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A-League Mens 25/26 - Round 11

melbcityguy said:
Dude the fans should be pissed at the owners for that match. Spend some money starting three teenagers in defense is just pointless honestly insulting to the competition.
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I remember years ago Frankfurt had 3 defensive injuries and Hannover won 3:0. 18 months later those young players were starting and went on to have good careers. They've got to learn some time. Mariners were good too.
 

Tuesday 6th Jan 2026​


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H2LtS8d_6i8EIoz-GX-Lgg_48x48.png

Melbourne City FC vs Brisbane Roar
🗓️ Tuesday 6th Jan 2026
⚽ 19:00 (Eastcoast Time) / 18:00 (QLD time)
🏟️ AAMI Park
📺 10 Bold / 10 Play / Paramount+
​

Tonights game is a Round 20 game for some reason.
 
someguyjc said:

Tuesday 6th Jan 2026​


2_pafJPUTXAooQBxjRXwcw_48x48.png
H2LtS8d_6i8EIoz-GX-Lgg_48x48.png

Melbourne City FC vs Brisbane Roar
🗓️ Tuesday 6th Jan 2026
⚽ 19:00 (Eastcoast Time) / 18:00 (QLD time)
🏟️ AAMI Park
📺 10 Bold / 10 Play / Paramount+
​

Tonights game is a Round 20 game for some reason.
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Melbourne City are playing their matchday 20 game against Brisbane Roar early to accommodate for AFC Champions League Elite knockout stage games in March when the rest of the round is being played.
 
Good win by City, I think this is pretty much the down fall of Bris Roar. 2 loses in a row and they are very thug like now worse then Adelaide. I do think Roar should have had a pen in the 1st half the one in the 2nd half was deliberate but rolled down his shoulder. City paying off the ref and VAR again.
 
It was good to see Lawrence Wong back but geez he should have scored witha 1v1 against Bouzanis - took too long. Also noted that he wasn't running at full tilt and seemed hesitant at times; understandable given his knee injury. Agreee with the commentators that Trewin should have a shot at goal rather than always looking to passing it.
 
Frankly Speaking said:
Brisbane urgently need a quality striker. He works hard, but Vidic isn't the answer.
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Ruhs, Long and Vidic are the same type of player. I think Vidic is a bit more skilled than Ruhs and Long is the most skilled so I would let Ruhs go. I also note that neither Halloran nor Brazette have been playing, are they injured?

Lauton is another player that could be released as well. Although he can be fast, he can be slow to react and some of his decision making is questionable.

Also with Herrington gone, their backline is getting more leaky.
 
Frankly Speaking said:
Brisbane urgently need a quality striker. He works hard, but Vidic isn't the answer.
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I have been without internet (outage) for 10 stinking days of missed football and only saw last night's game.

We are desperately missing a defensive midfielder - with Klein being missed as a dedicated attacking midfielder to combine with O'Shea and harass at a decent speed.

Our goal last night was partly Bouzanis misjudging the flight - but they had a free header on the back post on a corner which to me is criminal. Our defensive group lacked something and it is not just missing Herrington - I think he also read the play and helped organise our defences very well so we have to learn how to play together at the back again.

We do miss a fast, clinical finisher. There is no point doing the constant long balls to a 'slow' and heavily guarded Long - especially when it is almost always a long ball from Bouzanis who has quite a heavy foot and wastes most of our attacks overshooting.

Lauton looked out of place last night. I really like him and how he plays but he was lost in the role last night. Not an attacking forward - more a winger I think from how I have seen him play.

Similar to Vrakas - who had very good options to set up goals twice but had tunnel vision and shot both times. He brings something of quality when he plays and he makes things happen but his choices and vision might be lacking that same quality.

For all the talk of us playing dirty, City last night looked to be employing more professional fouls and ankle/foot accidents by a long way. I found them to be far more at fault than us for unpleasant play.

I agree totally with Harper that the professional fouls, standing in the way on freekicks and kicking the ball away is killing the game for the victims. Card them - whichever team they play for - and let the attacking team get moving rather than losing their advantage with impunity. A few quick cards, especially early in games, and the practice of standing over the ball and kicking it away will be snuffed out so easily. Do it damn you!

We do such stupid late bumps on players it is annoying as all hell. There is no point in nudging a player or pushing them after the ball has gone. "I want them to know you are there" is no doubt the catch cry of Valkanis, but bumping them late just invites both legs up and dropping and screams for the ref to come down harder on us. Mindless stupidity and obviously coach encouraged - but such dumb football.

Vidic is an ethusiastic contributor rather than a finisher as you say. I like him for the role he plays but I agree we need something more upfront.

Attacking from Bouzanis by long ball should be an occasional variation - not our staple attack. Toothless - especially when we are as Long in the tooth as we are ;).

O'Shea off the field hurts us. Klein not in an attacking midfield role hurts us. Herrington gone was always going to take a lot out of us. I did not overly mind a lot of our play last night - but I continue to wonder what happened to the good interplay we had all pre-season. We just don't try it enough but it tends to come off the few times we do - so once again - do it damn you!

Did not mind the look of 16 year old Shaw when he came on. He has a pretty solid build for a 16 year old and can find space and time under pressure.

Too early to gauge anything about Evagorou-Alao - with some very silly stuff being done to offset good parts of his play.
 
WhatAmIWatching said:
Ruhs, Long and Vidic are the same type of player. I think Vidic is a bit more skilled than Ruhs and Long is the most skilled so I would let Ruhs go. I also note that neither Halloran nor Brazette have been playing, are they injured?

Lauton is another player that could be released as well. Although he can be fast, he can be slow to react and some of his decision making is questionable.

Also with Herrington gone, their backline is getting more leaky.
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Ruhs looks to me like the player most able to create something from nothing. He has strength and speed to go with his ability to bring the ball forward and he does show decent vision.

I see Ruhs and Vidic with similar bullish methods but very different players. Vidic can pick a moment to launch into an attack and score off a good cross. Ruhs to pick up the ball in traffic and make his way through to either pass or shoot.

Long is entirely different to me. He is capable of receiving under pressure but uses intelligence and guile more than strength to create space or a chance. He does not have the pace to break away so we should be using him centrally and aiming to bring the ball up the wings to involve him. He does have the skill and experience to come out of the central channel when opportunity presents but we do not make any use of those skills at all - using him as a chaser most of the time then bombing it long past him from Bouzanis.

I think Ruhs and Vidic complement each other on the field and having them both out there improves our level of threat. Only playing them one at a time limits us badly.

I agree on Lauton as a forward but as a winger/central midfielder I have liked what I see. When you see him out there like last night he has such a slight frame that he can almost be ignored in a challenge with a sturdy opponent. That may change if he builds up at some stage. He does have some speed and he will run it as long as he is out there. A good player when we are a goal up I think.

Valkanis was a good pairing for Herrington. He is not a patch on Herrington though so Valkanis and Ludwik is a long way short of what we had for defensive resilience. Conceding weak and stupid goals is once again my fear, and I will be back to watching the first 20 minutes expecting us to concede early for sometime.

Edit: Halloran still had a knee injury Nov/Dec last year. Can't say if that is still an issue or he is just not favoured. Brazete just seems to be out of favour with Valkanis and definitely behind MacNicol in coaches eyes. Might see him looking elsewhere in this transfer window since he is getting no game time.
 
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