I share your sentiments regarding Archie and Danny. Danny is much more willing to chase for the ball after he loses it; Archie tends to drop his head and give up.

But Fabiano, he’s been a shining light lately. Loved his work when he came on last week. He’s worked as an impact sub, but it could be worth trying to put him on from the start and keeping Archie on the bench. From recollection, the last time Merrick started Fabiano on and Archie on the bench was against Newcastle… that turned out quite well, to say the least!

Telstra management should be embarrassed by the surfaces they have give us this year. Last week Qld showed how to fix the pitch after an Andre R concert compared to the shit we had 2 or 3 weeks back.

Before that we had the Etihad logo burnt into the ground and cut out again leaving a huge patch in mid-field (I believe that was what it was).

Last week we had big scars in the surface from god-knows-what.

Clearly TDome don’t care about Victory as tenants. Whoever negotiates the agreement should have a clause that we don’t pay if they can’t produce a first class surface to play on.

Pondles and Celeski can be creative but aren’t holding players. They need to be pushed between center and wing allowing room for Kemp/Burger/Thwaite to pay very wide down the wings when they attack. They should learn to switch sides more often as the become predictable for defenders. They also need central midfield cover.

Carlos is often too slow and caught in possession but needs to be on the park for his imagination. Maybe he needs to learn the English for “MAN ON!” so he stops getting tackled and falling over. He must like falling down as he does it so often. (And one day he may even go close with a fee kick!)

I think we still need a Brebner or Lopez to add some stability and cover alongside Carlos with Muscat behind. But Muscat and Lopez always seem to get in each others way as Lopez tends to fall back too far. Maybe Muscat beside Carlos and Lopez might be an interesting option.

I think Ney Fabiano as an impact substitute works fine especially when the defense is tiring he can use his jump and run to great effect. Archie needs to do more work. Danny does too much work and is often knackered by the time he gets the ball.

Another option is to play Ney and Danny upfront with Archie taking either Pondle’s or Celeski’s position from attacking midfield. Arch would be in the play more often and more accountable.