We are a laughing stock

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Kennelly doesn't seem to be regularly matched up on the key forwards, but sometimes seems to find himself there.

Given that he and Leo were the two biggest guys in our back half who did you think was gonna take Perrie and Welsh?

Paul Roos give us a proper backline!!!!
By using these guys on Key forwards your not making room for more runners in the team your just stuffing up our best runners out of defence.

[Rizzo]

Interesting.

The performance of Tiger and Matthews aside, I thought we lost it in the midfield. After Willo went off - Jude and the Captain were good, Nick was serviceable but the rest were completely lost. We couldn't transition from the half back line 'cause the Crows did their homework and bottled it up there - as well as playing smart and waiting for the intercept.

McLeod ran riot. How the hell did he manage to run the ball from the kick in box to over half way?

Why were there so many Crows not marked up on the through the centre - particularly on the Crows right-hand side.

The Swans were poor defensively but I wouldn't blame Leo or C. Bolton for that.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Rizzo
The performance of Tiger and Matthews aside, I thought we lost it in the midfield. After Willo went off - Jude and the Captain were good, Nick was serviceable but the rest were completely lost.

Which highlights the problem in our midfield - Kirk and Bolton are support players. We need some guys who can really make it happen. Where we get them from I don't know - hopefully a couple of the youngsters.

McLeod ran riot. How the hell did he manage to run the ball from the kick in box to over half way?

Because we run this crap flooding instead of manning up around the ground.

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Because we run this crap flooding instead of manning up around the ground.

It makes me wonder if the flooding thing seems to be relied upon coz it works so well at training - if you can't get the ball into the forward line it must work. But wait, could it be the reason we can't get the ball into our forward line at training is because we have poor skills? So while flooding works at training, it doesn't work in games because the opposition ARE capable of hitting targets!

[NMWBloods]

You have just hit the nail on the head!!

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by Mike_B
But wait, could it be the reason we can't get the ball into our forward line at training is because we have poor skills?

I'm not sure about this but it seems to me that our midfield skill levels are lower now than in 2003?

[sharp9]

Skill Level OMG! The number of times they kicked 40 or 50 metres to a running player's chest, with a Swan right on his heel but absolutely no chance to even spoil, let alone take possession. I was screaming at the telly "How can they do that?" over and over....but then again Port have done it to us many times and Adelaide at the SCG in 2003 is another that comes to mind.

When Mathews or Maxi or Leo or Crouchy are about to send the ball long down the line the last thing you expect - the absolute last - is that it will be marked by a Swan.

When we send it forward 8 times out of ten the ball hits the deck before a) going over the sideline pursued by O'Keefe/Jolly/Ablett b) reaching said player who is bundled over the sideline or c) coming back with interest seeing as it was 2 on 1 on our HFF in the first place.

I don't ask that much. I don't need skills on their level to at least keep me calm....but kick it long to a place WHERE THE SWANS CAN MAKE AN EVEN CONTEST.

How many times did it go into the forward fifty and no-one from the Swans even was able to compete for the ball? And we kicked it there!. The forward fifty is small, how hard can it be to kick it to a contest!!!!!!!!!!!

In their fifty, by contrast they either took possession or were beaten in a difficult contest by Leo or CB etc. The point being that our backline had no easy clean-ups because the delivery was fantastic.

And it wasn't a pressure issue either. They delivered well even when under pressure....we dribbled it to no-one when in total space under no pressure with three leading forwards to choose from!!!!

[mpr104]

Originally posted by sharp9
Skill Level OMG! The number of times they kicked 40 or 50 metres to a running player's chest, with a Swan right on his heel but absolutely no chance to even spoil, let alone take possession. I was screaming at the telly "How can they do that?" over and over....but then again Port have done it to us many times and Adelaide at the SCG in 2003 is another that comes to mind.

When Mathews or Maxi or Leo or Crouchy are about to send the ball long down the line the last thing you expect - the absolute last - is that it will be marked by a Swan.

When we send it forward 8 times out of ten the ball hits the deck before a) going over the sideline pursued by O'Keefe/Jolly/Ablett b) reaching said player who is bundled over the sideline or c) coming back with interest seeing as it was 2 on 1 on our HFF in the first place.

I don't ask that much. I don't need skills on their level to at least keep me calm....but kick it long to a place WHERE THE SWANS CAN MAKE AN EVEN CONTEST.

How many times did it go into the forward fifty and no-one from the Swans even was able to compete for the ball? And we kicked it there!. The forward fifty is small, how hard can it be to kick it to a contest!!!!!!!!!!!

In their fifty, by contrast they either took possession or were beaten in a difficult contest by Leo or CB etc. The point being that our backline had no easy clean-ups because the delivery was fantastic.

And it wasn't a pressure issue either. They delivered well even when under pressure....we dribbled it to no-one when in total space under no pressure with three leading forwards to choose from!!!!

SPOT ON!

[swan_song]

Over-use of handball, turning into traffic rather than away from it, kicking to two on one or three on one contests...it's just so frustrating...these guys have been playing football since theyre nine or ten, maybe even longer...and the delivery and skill level looks like they haven't aged! I can not get it through my thick head how a professional footballer can't kick the ball 30 metres to a target... or handball so that the ball doesn't go four feet over a teammate's head...it is, TRULY, beyond me...

[NMWBloods]

How was Leo Barry's out of bounds on the full! Haven't seen him do that in such a simple kick to an unmarked player since the game against Brisbane in 2003 when he put it out in roughly the same place.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
How was Leo Barry's out of bounds on the full! Haven't seen him do that in such a simple kick to an unmarked player since the game against Brisbane in 2003 when he put it out in roughly the same place.

Very frustrating because there was a Swans player loose at right half back and if he'd kicked it to him, that player had an open corridor to run through down centre (something you probably couldnt see on TV). I was so angry at Leo for this stuff up that I was yelling at him to take himself off.

[originalswan]

Nearly everytime we have played Adelaide over the last 3-4 years they have made our team look like juniors playing against men!

It's time the match commitee showed the constant inept performers that your name alone is not enough to guarantee you a game - I thought this was gone with Eade!

Make a statement "Match Commitee" give some youngsters a go like Dempster (look what he is showing) and drop Mathews and Kennelly at the least. Show us the supporters that you are sick of mediocre performances and that you are doing something about it!!!

[mocaholic]

Originally posted by sharp9
In their fifty, by contrast they either took possession or were beaten in a difficult contest by Leo or CB etc. The point being that our backline had no easy clean-ups because the delivery was fantastic.

Rarely do we kick to the 'advantage' of our forwards....I saw Goodes do it to Barry one-on-one (who marked, but missed), or to O'Loughlin when he marked on a lead, directly at the kicker. All too regularly we simply bomb it in the air, giving defenders the op to spoil. Kicking it to the side where the forward is, or leading at the ball carrier, is where we MUST get better.

Another issue is having one-outs....when we looked for BBBB too often the second forward (Goodes, Magic, Nicks whoever) would go to the same place, thus making it easier for their defender to provide the second man up and make a spoil (and for Magic to either shepherd and give away a free kick or fall over leaving another 2 on 1 agst us). We need somebody to lead, and the other forward to hang back, or even make a decoy lead to somewhere else thus isolating a one-on-one.

Hitting the target too would be nice!

[Diego]

They are just stupid footballers full stop.

Roosy stop confusing the hell out of the poor darlings with a complicated game plan and just tell em to kick it long to a contest.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by Diego
They are just stupid footballers full stop.

Roosy stop confusing the hell out of the poor darlings with a complicated game plan and just tell em to kick it long to a contest.

While I apprciate the 'humour' in your statement, I suspect they may in fact be being "overcoached" by Ross Lyon particularly. The midfield looks confused and desperate to dispose of the ball at the first opportunity. They look like they (or rather their predecessors) did under Eade.