Matchday 17: v Adelaide - Saturday 1st February 7.30pm at Coopers Stadium

[Harrison]

Defence will be tested by an Adelaide team that just scored four against WU. Jamieson is suspended so Galloway might be picked here, or Delbridge goes to LB and Atkinson comes back in.

Olyroos players are back too. 

[NuggetsMcGreggor]

Our attack will have opportunities up against a defence that just conceded 3 against WU. 

[neio]

There are 3 main selection issues with this week

Bouzanis vs Glover in goals - this is a real flip of coin for me. I'm probably leaning towards Bouzanis, 2 clean sheets in a row and in both of them he has made saves to protect it. It's unfortunate for Glover. But can easily see them going for Glover

Left back with Jamo suspended - Galloway to the left is most obvious choice, or does Delbo go out there and Atkinson plays. Or do we go to a proper back 3

Berenguer vs Metcalfe vs Genreau - I'm picking either of the 2 kids, probably which one returns in better shape. Berenguer can sit back on bench

[Embee]

3 points a must here.

Very interested to see how we line up, given the the selection issues @Harrison mentioned.

[fensaddler]

Any selection that drops Atkinson is the wrong selection. 

[rass]

24 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

Any selection that drops Atkinson is the wrong selection. 

I thought it was interesting he was brought on instead of Wales last week. Looks like he has gone ahead of him in the pecking order... And rightfully so.

[n i k o]

22 minutes ago, rass said:

I thought it was interesting he was brought on instead of Wales last week. Looks like he has gone ahead of him in the pecking order... And rightfully so.

Wales would be behind everyone after his attitude last week. 

[Mr MO]

1 minute ago, n i k o said:

Wales would be behind everyone after his attitude last week. 

You would feel a little deflated too mate, if your Cambodian girlfriend has dumped you for somebody else.

[n i k o]

3 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

You would feel a little deflated too mate, if your Cambodian girlfriend has dumped you for somebody else.

Especially when she was on the clock. I hear $10 gets you far in those countries though so I'm sure he bounced back. 

[Harrison]

Wonder who gets the armband if Griffiths doesn’t start...

[Mr MO]

17 minutes ago, Harrison said:

Wonder who gets the armband if Griffiths doesn’t start...

Either Brillante or Good but then Curtis doesn’t speak a lot.

[neio]

8 hours ago, Harrison said:

Wonder who gets the armband if Griffiths doesn’t start...

Brillante or Delbridge would be my 2 choices 

[belaguttman]

On 28/01/2020 at 11:26 AM, Harrison said:

Defence will be tested by an Adelaide team that just scored four against WU. Jamieson is suspended so Galloway might be picked here, or Delbridge goes to LB and Atkinson comes back in.

Olyroos players are back too. 

The WU defence is not what it was at the start of the season, it's been extremely disrupted as half their defenders have left. I'm not surprised that they're conceding a lot of goals. We've just strengthened our defence

[Harrison]

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

The WU defence is not what it was at the start of the season, it's been extremely disrupted as half their defenders have left. I'm not surprised that they're conceding a lot of goals. We've just strengthened our defence

I don’t just look at the defence though. Adelaide has quality in their attack with McGree, Mileusnic and Halloran. They are good, quick players who will exploit weaknesses.

I’m also not convinced we will go with the same defence, obviously because of Jamieson missing, but there’s a question around the three CBs. Could be a horses for courses type of approach now where we play all three CBs against counter attacking sides but revert to a more traditional two CBs and two FBs against sides that are more possession-based and so susceptible to our high press. 

[belaguttman]

Le Patron did talk about us now having the formation and tactical flexibility to suit the particular opponent

[malloy]

Toure likely out for the rest of the season with a broken foot.

[Harrison]

Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Tom GLOVER (gk), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Harrison DELBRIDGE, 5.Jack HENDRY, 6.Josh BRILLANTE, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Florin BERENGUER 11.Craig NOONE, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 14.Markel SUSAETA, 17.Denis GENREAU, 19.Lachlan WALES, 20.Adrian LUNA, 21.Ramy NAJJARINE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 23.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 30.Moudi NAJJAR, 34.Connor METCALFE, 49.Stefan COLAKOVSKI

**2-3 to be omitted**

Ins: 1.Tom GLOVER (returns from international duty), 17.Denis GENREAU (returns from international duty), 21.Ramy NAJJARINE (returns from international duty), 34.Connor METCALFE (returns from international duty)

Outs: 3.Scott JAMIESON (suspended – 1 week), 46.Joe GAUCI (omitted)

Unavailable: 40.Richard WINDBICHLER (hamstring)

[neio]

                          Bouzanis 

Delbridge.    Hendry.     Good.   Galloway

                  Brillante.   Metcalfe 

                              Luna

Susaeta.            Maclaren.          Noone

Glover, Atkinson, Genreau, Berenguer, Griffiths, Wales, Najjarine 

 

That doesn't look too bad at all

[belaguttman]

7 minutes ago, neio said:

That doesn't look too bad at all

strong bench too

[citypool]

I think we’ll win this 

[Missing_Moy]

Something like this could work in my opinion 

[Harrison]

Somewhat similar to the above post, I'd be interested to see a 3-4-3. Something like:

Bouzanis

Hendry/Delbridge/Good

Atkinson/Brillante/Luna/Galloway

Noone/Maclaren/Susaeta

Unlikely but an interesting thought-experiment.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Harrison

[malloy]

4 hours ago, neio said:

                          Bouzanis 

Delbridge.    Hendry.     Good.   Galloway

                  Brillante.   Metcalfe 

                              Luna

Susaeta.            Maclaren.          Noone

Glover, Atkinson, Genreau, Berenguer, Griffiths, Wales, Najjarine 

 

That doesn't look too bad at all

I would swap Noone for Atkinson and then have Susaeta swap wings with Atkinson

[Missing_Moy]

3 hours ago, Harrison said:

Somewhat similar to the above post, I'd be interested to see a 3-4-3. Something like:

Bouzanis

Hendry/Delbridge/Good

Atkinson/Brillante/Luna/Galloway

Noone/Maclaren/Susaeta

Unlikely but an interesting thought-experiment.

Yep suits our better players I like this 

[Mr MO]

8 hours ago, neio said:

                          Bouzanis 

Delbridge.    Hendry.     Good.   Galloway

                  Brillante.   Metcalfe 

                              Luna

Susaeta.            Maclaren.          Noone

Glover, Atkinson, Genreau, Berenguer, Griffiths, Wales, Najjarine 

 

That doesn't look too bad at all

Would be good to see Susaeta start in his natural position.

[Shahanga]

Gaffers got some hard calls at the back this week.

Deans been in good form so he’ll need to make the call on him or Glover. (Don’t care)

Cant play that weird lopsided back 4 this week, so I suspect one of Delly, Hendry and Good will need to go. Tough decision considering how well they all played. (Delly  to be shafted for me)

Who to bring in for Berenguer? Maybe he stays of course but Genreau and Metcalfe look better choices. (Genreau for me).

Bench looking a hell of a lot better now.

[Dezy94]

We welcome back the best youth players in domestic football after a month away❤️❤️❤️  I’d start Metcalfe and Glover (tough luck Dean), bring Ramy on in 60th minute and watch him and Susaeta tear it up.

Still in second after a tough slog this past month. Time to launch and make a statement in the city of churches, particularly given the embarrassment we served up the last time we played there.

[Le Hack]

Not so sure Ramy will get a run. I think he's fallen behind a lot of the forwards, I'd say behind Colakovski now. I reckon Mombaerts isn't particularly enthused by his lack of industry off the ball and with his defensive duties. Also he hasn't been popping them in enough to carry his lack of work. But that's only my opinion

[Tommykins]

Luna out apparently.

From Mombaerts, via The Age

Quote

"Just Glover has played a lot of games. Connor and Denis also did not play enough. Ramy did play a little more," he said. "I think its too early [for Glover]. Genreau is fit now but he has a lack of competition game and training. He needs more [time] to recover."

 

[Harrison]

Interesting, so with Luna out we definitely could see a 3-4-3/5-2-3 with Galloway and Atkinson as wing-backs that offer support in midfield.

As @Shahanga said above, I’d prefer we not play with three CBs in a back 4, it does give us more solidity but it makes it harder for us to properly control the game in the middle, which is what Mombaerts alluded to. We also lose drive from the wide position on the right as there’s little overlap down that side with Delbridge restricted.

Alternatively, we could still go with our usual system and use Griffiths as the defensive midfielder. 

Shapes to be a very interesting match.

[Missing_Moy]

Worst fucking timing if Luna is out after he plays his best 2 games for us !

[Tommykins]

Troisi out and McGree doubtful, perfect banana skin game for us now.

[haz]

5 hours ago, Tommykins said:

Luna out apparently.

fmd, last game will be one for the pub quizzes 'when did Melbourne City last field all 5 visa players'

[moops]

9 hours ago, Dezy94 said:

We welcome back the best youth players in domestic football after a month away❤️❤️❤️  I’d start Metcalfe and Glover (tough luck Dean), bring Ramy on in 60th minute and watch him and Susaeta tear it up.

Still in second after a tough slog this past month. Time to launch and make a statement in the city of churches, particularly given the embarrassment we served up the last time we played there.

Metcalf fell ill, let's assume it's the coronavirus for now.

hopefully Rammy gained some confidence he seems to be lacking, I still think Colocovski is ahead of him with his forward play and physicality, I like the kid.

[Shahanga]

1 hour ago, moops said:

Metcalf fell ill, let's assume it's the coronavirus for now.

hopefully Rammy gained some confidence he seems to be lacking, I still think Colocovski is ahead of him with his forward play and physicality, I like the kid.

Bit disappointed in this post. It started in the right vein but then fell out of the forum vibe.

How about this:

1.Metcalfe fell crook, probably Coronavirus, I’m expecting it to spread to the entire club

2. Glover played every game, he’s stuffed and needs a rest.

3. Genreau had an injury and only played a little. He’s probably injured, unfit and has his confidence shot now.

4. Remy got a bit of time off the bench but had been really confused by the different managers styles. Thinking of converting to a central defender now in order to cope.

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Shahanga

[moops]

2 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

But disappointed in this post. It started in the right vein but then fell out of the forum vibe.

How about this:

1.Metcalfe fell crook, probably Coronavirus, I’m expecting it to spread to the entire club

2. Glover played every game, he’s stuffed and needs a rest.

3. Genreau had an injury and only played a little. He’s probably injured, unfit and has his confidence shot now.

4. Remy got a bit of time off the bench but had been really confused by the different managers styles. Thinking of converting to a central defender now in order to cope.

 

That's it, you got it.

Sorry for my tardiness.

Edited January 31, 2020 by moops

[Originalmeme]

Going to be an interesting one, Adelaide are their own worst enemy, as are we.  We should hit this out of the park on paper! come on lads~!!

[JMSTEP123]

1 hour ago, Originalmeme said:

Going to be an interesting one, Adelaide are their own worst enemy, as are we.  We should hit this out of the park on paper! come on lads~!!

Predicting a loss then?

[belaguttman]

21 minutes ago, JMSTEP123 said:

Predicting a loss then?

As always with City, it could be an impressive win or we could take a terrible beating, and neither result would surprise

[JMSTEP123]

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

As always with City, it could be an impressive win or we could take a terrible beating, and neither result would surprise

The surprise would be the draw