RD 5 V Sydney 3/11 AAMI PARK KO 7:50

[haz]

First time being able to actually watch a game this season, Ive missed the first four and we won all of them.......

[Imtellingyou]

It's not given that Timmy will play up front with Ross.

They can't beat us without Polish guy. 

[n i k o]

16 minutes ago, haz said:

First time being able to actually watch a game this season, Ive missed the first four and we won all of them.......

Go away 

[Heart of Melbourne]

What's the crowd like?

[Tony999]

Not at the game due to illness. Crowd looks 10.5k? 

['Einstein']

These Sydney characters have been all over us.  But we are bouncing back! Cmmoon boys! 

[mus-28]

Mauk pretty invisible playing in the deeper role, he's pretty 1 dimensional as an attacking midfielder who makes smart runs into the box, can see him making way for Kilkenny early in the 2nd half unless we're behind.

[kingofhearts]

Boring

[HeartOfCity]

37 minutes ago, Tony999 said:

Not at the game due to illness. Crowd looks 10.5k? 

The ends look packed! Why dont they open up the wings to general admision for a couple of seasons to fill them up. I would say 11k+ 

[Deeming]

Nil all in the Melbourne derby

 

[Deeming]

Fitzy wasn't manning up

[recyclosaurusrex]

Boring as fuck game. Is our game plan to kick long to fitzy?

[haz]

2 hours ago, haz said:

First time being able to actually watch a game this season, Ive missed the first four and we won all of them.......

Sorry boys

[mus-28]

Got what we deserved. Looked like a Scottish 2nd Division side until Carrusca came on and actually tried to play something other than kick and chase.

 

Sydney will walk the league in again this year unless they get a lot of injuries, they're streets ahead of anyone else in the competition.

[SF33]

Probably the most concerning thing for me was that most of our players seemed to have pretty solid games. McCormack didn't play well, but I couldn't find too many others. They're just better than us right now.

[Tony999]

What was the crowd?

[recyclosaurusrex]

1 minute ago, Tony999 said:

What was the crowd?

Too quiet.

[fensaddler]

4 minutes ago, Tony999 said:

What was the crowd?

Cold.

[fensaddler]

And FWIW the referee was a cockwomble.

[Embee]

Goddammit 

[thisphantomfortress]

Unexpectedly cold night. 

Oh yes the football, one of those weird games where either side winning or a draw was  a fair result. Disappointed to lose but I think we have 

A) seen the start of a new rivalry

B )   seen this year's two best teams go head to head 

If only ross was half an inch taller 

[Imtellingyou]

It was a bad sign when first shot on target, Fitzy,  didn't go in.

Rebound game next week nearly equally hard.

[fensaddler]

1 minute ago, thisphantomfortress said:

Unexpectedly cold night. 

Oh yes the football, one of those weird games where either side winning or a draw was  a fair result. Disappointed to lose but I think we have 

A) seen the start of a new rivalry

B )   seen this year's two best teams go head to head 

If only ross was half an inch taller 

I think we should talk about how cold it was.  Did we mention that it was really, really cold?

[thisphantomfortress]

4 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

I think we should talk about how cold it was.  Did we mention that it was really, really cold?

Was there, can confirm it was cold 

[belaguttman]

The first game that I've attended this season, maybe I should stay away! The game probably deserved to be a draw but it benchmarks against last season's and probably this season's best organised team.

 

Positives:

Fairly even contest between 2 similar teams, each playing similar playing ugly football.

Mainly solid defensively

Improved enormously when Carusca came on, suddenly we had some fluency going forward and we were able to keep the ball long enough to apply some pressure.

Good first half from Marcin

 

Negatives:

The contrast between the teams was clear from the first phase of attacking transition, the smurfs had an attacking plan and were able to keep the ball going forward.

We had no attacking plan and poor ball retention. Marcin without influence in the second half

Cahill's ankle

I lived long enough to see Redders keep a clean sheet an AAMI Park, something that I thought impossible.

The smirk on Arnold's ugly face

Edited November 3, 2017 by belaguttman

[Thrillhouse]

Thought we were still the much better side. They did nothing first half apart from the chance that came from the counter when the ref missed a clear foul

ref was a biased cunt, every 50/50 against us, just a standard Sydney game 

active loud first half, dead silent 2nd till they scored 

[Hellenic Hero]

Who was that dickhead in the terrace getting into everyone, including the capo? He got kicked out eventually lol

[playmaker]

Well  Arnold  said he would exploit our weakness and he did. The same as what Garruccio did to Kamau so did Zullo.

Kamau didn't track him and he had too much time that eventuated in a goal.

For the rest of the game he was even poorer than I thought possible at this level.

Both Kamau and Fitzy lack vision and it's time we use Budzinski and Carrusca and have our DMs tracking their wingers with our more central attackers looking after the centre corridor defensively. Both Bud and Marcello are capable of breaking open the defence centrally and open more opportunities for Ross who atm does not get the appropriate service he needs. Watching him tonight he was in great positions but other player's hesitations cause the offside. Also on many occasions Bud would open the defence but had no close support so either lost the ball or was forced to go wide which played into the smurf's hands.

I could go on but I won't as the failings are quite obvious and need to be addressed.

Overall I am happy with the loss tonight only because Wazza now has a clearer indication where the team is at and what players aren't up to it.

A good game defensively and a good game for the team going forward.

[n i k o]

I think they played a better brand of football. Didn't really deserve the win any more than we did based on chances though. Test of character to see how the team reacts to being down and was not suprised that we continued to press on. The fairytale start has come to an end but I'm very confident of us moving on with our great start with another home game next week. 

[Torn Asunder]

Funny feeling at the stadium amongst supporters... we lost but it didn't really feel like a loss because we played a solid defensive game and were not outplayed, and made a few good chances that we'd normally put away. 

In past seasons we'd race out of the blocks, score 2 quick goals, then lose 2-3 and our supporters would feel angry and shattered.

Ross and Fitzy were off their games tonight, Fitzy lost his man for their goal which was soft. Marcin will be better for the run, Carussca should be getting more minutes, and I can see Killer eventually breaking into starting line up.

Not a bad loss and plenty of opportunity to improve. Our midfielders are still working out how to play together ... once they gel, which will take a few more weeks, I reckon we'll push Sydney for the title.

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by Torn Asunder

[n i k o]

Just now, Torn Asunder said:

Funny feeling at the stadium amongst supporters... we lost but it didn't really feel like a loss because we played a solid defensive game and were not outplayed, and made a few good chances that we'd normally put away. 

In past seasons we'd race out of the blocks, score 2 quick goals, then lose 3 nil and our supporters would feel angry and shattered.

Ross and Fitzy were off their games tonight, Fitzy lost his man for their goal which was soft. Marcin will be better for the run, Carussca should be getting more minutes, and I can see Killer eventually breaking into starting line up.

Not a bad loss and plenty of opportunity to improve. Our midfielders are still working out how to play together ... once they gel, which will take a few more weeks, I reckon we'll push Sydney for the title.

 

And yet Fitzy was our most potent attacker for the game. Mixed emotions. 

[neio]

Wazza has got alot right this season, but putting kilkenny on for brattan wasn't one of them, killer is terribly unimaginative with the ball and it showed in last 5 minutes

 

All in all the had one chance and they took it, we had a couple and didn't 

[HEARTinator]

I’d rather a loss early in the season to a top ranked side than towards the end of the season. It was 1:0 rather than a flogging and neither goal keeper was really tested. What Sydney continue to show is that they are very even across the pitch which makes playing them difficult if you have any weaknesses. We lacked sufficient creativity through the middle and we still aren’t providing enough quality service to McCormack. There were passages of nice one touch movement but not enough. Plenty to work on at Bundoora.

[jw1739]

Very disappointing match in front of 11,034. Yes, we were tight defensively, but we were painfully pedestrian in moving the ball forwards, and far too many passes were going astray. Most disturbing aspect for me is that we were seemingly unable to lift after the goal was scored. IMO that's a result of being in a defensive mindset. 

I thought Joyce erred in starting Cahill, and waited far too long before subbing off Brattan and Muscat, neither of whom were doing anything much.

[Murfy1]

CAHILL INJURY 'NO EXCUSE' SAYS MAUK

 

By Staff Writer

Nov 3 2017

 

Stefan Mauk has refused to blame Tim Cahill's early injury exit for the 1-0 loss to Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Cahill got his first start of the season, but only lasted 25 minutes after rolling in ankle in a clumsy challenge.

A rare goal by Luke Wilkshire on the hour saw Sydney leap frog the home side to take the summit, ending coach Warren Joyce's four-game winning start at City.

Mauk admitted losing Cahill was unsettling.

"You're playing all week to do certain things and when a player like Timmy goes down it disrupts the team," he told Fox Sports.

"But in saying that we had a great player coming on in Marcin (Budziński). I'm not going to use that as an excuse. We lost and it happens to every team."

Cahill was taken to hospital for scans but before that he rallied the team at half time telling them "to keep going, fighting and doing everything to keep a clean sheet," Mauk said.

"So he was in good spirits - I don't think it's too serious, I hope not. I guess we've just got to focus on next week."

The 22-year-old midfielder said the outcome was an improvement on the last time the two teams met - City going down 2-0 in the FFA Cup - but he was far from satisfied.

"Last time we were disappointing," he said. "We've been pretty good the last four games. I think tonight we probably weren't good enough on the ball.

"Defensively I thought we were pretty good and beside their goal I didn't think they really had a chance and they're the champions - that was good in terms of that - but I think we need to be much better on the ball to create chances."

 

https://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/cahill-injury-no-excuse-says-mauk-476869

[Murfy1]

It seems the players and Joyce know just where we’re at.

 

The defence is solid, but our attack is really 2nd rate ATM. No goals in open play in 3 games. No goals in open play at home (AAMI) in 2 games. 

 

In short, back to the drawing board with our midfield, and our plans on moving the ball up field and creating chances. We’ve played 5 games, we’ve built the defence, so now it’s time to establish an attacking plan (even if it’s a simple attacking plan [it doesn’t need to be Barca football, it just has to be effective]).

Edited November 3, 2017 by Murfy1

[n i k o]

In his post match press conference Joyce made the comment that we lacked concentrating, discipline and thought and the players forgot their job at times. Some guesses as to who he may have in mind?? 

[LB]

I feel like I must of been watching a different game to some of you. I don’t get the negativity. We were desperately unlucky not to get a point or 3, we simply lost the game on Fitzy not tracking his man. Even then Wilkshire completely duffed the finish but got lucky. We had the majority of chances, I can’t really remember them troubling us other then the goal. 

Despite his error Fitzy is far and away our most dangerous weapon at the moment. He’s a limited player but not sure he lacks vision as others have said, his decision making is good and he’s the only player who penatrates with the ball & makes incisive runs. Could of easily had a couple of assists tonight if McCormack wasn’t on his heels at times.

I thought Kamau also had a very solid game as well. His close control has definitely improved and for the most part, his defensive application is terrific.

Sydney are a very well oiled machine but I feel we’re getting there. Good times ahead. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by LB

[HeartOfCity]

I actually couldnt get to the game last night so got to watch it on fox, I thought the contest was enthralling. Granted for the general public it might have been a bit on the nose but it was definately a game of chess.

I also think Wazza might have shown a few other teams how to nullify Ninkovic as he did nothing special really. Although we lost I am pretty confident that we arnt that bad and look forward to the next game in Sydney and will be there to shout and cheer with the lads.

I dont know what other people thought of killa and maybe he needs a couple of games but Malik for me actually looks to start an attack or get the ball forward and looks comfortable doing so. 

Carney.......... what a dog! Did it twice the cock. Players that old doing that shit should make way for the young lads in this country, same as Mat Simon just fuck off.

 

[HEARTinator]

9 hours ago, Murfy1 said:

It seems the players and Joyce know just where we’re at.

 

The defence is solid, but our attack is really 2nd rate ATM. No goals in open play in 3 games. No goals in open play at home (AAMI) in 2 games. 

 

In short, back to the drawing board with our midfield, and our plans on moving the ball up field and creating chances. We’ve played 5 games, we’ve built the defence, so now it’s time to establish an attacking plan (even if it’s a simple attacking plan [it doesn’t need to be Barca football, it just has to be effective]).

Completely agree. It says something about the Joyce mindset at the moment that we can have Marcin and Carrusca sitting on the bench cooling heals. When Carrusca came on we started to have a created outlet in the middle to launch forward movement. Marcin also provides this. I think this is the tweak Joyce will be working on. A slight rebalancing of the side. We have the weapons it’s just about finding the balance.