jw1739

FTFY. Absolutely he's had plenty of time to implement a style of play. His appointment had all the signs of a panic appointment, when there was no need for it. Even if we had to fall back on Jamo as an interim coach while we looked for someone more experienced. Former captain should have been able to hold the squad together.

His parent club is actually CA Talleres in the Argentina Primera.

Here https://www.teamform.com/en/league-ranking/world you will see that the Chilean Primera is rated lower than Ligue 2 in France but higher that the A-League. He ought to be competent at our level once he acclimatises.

Hamza Sakhi has played the full 90 in Ajaccio's past three matches. One assist.

Well, I guess another question is "how long do you want?" It's coming up to the end of February and training started back in the latter half of July 2023. Of course there have indeed been disruptions but IMO they are the presenting problems; the deeper question is what are the underlying reasons or reason for something that isn't new this season, and indeed why all these player and coaching departures - it started before the Grand Final last season and was apparent in the very first competitive match of this season at Oakleigh.

There are probably as many analyses of a match as there are spectators...but IMO what TalkingCity has published is less about analysis and reasons, but rather more about the image of the club and the impression that it is giving - the mood that seems to have pervaded the club since last season's Grand Final debacle.

I was.

So why didn't we?

MELBOURNE CITY PLAYING SQUAD 2023-24 8 February 2024 Goalkeepers.: Until Club 1 Jamie YOUNG* 30/6/24 4/7/23 40 James NIEUWENHUIZEN (S)* 30/6/27 17/10/23 33 Patrick BEACH 30/6/26 23/6/2 Defenders: 22 Curtis GOOD* 30/6/24 11/6/21 2 Scott GALLOWAY 30/6/25 2/10/21 4 Nuno REIS (V)* 30/6/24 17/6/21 25 Callum TALBOT 30/6/25 24/5/22 26 Samuel SOUPRAYEN (V) 30/6/25 10/7/23 16 Aziz BEHICH 30/6/25 (On loan to Al-Nassr) 31/1/24 18 Jordon HALL* 30/6/24 9/8/23 -- Harry POLITIDIS 30/6/24 25/9/23 -- Vicente FERNANDEZ 30/6/24 8/2/24 -- Jayden NECOVSKI (S) 30/6/27 24/4/24 Midfielders: 10 Tolgay ARSLAN (V) 30/6/25 15/7/23 39 Emin DURAKOVIC (S) 30/6/26 22/6/23 34 Arion SULEMANI (S) 30/6/26 22/6/23 35 Zane SCHREIBER 30/6/26 23/6/23 21 Alessandro LOPANE 30/6/25 (1 season ext. option) 23/6/23 6 Steven UGARKOVIC 30/6/25 (1 season ext. option) 30/6/23 17 Terry ANTONIS* 30/6/24 6/7/23 37 Max CAPUTO 30/6/26 13/7/23 8 James JEGGO 30/6/25 (1 season ext. option) 31/1/24 Forwards: 9 Jamie MacLAREN* 30/6/24 23/9/21 15 Andrew NABBOUT* 30/6/24 10/6/21 7 Mathew LECKIE * 30/6/24 5/6/21 44 Marin JAKOLIS (L)* 30/6/24 2/8/23 -- Leo NATEL (V,L)* 30/6/24 15/9/23 -- Ben MAZZEO 30/6/26 (1-season ext. trigger) 16/1/24 -- Marco TILIO (L)* 30/6/24 1/2/24 * Denotes player out of contract end this season

You should all read (BTW I'm not the author or anything to do with "Talking City): https://www.talkingcity.com.au/another-tepid-showing-reviewing-a-disappointing-melbourne-derby/ This sums up City as I feel, and I think many other fans are the same. We are a pale shadow of the club that we were just one season ago. I don't know what the fundamental problem is, but it surfaced before the GF last season, and it's just gone on from there.

Oh no, here we go again on "border protection." Don't our idiot politicians realis that the big majority of "illegals" arrive by air on legit visas and then break their visa conditions and "disappear" into their communities?

Not quite correct. JMac scored a hat-trick on 28th December. But the thrust of your comment is correct. Not one of our designated forwards has scored since that Brisbane match: Sakhi, Antonis (2), Arslan, Ugarkovic, and an own goal in 7 matches. There are some fundamental problems. An ageing squad. The pre-season signings leave a lot to be desired, and so do the subsequent ones. Injuries. Coaching departures. An Academy that hasn't got a lot to offer to challenge the senior squad )we need to be in NPL 1 not NPL 2. Sydney, WSW and CCM are all in NPL 1 in NSW. Adelaide United likewise in SA). A coach that just isn't willing to get the squad by the scruff of the neck and make some obvious changes. CFG may set some overall guidelines on the style of football it likes its clubs to play, but it does not mandate specifics.

Sad when the highlights are nothing to do with the football...

@TheStig Just rock up and take your usual seat.

The problem is that the club is in it all up to its neck. I can just about tolerate being owned by CFG, but the directors of APL should not include anyone with a club affiliation.

Bos and O'Neill faced off yesterday. Westerlo beat Standard 2-1.

Looks like Denis Genreau has fallen out of favour at Toulouse.

Just another stuff-up by Football Australia and APL. I'm getting used to them. But it's just another reason why the fans drift away, and probably why players don't really want to stay here.

Members, 16/2/24 We're being targeted by spammers. Please notify either Malloy or me if you see one that you think we may have missed. Thank you, jw

I suspect that Vidmar has reached the same point as Rado did. The performance of the whole is far less than it should be when considering the sum of its parts, and he doesn't know what to do about it.

Was there ever a season with so much despondency? Club and fans seem to have lost their way. Even with Unlucky John and Wazza we somehow had spirit, but now it all seems just too hard...

If he was mouthing off in German does anyone really believe that? Seems to me everyone was gunning for him right from the start - 4 weeks was being bandied around in the media immediately after the match. I don't think we're the most popular club in the League.

It does. It's compounded by having a slow defence. As and when we concede, and time permits, we need to revert to a medium press at least, and possibly even the "park the bus" for a few minutes. IMO it's a mistake to have a CF as captain. You need a captain in defence or DM to be marshalling the defensive lines in these situations. The "high press" is a good strategy. What we are not doing is adjusting our tactics within that strategy to suit the presenting situation.

Whilst I completely agree with you, the "park the bus" style does not fit the "high press" theory of the "city way." The "high press" style of play is very vulnerable to the quick counter-attack. There's a good discussion here. https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/counter-pressing-gegenpressing-football-tactics-explained-klopp-guardiola-bielsa-hasenhuttl/

When is the hearing?