- Aug 19, 2015
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and on top of that, young talented players not getting game time will request trades for more opportunity at other AFL clubs. It will happen if this is how we will continue, BOOKMARK IT.
Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach
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jackster83
The Ratpack!
He is trying to build a side around our dismal midfield rather than trying to address the root cause of most of our issues.
You can bring in smooth movers in Dawson and Rachele, shuffle the key backs around, fiddle with the gameplan, but at the end of the day we are stuck with a turtle slow midfield who can't hit a forward target and can't pressure opposition clearances.
That Caldwell goal with Crouch waddling behind him really summed it up.
We are a competitive side, that plays with plenty of energy, but we are heading for our third consecutive bottom four finish, which is not good enough, especially with the talent performing in the SANFL.
You can bring in smooth movers in Dawson and Rachele, shuffle the key backs around, fiddle with the gameplan, but at the end of the day we are stuck with a turtle slow midfield who can't hit a forward target and can't pressure opposition clearances.
That Caldwell goal with Crouch waddling behind him really summed it up.
We are a competitive side, that plays with plenty of energy, but we are heading for our third consecutive bottom four finish, which is not good enough, especially with the talent performing in the SANFL.
Bottom four finishes in a rebuild are fine IF you are giving the youngsters a decent go in their best positions (the reason they were drafted).
The usual club apologists will go "but we are already the youngest team blah blah blah" - how about looking at our midfield, the most important part of the team.
If the wins come they come, if they don't they don't but losing with the Fantastic Four chewing up the bulk of midfield minutes is inexcusable.
Develop? They’re not trying to develop the midfield, it’s already stacked. Didn’t you see the stats on the weekend, there’s nothing more to it than that.
Vs Fremantle: -6 scoring shots, -7 i50s
Vs Collingwood: -7 scoring shots, -3 i50s
Vs Port: -6 scoring shots, -5 i50s
Vs Essendon: -4 scoring shots, -12 i50s
I think we probably deserve to be 0-4 at this point. Just accurate goalkicking, and bad goal kicking by our opponents, has created three close contests which should have been comfortable losses.
Not sure we’ve played the best opposition yet so far either.
Vs Collingwood: -7 scoring shots, -3 i50s
Vs Port: -6 scoring shots, -5 i50s
Vs Essendon: -4 scoring shots, -12 i50s
I think we probably deserve to be 0-4 at this point. Just accurate goalkicking, and bad goal kicking by our opponents, has created three close contests which should have been comfortable losses.
Not sure we’ve played the best opposition yet so far either.
- Aug 30, 2021
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Midfield midfield stacked midfield
Contested possession differential +9.5 which is 4th best
Clearance differential +1.2 which is 7th best
Tackle differential -8.2 which is 16th best. From memory we were worst in the league or thereabouts in Nicks first two years as well.
Partly the lack of capability to run and pressure in our core midfield group, and also just a general lack of consistent pressure across the ground.
That’s how it looks to me on TV - no consistent defensive pressure across the ground - and the numbers support that.
- May 5, 2019
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Seriously?…. Good goal kicking is good football. If you miss goals you deserve to lose.
- May 5, 2019
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Totally agree. I’m sure we can all wear the losses as long as we see development. To be in this position with an underperforming midfield while guys that have been drafted to play in those positions are played elsewhere is ludicrous.
We've kicked 50.35 this year to 54.57. That's great and all that we're being accurate, but we're giving our opposition the chance to put an extra 36 points on the board every game.
It's not a sustainable method of success to constantly be behind in both how often you get the ball inside 50 and how many shots at goal you get. We're a leaky ship and it's only a matter of time before the worm turns.
The Freo game is really the only one we deserved to win. Powaa are awful and Essendon aren't much better and were missing some key personnel. The 3rd quarter of the Freo game was our best football all year. The concerning part for me is that our skills have deteriorated. What did they do over preseason?
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It’s worse than that because our oppo have largely butchered lots of easy chances. The ease at which they run from stoppages and between the arcs gifts them lots of pressureless entries. We’ve been lucky they’ve not made the most of them. We’ve got some serious beltings coming up if we can’t work out a way to slow down oppo ball movement and get some pressure on their entries.
Dropping Schoey won’t help.
David King pointed out in our Port trial game all our mids position themselves goalside when we have the ball.
We then get burnt on the turnover with poor defensive position.
Since he has said that I have noticed this live, albeit only the Freo game. Couldn't go to the Showdown.
Freo had some mids positioned defensively even when they have the ball.
None of our mids have a defensive mindset, too much the other way.
On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app
There's a Twitter account that tracks a metric called xScore, expected score based on location of shot taken and typical performance. My recollection is we have overperformed and our opponents underperformed. I can't check though because Twitter doesn't even let you look at tweets now without an account.
On Pixel 5 using BigFooty.com mobile app
Elon will fix this.
- May 5, 2019
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Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall we’re obviously lucky
So what do we do here?
Is it public pressure on Olsen?
We need to not only remove Nick's bit everyone with input into that team.
Is it public pressure on Olsen?
We need to not only remove Nick's bit everyone with input into that team.
jackster83
The Ratpack!
- May 5, 2019
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- 5,498
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- Adelaide
Yeah wow
I don't think it should be merely win / loss that he is judged on. It should be whether our skills are inproving, game plan is visible, players are developing, our squad is being fully maximised and whether accurate assessments are made on every player in the squad. We need to see the visible improvement onfield and a coach that is flexible to try anything for the team to improve.
The concerning part is the extra loss in development
If he gets punted mid next year that is 20+ games into Sloane.
It's madness.
Is there any clarity about when the club thinks we might truly contend? Clearly not this year. But are we expecting improvement in 2023? If so, when do the musical chairs at selection end?
Do we hope to be a serious contender in 2024? If so, when do we cut the dead wood and start to settle on our best combination?
I just hope that behind the scenes, there is some clear communication and shared understanding between the coach, match committee and recruiters. I also hope that there is clear communication to the players - it would be a disaster if they are as confused as the posters here on BF.
Nicks' tenure might depend as much on selling a vision to the Board as on W/L in the short term.
Do we hope to be a serious contender in 2024? If so, when do we cut the dead wood and start to settle on our best combination?
I just hope that behind the scenes, there is some clear communication and shared understanding between the coach, match committee and recruiters. I also hope that there is clear communication to the players - it would be a disaster if they are as confused as the posters here on BF.
Nicks' tenure might depend as much on selling a vision to the Board as on W/L in the short term.
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