
Originally Posted by
pv4
I posted this elsewhere. Will just C+V it:
Might as well go player-by-player too..
Ryan - in the battle between Ryan & Langerak, under Ange, Ryan is always going to win. Ange's biggest thing he wants from a keeper is good distribution, with a lot of touches on the ball. Ryan is only the best distributing goalkeeper I've seen Australia produce. The problem with Ryan is he lacks with his catching/high balls/crossing, whereas I think Langerak is better than that. But Ryan is always going to win out v Langerak solely because of his distributing. For reference, see what Ange did when he came to Victory. Velaphi was better at keeping than Thomas (and I REALLY don't rate Velaphi at all), but Thomas could actually play the ball whereas Velaphi is scared to play. A distributor is always going to be first picked for Ange. It's also hard to validate picking Langerak when, although he's at the best club in the world (or one of), he's not getting regular playing time. Whether keepers need this, I'm not sure. But he definately doesn't get the year-round pressure that a starting keeper would get. And Ryan is playing reg for Brugge, so all the stars align for him currently.
Franjic - I have a mate who genuinely believes that Franjic is the best RB in the world, in the sense that he believes you could chuck him into any team & he'd perform. While that may be a bit of a stretch, I'm yet to see him out of his depth. Coming from state league as a centre mid, he has the ball-playing & smarts ability to be a good distributor. And his touch on the ball and pace makes him lethal forward. While he does get caught out defensively a tiny bit, it's not as much as most rightbacks who are given that kind of freedom to bomb forward. Also, with two holding mids, you'd hope he gets covered. Love him!
Neill - I was on the edge of my seat when he got interviewed at the end of the match. I was certain I was witnessing Aus football history by him announcing his retirement. But, he let me down. Basically once that guy decided West Ham was a better choice than Liverpool, he lost me. He chose to walk alone, when he could have chosen to never walk alone. His career post-Blackburn has been a money&greed-driven trainwreck. While I genuinely believe in the 3 msot recent qualifiers (Jap, Jordan, Iraq) he was the best player, I can't see value in keeping him in the squad and others out. But still, handy player. Did get caught out defensively a few times though - they loved running off the back of him.
McGowan - dafuq are you doing mate. Win a Scottish trophy one minute, nek minnit you're chasing dollars in Asia. Get yourself back into Europe where you belong.
Williams - love him, can't help but be frustrated by his injuries. Sort it out, son.
Davidson - I've always known he is Japan-Australian, but man he looks Asian! He needs a silkier touch on the ball - too many times his first touch bounced up and made for some comical passes. Looks proactive & lively though. Way better option than Carney.
Milligan - did OK. Thought his passing was a bit heavy, and sometimes his teammates struggled to control them.
Jedi - still love the guy. A real captain in my eyes. May have had some wayward passes, but did a heap too.
Kruse - is exactly the same as Henrique for Brisbane Roar. Has the skills, has the pace, is known to have some absolute quality moments. But I can't look at his face without thinking it needs a good reconfiguring. Plus he's the source of so many frustrating moments. Sometimes, just when you think he's done all the work in the world to set up a brilliant chance, he'll fxxx it up. And it'll all be wasted. All of these traits I think Kruse & Henrique fit perfectly.
Bresc - so tidy. The best of our [g]old generation still. Was surprised to see him out there though - thought the scandal would have made us scared to play him.
Leckie - looked lively. Obviously should have scored that cross. Stupid tackle to get injured. More suited to two up front to one IMO.
Rogic - love the guy. For such a tall frame, how dafuq does he move like he does??? A true talent.
Kennedy - love the hair.
Cahill - you can't put a price on how valuable he's been to Australia.
McKay - only saw him do one thing, and he turned it over. Very unlike him.
Vidosic - barely noticed him tbh.
Wilkinson - what is the value in having him in the side? There are way better prospects than him coming through.
An interesting stat - ten of those names I mentioned have played A-League. This is only a testament to the strength of the league in how it develops players. I look at the youngsters in the HAL now, and I think they're better than a lot of the above guys were when they played HAL, and it shows me that the future is bright, really bright. Chapman, Sainsbury, Taggart, Brillante, Goodwin, Pain, heaps more. Looking good!
Since Dukes retired, we've had a real striker shortage. Kennedy always injured, McDonald too much of a footballer for any of our coaches at the time, Cahill more a fake striker, Brosque is dreadful, Joel Griffiths misunderstood. With Leckie, Juric, Duke, Taggart, Gameiro, Babalj all coming through, i see more of a striker choice headache than shortage on our hands! Out of all them I reckon Duke will go the furthest - he's insanely good. His attitude will be the only thing to stop him going big time IMO. When the F3 derby was on, Jaliens had him covered all game. And Duke didn't take kindly, and lashed out a bit. If he can calm his temper, he'll be terrific.
Speaking of McDonald - man I wish he was 4 years younger. Him, in this system, would score more goals than Berisha did under Ange. He'd score a goal a game, and be called on as a national hero.
What this team needs - Spira. We have, and always will, need Spira. He's a reincarnation of Ljubo, without the attitude. That dude is the gem of Australian football. I have only seen him play once for WSW, but it was magical. Until Sainsbury & Chapman are ready to take over, which I give 5 years, Spira needs to be leading us from the back.
Overall though, I don't see CR as a great world force. I still think we have A LOT of work to do to get as tidy as we were, against top teams. Our 1-touch play around is nice, but we couldn't do that against Japan (who I rate so highly - if they make the WC semis I will not be surprised at all). Nor any top seeded teams. But overall we're finally playing a proactive game, and I finally have faith in our coach. Love it!