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A-League Mens 25/26 - Round 17

Players like Quintal need 4 full A League seasons then the move abroad. Stuff this raw foreign pisstake clubs make of our young players. With more runs on the board the purchasing clubs should be way more convinced of their transfer.

Gersbach fared well I guess despite instability but you wonder whether a few more A League seasons would've been the stronger career foundation.
 
A better second half by us.

Under a little sustained pressure , Victory choked themselves up - giving us a bit of time and space to put passes together (still not good enough accuracy though).

We played with a bit of intensity - mostly starting from McGarry's efforts in my eyes - and it helped to have players looking like they both wanted the ball and were willing to get to it. It feels so much better when you have players receiving the ball and driving with it rather than playing with lackadaisical style and slow speed.

Still stupid shirt pulls and the like. No point in making an effort all around the ground then someone giving a cheap free kick by pulling a shirt. Valkanis does it when he doesn't need to and you don't need a centre back who concedes free kicks out of laziness and bad habits.

Brazete seemed a shadow of himself in impact. He looks quite sturdy now and that might have robbed him of some speed. Not sharp and second to a lot of loose balls. Only a few minutes game time but he did not seize the moment.

Dench quite loose with his play - he did not present at the level we need him to be in this league. I have seen him play better.

Our second half was positive. Whether Victory's drop allowed that or our increase caused theirs I don't know.

We did not give the sense we were definitely going to score but we had some chances.

A second half to take home with the point and continue to improve from.

Victory had a game like our earlier season ones - playing some fast impressive football for a half and a bit, then dropping away to a desperate scramble.
The second half was the best football we've played since Adelaide first half, and Adelaide first half was the best football we'd played in a fair while. Maybe MV dropped off. Difficult for most teams to sustain intensity for 90 minutes, especially in our conditions, although I don't think it was that hot in Melbourne yesterday. Daggers showing his quality yet again with a clinical finish, nice assist from Klein. You wonder how many goals Daggers would rack up if he was playing for the current Jets team. I was irritated by the physio taking forever to come on to the pitch. Was that just more shithousery? This sort of stuff contributes to us being an unpleasant watch a lot of the time, sorry to say. Zads is also a master of the dark arts but there was a marked improvement in performances at the back end of last season. Would we be better this season if we had persisted with him? Anyway, a point collected on the road stops the rot. Hopefully 3 points next match.
 
The second half was the best football we've played since Adelaide first half, and Adelaide first half was the best football we'd played in a fair while. Maybe MV dropped off. Difficult for most teams to sustain intensity for 90 minutes, especially in our conditions, although I don't think it was that hot in Melbourne yesterday. Daggers showing his quality yet again with a clinical finish, nice assist from Klein. You wonder how many goals Daggers would rack up if he was playing for the current Jets team. I was irritated by the physio taking forever to come on to the pitch. Was that just more shithousery? This sort of stuff contributes to us being an unpleasant watch a lot of the time, sorry to say. Zads is also a master of the dark arts but there was a marked improvement in performances at the back end of last season. Would we be better this season if we had persisted with him? Anyway, a point collected on the road stops the rot. Hopefully 3 points next match.
It was really annoying waiting on the physio. Had to be time wasting bullshit.

I am hoping we stick with Durrington in DM and that he grows into it. Having him there, if he works out, will let us play our attacking mids where they should be. Will watch that space with interest.

I think we are still well ahead of Zadkovich's playing style and squad when we play properly.

Vrakas just lacks something special and I am starting to feel a bit jaded with Valkanis' defending. He is not rising above the level he played as second fiddle to Herrington and I feel like he has reached his pinnacle. Our lack at the back is really not having notably athletic centre backs. They don't dominate their space well enough physically and have proven vulnerable to pace often.

Despite that, overall our game day squad (including the injured players) is a lot better than it was under Ruben.

I have decided that we might take full points from all but 2 of our remaining games. There - one half of decentish football and I think we are a chance again. Not the toughest run to finals though.
 
Players like Quintal need 4 full A League seasons then the move abroad. Stuff this raw foreign pisstake clubs make of our young players. With more runs on the board the purchasing clubs should be way more convinced of their transfer.

Gersbach fared well I guess despite instability but you wonder whether a few more A League seasons would've been the stronger career foundation.
The season is too short that’s why they don’t stay long here.

For context Segecic has played more games this season than the aleague season combined.
 

Tuesday 7 Apr 2026



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Melbourne City FC vs Central Coast Mariners
🗓️ Tuesday 7 Apr 2026
⚽ 19:00 (Eastcoast time)
🏟️ AAMI Park
📺 Paramount+

Bumping thread as a reminder of the game tonight.
On paper it should be a good contest. The winning team will jump to 6th.
 
Will City win this and make a run for the Toilet Seat? I suspect they have the cattle to do it.
Melbourne City are definitely finding their form late in the season and are peaking at the right time so there's no reason why they can't be in contention to go back-to-back as A-League Men Champions this year.
 
Will City win this and make a run for the Toilet Seat? I suspect they have the cattle to do it.
The Younis suspension is a big loss for tonight.
Temp will be about 16° at kick-off. That combined with both clubs in contention for 6th, should make for a high tempo game.
Wouldn't be surprised if we see a draw tonight.
 
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