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RD 21: Glory v City, Saturday Feb 24 10pm


Harrison
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9 hours ago, rass said:

Fuk me, does anyone actually get it?

1-0 up in Perth where it's 30 degrees. You could sense the players tiring before the red. So vital to protect the lead. It wasn't about who was playing better, it wasnt about our most attacking player - it was about taking off the least defensive player.

You're all crapping on about the wrong sub, but how many times did we go forward after that card? You could've had Lewandoski on and it wouldn't have made any difference. 

Fwiw, the first goal came from everyone clocking off and they took the foul quickly and opened us up. The second was always going to happen.

100% spot on. 

You have fair point and I see what you mean.

But in my perspective;

Everybody could see Budzinski was done after 45min let alone he was never part of the game, in my opinion and with your theory he was the least defensive player so should have beeb subbed at half time or early second half. Even Vidosic was putting his hand up for a sub.

On your point about not going forward after the red card, this is my exact point, this was 100% caused by leaving Budzinski on too long, taking Arzani off and possible waiting to long with bringing Bruno. 

We seem to struggle to create and score without Arzani and Ross on the pitch, history shows this - why not keep the kid on a little on little longer, he least keeps one or two defenders with him. Perth had no interested in marking Bud. Bruno could have been brought on earlier for the same reason as Arzani, they might double tag him and forcing Perth to keep a midfielder back a little. 

Calmly going ahead with the Kamau sub when Atkinson is injured whilst we are under the pump, surely there are other more suited players that could be moved into this unnatural position for the remainder. We would have been better off in putting Delbridge right back, bring Lesiotis on or dropping all midfielders a line to then bring Bruno on

Sure Bart is a silly bugger and has a hand in collecting unnecessary cards but I expect a manager to cope with it a little better. It almost seems like he just went ahead with his planned subs regardless of the game situation. He just put Kamau right back as he was planned to come on for Fitzy, with Atkinson out - why not let them both play around on the right wing. 

Edited by Mr MO
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Last night is the most furious I have been after a game. I've calmed down somewhat but I still stick by what I said... And I also think it's so convenient to analyse Joyce's performance and lay the blame on him because it's the thing to do on this forum.

The facts from last night are that as ugly as it looked, we were holding them. Stupidly, that first goal came not from a coaching error, but because we gave away a foul near the corner and our defenders then switched off and allowed them to take the foul quickly and get the ball in. We were completely asleep.

For #2, I think Kamau is a fraud but in his defence, he did try and get goal side of Taggart, but that ball in was too good. Sadly, everyone could see they were going to spring out from our corner, we didn't cut off their exits down the right.

Look, I'm not saying Joyce's performance was perfect, but I think it's fukn crap to blame him whilst letting Bart off with just a 'silly bugger'. Bart cost us the game and now probably our best player and the one of the best in the league will be missing for a crucial derby. That's unforgivable.

 

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16 minutes ago, rass said:

Last night is the most furious I have been after a game. I've calmed down somewhat but I still stick by what I said... And I also think it's so convenient to analyse Joyce's performance and lay the blame on him because it's the thing to do on this forum.

The facts from last night are that as ugly as it looked, we were holding them. Stupidly, that first goal came not from a coaching error, but because we gave away a foul near the corner and our defenders then switched off and allowed them to take the foul quickly and get the ball in. We were completely asleep.

For #2, I think Kamau is a fraud but in his defence, he did try and get goal side of Taggart, but that ball in was too good. Sadly, everyone could see they were going to spring out from our corner, we didn't cut off their exits down the right.

Look, I'm not saying Joyce's performance was perfect, but I think it's fukn crap to blame him whilst letting Bart off with just a 'silly bugger'. Bart cost us the game and now probably our best player and the one of the best in the league will be missing for a crucial derby. That's unforgivable.

 

Am I the only one that though Kamau was decent at right back? Both their goals came from the left and the cross for the second was an absolute peach. 

For mine that final corner was criminal, Perth are known as the quickest team in the league. To not go short and take the points there was tempting fate.

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Some of the poor shit last night:

1/ Bart Schenkeveld.  As much as I've enjoyed his stout play this season he lets himself down massively by arguing uselessly and coping a yellow. The second yellow was a stupid brain fade and it was down hill from there.

2/ Bart gets his yellow on 56min and Taggart comes on on 58min.  Instantly Taggart has an effect and has a few headers on goal. We needed defenders to defend not get sent off.

3/ The Kilkenny goal started with  their quick free which we didn't defend. Poor, very poor.

4/ Kamau defending against Taggart from a lovely cross by Joel was only going to end in tears. The way we took that corner was criminal. Exposed the back line something terrible.

5/ We threw away 3 pts. Should have hung on for at least 1 point.

6/ It wasn't that we were beaten by a better footballing side. We had the lead for 85 min. In the end we beat ourselves. Both barrels to both feet :hkpalm:

Edited by HEARTinator
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On the balance of the first half I'd say it was relatively even, except for a bit of Arzani brilliance. I think it's also important to point out that we lost control of the game well before the red card. Coming out in the second half we had too little of the ball, lost possession too easily when we did have it and struggled to create any reasonable build up from our midfield to forwards. The heat map of the game shows this was the case.

Roughly from 45-67 minute Perth had us on the back foot (our defensive half is on the right of screen)....

g89vwxm.png

 

By the time Bort got the sending off we had next to no momentum and Perth had most of it. Just on the Bort incident regardless the opinion on whether he got a touch on the ball or not it was a rash decision to go sliding in. He should have simply pressured Mills towards the corner until the rest of the team regrouped. Once he went off we continued to fail in creating anything going forward or at least hold on to any meaningful possession. The introduction of Taggart then caused us issues inside the box where he had more than one chance to score some goals. 

Overall I'm disappointed at how we simply didn't 'click' throughout the game but especially early in the second half.

A lot of people are also blaming Wazza for his subs. There was so much going on that I'm not going to argue that they were right or wrong in their views. However in Wazzas defence having to deal with 2 key players in his backline having to come off wouldn't have been easy. Our best centre back gets sent off and Atkinson is forced to come off. In hind sight yes better choices could always be made but when you're left with an underperforming player in Delbridge and a winger to defend for you then yeh shit might get challenging. Especially being down to ten men. 

 

Edited by n i k o
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5 hours ago, Mr MO said:

You have fair point and I see what you mean.

But in my perspective;

Everybody could see Budzinski was done after 45min let alone he was never part of the game, in my opinion and with your theory he was the least defensive player so should have beeb subbed at half time or early second half. Even Vidosic was putting his hand up for a sub.

On your point about not going forward after the red card, this is my exact point, this was 100% caused by leaving Budzinski on too long, taking Arzani off and possible waiting to long with bringing Bruno. 

We seem to struggle to create and score without Arzani and Ross on the pitch, history shows this - why not keep the kid on a little on little longer, he least keeps one or two defenders with him. Perth had no interested in marking Bud. Bruno could have been brought on earlier for the same reason as Arzani, they might double tag him and forcing Perth to keep a midfielder back a little. 

Calmly going ahead with the Kamau sub when Atkinson is injured whilst we are under the pump, surely there are other more suited players that could be moved into this unnatural position for the remainder. We would have been better off in putting Delbridge right back, bring Lesiotis on or dropping all midfielders a line to then bring Bruno on

Sure Bart is a silly bugger and has a hand in collecting unnecessary cards but I expect a manager to cope with it a little better. It almost seems like he just went ahead with his planned subs regardless of the game situation. He just put Kamau right back as he was planned to come on for Fitzy, with Atkinson out - why not let them both play around on the right wing. 

Agree, especially with Bruno, with our long ball clearances he would have held the ball up and taken the pressure off the defence.

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3 hours ago, n i k o said:

On the balance of the first half I'd say it was relatively even, except for a bit of Arzani brilliance. I think it's also important to point out that we lost control of the game well before the red card. Coming out in the second half we had too little of the ball, lost possession too easily when we did have it and struggled to create any reasonable build up from our midfield to forwards. The heat map of the game shows this was the case.

Roughly from 45-67 minute Perth had us on the back foot (our defensive half is on the right of screen)....

g89vwxm.png

 

By the time Bort got the sending off we had next to no momentum and Perth had most of it. Just on the Bort incident regardless the opinion on whether he got a touch on the ball or not it was a rash decision to go sliding in. He should have simply pressured Mills towards the corner until the rest of the team regrouped. Once he went off we continued to fail in creating anything going forward or at least hold on to any meaningful possession. The introduction of Taggart then caused us issues inside the box where he had more than one chance to score some goals. 

Overall I'm disappointed at how we simply didn't 'click' throughout the game but especially early in the second half.

A lot of people are also blaming Wazza for his subs. There was so much going on that I'm not going to argue that they were right or wrong in their views. However in Wazzas defence having to deal with 2 key players in his backline having to come off wouldn't have been easy. Our best centre back gets sent off and Atkinson is forced to come off. In hind sight yes better choices could always be made but when you're left with an underperforming player in Delbridge and a winger to defend for you then yeh shit might get challenging. Especially being down to ten men. 

 

Agree.

We didn't lookin it, they wanted it more.

In hindsight Wazza could've/should've made a better sub, but a red and injury makes it hard. He could have gone to a back three though.

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I'm happy for Kilkenny. 

Bart was unfortunate.  For Geria's tackle on Kitto not even a foul was given. When playing for top Melbourne and Sydney clubs, one can tackle a lot and gets away more often than not.  That's reality. 

Arzani doesn't have legs for more than 60 minutes. He has to be subbed. 

Lesiotis? Is Perth really the place to be on the very first bench for debut.

We shouldn't push at the last corner kick with one man down.

We should finish third as it's unlikely that two chasers behind us would make a long streak based on the season so far. 

Totally unpredictable next derby match is ahead of us.

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My Take :

Thought we utterly controlled it until the send off. IMO Joyce's tactics were spot on until the send off considering the approach that Perth were taking in effectively parking the bus and hitting long to Castro and Keogh. We were happy to pass it around and only take what obviously presented itself as far as attacking options go, although it was obviously boring as batshit to watch.

Bart is absolutely to blame for the loss. The first yellow was completely unneeded, but the second one was even more so. You dont make a risky tackle like that when you are on a yellow unless you are absolutely needed to; Mills was going absolutely nowhere out there. Regardless of whether it was or wasnt a foul or yellow, it was an incredibly stupid tackle to attempt given the circumstances.

In regards to subs i think Arzani coming off makes sense; we needed to shut up shop from that point and you take off your weakest defensive player from there. That is most likely Arzani, but i appreciate that Bud could also be viewed as the weakest defensively. Ultimately a call that would split most imo.

Bruce to RB was forced, i dont think anyone else could have gone there except maybe Fitzy but again its a 50-50 that i wouldnt put all my chips on one way or the other. Personally didnt think he went too bad there tbh and was only really beaten when in the air.

I agree that Wazza should have brough Bruno on for Bud far earlier. Bruno is way more industrious and would have been fresh, as well as a bit craftier should the counter opportunity have presented.

The two goals were frustrating af, first given we were too busy protesting a foul to pay attention to Perth which is fucking farcical and the culprits (edit : Brattan and Jamo) need to be all sorts of dressed down, and the second because of our comical our approach to that corner was.

Extremely pissed off with how that game panned out, and especially at who I think is the greatest defender to play for this club. He's bloody brilliant, but he should be treated like everyone else and in this case, he cost his club three points and a virtual guarantee of an ACL spot.

Edited by bt50
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1 hour ago, bt50 said:

My Take :

Thought we utterly controlled it until the send off. IMO Joyce's tactics were spot on until the send off considering the approach that Perth were taking in effectively parking the bus and hitting long to Castro and Keogh. We were happy to pass it around and only take what obviously presented itself as far as attacking options go, although it was obviously boring as batshit to watch.

Bart is absolutely to blame for the loss. The first yellow was completely unneeded, but the second one was even more so. You dont make a risky tackle like that when you are on a yellow unless you are absolutely needed to; Mills was going absolutely nowhere out there. Regardless of whether it was or wasnt a foul or yellow, it was an incredibly stupid tackle to attempt given the circumstances.

In regards to subs i think Arzani coming off makes sense; we needed to shut up shop from that point and you take off your weakest defensive player from there. That is most likely Arzani, but i appreciate that Bud could also be viewed as the weakest defensively. Ultimately a call that would split most imo.

Bruce to RB was forced, i dont think anyone else could have gone there except maybe Fitzy but again its a 50-50 that i wouldnt put all my chips on one way or the other. Personally didnt think he went too bad there tbh and was only really beaten when in the air.

I agree that Wazza should have brough Bruno on for Bud far earlier. Bruno is way more industrious and would have been fresh, as well as a bit craftier should the counter opportunity have presented.

The two goals were frustrating af, first given we were too busy protesting a foul to pay attention to Perth which is fucking farcical and the culprits (edit : Brattan and Jamo) need to be all sorts of dressed down, and the second because of our comical our approach to that corner was.

Extremely pissed off with how that game panned out, and especially at who I think is the greatest defender to play for this club. He's bloody brilliant, but he should be treated like everyone else and in this case, he cost his club three points and a virtual guarantee of an ACL spot.

Agree with all of that except the part about us controlling the game until the red card. Agree with the points about Bort and it isnt the first time he's lost his cool and been costly. 

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1 hour ago, bt50 said:

My Take :

Thought we utterly controlled it until the send off. IMO Joyce's tactics were spot on until the send off considering the approach that Perth were taking in effectively parking the bus and hitting long to Castro and Keogh. We were happy to pass it around and only take what obviously presented itself as far as attacking options go, although it was obviously boring as batshit to watch.

Bart is absolutely to blame for the loss. The first yellow was completely unneeded, but the second one was even more so. You dont make a risky tackle like that when you are on a yellow unless you are absolutely needed to; Mills was going absolutely nowhere out there. Regardless of whether it was or wasnt a foul or yellow, it was an incredibly stupid tackle to attempt given the circumstances.

In regards to subs i think Arzani coming off makes sense; we needed to shut up shop from that point and you take off your weakest defensive player from there. That is most likely Arzani, but i appreciate that Bud could also be viewed as the weakest defensively. Ultimately a call that would split most imo.

Bruce to RB was forced, i dont think anyone else could have gone there except maybe Fitzy but again its a 50-50 that i wouldnt put all my chips on one way or the other. Personally didnt think he went too bad there tbh and was only really beaten when in the air.

I agree that Wazza should have brough Bruno on for Bud far earlier. Bruno is way more industrious and would have been fresh, as well as a bit craftier should the counter opportunity have presented.

The two goals were frustrating af, first given we were too busy protesting a foul to pay attention to Perth which is fucking farcical and the culprits (edit : Brattan and Jamo) need to be all sorts of dressed down, and the second because of our comical our approach to that corner was.

Extremely pissed off with how that game panned out, and especially at who I think is the greatest defender to play for this club. He's bloody brilliant, but he should be treated like everyone else and in this case, he cost his club three points and a virtual guarantee of an ACL spot.

Exactly.

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16 hours ago, Forever City said:

Any news on Atkinson? He looked to have picked up an injury.

This might be completely wrong, but about 5 minutes before the sending off

Atkinson was limping a little and the camera went to Joyce, and delbridge was taping up his shin pads in background. Then Bart got sent off

I'm wondering if Atkinson got injured, and was going to be replaced but Bart stuffed that up, and now he is further injured due to having to stay out there 

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Aside from Bart's stupid error(s), my worry is our attack. It is heavily geared around Arzani. He is a very dominating player who rightfully demands the ball at his feet. But the game plan seems to now be 'pass to Arzani and let him do it all'. I can't remember any decent chances that weren't built by him. 

We desperately need Fornaroli to come back into the starting XI so we can build cohesion and add a few more attacking combinations. 

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Look, these types of games do happen sometimes, and you just need to laugh about it, otherwise, you'll lose your mind. 

I thought Wazza was 100% on the money in terms of us being to blame for the goals we conceded.  This problem of giving up soft goals has been the most troubling aspect of our season, even more than our inability to score or make any use of set pieces (other than Ross).  We continue to give up stupid goals through really dumb and basic mistakes. Wazza said that if you watched all the goals we have conceded for the season, back to back, it would be a horror show of mistakes ... would love someone clever enough with video editing to do this. 

Also, I actually think Perth let us have the ball in the 1st half, and we dominated accordingly, and they planned to conserve energy, with their game plan to lift their intensity in the second half, hoping we would tire.  This happened of course, and a man down cost us in terms of not being able to defend out the game.  Disappointing about Bart and yes, his 1st card was silly, but his second was debatable ... when he commits, he commits, so this is a risk you get with him and its not going to change.

Arzani's goal was sublime, Bozanic looked good, and Bruno also added a bit when he came on. 

Off the back of this game, it will be interesting to see how we go in the derby, but I think the tards will probably start favourites.

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Harrison said:

Aside from Bart's stupid error(s), my worry is our attack. It is heavily geared around Arzani. He is a very dominating player who rightfully demands the ball at his feet. But the game plan seems to now be 'pass to Arzani and let him do it all'. I can't remember any decent chances that weren't built by him. 

We desperately need Fornaroli to come back into the starting XI so we can build cohesion and add a few more attacking combinations. 

I honestly don't get this argument, what's wrong with relying on a player to spur the attack? We did it with Mooy

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We managed 1 shot on target from 7 attempts in 97 minutes of football against the worse defence in the league.

Do we blame that on Bart too? I guess we have to because Joyce got his tactics "spot on".

For the sake of comparison, Perth had 5 shots on target from 15 attempts.

There used to be a time when such an impotent, one-dimensional attacking performance would draw criticism but now all the talk is about individual defensive errors instead.

40 minutes ago, jeffplz said:

I honestly don't get this argument, what's wrong with relying on a player to spur the attack? We did it with Mooy

We did. And we couldn't finish higher than 4th in a 10 team league.

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15 minutes ago, jeffplz said:

I honestly don't get this argument, what's wrong with relying on a player to spur the attack? We did it with Mooy

Championship-winning teams do not rely on a single player to score/create goals. 

We didn't get near the league trophy with Mooy, nor we will win it relying on an admittedly brilliant teenager to 'spur' our attack. It just isn't a recipe for success. 

In my opinion our attack is becoming stilted and rather easy to defend. We could only put one goal past Perth, who are averaging two goals conceded every match. We couldn't put any past Sydney.

Ever since Ross left, Arzani has been shouldering a lot of the attacking burden. I just hope that Fornaroli can combine well with others so that we are more dynamic across the front third rather than just down Arzani's flank. 

 

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11 minutes ago, Jacques Le Cube said:

We managed 1 shot on target from 7 attempts in 97 minutes of football against the worse defence in the league.

Do we blame that on Bart too? I guess we have to because Joyce got his tactics "spot on".

For the sake of comparison, Perth had 5 shots on target from 15 attempts.

There used to be a time when such an impotent, one-dimensional attacking performance would draw criticism but now all the talk is about individual defensive errors instead.

We did. And we couldn't finish higher than 4th in a 10 team league.

You realise we were 1-0 up yeah?

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Ummmmm the elephant in the room fellas.

We have no striker.

Also to add, our front third are full of selfish hogs that play indirect and/or can not set up a play and lay the ball off to a player with a better opportunity to score.

As it has been all season, we struggle to score from open play. We have big problems up forward.

How many times I saw Bud and Vidosic in space and not passed to or players making runs centrally through the lines and not being passed to.

Big problems.

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10 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

You realise we lost 2-1 yeah? 

And what was the difference between the two scores??????

I'll give you a hint; it's to do with the number of players on the ground...

But Fuk it, let's all just blame Joyce... And Bouzanis... And Malik too... 

 

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7 minutes ago, rass said:

And what was the difference between the two scores??????

I'll give you a hint; it's to do with the number of players on the ground...

But Fuk it, let's all just blame Joyce... And Bouzanis... And Malik too... 

 

Both Bort and Joyce are to blame. Bort more because he started it, but Joyce could have adapted much better then he did

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4 minutes ago, haz said:

Both Bort and Joyce are to blame. Bort more because he started it, but Joyce could have adapted much better then he did

Bart 1st because it fukd the game and next week too.

2nd goes to those players who just let them take the foul quickly and also that last shit corner.

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2 hours ago, rass said:

And what was the difference between the two scores??????

I'll give you a hint; it's to do with the number of players on the ground...

But Fuk it, let's all just blame Joyce... And Bouzanis... And Malik too... 

 

You forgot Muscat.

Didn't watch a second of the game because I was at a 21st, but i'm pretty confident it was Muscats fault

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Whilst he might not have made the correct subs etc. I'm definitely on Wazzas side for this game. Bort, Brattan, Jamo and a few others need to be held accountable. If the manager says that he stressed at half time about not switching off and twice you do exactly that and lose the game because of it then those players should hold close to 100% of the blame. It's simply not good enough and I hope during this week they are absolutely run into the ground (no not literally). 

Edited by n i k o
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5 hours ago, haz said:

Both Bort and Joyce are to blame. Bort more because he started it, but Joyce could have adapted much better then he did

 

I agree that both are the key people to blame for the loss. Bart obviously for 2 silly yellows and getting sent off with 23 minutes of regular time to go.

 

However, It would be papering over the cracks IMO to pretend there were no other problems with the team. Crumbling and losing 2-1 to Perth--the 9th place team with the worst defence--over the last third of the game rather clearly indicates that there are other weaknesses/imperfections in the team.

And we looked weak at both ends. From the start of the 2nd half our defence was inviting on way too much pressure IMO. If the tactic was to "shut up shop", then it was evidently the wrong strategy. And then after Bart got sent off the floodgates opened. Perth are also one of the worst attacking teams this season, with 26 goals over 21 games, and in 30 minutes Perth could too easily dictate the game, manufacture chances, and score pretty much twice their average number of goals over 90 minutes in 30 minutes against us. These 30 minutes perhaps highlighted that our defence is overly reliant on Bart, and it looks much shakier if he's not in the defensive set up.

I'd also call out Delbridge--Joyce's handpicked CB--for showing generally poor quality, and terrible tackling technique, which was on full display for Perth's first goal when he slidetackled the ball a few metres towards Kilkenny, and then slidetackled again to attempt to block the shot. Delbridge is starting to look like a very poor management decision, someone the coach went out of his way to bring into the team, who is now being played ahead of La Rocca and Tongyik. 

And then there's Muscat being dropped from the extended squad so Atkinson, newly returned after a several week layoff, can start without any backup, because Lesiotis also received a precious bench spot (his first time to join the senior squad). Not having a natural RB in the team I'd also call a mistake. 

 

The attack from the start of the 2nd half was also weak. We managed maybe 2 shots over the 2nd half, and every shot of our's in the 2nd half was certainly not meaningful. Against the weakest defence in the league, the best form of defence for us would have been to attack, or at minimum at least sometimes attack in the 2nd half, and we failed to do that. I don't really buy the point about us not having strikers ATM. Given that our team released multiple attackers, namely Cahill, Brandan, Crowley (a striker signed by Joyce for 2 years in September, and released this month) and Carrusca, one doesn't at all have the option to then turn around and say they have no attackers. Also, Fornaroli could have played much more than the last several minutes. So, it's quite easy to say that our limited attack (which is now nearly entirely carried by 19 year old Arzani) is the result of management decisions (including the decision to limit attacking players [like Fornaroli] and attacking play on match day), and not due to random circumstances, like the bygone injury to Fornaroli.

 

Overall, we simply made far too much hard work of playing the 2nd bottom side Perth Glory IMO. We got burned at both ends. First, we barely attacked, then we tried to defend for about half of the game against the weakest defence in the league, for some reason. Bart's serious stuff up on the 67th minute was catastrophic. Nonetheless, it could be said that another top four side would have been at least 2 goals up against this Perth Glory side by the 67th minute--and further, that the wheels wouldn't have fallen off completely in 30 minutes against this opposition. 

So, we better not just get Bart back in 2 rounds. We better shape up the overall attack and defence. I think we still have enough personnel to have a real competitive team. And if this alleged "defensive focus" about Melbourne City this season (which Scott Munn and others have said Melbourne City has) could finally start to bear fruit (no more set piece howlers, poor defending of the penalty box, and poor transition defence [Perth's 2nd goal]), then possibly if the team shapes up then we could finish the season with momentum.

Edited by Murfy1
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26 minutes ago, Murfy1 said:

 

I agree that both are the key people to blame for the loss. Bart obviously for 2 silly yellows and getting sent off with 23 minutes of regular time to go.

 

However, It would be papering over the cracks IMO to pretend there were no other problems with the team. Crumbling and losing 2-1 to Perth--the 9th place team with the worst defence--over the last third of the game rather clearly indicates that there are other weaknesses/imperfections in the team.

And we looked weak at both ends. From the start of the 2nd half our defence was inviting on way too much pressure IMO. If the tactic was to "shut up shop", then it was evidently the wrong strategy. And then after Bart got sent off the floodgates opened. Perth are also one of the worst attacking teams this season, with 26 goals over 21 games, and in 30 minutes Perth could too easily dictate the game, manufacture chances, and score pretty much twice their average number of goals over 90 minutes in 30 minutes against us. These 30 minutes perhaps highlighted that our defence is overly reliant on Bart, and it looks much shakier if he's not in the defensive set up.

I'd also call out Delbridge--Joyce's handpicked CB--for showing generally poor quality, and terrible tackling technique, which was on full display for Perth's first goal when he slidetackled the ball a few metres towards Kilkenny, and then slidetackled again to attempt to block the shot. Delbridge is starting to look like a very poor management decision, someone the coach went out of his way to bring into the team, who is now being played ahead of La Rocca and Tongyik. 

And then there's Muscat being dropped from the extended squad so Atkinson, newly returned after a several week layoff, can start without any backup, because Lesiotis also received a precious bench spot (his first time to join the senior squad). Not having a natural RB in the team I'd also call a mistake. 

 

The attack from the start of the 2nd half was also weak. We managed maybe 2 shots over the 2nd half, and every shot of our's in the 2nd half was certainly not meaningful. Against the weakest defence in the league, the best form of defence for us would have been to attack, or at minimum at least sometimes attack in the 2nd half, and we failed to do that. I don't really buy the point about us not having strikers ATM. Given that our team released multiple attackers, namely Cahill, Brandan, Crowley (a striker signed by Joyce for 2 years in September, and released this month) and Carrusca, one doesn't at all have the option to then turn around and say they have no attackers. Also, Fornaroli could have played much more than the last several minutes. So, it's quite easy to say that our limited attack (which is now nearly entirely carried by 19 year old Arzani) is the result of management decisions (including the decision to limit attacking players [like Fornaroli] and attacking play on match day), and not due to random circumstances, like the bygone injury to Fornaroli.

 

Overall, we simply made far too much hard work of playing the 2nd bottom side Perth Glory IMO. We got burned at both ends. First, we barely attacked, then we tried to defend for about half of the game against the weakest defence in the league, for some reason. Bart's serious stuff up on the 67th minute was catastrophic. Nonetheless, it could be said that another top four side would have been at least 2 goals up against this Perth Glory side by the 67th minute--and further, that the wheels wouldn't have fallen off completely in 30 minutes against this opposition. 

So, we better not just get Bart back in 2 rounds. We better shape up the overall attack and defence. I think we still have enough personnel to have a real competitive team. And if this alleged "defensive focus" about Melbourne City this season (which Scott Munn and others have said Melbourne City has) could finally start to bear fruit (no more set piece howlers, poor defending of the penalty box, and poor transition defence [Perth's 2nd goal]), then possibly if the team shapes up then we could finish the season with momentum.

Nobody should ever pick an argument with you Murf. Great analysis as usual :up:

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5 hours ago, Murfy1 said:

 

 

And then there's Muscat being dropped from the extended squad so Atkinson, newly returned after a several week layoff, can start without any backup, because Lesiotis also received a precious bench spot (his first time to join the senior squad). Not having a natural RB in the team I'd also call a mistake. 

 

 

Apparently Muscat picked up a virus matchday, and that's why he couldn't take his spot in side

He was in Perth and probably would have started 

Can't blame anyone for that one, just unfortunate

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@Murfy1 We also released John Roberts, another prolific young striker and Scholarship player after signing him only 8 months or so previously, and we should also probably count Anthony Caceres, who had signed for us for 2017/18 and was in pre-season and didn't depart until the end of July 2017.

IMO some very poor decisions have been made this season and they are definitely hurting us.

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There's nothing new here and nothing new happened in Perth.  Preseason shapes the official season. There is no need  to actually buy a player and then find out  why he wasn't praised elsewhere.  Leave statistics aside, Glory could be in NPL  but the long trip over there is always challenging. It really doesn't hurt us yet. For this club historically  3rd spot is a premium position.  We are strong contenders for semi and hopefully GF. 

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