Vrakas is the player I think is the most misunderstood player in our team.
I have been watching him when I can and for the life of me I cannot work out what he actually does. In the last game he continuously pointed to the other side when the ball looked to be coming up his wing. Defensively, he ran around like a long legged puppy and reminded me most of my fellow team mate in training who told me that pumping your arms when you are doing laps on the far side of the oval makes the coach think you are putting in a huge amount of effort when you aren't.
I liked what I saw of him early in the season, but he seems to have fallen completely out of step with his team mates. I would like him to gel in our last game this weekend.
Lauton just struggles to make any impact physically. He refuses to engage when he is putting pressure on the opposition centrebacks - hanging off and basically just marking a spot in front of them so they can't just drive on. When we are a goal down we need him to engage and not let them choose when they are going to start their attack. I really like him though. He is able to intercept passes well, and combines with the team going forward. He has a good eye and reads the game well. It is just that he gets pushed off the ball often like he isn't there. Nothing lacking in courage - he contests a high ball with a centreback closing on him and gets smashed for his efforts regularly. I was bothered that the ref did not afford him more protection against City last week. I am not saying the ref has to make any kind of concession for a lighter player - just that they need to call out the full body charges from behind when the ball is a bonus if they get it too.
At 23 I can't say he is going to develop that much more physically, so he needs to work on body shape when in possession if that is the thing for protecting the ball when in possession. Will he get another good run this weekend? I hope so.
Salas unloaded a beast on goal last week. He continues to be one of our shining lights. McGarry is equally involved on the other side, but he looks to be hampered by Vrakas not wanting the ball when he brings it forward - unless it is a gilt edged chance. Much of McGarry's football intelligence is lost when he is given limited support coming forward.
I cannot understand how I did not know that you cannot be offside from a goal kick - after all the years of watching football I had missed that fact until midway through this season. Which makes me wonder why, with Bouzanis' huge boot, we still tend to stay in our half and try to time a run through the last line of defence - instead of standing two thirds of the way into the opposition box and causing havoc. It is a tactic made for Vidic. A bit of pace and a bit of strength - add in a bit of luck and he can deflect/turn and run onto the keeper. I agree with Hillbilly that he is wasteful - but when we are lacking a clinical finisher (like we always seem to be) why not play to his strength and give him more chances to tie up two defenders or blaze away at goal? He might score more by volume of attempts.
I was surprised at O'Shea being on the bench last week - me being out of circulation for so long. Is he carrying a niggling injury or is it just resting his legs? Maybe this is his last game for us coming up...he is off contract at the end of 2025/26? Play your socks off it is Jay.
I don't know how much discussion there has been around the possibility of Quinn MacNicol going to City next season. If it is true then I would be surprised to see him get any sort of run this week. We are directly playing off against Perth for the much prized 10th place - so in all seriousness it is nothing more than a chance to win our last game and not end up second last. We don't need a win to secure the 10th Australia Cup spot because there are no playoffs this coming year - and no NZ teams are allowed in the Australia Cup so everyone gets a guernsey.
Dimi and Lode as our centrebacks looked OK last game. Not great - but OK. Their positioning against speedy opponents is suspect given the line breaks against us last week. It seemed too easy for City to go through us up the middle and leaving Bouzanis to tidy up.
Maieroni is worth giving a chance. He makes mistakes but on balance he adds to our efforts. Klein has to be pushed further forward to have a chance on goal himself. He is just more effective when he starts at halfway coming forward and when we are lacking a reliable, clinical finisher, the more people we get in scoring range the better.
I can see Hore starting again - his play deserves that - and likely with Vidic up front. Not sure we have a better option than Vidic as our front man. Our offensive cohesion just has not come together with rotation and injuries. Ruhs has not been able to be the game breaker he can be with us lacking smooth attacking pairings most of the season. It has been one game matchups and individual efforts rather than a cohesive group of players applying pressure all across the front line. Ruhs' strength is in a team where opponents are covering multiple threats and he is able to beat a couple in the space that affords him. We have not seen the best of him - but for the last game of the season maybe Valkanis will start him.
I think the team that starts pre-season for us is going to look a lot different to the one that ends our season this coming weekend. So a lot of players with a burning need to prove their value in this final game.
Roar to win it in a form that will have us screaming "why could you not do that all year?".
Come on you Roar!
