Opinion Why arent we playing our best footy

[Righteo]

Probably a myriad of factors behind it, the most simple reason I've seen though is quality of forward entries. We're winning enough of the footy, we're doing pretty well defensively, we're getting it in there enough. We haven't been able to spot up enough targets in the forward 50 though, we're also not able to lock it in for long periods either like last year and that's only partly injury related IMO.

We can get away with inefficiency and lack of quality forward targets to some extent if we keep the pressure on and lock the footy in our 50, eventually something will give, goals of our own or conceding the quick opposition rebound goal; this year so far it's mostly been the latter

 

[slicedndiced]

Probably a myriad of factors behind it, the most simple reason I've seen though is quality of forward entries. We're winning enough of the footy, we're doing pretty well defensively, we're getting it in there enough. We haven't been able to spot up enough targets in the forward 50 though, we're also not able to lock it in for long periods either like last year and that's only partly injury related IMO.

We can get away with inefficiency and lack of quality forward targets to some extent if we keep the pressure on and lock the footy in our 50, eventually something will give, goals of our own or conceding the quick opposition rebound goal; this year so far it's mostly been the latter

Nah, drop everyone.

Delist, delist!

Good post btw.

 

[Sman-21]

Our defensive structure is still good.
That's why we are still keeping most teams to low scores.

The problem is we aren't working hard enough and have an out of form and makeshift forward line.

How many 6 day breaks did we have last season, we also worked our asses off putting insane amounts of pressure on opponents nearly every week.
Barely seen it this year so damn right its a BS excuse.
Maybe if the game was finals like intensity then a 6 day break I would buy that excuse a little.

Major problem is player mindset followed by dysfunctional forward line.

The players are in cruise control, too many feel safe with their positions in the team so they are slightly off on their effort.
Plus they made a grand final games after that feel like nothing games and hard to get up for.

Week 1 we came out all guns blazing and smashed Collingwood.
Players were excited to get back under way and put in a huge effort for the 1st game.
Yet everyone was worried that we weren't ready due to shorter pre season, crap form, players not ready etc etc
Everyone on here and commentators were in awe of our new gameplan and calling us flag favourites.
Our gameplan hasn't changed since then.
If we don't work hard and bring the required effort the gameplan falls to bits.

 

[Minz]

I see things differently. It's still the same problem, no forward target (except Pav) and not kicking straight. Further made worse by Sonson and Ballas absence.

Pav, Suban and can't remember who else missed totally totally straightforward set shots. After that, it was no really good north defense but nobody having the balls to kick for goal anymore. Our inside 50s is still not bad, problem is everyone just try to pass around not willing to take a shot until they got tackled.

Kicking straight would be a beautiful thing - the odd bit for me is consistency. Kicking was great against Essendon, missing ever since. What's with that?

The other thing I'd like to see is more targeted 50m entries. On the weekend, there were a lot of entries which were just bomb-and-hope, which made scoring hard, and Freo players were usually out-numbered there. I think the forward structure just isn't quite working at the moment.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Probably a myriad of factors behind it, the most simple reason I've seen though is quality of forward entries. We're winning enough of the footy, we're doing pretty well defensively, we're getting it in there enough. We haven't been able to spot up enough targets in the forward 50 though, we're also not able to lock it in for long periods either like last year and that's only partly injury related IMO.

We can get away with inefficiency and lack of quality forward targets to some extent if we keep the pressure on and lock the footy in our 50, eventually something will give, goals of our own or conceding the quick opposition rebound goal; this year so far it's mostly been the latter

Well said. They way we kick the ball into the forward line and our forward line setup appear to be to blame.

I would add that I am not sure our loose man in defense is working this year, as I think sides have worked out how to kick around him.

 

[clogged]

The whole Ross Lyon brand of footy is about taking spuds and turning them into reliable team players that fit into the structure. When our structures hold up we look good, when our structures break down we look like a team of spuds.

Don't agree with this. It's not that simple.

Problem is not so much that there are too many spuds, it's that there are too many "roles" and players are being told to play within their limits in these roles. Which works only so long.

Eventually opposition coaches work things out. Like Suban over favouring his left foot to the point that if he can't get on it, he will panic handball, rush the ball on his boot or simply take the tackle. So around stoppages he basically gets a freer run at the ball than others because coaches will happily risk losing first possession for the eventual turnover.

Or De Boer being unable to kick more than 40m and having little goal sense, while being dangerous in congestion in the forward 50 because of his tackling ability and quick hands. So the man he goes to is instructed to take him out of the forward 50, and get free for the next kick on the spread.

It can be fixed by either adjusting the defined roles or giving players like Suban or De Boer different roles in the team. Or getting players outside the team in to it and giving them the roles.

Basically adjust what is there, and make the side just a little bit less predictable for the opposition.

 

[The Pirate]

It's always the midfield. In patches our first choice players have been flat throughout the year and second tier mids aren't stepping up.

To the midfields credit they're getting the ball in to the forward line but the delivery is lacking and the pressure assistance to the forwards is not there to keep it in. Coming out of the back line there's not players working hard enough midfield to be an option. Rebound players like Sutcliffe, Duffield and Spurr are wearing the heat but I don't see anyone providing that easy release pass to link forward.

I think Freo has plateaued at the moment. 2012 and 2013 was such a massive incline in being elite. The fight has been there this year but we haven't looked threatening. We play a high effort style of game reliant on players playing their role. Weak links get highlighted easily when the effort drops. Or maybe it is it a case of us learning a new, more attacking game plan like 2012 where it took us half a year to nail. These are the things that keep me up at night.

We're not playing great footy, but when teams plateau they either go two ways: Refuse the challenge and underachieve. Or, accept the challenge and step up. If we can refocus on increasing our effort things will change pretty quickly.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

It's always the midfield. In patches our first choice players have been flat throughout the year and second tier mids aren't stepping up.

To the midfields credit they're getting the ball in to the forward line but the delivery is lacking and the pressure assistance to the forwards is not there to keep it in. Coming out of the back line there's not players working hard enough midfield to be an option. Rebound players like Sutcliffe, Duffield and Spurr are wearing the heat but I don't see anyone providing that easy release pass to link forward.

I think Freo has plateaued at the moment. 2012 and 2013 was such a massive incline in being elite. The fight has been there this year but we haven't looked threatening. We play a high effort style of game reliant on players playing their role. Weak links get highlighted easily when the effort drops. Or maybe it is it a case of us learning a new, more attacking game plan like 2012 where it took us half a year to nail. These are the things that keep me up at night.

We're not playing great footy, but when teams plateau they either go two ways: Refuse the challenge and underachieve. Or, accept the challenge and step up. If we can refocus on increasing our effort things will change pretty quickly.

That is a great post.

 

[Dead Weight]

3 games in 18 days, never under estimate the 6 day break.

Injured:
Kepler Bradley Handy player if available
Michael Barlow Huge out
Scott Gumbleton Handy player if available
Michael Walters Huge out
Chris Mayne ??? Looks like a V8 running on 4 cylinders

Suspended :
Hayden Ballantyne: Needs a massive kick up the arse

Current spud like perfomances:
Hayden Crozier
Tom Sheridan
Matt deBoer
Cameron Sutcliffe
Lee Spurr

Lost Causes: Colin Sylvia

EFA

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

Undermanned and underdone. No more. No Less.

 

[stax on the mull]

RE: 6 day breaks

Maybe some of the lack of skills is coming from that loss of training. Loss of instinctive play on game day - knowing where the next possession is going to, and knowing where to run to to get it. It only takes a hesistation in ball movement to be covered by the opposition.
Ross's mantra is 'we train as we play' or 'play as we train' or what ever. I think the 6 day breaks are significant as there is just the one major training session during the week, and we've had a couple of things to fix up due to personel losses. i) midfield ii) forward - and we still haven't quite worked through it with a significant amount of training drills.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Teams have worked us out a bit more, and our loose man in defense is no where near as effective as it was. Quiet simply, teams are running and short passing around him.

We are not working hard enough to cut of the short kick, how many times are our players 10m's behind their opponents.

Michael Walters is being missed so badly, as it Barlow. Add to that an out of form Walters and we are down 80+ goals or 4 goals a game from last year.

Add to this our forward entries have been appalling, and I am not sure why. The issue could be a lack of key personal as mentioned above or it could be a lack of fitness effecting our skills.

 

[caterina]

Interesting to look at where we are stats wise
Ross has repeatedly said to be a premiership team you have to be top 4 in attack, defence and contested ball
We are currently 4th, 5th and 2nd respectively
Statistically at least he has us where he wants us, except for winning games!

 

[Big Animal]

I see things differently. It's still the same problem, no forward target (except Pav) and not kicking straight. Further made worse by Sonson and Ballas absence.

Pav, Suban and can't remember who else missed totally totally straightforward set shots. After that, it was no really good north defense but nobody having the balls to kick for goal anymore. Our inside 50s is still not bad, problem is everyone just try to pass around not willing to take a shot until they got tackled.

Can't say we are in good shape, but it's not that difficult to fix.

Also guys, can you please count the number of best 22 we have out?

Ballas, Sonson, Barlow, Gumby and Ibbo. Any team will struggle with that number of outs.

Agree. Late in the last quarter Suttcliffe, Hill and D Pearce all had 2 shots on goal. I think the total score from those shots was 2 points. The win was there. We threw it. I don't understand why the Freo mids seem to lack a hunger to kick goals or miss so often. Really frustrating.

 

[electricfeel]

Nobody seems to want to have a shot lately. We are all looking to pass off and eventually end up turning it over and stuffing it up. We need more players to have that desire and hunger in taking it upon themselves to kick goals. We aren't confident in our own abilities.

In contrast, the game against Essendon - everyone was having a crack and we were kicking goals from everywhere. Teams like Hawthorn seem to do this weekly.

 

[pokerspiv]

That's been the case with our mids for a long time. The only guys consistently willing to take shots from long range are Pearce and Hill.

 

[Simmofreo]

That's been the case with our mids for a long time. The only guys consistently willing to take shots from long range are Pearce and Hill.

And that's what we recruited Sylvia for.

Play him !!!

 

[go_the_dockers]

How much is Crowley's poor form hurting us?

This is the difference between Harvey getting 10 possessions and 30 possessions.

 

[Dead Weight]

And that's what we recruited Sylvia for.

Play him !!!

Yeah, fcuk it let's play him. Having standards at a football club is highly over rated anyway.

 

[Simmofreo]

Yeah, fcuk it let's play him. Having standards at a football club is highly over rated anyway.

Need some goals from somewhere

 

[Ragtooth]

There is no way we’ll ‘reward’ Syliva with a game after an interrupted Pre-season and little WAFL form….only IF he has seriously impressed during training whilst suspended…However I haven’t heard anything from the training watchers. He looks like to go two ways: A long term project slowly finding form OR another Freo trade dud (although we had done ok in recent history).

 

[ImperialPurple]

3 games in 18 days, never under estimate the 6 day break.

Try 3 games in 12 days, including the trip to Sydney in the middle.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

That's been the case with our mids for a long time. The only guys consistently willing to take shots from long range are Pearce and Hill.

That will be fixed with Sylvia and Morabito coming in.

 

[couldhavebeen]

I'm just about to scream WTF do you expect to happen with the outs we have had so far this season .
Forward line what forward line .
Consistency is the one thing missing from our forward line at the moment and no other team in the AFL could win a game if they lost the number of forwards we have had to play without so far this season .
Our team last week had Mayne on 1 leg ,two of the best crumbing forwards in the AFL missing and the player that we groomed to fill the forward pocket or full forward injured before the start of the home and away season .The free agent recruited to help our forward structure suspended and you think we should still be performing as a Grand Finalist team .
On top of that Fyfe injured his knee in the NAB Cup ,then gets rubbed out for 2 games unfairly IMO.
Clarkes injured his knee and so has missed most of the preseason and games .
Barlows knee injury was the icing on the cake .
We haven't had the GF team all on the paddock at the same time so far this season .
Tell me how Hawthorn , Geelong or for that matter any AFL team that would win even a single game given our circumstances .

How many bleeding hearts have said how come we are loosing and its time to throw in the towel ,well not me because when things turn around and we get some if not all our players on the ground fit and firing we are a very good team .
Once Barlow , Ballantyne , Walters , Sylvia ,Gumbelton , Morabito and a fit Mayne are on the ground the transformation of this loosing team will be amazing IMHO.
Put a match fit Clarke or Griffin is the line up we will be saying Hello AFL " WE 'RE BACK ".
Until then we have to play the kids and who ever we can get on the paddock hoping that they will contribute and do their best