, Love and Theoklitos. Special mention must go to Theoklitos as he made a number of stunning saves to deny the Jets from running away with the game.. He is definitely the standout goalkeeper in the league at the moment. So after a fairly entertaining match, both Rosie went and separate ways knowing that the Victory were still unbeaten and the our second half performance was much better than our 'crap' first half and next time we watch a game at The Royal Melbourne Hotel we hope to see Patafta on the field and not watching the game on TV.
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Off to the quarter finals
Thursday, 20 September 07, 06:41 AM
83rd min: Lots of swearing, holding of head in hands.92nd min: Arms raisied in air. Lots of shouting and running around in front of the TV.
Congratulations must go to the Matildas as they became the first Australian senior team to make it to the quarter finals of a World Cup. However, they certainly gave us a rollercoaster ride in a game that had echoes of the Socceroos' match against Croatia just over twelve months ago, but without any yellow card incidents. After going down a goal to a 32 second Canadian strike it was great to see the girls dominate the rest of the half and create a lot of chances, some of them that should have been taken. The Canadians were playing a very physical game on the counter attack after taking the lead and it was playing into the hands of the Matildas. My concern was that at stage that we were playing too many long balls and not making use of our speed.
Collette McCallum then scored a cracker of a free kick early in the second half and I thought we would go on with the game from here as the Canadians looked shot. But to their credit the Canadians changed their game plan as we looked to forget ours as we wasted possession after possession. When the Canadians took the lead in the 83rd minute I thought that our wasted chances were coming back to haunt us and that our World Cup was over. But in the 92nd minute when all looked lost, a piece of individual brilliance from De Vanna in the penalty area that lead to the Salisbury goal had me leaping around my lounge room with my arms in the air. I am not sure what the neighbours would have thought as they heard my shouts of joy - unless they were watching the game as well.
Looking forward to the next game - a quarter final match against Brazil. The Matildas will have to play a full 90 minutes of quality football because if they drop off the pace like they did against Canada they will be punished by the complete football team that is Brazil. Brazil have in their ranks, Marta, FIFA player of the year, who is in great goal scoring form and will be one of many dangers for the Australians. It will be a tough game for the Matildas but I am sure they are up for it.
Image "borrowed" from FIFA.com
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On A 21st Century Portrait