Analysis Ross Lyon

[TheMcManusNose]

But our talent has been good enough to support an early season run of form that has undeniably set up our season and provides us with a great opportunity to lock down a much sought after top 2 position this weekend. That same talent were on song early during the North game. They have demonstrated they can do it. They know they can do it. The players must individually take responsibility and eradicate sloppiness in their execution. I do not accept that they lack the necessary skill, pace and talent when they have indeed shown it.

Yeah, they can obviously do it. Any player in the AFL can make a difficult kick every now and then. The question is consistency. My point is that the list as a whole lacks the consistent quality of ball skills you see in a side like the Hawks and West Coast. Which makes the approach inherently more risky. When we hit the targets it's amazing. When we don't it's awful.

Let's not overly complicate this by over analysing game plans and drafting strategies. Quite simply, the message has to be to take responsibility and make the handballs stick, kick the goals from 15 metres out, don't overstep when kicking in from a behind and rein in the ill discipline that results in 50 metre penalties. The coach refers to it as keeping composure.

If it were that simple we would have won every game. Keeping composure and the things you mention are truisms. It's not useful to say something like 'if we execute our kicks well we will win'. Every team in the AFL knows that. The question is can they do it? And what factors prevent them from doing it?

I think this list is less suited to a more attacking game, rather than one which relies more on manic pressure and turnovers. I think it's the correct move by Ross to make that shift, but i'm not certain if we're capable of executing it to the level we need. Furthermore I think there are deficiencies in the new game plan that other coaches have exploited tactically - the first Richmond game I would point to as a classic example and also the way the Hawks and Roos set up around stoppages, conceding them to us. I think we are going to have to adjust to that both at the selection table and in terms of our game day tactics.

 

[manpurple]

A snippet from Lyon's presser.

Do you think Ballantyne will play finals ?

I haven't thought about it to be honest.

Is he going OK in his rehab ?

Yeah, I think so. Nobody really tells me too much.


That's one way to run a footy club, I suppose.

He was just as evasive on pr. sounds like he doesn't have an idea to turn it around imo. Kept blaming the skill errors. I thought that was the coaches job to sort that out, it's getting a bit late by now.

That is not how I saw it at all and he seemed to say it differently on 6PR.
What he said was; "I don't get involved in how many weeks until a player is back. They are out until I am told by the medicos that they are are fit and available." He even used an example "Pav is out in my thinking until he does training later this week where he may be cleared as fit and available. Until then I plan for him not to play."
I prefer this attitude to previous coaches who decided the a player was back in x weeks no matter what their health was like. And so people came back and then did something worse. This invariable resulted in a two week injury changing into a 8 week injury.

Update:
To clarify I don't think RTB doesn't care or have a good idea where people are but rather he has repeatedly said he is not the best person to make medical judgements and so he lets those qualified to makes those calls do so. It's a case of cobblers doing the cobbling.

 

[Freofalcon]

That is not how I saw it at all and he seemed to say it differently on 6PR.
What he said was; "I don't get involved in how many weeks until a player is back. They are out until I am told by the medicos that they are are fit and available." He even used an example "Pav is out in my thinking until he does training later this week where he may be cleared as fit and available. Until then I plan for him not to play."
I prefer this attitude to previous coaches who decided the a player was back in x weeks no matter what their health was like. And so people came back and then did something worse. This invariable resulted in a two week injury changing into a 8 week injury.

Update:
To clarify I don't think RTB doesn't care or have a good idea where people are but rather he has repeatedly said he is not the best person to make medical judgements and so he lets those qualified to makes those calls do so. It's a case of cobblers doing the cobbling.

Thank you for your calm and rational explaination.

 

[hoss]

I'd say about 10% of our BF posters would believe the "In Ross We Trust" mantra now at the end of Round 21. Given our total slump to top of the ladder I think we should just get rid of him.

 

[Banker]

I really hope Ross is pretending for media that all is right.

Felt his 6PR discussion pretty much denied our problems. I hate when he provides stats we won, which justify as having the better spread. At the end of day its the final score that matters, not the team with the most inside 50's etc..

 

[salim malik]

I really hope Ross is pretending for media that all is right.

Felt his 6PR discussion pretty much denied our problems. I hate when he provides stats we won, which justify as having the better spread. At the end of day its the final score that matters, not the team with the most inside 50's etc..

Didn't seem to mean squat when we beat Richmond.The story then was that Freo were lucky to be in front when the siren went and Richmond deserved the win.

 

[Banker]

Didn't seem to mean squat when we beat Richmond.The story then was that Freo were lucky to be in front when the siren went and Richmond deserved the win.

If we played a game like that every week probability suggests we lose more than win.

 

[salim malik]

If we played a game like that every week probability suggests we lose more than win.

Richmond did go onto to beat Hawthorn.

 

[Spoken4]

He was just as evasive on pr. sounds like he doesn't have an idea to turn it around imo. Kept blaming the skill errors. I thought that was the coaches job to sort that out, it's getting a bit late by now.

One thing we know about Lyon is that he is a very experienced tactician, he is super smart and he is an learned exponent of the game.

He studies the game to the finest of details, possibly more than any other coach. He will have planned out the 2015 season down to every quarter within every game and analysed every possible contingency. He will have re-set and reviewed the macro strategy as every H&A round has ticked over. Lyon has taken his sides to nearly as many grand finals as Clarkson, making him in top 2 or 3 most experienced coaches in the competition.

It is nonsensical and entirely counter-logical to suggest that he doesn't have an idea. I think we will all be very pleasantly surprised when finals rolls on, just like we were in 2013.

 

[PurpleWizard]

I think Ross is trying to sell positivity and confidence to the media. He's been really positive to the media of late, and I think it's a calculated decision. You see teams like Collingwood and Essendon fall to pieces after they lose belief. If all the outside noise is that freo are doomed how does affect the freo players psych?

 

[tek87]

i honestly dont think any other coach would have this current squad on top of the ladder. top 6 maybe but top

 

[TheMcManusNose]

i honestly dont think any other coach would have this current squad on top of the ladder. top 6 maybe but top

Yeah I completely agree.

Would rather have him than ~16 of the other coaches too going forward too.

 

[not_working]

I think Ross is trying to sell positivity and confidence to the media. He's been really positive to the media of late, and I think it's a calculated decision. You see teams like Collingwood and Essendon fall to pieces after they lose belief. If all the outside noise is that freo are doomed how does affect the freo players psych?

This.

I actually don't think it is normal for RTB to show that much positivity in the media, I think his stance changed quite a lot around Round 12-15. At the beginning of the season he was trying to keep everyone grounded, but when that whole negativity around "they are the top side, but not the best team started", I think he made the conscious decision to try to influence the narrative a bit and inject some confidence into the team again.

This is what sh*ts me about some of the comments in the media and on here, too - whatever the situation may be, we need to have the team with confidence and players with self-belief going into the finals, and all this negativity (which is really stupid considering we are sitting first on the ladder) does not help that!

(at some stage this may even become a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you tell a player often enough that he has no foot skills, he will miss the next shot at goal for sure)

 

[Arcassius]

Same goes for supporters - enough people suggest that the team #1 on the ladder is shit and full of spuds, people start believing we're Carlton.

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk

 

[XXRL]

This.

I actually don't think it is normal for RTB to show that much positivity in the media, I think his stance changed quite a lot around Round 12-15. At the beginning of the season he was trying to keep everyone grounded, but when that whole negativity around "they are the top side, but not the best team started", I think he made the conscious decision to try to influence the narrative a bit and inject some confidence into the team again.

This is what sh*ts me about some of the comments in the media and on here, too - whatever the situation may be, we need to have the team with confidence and players with self-belief going into the finals, and all this negativity (which is really stupid considering we are sitting first on the ladder) does not help that!

(at some stage this may even become a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you tell a player often enough that he has no foot skills, he will miss the next shot at goal for sure)

Absolutely agree - coaches make conscious, strategic decisions about what messages they put out.

Sometimes coaches carry on and make a fuss about not being good enough, effort not being there etc. But there's a time and a place for that.

Ross's message atm is to remind his team that their best footy is good enough and they've done the hard work to be in the position they're in - top of the league, pretty much locked in for top two, in the best position we've ever been in for a tilt at the big one.

 

[refresh]

This thread should be put on hold until September. Until then it is all about setting yourself for the best possible opportunity.

 

[Big Animal]

Yep. Ross is sh!t. Wish we had Drum back. I wonder who we can get to replace Ross. A jilted Mark Harvey, Sumich, Malthouse, Silent Alarm? This list is just sumptuous. Exciting times ahead.

 

[Bicco]

Didn't seem to mean squat when we beat Richmond.The story then was that Freo were lucky to be in front when the siren went and Richmond deserved the win.

It's interesting that the perception from the Richmond game is that we were 'lucky' to win , but last week north had a 'great win' in the same circumstances.

 

[Arcassius]

This made me laugh - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...not-club-coach-paul-roos-20150825-gj7jt6.html

"When we beat Geelong the attitude was, 'Well, you'll never win down there again.' I mean ... gee whiz. When we beat Brisbane, it was like, 'We'd rather lose than play like that.' Holy hell. It's fascinating when you're not a Melbourne person to come in and see that.

"It's not that I'm angry about the emails I get, but I just think it's very negative. I completely understand how our supporters must feel, but you just have to wonder.

For us -

when we win by a little 'it wasnt by enough, X is a spud, we need to replace them with the kids'
when we win by a lot 'X is a spud'
when we lose expectedly 'we cant match it with the top teams, our game plan wont work against X'
when we lose unexpectedly 'we dont have the cattle, ross needs to play the kids, our gameplan sucks - we wont win it this year'
before the draft 'we need a tall otherwise were ****ed'
after the draft 'who the **** is that weedy kid, we needed a tall'

during the pre-season - 'this is our season, the guys look sharp, but Pav isnt getting any younger, I hope we can do it for them'
when we lose a pre-season game - 'were ****ed'

 

[Banker]

i honestly dont think any other coach would have this current squad on top of the ladder. top 6 maybe but top

I think the same can be said about WCE season as well.

Also I don't think our squad is as bad as people think, Ross says the game is won in the middle and our midfield at the very least is top 4 quality.

 

[SHill Shall]

Yep. Ross is sh!t. Wish we had Drum back. I wonder who we can get to replace Ross. A jilted Mark Harvey, Sumich, Malthouse, Silent Alarm? This list is just sumptuous. Exciting times ahead.

It's all put into perspective when Woosha is considered the big catch for one of Adelaide or Essendon!

 

[Marty Whitelaw]

It's all put into perspective when Woosha is considered the big catch for one of Adelaide or Essendon!

Find it interesting that worsfold is still so highly regarded. His last year at the Eagles was pretty awful and he looked completely fed up with the whole thing.

 

[E Shed]

My recent thinking has been around the idea that when Pav, Balla, Walters, Mayne are all fit & in form & the back 6 is intact we can beat anyone but with no Balla, Pav & Mayne's form not quite there we just have no cattle. No one could coach what we are putting up forward to beat the best.
Plus Fyfes form at the start glossed over a lot.
What is going to be really interesting is how Ross goes at rebuild mode when the old guys start hanging it up. Hopefully we can stagger it a bit so we don't drop off a cliff. We really need a strong draft the next couple.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Big Animal]

Find it interesting that worsfold is still so highly regarded. His last year at the Eagles was pretty awful and he looked completely fed up with the whole thing.

It was just his hatred for man buns

 

[Bicco]

One thing about Ross, and I could be wrong, is that he has complete faith in his system. Port last week had clearly prepared to counter the Hawks method whereas we dont seem to do that. We just play our game style against all comers.
We're first, so it's obviously very effective, but I would like to see us break down their (Opposition ) game plan and then throw to our method once they have been broken down. We seem to struggle if there is something about us that isn't working, we need to be aware of what they will do if they have the momentum and are on top, to be able to defend their 'A' game plan.
If we're not on, we look awful and unable to stop the rot.