Summary: An uninspiring South performance saw Hume City SC run out 2-0 victors over the home side. A lack of shooting instinct and constant formation changes has seen South struggle to create a focal point in their attacking half.
This was meant to be the match. The one which turned the season around. The one we could look back on, six months from now, and single out as the moment we found some form. Or so I said in jest throughout the week, though in my mind, I wished it to be true. We were back at home, with a renewed sense of confidence from last week’s win, going up against a team doing not much better than ourselves. Of course, it never really works like that for a club wth such erratic form. This week, Krousoratis retained his centre-forward role, which, like last week, I had no real opinion on. If we are unwilling to rely on youth players like Manny Aquek and Giordano Marafioti, who play primarily as strikers, than Nick is most likely our best option. However, my only real satisfaction from our lineup was that fellow youngster Ben Djiba was our starting right-back again, and that he was being recognised for his exceptional skill. Within the coming weeks, I hope that, much like our other talents, that skill can transcend individuality and strengthen cohesion.
I came to a conclusion about our play style after watching the first few minutes of this match; there are two very obvious reasons to play aggressively; one is to set up goals, and the other is to prevent the opposing team from doing the same (also just the general aim of football). South, however, irrelevant of our football quality, or our opponents, primarily utilises aggression out of fear. Our attacks fizzle out close to the penalty area, but that doesn’t matter, as long as the other team can’t do the same. However, in the first few minutes Hume also adopted an “the best defence is offence” strategy, and we were not ready to respond to their pushing. Once again, we were reminded that every team, no matter how bad, has better composure in front of goals than we do. To concede such a weak goal in the first few minutes of the match was a real disappointment, and once again, emphasised how we can’t create simple attacking strategies like the one Hume utilised, but we also don’t know how to defend them. After poor man marking left him unguarded, all that Bradley Norton could do was push James Brown into the ball, still converting while falling to the ground. If you were watching the livestream, before following Brown’s celebrations, the camera zooms past a clump of South defenders looking stunned in the middle of the box.
From the first game we’ve set a really harmful precedent; score early against us and it’s more than likely we’ll do the rest of the heavy lifting ourselves. It sounds almost paradoxical, but as most of our goals this season have come from turnovers, retaining possession for long periods of the game seemingly hinders our capacity to score goals. An instance which embodies this sentiment came in the 32nd minute, where Bereveskos played the ball to Krousoratis deep into the penalty area. Instead of shooting, which was our most likely option of scoring, Nick tried to play it back to Bereveskos, who had already run past the ball. It rolled through the area until run onto by Gerrie Sylaidos, who, on a much more acute angle, hit the side netting. Our best chance of the game so far, not only did it show inaccuracy in our shooting, but a distinct lack of shooting instinct.
The rest of the half included more of the same. We were struggling. Not struggling for possession, but struggling to look threatening. Which is the same thing teams who don’t have possession struggle with. Our conservatism when shooting also seemed bizarre considering the circumstances. Hume’s goalkeeper had the sun in his eyes for 45 minutes, enough time for us to have a few unorthodox shots which may have led to errors. But we looked like we were only going to shoot when given golden opportunities, which we also squandered. On the stroke of half time, Krousoratis somehow managed to keep a long ball from going out for a goal kick, volleying it back into the penalty box. The Hume defenders, and goalkeeper, assuming it was out, had switched off. Marcus Schroen had all the time in the world to place the ball into an empty net, only a few metres out, but still hit it wide. There was nothing more to say at half time.
At the very least, Djiba had retained his skills from last match, combining pace and attacking prowess to defend successfully before pushing the ball up. However, we were compensating. Instead of pushing the ball up to an attacking focal point, whether that be a player or a strategy administered at a certain area up the field, we just push everyone further up the pitch, hoping that more attacking players equivocates to more attacking opportunities. Not only is this a desperate and poor strategy to use (aside from in the last 10 minutes or so), but it leaves an already lacking defence even more vulnerable. This has cost us in a few games this season, and Sunday was no different.
In the second half, Bereveskos shifted to the forward role. As expected, his switch back to the wing allowed Krousoratis to flex his pace, though could not alleviate South’s issues. The most damning one being lack of communication, which still pervaded from our first game. Not only in regards to who should get the ball, but there was also a lack of unison in administering attacking strategies. Because of this, we took too long on the ball, creating unneeded pressure for ourselves and creating more mistakes, as well as reverting to long balls as the only strategy every player understood how to do. Leigh Minopoulos was subbed on in the 55th minute in an attempt to replicate last week’s upset victory, but Hume remained strong, and we remained erratic. There was relief when we somewhat defended successfully, but any plays afterwards ultimately led to nothing.
I found one of South’s update tweets on the night very funny:
“62' George Howard returns to senior action, replacing Kostas Stratomitros as we look to attack”
It either insinuates that we were not at our peak attacking capacity before, or that only now we have decided we need to attack. In saying that Howard’s return did provide some positives. He was able to carry the ball up the field, brining with him a physical presence, and play the ball in to our deserted box on multiple occasions. In the 70th minute we pushed the ball up, 75% of our players followed, and when a Hume goal kick played the ball up the field, the middle of the park looked barren, with Gage struggling to defend three attacking players. The ball was crossed into a three on two standoff, but despite having the numbers advantage, a shot deflected off of Luke Adams bobbled over Roganovic and into the net. It was a saddening state to see the team in, only more sad realising there was around 20 minutes of game-time left.
Watching Jake Marshall assume the role of centre forward in the last five minutes or so only emphasised the desperation within our ranks. All positions on the pitch are connected, and a weakness in one decreases the strengths of the others. As of now, we are in a developmental period, as frustrating as that sounds, and the odd win does not change that. I have no qualms about saying we should beat the Essendon Royals in our first FFA Cup match, and maybe taking on a smaller club will give us an opportunity to try out new playing, and more importantly shooting strategies.
Notable players: Ben Djiba
Next match: SMFC vs. Essendon Royals SC at Lakeside Stadium - Friday 19th of April
South Melbourne FC: 0
Hume City SC: 2