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commentators talking about this match like its a friendly and a chance for melbourne to get players back into form
A-League Mens 25/26 - Round 3
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mikes27091
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Was the worst game they have played in 3-4 years it was a training run for victory
NoMates
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I was actually hoping Roar would have won tonight, felt like they had the edge but blow to many chances. Things are looking better for them.
As for Glory, what a waste of a side, one good chance to score in the 90th min and shot just wide. Cant see them picking up any points until the new coach arrives but the players too have to lift there game they are so woeful. Its like there not even match fit and mentally on a downer.
As for Glory, what a waste of a side, one good chance to score in the 90th min and shot just wide. Cant see them picking up any points until the new coach arrives but the players too have to lift there game they are so woeful. Its like there not even match fit and mentally on a downer.
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reminds me of when ccm hit rock bottom, can take a while the rebound
Roar v City was an odd game.
Walking down Caxton Street to Suncorp felt like I had turned up a day early. With hail and storms around, on top of Halloween, and a 6:35pm kickoff I can understand the lack of people - but some of the businesses on Caxton street were not even open and had no tables and chairs out like they were going to open.
Getting 5k at the game was a big plus - I had feared something like 2k.
Both teams seemed to be playing a relaxed game of football. There was a lot of jogging and few players really looked liek they were pushing any limits. I am guessing the humidity made both coaches set a game plan that involved marshalling resources early on.
CIty, as with last week, had smooth and regular attacking raids involving second, third and fourth shooting options as we closed down each of them in turn. Their shots were pretty well covered, but it is virtually impossible to stop them getting a shot away with their multiple spearheaded attacking system. Very hard team to keep out.
Herrington is magnificent. Just have to say it. He defused a number of their attacks, as you need from a CB, but his positioning, timing, height, strength and awareness of danger is fantastic for us. Players who looked like they had a free line on goal would find him blocking their shot time and again - while me sitting in the stands thought a goal was coming for sure.
When City ran down the wings with the ball it looked like we were jogging along with them. I cannot say I have seen the appearance of a lack of effort or concern and intensity in any other game like last night. I say "the appearance of" because we still managed to get there to some extent and put some defensive pressure on in the final third. If a coach had said not to bother trying to slow them as they come because they are too good at opening up avenues and to just lock them down in the final third that is what a game would like.
City got plenty of crosses in from the wings and last week that was when we were most exposed. To "let them" get to the goal line and cross is playing with fire but we rode our desperation, organisation, and luck to keep them out.
In terms of defensive effort, Lauton looked to be the only player running around like LFC's blue arsed fly. His effort was extraordinary when compared to the rest of the team. He got replaced at half time so I have to think that Valkanis deliberately played a midline relatively compact defence with Lauton as a chaser for the first half in an effort to manage the strength and effectiveness of the team in the second half.
We had Stajic in the central CB position of a 3/5 backline as the game played out. Surprising because he is our DM and we have been playing more of 2 CBs with Stajic as a protecting DM. I really like him for the DM position, but having him in CB is something I reserve judgement on. I have not seen enough to feel comfortable with having a DM who drops back to CB unless it is something we have worked on to allow Herrington to run forward as danger looms (which he did do).
In attack, we were very slow to build and turned back under City pressure all night. It was frustrating to not seem to have any urgency or drive to press our attack and yet when we did go forward we created some excellent chances - missing left and right of the posts by a relatively small margin in two of our chances.
By the end of the match O'Shea looked to be running on wooden legs and players were tiring - so if Valkanis had a game plan that saw us conserving energy for when the opportunities were best and so we could run out the game and not drop after 75 minutes like last week then I think I have to give him credit for understanding the conditions and players well.
We certainly had our chances and managed to stop City converting theirs regardless of them having more seemingly solid attempts.
Bouzanis positioned himself well and was not really threatened all night because of both his positioning and the defensive team in front of him. City did have chances to put direct pressure on him so on another night he might have had his work cut out for him - but last night he had a 'comfortable' clean sheet.
Valkanis the Younger did alright back in the team. I think that regardless of his father being the coach I cannot say that we have any other CB who is clearly better to pair with Herrington than him so I am going with that and ditching the nepotism tag for now.
McGarry and Salas had busy games without pushing forward in haste all that often. A lot of the recycling was done through them so they were constantly moving without having many penetrating runs.
Klein, Stajic and O'Shea were very good through the middle, with the note that Stajic dropping back between the two CBs left our midfield as just O'Shea and Klein often so our midfield rarely saw any push up the centre on goals.
Up front and we have Long and Vidic again. My comment last week about Long needing an intelligent creative ball player with him held out again yesterday. I love Vidic up front and what he brings - but he is not a sprinter, and he is not the nimble ball player that Long would combine with. Long had some really nice runs with the ball and his foot skills are a real asset for us. His impact is limited when he is combined up front with another target man rather than a partner. When Hore gets over his injury I can see him coming back as Long's creative partner.
Vidic is showing up this season. He wants to be there and he wants to score. He takes up excellent positions and has the strength and control to work through tough defenders.
Vrakas is another I reserve judgement on. He looks like a passionate, committed player but he just did not seem to be that effective last night when he came on. Allowing City to pass the ball around their back third largely unchallenged would be a strategy that limited his apparent impact and I think that may be what happened - still, I am watching to see what he brings to the side as the season develops. He did seem to be a step off the pace and the point of ball contact last night and he was fresh so had no physical reason for that.
Ruhs did his usual excellent bull work when he came on - using his pace and strength to harass his opponents and bring the ball forward through traffic. I do like him in the team either as a starter or a sub because he brings something to the side that others don't have in his ability to drop back and bring the ball into attacking positions by himself in addition to being a driven goal attacker and good link up player.
I did not see enough of Brazete or MacNicol when they came on to rate them - but Brazete did have one excellent moment 1 on 1 with his defender where I hoped he was going to skin him and have a shot - but he went inside and had City player after City player step up to stop him shooting.
A bit of a frustrating game with too many back passes and too little pace or energy on show, but it was clearly part of Valkanis changing his game plan for the day and the opponent. I am happy to have a coach who can make changes, and walking out with a point against a very good side is not a small thing for us.
Walking down Caxton Street to Suncorp felt like I had turned up a day early. With hail and storms around, on top of Halloween, and a 6:35pm kickoff I can understand the lack of people - but some of the businesses on Caxton street were not even open and had no tables and chairs out like they were going to open.
Getting 5k at the game was a big plus - I had feared something like 2k.
Both teams seemed to be playing a relaxed game of football. There was a lot of jogging and few players really looked liek they were pushing any limits. I am guessing the humidity made both coaches set a game plan that involved marshalling resources early on.
CIty, as with last week, had smooth and regular attacking raids involving second, third and fourth shooting options as we closed down each of them in turn. Their shots were pretty well covered, but it is virtually impossible to stop them getting a shot away with their multiple spearheaded attacking system. Very hard team to keep out.
Herrington is magnificent. Just have to say it. He defused a number of their attacks, as you need from a CB, but his positioning, timing, height, strength and awareness of danger is fantastic for us. Players who looked like they had a free line on goal would find him blocking their shot time and again - while me sitting in the stands thought a goal was coming for sure.
When City ran down the wings with the ball it looked like we were jogging along with them. I cannot say I have seen the appearance of a lack of effort or concern and intensity in any other game like last night. I say "the appearance of" because we still managed to get there to some extent and put some defensive pressure on in the final third. If a coach had said not to bother trying to slow them as they come because they are too good at opening up avenues and to just lock them down in the final third that is what a game would like.
City got plenty of crosses in from the wings and last week that was when we were most exposed. To "let them" get to the goal line and cross is playing with fire but we rode our desperation, organisation, and luck to keep them out.
In terms of defensive effort, Lauton looked to be the only player running around like LFC's blue arsed fly. His effort was extraordinary when compared to the rest of the team. He got replaced at half time so I have to think that Valkanis deliberately played a midline relatively compact defence with Lauton as a chaser for the first half in an effort to manage the strength and effectiveness of the team in the second half.
We had Stajic in the central CB position of a 3/5 backline as the game played out. Surprising because he is our DM and we have been playing more of 2 CBs with Stajic as a protecting DM. I really like him for the DM position, but having him in CB is something I reserve judgement on. I have not seen enough to feel comfortable with having a DM who drops back to CB unless it is something we have worked on to allow Herrington to run forward as danger looms (which he did do).
In attack, we were very slow to build and turned back under City pressure all night. It was frustrating to not seem to have any urgency or drive to press our attack and yet when we did go forward we created some excellent chances - missing left and right of the posts by a relatively small margin in two of our chances.
By the end of the match O'Shea looked to be running on wooden legs and players were tiring - so if Valkanis had a game plan that saw us conserving energy for when the opportunities were best and so we could run out the game and not drop after 75 minutes like last week then I think I have to give him credit for understanding the conditions and players well.
We certainly had our chances and managed to stop City converting theirs regardless of them having more seemingly solid attempts.
Bouzanis positioned himself well and was not really threatened all night because of both his positioning and the defensive team in front of him. City did have chances to put direct pressure on him so on another night he might have had his work cut out for him - but last night he had a 'comfortable' clean sheet.
Valkanis the Younger did alright back in the team. I think that regardless of his father being the coach I cannot say that we have any other CB who is clearly better to pair with Herrington than him so I am going with that and ditching the nepotism tag for now.
McGarry and Salas had busy games without pushing forward in haste all that often. A lot of the recycling was done through them so they were constantly moving without having many penetrating runs.
Klein, Stajic and O'Shea were very good through the middle, with the note that Stajic dropping back between the two CBs left our midfield as just O'Shea and Klein often so our midfield rarely saw any push up the centre on goals.
Up front and we have Long and Vidic again. My comment last week about Long needing an intelligent creative ball player with him held out again yesterday. I love Vidic up front and what he brings - but he is not a sprinter, and he is not the nimble ball player that Long would combine with. Long had some really nice runs with the ball and his foot skills are a real asset for us. His impact is limited when he is combined up front with another target man rather than a partner. When Hore gets over his injury I can see him coming back as Long's creative partner.
Vidic is showing up this season. He wants to be there and he wants to score. He takes up excellent positions and has the strength and control to work through tough defenders.
Vrakas is another I reserve judgement on. He looks like a passionate, committed player but he just did not seem to be that effective last night when he came on. Allowing City to pass the ball around their back third largely unchallenged would be a strategy that limited his apparent impact and I think that may be what happened - still, I am watching to see what he brings to the side as the season develops. He did seem to be a step off the pace and the point of ball contact last night and he was fresh so had no physical reason for that.
Ruhs did his usual excellent bull work when he came on - using his pace and strength to harass his opponents and bring the ball forward through traffic. I do like him in the team either as a starter or a sub because he brings something to the side that others don't have in his ability to drop back and bring the ball into attacking positions by himself in addition to being a driven goal attacker and good link up player.
I did not see enough of Brazete or MacNicol when they came on to rate them - but Brazete did have one excellent moment 1 on 1 with his defender where I hoped he was going to skin him and have a shot - but he went inside and had City player after City player step up to stop him shooting.
A bit of a frustrating game with too many back passes and too little pace or energy on show, but it was clearly part of Valkanis changing his game plan for the day and the opponent. I am happy to have a coach who can make changes, and walking out with a point against a very good side is not a small thing for us.
Interesting listening to Valkanis' interview after the game.
He has said basically that the team has conceded goals too easily in the past and it is the players themselves who have a bit of drive and intensity to not let that happen - to the extent that they may ignore the coaches calls to push forward and keep their opposition goalless instead.
He said they need to regain the confidence to combine both the grit and determination in defence with the playing of good football.
A lot about how pre-season is nothing (my word not his) compared to the real thing and that intensity and competition increases by 30% in the real season. Players now have to find the rhythm of the games and develop their team play under the heightened intensity of real matches.
He rates MacNicol highly, and after hearing Valkanis I could imagine him becoming Long's strike partner if he continues developing quickly enough. Valkanis has been waiting for a chance to get MacNicol on and wants him on more often.
After a specific McGarry question, Valkanis said that he had told McGarry to keep pushing forward - (edit) where McGarry had gone more defensive in the second half.
It is not so much the coach instructing the team to play within themselves and reserve energy. It is the increased intensity forcing the players to pick up the physical rhythm of the season games, and they also have to work out the team balance on grit and defensive resilience with the attacking football that Valkanis wants from them.
Very interesting to hear a coach's perspective after you have made your own judgements and assessments. Got to love football.
He has said basically that the team has conceded goals too easily in the past and it is the players themselves who have a bit of drive and intensity to not let that happen - to the extent that they may ignore the coaches calls to push forward and keep their opposition goalless instead.
He said they need to regain the confidence to combine both the grit and determination in defence with the playing of good football.
A lot about how pre-season is nothing (my word not his) compared to the real thing and that intensity and competition increases by 30% in the real season. Players now have to find the rhythm of the games and develop their team play under the heightened intensity of real matches.
He rates MacNicol highly, and after hearing Valkanis I could imagine him becoming Long's strike partner if he continues developing quickly enough. Valkanis has been waiting for a chance to get MacNicol on and wants him on more often.
After a specific McGarry question, Valkanis said that he had told McGarry to keep pushing forward - (edit) where McGarry had gone more defensive in the second half.
It is not so much the coach instructing the team to play within themselves and reserve energy. It is the increased intensity forcing the players to pick up the physical rhythm of the season games, and they also have to work out the team balance on grit and defensive resilience with the attacking football that Valkanis wants from them.
Very interesting to hear a coach's perspective after you have made your own judgements and assessments. Got to love football.
Midfielder
Impact Sub
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2024
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- 246
Been very busy the last few weeks so not keeping up to date with various posts.
Some comments, have watched a lot of football both a league and the championship on SBS.
IMO it's looking good for the future lots of under say 21 getting a chance to show their skill and how much over the last few years the technical ability of young players.
Saw Popa the other day wanting the Socceroos to be more physical...agree with him.
AnyWho life moves on and still quite busy.... My poor Mariners I think are in for a hard season.
Some comments, have watched a lot of football both a league and the championship on SBS.
IMO it's looking good for the future lots of under say 21 getting a chance to show their skill and how much over the last few years the technical ability of young players.
Saw Popa the other day wanting the Socceroos to be more physical...agree with him.
AnyWho life moves on and still quite busy.... My poor Mariners I think are in for a hard season.
Frankly Speaking
First Team Regular
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- Nov 16, 2024
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Who was the Adelaide player standing right next to Verstaeta when he ran on to the loose ball to score and stood and watched?? Unforgivable.
Muz
Club Legend
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Me. Newcastle just scored.
Muz
Club Legend
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And then he stood there with his arms out whinging.
Muz
Club Legend
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Yeah right. Awful.
Think it was Ryan White.
The turnover by Talladira to give Auckland possession was so poor and then Pierias and Alagich didn’t close down the cross from May at all and let him put a ball on.
Sutherlandbear
Club Veteran
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Not by a long way.