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Official South Melbourne Hellas thread 🔵⚪

southmelb said:
I think whoever plays us next week will fancy themselves against out backline. Our stars will need to carry us over the line. The frustrating thing is that it has nothing to do with our team gelling, we just look incredibly soft at the back.
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Our defending tonight was nothing short of diabolical.

We could have conceded within the first 2 minutes, but thankfully the quality of Uchida shone through to create our opening goals.

The Moreton first goal was a real cracker, but the second one was completely avoidable. Lopez to blame. The third goal infuriated me as we were so lax at the back, no urgency, no desire to run down balls. Jankovic should have provided more defensive coverage.

Granted the coach rested a number of players and made a number of substitutions at halftime, but there was no excuse for not taking out the 3 points. I’m hoping the coach really hammers home the point during training that such performances will get us knocked out in finals matches.

Just glad we didn’t lose any players to injuries or suspensions.
 
SMFC1959 said:
Another avoidable yellow card.

Do cards get swiped clean for the finals?
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Yes they do. Sinisa did well with his subs tonight dragging the players that copped yellows because a red would carry through obviously.

Overall only games where our defensive pressure was up to scratch were the first 2. So its no coincidence after Marshall went down that we started dropping off.
 
Has Menelaou shown enough to stay in? Because if we go with that im putting Giannokopoulos at CB again like last week. If Jankovic doesnt want to lift his intensity we wont win regardless. These guys have to be even more switched on now that Lopez best days are likely behind him.

We need massive games from our gun attacking recruits next week to compensate for the defensive shit show.
 
southmelb said:
Has Menelaou shown enough to stay in? Because if we go with that im putting Giannokopoulos at CB again like last week. If Jankovic doesnt want to lift his intensity we wont win regardless. These guys have to be even more switched on now that Lopez best days are likely behind him.

We need massive games from our gun attacking recruits next week to compensate for the defensive shit show.
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Menelaou has been handy and I’m assuming he’ll feature in some of the OFC Pro League matches. He’s good to come off the bench and provide cover.

Problem is that we’d miss the power of work Giannakopoulos does in the centre of the park if he’s moved to defence. He helps Pasquali in the centre midfield.

We need Aguek, Lavale and Mikkola and Bonada to be on fire next week.

Marshall’s return in defence can’t come soon enough.
 
SMFC1959 said:
Menelaou has been handy and I’m assuming he’ll feature in some of the OFC Pro League matches. He’s good to come off the bench and provide cover.

Problem is that we’d miss the power of work Giannakopoulos does in the centre of the park if he’s moved to defence. He helps Pasquali in the centre midfield.

We need Aguek, Lavale and Mikkola and Bonada to be on fire next week.
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I dont see lavale starting (despite being a lot better today) for me its bonada aguek and uchida... i too worry about whether we lose more than we gain with gannakop at the centre of defence.. a lot of the play against us has been via our right back slot generally error in pass and then scurry to catch or cought too high when going forward.. where i had the hope khadour would possibly gove us better defensive cover he is here 1 week and gone 2, had zero time to gel like others. Thats a sore spot for us which then pressures the centre of defence..
southmelb said:
Mikkola doesnt give much sadly.
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Would you assign him to right back?
 
Im only playing Mikkola for the long throw which tends to be more effective at Lakeside. Then again if we play Preston and we come up against Bozinovski and that other tall goon it may be pointless. He has only played 1 good half all tournament (moreton at home). Tempted to go Lavale over him against Preston, more likely to keep him in against other 2 teams.
 
Speaking to sinisa yesterday he said Marshall could be back next well if all things go well.

Disappointing defending tonight however one thing i am loving is the way we move the ball so quickly at times out the back and forward. Biggest worry is we focus so much on attack that our defence doesn't get enough support from midfield. We're playing 2 strikers and 2 wingers with pasquali and menaleu in the middle. This is where I think pope should be playing instead of 1 of the strikers to help break up the play
 
Khodder is poor, JPA better option.
Problems stem from midfield where Leech, Pasquali & Menelaou are timid & not ball winners / tacklers & all 3 do not have a fwd pass as part of their game that open up opposition. Pope is just a runner /grafter & not a link man. Mikkola all year been poor generally only 2 goals in 3025 & 1 being the overhead kick gifted to him by Schroens slip. Lavale, Dovison, Bilal & Mesa are are flattered to be wearing the smfc shirt. Jankovic been sloppy looks tired.
Marshall leaving & big risk to play against Preston ion a physical encounter - best if they miss out & play Spirit in QF - coach should reshape midfield
 
hellas_johnny said:
Speaking to sinisa yesterday he said Marshall could be back next well if all things go well.

Disappointing defending tonight however one thing i am loving is the way we move the ball so quickly at times out the back and forward. Biggest worry is we focus so much on attack that our defence doesn't get enough support from midfield. We're playing 2 strikers and 2 wingers with pasquali and menaleu in the middle. This is where I think pope should be playing instead of 1 of the strikers to help break up the play
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The draw away to Moreton City highlighted how important of a role Giannakopoulos plays in the middle of the park.

If we can get Marshall back for next week, then the team will have a better balance. My only concern is how much match fitness will Marshall have lost during his injury. He may not be able to play a full 90 minutes in an important quarter final match against a strong opponent.
 
On a positive note, that fact that I’m annoyed that we dropped points in a meaningless match shows that the old Hellas mentality is back. Six months ago, we would have celebrated a draw! Now that we have a decent team and decent coach playing attacking football, normality has returned.

That said - we need to win our quarter final match next week !
 
So who do we want to face in the quarter final match next week?

Dont know too much about NWS Spirit and we’d have 3-4K crowd.

Preston would be up for a big match and the crowd would be in excess of 7K, providing the club a big payday.

In an ideal world, you’d face Preston, sell out Lakeside and win to progress to semis.
 
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