33 photos from Adelaide vs Melbourne 1/9/11. http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/0EwrKf52HnN/League+Rd+22+Victory+v+Adelaide
I've been tipping Adelaide in about the last five of these derby games, thinking its about time they win one, and the one week I miss my tips and would've tipped Sydney over the Coast & Adelaide over the tards, I forget.
I missed my tips this week too but as far as I can tell I would have picked wrong most of these wrong anyway. It will be very interesting seeing Adelaide v Brissy in the finals - Chokers vs Also-rans.
4-1 to the Adelaide! 4-1 to the Adelaide! 4-1 to the Adelaide! 4-1 to the Adelaide! Player ratings! (Disclaimer: I may need to re-watch the game [for the nth time] and correct things in here.) Mark Birighitti: 8 Stayed strong and made some very good reflex saves. Positioning was a lot better, showed his usual confidence. Late Victory goal was hardly his fault; whole defence had stopped to celebrate by then. Cameron Watson: 6 A lot of Melbourne's attacks were from the other side, but did fine when he had to step up. Was by no means brilliant, marking was average and could've held his ground better, but cleared most of the danger balls quite well and occasionally attributed to the flow of possession. Cassio: 7 Great on the ball, dragged defenders (Muscat) out of position on numerous occasions (one of which leading to the opening goal), put in a good number of crosses and did what he does best: Deep runs into dangerous positions. Robert Cornthwaite: 6 Got in his share of tackles, didn't make problematic mistakes with the ball at his feet. Did the shirt proud and can be very happy with his performance after a long wait for this win. Iain Fyfe: 7 Top of the heap again, leading the back line and reading the opponent's play well. Back to early season form. There was a burning passion in his eyes that would have proved to be a big factor in his performance. Adam Hughes: 8 Dare I say it, Adam bossed the midfield. Made his presence felt by the Victory attack, anchored the midfield and was key in linking up moves and switching play between wings. Especially impressive after last week's injury. To add some totally justified bias: He deserves another goal much sooner than later. Francisco Usucar: 7 The new Uruguayan on our shores played an impressive introductory game, bullishly running around, chasing players and pulling off passes with incredibly tight angles. Caught in a couple of controversial moments, though both referee decisions ultimately correct (Ricardinho dive and refusal that Usucar dived/was theatrical - that kick to his shoulder looked like it hurt). Got in Muscat's face and would have endeared quite a few supporters with that display. Thrown into the deep end and didn't sink. Has pretty much guaranteed his praise from the supporters for the rest of the season, regardless of his performances in the coming games (except, perhaps, Victory at home). Marcos Flores: 7 Finally coming back from that recent slump, looking more like the Flores that wowed the A-League earlier. Drifted into space and didn't get caught up with chasing balls, which has been a slight hindrance to his game of late. Brought out his trick bag again and even scored the opener with brilliant positioning and the late running needed from a playmaker. Travis Dodd: 7 Put in a high-working effort and didn't run out of steam as quick as he has recently. Ran at defenders, tried to set up others and pass centrally. Noted as the assister of the first goal for jumping up like a salmon! A spawning salmon! Iain Ramsay: 7 I was actually really impressed with young Iain. Made some very darting runs and his pace was extremely useful. Pulled out a couple of stepovers and thankfully didn't embarass himself in the process with any mimstakes. Didn't manage to put in as many crosses as I'd have liked and still wasn't brilliant with his strikes of the ball, but still deserved applause. Sergio van Dijk: 10 Did the hard yards and his incredible work rate made a massive difference to the game. Was always doing something, regardless of whether or not he was on the ball and regardless of which team was in posession at any given time. Scored two equally fantastic goals worthy of praise in their own right; the first a technically stunning and practically flawless free kick and the second a gutsy run that showed a determination and bravery beyond dispute. Shadowed Muscat while off the ball, leaving the Victory captain with a struggle to have any impact on play and, when on the ball, showed great technical ability with the ball at his feet, even dazzling with a few deft touches to get around defenders and cause plenty of trouble. Undoubtedly the best performance I've ever seen from the Dutchonesian striker and will be hard to match anytime soon. Was injured by Petkovic's boot to his thigh and came off soon after the second goal, but signs after the game looked like he'll be 100% for the next game. Substitutions Fabian Barbiero: 7 Was immediately hassled by the Victory and, particularly, Petkovic, who was wrapping his arm around Fabian's next at the corner kick. Got his own back seconds later when he scored from the rebounded header, blasting it into the roof of the net and giving Petkovic no chance whatsoever. A confident display, coming on at 2-0 and scoring the third did no harm in keeping him motivated. Rest of the post to come later. I should really do some work while I'm in the office.
Paul Reid: 6 Came on when it was all done and dusted, was there to give Usucar a rest. Was a very good substitution, but Reid wasn't there to do anything in particular. Did get involved and put in an effort, though, and played well. Lucas Pantelis: 6 Played only 13-ish minutes, replaced van Dijk to keep him from pulling up too sore. Played well, almost created a goal and almost scored another chance. Exploited Melbourne's tired legs. Substitutes not used: Eugene Galekovic (GK) MOTM: Sergio van Dijk Weakest link: Cameron Watson
Ah the look on those arrogant victorian faces, it would have been fun to take pics of them haha. Heres to this being the start of Victorys painstorm, at the hands of Adelaide.
You must admit, though. He has been pretty massive for Adelaide this season - and not in the same sense that Hernandez is massive for the Victory, either.
There's not as much pace and trickery in the K-League as you might believe. He's handled himself well against K-League opposition in the past and I'm sure he'll be fine. The K-League itself is very physical and "run and gun," so I don't doubt he can do well over there. It may have also been through the recommendation of Shin In-Seob, who's just joined Busan as well.
Seems like Busan are just taking as many A-League players as they can fit into the squad. NEWS! With Iain Fyfe's departure, Rini Coolen and the backroom staff have again been proactive and found a defender to last the remainder of the season: Dario Bodrušić. The Bosnian-born 27-year-old centre back represented Croatia U-21 nine times and had last played for NK Istra 1961. He comes to the club after the United staff saw video footage of the defender from his agent. Francisco "Pancho" Usucar has secured his future with Adelaide United after signing a two-year deal that will see him stay with Adelaide until the end of the 2012/13 season. Travis Dodd may leave the Reds at the end of his contract to seek a lucrative three-year deal with Perth Glory. Rini Coolen had offered the current captain a new contract and, after lengthy discussions, the club has conceded that they are likely to lose the tricky winger to the club across the Nullarbor. Following the departure of Iain Fyfe to South Korea on Wednesday and their own club's financial insecurity, North Queensland Fury have agreed to release midfielder Osama Malik from his contract so he can join Adelaide United for the remainder of the season. Malik rejoined Adelaide in training this week. There are rumours circulating that Adelaide left back Cassio Jose de Abreu Oliveira (Cassio) will become a naturalised Australian during this year's Australia Day induction ceremony. This will leave the club with one available import space for next season and will also allow Cassio to wear an Australian flag cape at the Big Day Out. ANYWAY, finally, another game tonight! Predicted lineup: [LINEUP-4-3-3]Ramsay, van Dijk, Dodd, Reid, Flores, Hughes, Cassio, Fyfe, Boogaard, Watson, Galekovic[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Subs: Birighitti, Cornthwaite, Pantelis, Leckie Omitted: Usucar No Bodrusic (possibly awaiting a transfer certificate/fitness) or Slory (likely fitness after the injury). No Malik for this game, either, as part of the agreement to release him from his Fury contract.
Does it worry you that his new defender seems to have been signed on a whim by viewing video footage? Video footage supplied by his own agent, nonetheless?
Well, the agent part is assumption, but anybody signed through video footage is a massive concern. Would've preferred us to pick up a Dutch defender on a six month loan, using whatever contacts Rini has in his homeland. It's only for six months, though, and it was relatively urgent, so I don't blame them for thinking and acting hastily.
I feel for furries. How could ya be so ruthless, Adelaide? Btw, it seems very likely that on 30th week at Oval the Reds will have a sweetest chance to kick MV out of the finals for the first time ever.
Please do, the Victory are a team of thugs led by Muskrat, the Heart on the other hand are a decent team worthy of anyones respect.
Match ratings - Adelaide United vs. North Queensland Fury - 21/1/2011 Eugene Galekovic: 6 Wasn't a "kept us in the game" performance, but did a good job between the sticks and didn't turn off with little to do. Nothing he could to stop the Fury's goal; was a brilliant strike that you would have to have read before Nikas even considered it. Cassio: 6 Played well, not spectacular. Got himself into good positions and made it hard for Hingert to track his forward runs. Cameron Watson: 6 Took him about six goals to start playing with any real confidence, but once he hit his stride, he was hard to stop. With the Fury playing fairly narrow, he didn't have as much to do defensively. Managed to put in the cross for van Dijk's hat-trick. Iain Fyfe: 7 Dealt with a lot of situations well, particularly in the first half where the game was quite sloppy. Regularly comes off the line to handle the opposition, which can sometimes cause problems, but didn't make those mistakes this time around. Perhaps showing off his skills to his new owners at Busan. Nigel Boogaard: 6 Had good positioning for most of the game, covered Fyfe's forward pressure by staying on the defensive line and also put in his share of defensive work. Not yet totally fit, but was enough to keep the Fury at bay. Francisco Usucar: 7 Played the same bull-ish defending that he did against Victory. Screened sideways more than up and down the pitch, providing defensive cover for the fullbacks and those areas are where most of his tackles occurred, all of which hard, but very timely. Like Boogaard, he's still getting his match fitness, but he has shown a very good engine. Adam Hughes: 7 Is playing with a lot of confidence recently, getting both balls and himself forward and being a much more creative force than what is probably expected by most. Almost earned an assist with a cut back in the box after getting himself right up to the goal line and providing the only real option, which shows his growing confidence developing into better decision making. Marcos Flores: 9 Wasn't putting on the flair like usual, but his general play was great and he scored his first hat-trick for Adelaide United to boot. He has become a lot better physically and that fact is highlighted by the fact that two of his three goals were scored from headers. Iain Ramsay: 6 Started well and got himself on the scoresheet, but faded in the second half, not helped by the fact that so much of the attack was coming through the right. Travis Dodd: 7 Arguably his best performance of the season so far, exploiting the lackadaisical centre of defence to score from a Flores through ball. Whether the performance was due to overall fitness or the fact that his contract is about to end is relatively moot for the time being. Sergio van Dijk: 9 Perhaps a touch lucky with his header, but make no mistake, his other two goals required a lot of precise technique. Got involved deep on quite a few occasions, but played primarily at the pointy end and got his just reward. Substitutions Paul Reid: 6 Was actually relatively quiet and didn't have a great deal of impact - not that an impact was required - but helped Hughes well in screening the defence and supplying balls. Fairly standard performance. Robert Cornthwaite: 6 The fact that Nikas scored shortly after he came on is more comical than anything, given his reputation with a large number of supporters, but he played a decent game and slotted in well for Boogaard. Mathew Leckie: 6 Had the backing of the crowd and the comfort of a 6-1 scoreline. A good performance for his first game in around three months, almost got on the scoresheet and played his part in one of the last goals. Substitutions not used: Mark Birighitti (GK) MOTM: Marcos Flores Weakest link: ... Do I have to?
that...And getting rid of the tactically inept Aurelio Vidmar and replacing him with a gaffer who knows what he's doing: Mr Rini Coolen!