Game set and match in this one... well done to the boys for the effort but thats were it ends....

This is by far the game some of those fringe players couldve possibly held if they werent needlessly in NZ and 9ts infuriating that this wasnt rectified to send them back during the week.

i hate to say it but the Avondale will be our biggest loss if/when they play against this 11.

Assuming we make the grand final we will realistically only use 13-14 players in that game. Why cant the rest play next Monday night?

southmelb said:

Assuming we make the grand final we will realistically only use 13-14 players in that game. Why cant the rest play next Monday night?

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Everyones worst fear is the idea of starters having a break when you now have avondale and hume coming up bc of the dropped points were we theoretically shouldnt have.

This is so hard to watch seeing some of these goals.

rebelliousfeminist974 said:

Agree that the rest of the playing list who aren't going to be getting game time in the OFC Pro League grand final should ideally be returning to Melbourne for our NPL Victoria game against Avondale next week so at least we have a few senior players in the matchday squad instead of having to field a team exclusively from the reserves and age grade sides.

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Without mistake though, any fringe players that may return and be mixed in this team arent good enough to beat avondale....

Its so frustrating because its mostly just players being out muscled and mauled on set pieces.

Coveny, Singh, Pope and Lackay should have been playing tonight to provide a bit of height and strength and one of the 2 backup keepers should have stayed behind.

Hellenic_blue&white said:

Without mistake though, any fringe players that may return and be mixed in this team arent good enough to beat avondale....

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It could be the difference between losing by 4-5 goals and losing by 10

Thank god the stream cut off lol

Short term pain for long term gain...

Spartan Warrior said:

Short term pain for long term gain...

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If we dont win the ofc the vibe is going to become very toxic this time next week.

southmelb said:

If we dont win the ofc the vibe is going to become very toxic this time next week.

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We been there done that nothing new. I can easily switch on my toxic mode...

Spartan Warrior said:

We been there done that nothing new. I can easily switch on my toxic mode...

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They'd wanna keep the balcony nice and empty next Monday night if a trophy isnt on show....

What was with the lack of imagination on the social club monitors pre and post game. Resorted to watching a South emblem screen saver...

Hellenic_blue&white said:

Game set and match in this one... well done to the boys for the effort but thats were it ends....

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If last week was not proof enough that a U23s team cannot compete against a NPL Victoria Men's team, then last night was further confirmation of that. CS George Cross are truly awful and a team comprised of 4-5 fringe/bench players would have won that match last night. The fact that our U23s dominated patches of play against them just highlighted the mistake for me in taking a squad of 23 players to Auckland.

southmelb said:

Coveny, Singh, Pope and Lackay should have been playing tonight to provide a bit of height and strength and one of the 2 backup keepers should have stayed behind.

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Spot on. Those players will not feature in either the semi final or grand final in Auckland. They should have remained in Melbourne for the matches against Heidelberg, CS George Cross and Avondale. We just have to get smarter in how we utilise our playing squad. You dont need 3 goalkeepers in Auckland. Even though Shalamanov-Trenkov is very average, he would have been useful last night.

The kids tried their best, and to be honest, they deserved to score a goal at least. Kufunda had a blinder last night. The young keeper Szmerling was at fault for the first and fourth goals, but did make some fantastic saves to be fair. The kids will have received amazing experience in their development, but I fear what Avondale will do next Monday. They are a good team, and against the U23s, they will rack up a record winning scoreline.

southmelb said:

Assuming we make the grand final we will realistically only use 13-14 players in that game. Why cant the rest play next Monday night?

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I'm assuming the players if they make the grand final will be flying back on Monday morning. Depending on the level of celebrations (assuming a grand final win), will these fringe players be in any physical state to even play 20 mins against Avondale? I very much doubt we will see any senior player until the Hume City away match on Saturday 30th May.

Hellenic_blue&white said:

Everyones worst fear is the idea of starters having a break when you now have avondale and hume coming up bc of the dropped points were we theoretically shouldnt have.

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I can not see the players taking a break. The players are currently on a 8 day break between matches, so they would fully rested and mentally refreshed. We do not have any Dockerty Cup commitments anymore, so our calendar congestion will ease dramatically next week. A successful campaign in Auckland will do wonders to the players' confidence levels. Plus it is a 6 day break from the grand final to to the away Hume City fixture, so Sinisa would probably give the players 1-2 days break to rest and recover before the Hume City match. They're battle hardened and fit.