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Melbourne City 2014 Pre Season


AlexDaGroza
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Disappointing from Bolton playing under 21s, probably not the best preseason hit out for our lads if they are just going to walk over kids

christ almighty some people are never happy. it's a step up from playing latrobe uni ffs.

You're right, how silly of me. I demand mediocrity! B)

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After reading the match review from the City website, it definitely seems that Duff had a ripping first half. Great signs from him. Also I'm really pleased to be seeing James Brown scoring goals in a few of the pre season games. Also I feel that Aaron Mooy will be one of those players who perhaps gets forgotten in all of the hype surrounding marquees, Villa, Duff etc, but he'll be one of our best players next season. It seems that he dominated in the Bolton game as well, which is really positive for us.

 

All in all, I don't know much about Koren but going by some comments on here from people who know more about him, he'll be a quality addition to the midfield. With him and Mooy roaming around in the middle along with either Murdocca, Mauk or perhaps Germano, our midfield will be extremely solid.

 

Our wingers also appear to be performing well this pre season. I don't know how many missed opportunities Duga and Williams have had but they have gotten on the scoreboard in the last couple of games so they look to be in good touch. James Brown seems to be holding his own and Duff will be quality as expected.

 

IMO, our first priority for the next signing should be a striker. When Villa leaves, we only have Williams left so we need someone to take that first choice striker role. Perhaps it'll be the aus marquee to replace Villa when he leaves. I don't know how many spots we would have left after the aus marquee, but the next positions in need of reinforcements are no doubt the fullbacks. I'd be happy to see Germano in RB so the LB role is where we need some reinforcements, as Garuccio should only be used as a LB either off the bench or in the case of an injury to our main LB. I definitely don't want to see Ramsey there either!  

 

I'm ignoring the trialists because I don't know much about them however, so perhaps they could be being considered to fill the positions that we need filled 

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Good write-up from Matt Windley:

Damien Duff shines on debut as Melbourne City smash Bolton Wanderers 5-1 to round out Manchester tour in grand style

 

MATT WINDLEY, IN MANCHESTER

 

JULY 24, 2014

 

 

MELBOURNE City smashed a second-string Bolton Wanderers team 5-1 on Thursday morning to round out its 18-day tour of Manchester in style.
 

First half goals to Patrick Kisnorbo, David Williams and Aaron Mooy cancelled out Conor Wilkinson’s fifth-minute opener, before James Brown - a second half substitute - and Mate Dugandzic finished off the rout.
 

Former Chelsea and Ireland star Damien Duff had his first start for his new club, playing 45 minutes, while Mooy again starred in a central midfield role.

There’s no denying English Championship side Bolton was under strength.
 

First-team midfielder Liam Trotter, who officially crossed from Millwall recently, started, but for the most part he was surrounded by reserve and under-21 players.
 

Regardless, City coach John van’t Schip would have been quietly pleased by the performance of his team, which looked assured in possession and potent in attack.
 

Midfielder Massimo Murocca, who lined up alongside Mooy and Nick Kalmar in a midfield trio, said the strength of the opposition shouldn’t detract from his team’s performance.
 

“The result was great, but we wanted to see how we progressed over the three games - today was our final test and we came through with flying colours,” Murdocca said.
 

“Great performance, the way we wanted to play was working very well, everyone was understanding their roles and it’s very positive going in to the next phase of our pre-season.”
 

This result follows on from a 2-2 draw with League Two side Bury and 1-1 draw with League One side Oldham while in the United Kingdom.
 

Playing a 4-3-3 formation with Iain Ramsay, Kisnorbo, Rob Wielaert and Jason Hoffman at the back and Dugandzic, Williams and Duff at the front, City sought to dominate possession from the outset.
 

But its over-willingness to play out from the back initially hurt it, as a sloppy back pass to Tando Velaphi caught the goalkeeper out. His clearance slammed in to Wilkinson and then found its way into the back of the net.
 

From there, though, it was all Melbourne.
 

Kisnorbo, situated at the near post, fired home a bullet of a right foot shot from a 20th minute Mooy corner, before City took the lead seven minutes later courtesy of a classy finish by Williams from just inside the box after some neat interplay from his teammates.
 

City fans would have been glad to see Duff play a big hand in Mooy’s goal - the team’s third - in the 35th minute as, playing on the right of the attack, he beat a Bolton defender before laying off for his new teammate to score.
 

Brown came on for Duff at half-time but the team lost nothing down the right hand side of attack as the former Newcastle Jet put in his best performance of the tour.
 

He had his reward in the 65th minute when he finished a brilliant through ball by Mooy, before Dugandzic tapped in a low Williams cross from the by-line to make it five in the 73rd minute.
 

Murdocca said he was disappointed by the set of circumstances that led to Bolton’s early goal, suggesting it is “those little things” that the team needs to eradicate from its game before the season-proper.
 

But he did laud the performances of both Duff and Mooy.
 

The two-time A-League championship winner with Brisbane said he enjoyed his first solid hitout with the 100-time Irish international, who formed a nice combination with Hoffman on the right side of the field.
 

“Quite comfortably I can say he was fantastic,” Murdocca said.
 

“It was great playing alongside him. He makes you more composed on the ball when he’s out there and he looks so dangerous which was fantastic to see.
“I’m really looking forward to playing with him.”

 

Murdocca was equally complimentary of Mooy.
 

“Aaron’s easily one of the best midfielders on the league,” he said.
 

“I don’t think anyone would discount his signing. People know that he’s here. People know that he’s going to have a great season for us.
 

“He’s going to be a great midfielder for us and we’re expecting big things from him.”
 

Melbourne City players begin to file home from Manchester on Thursday night (AEST) and will recommence training next week after a few days off.

 

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/damien-duff-shines-on-debut-as-melbourne-city-smash-bolton-wanderers-51-to-round-out-manchester-tour-in-grand-style/story-fnk6rlg0-1226999596525

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When the straight-talking Murdocca is speaking so glowingly of our performance and result, you know we played very well.

 

Okay it wasn't Bolton's best XI, but you can only beat what's in front of you, and by all accounts we did that very convincingly.

 

 

Great to hear that Mooy continues to be very impressive. I tipped him and Dugandzic to be our standout salary cap performers next season a while ago, and it sounds like Mooy and Dugandzic are on track to have very good seasons.

 

That Murdocca is consistently playing well bodes excellently for our midfield. Even if he's not a regular starter next season, the team is shaping up to have a very competitive and very good midfield.

 

James Brown is repaying the club's decision to take a punt on him. Having an in form Brown in our squad could be very handy next season.

 

Duff already playing so well is excellent news. It was reasonable to think it might take Duff a while to settle into the team, so it's great that Duff is already playing eye-catching football, and it suggests that we will have "a marquee under the salary cap" in Damien Duff next season. 

 

 

But perhaps best of all is the fact that the team now seems to be playing as a unit, with everyone on the same page, and are producing good possession-based attacking football. We didn't have our best players in this match either (no Koren, Villa, Australian marquee, and maybe a few other players), so you can't ask for much more in pre-season than a result like this. A very welcome outcome that builds on our 2 previous draws.

 

Bring on Sydney

Edited by Murfy1
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When the straight-talking Murdocca is speaking so glowingly of our performance and result, you know we played very well.

 

Okay it wasn't Bolton's best XI, but you can only beat what's in front of you, and by all accounts we did that very convincingly.

 

 

Great to hear that Mooy continues to be very impressive. I tipped him and Dugandzic to be our standout salary cap performers next season a while ago, and it sounds like Mooy and Dugandzic are on track to have very good seasons.

 

That Murdocca is consistently playing well bodes excellently for our midfield. Even if he's not a regular starter next season, the team is shaping up to have a very competitive and very good midfield.

 

James Brown is repaying the club's decision to take a punt on him. Having an in form Brown in our squad could be very handy next season.

 

Duff already playing so well is excellent news. It was reasonable to think it might take Duff a while to settle into the team, so it's great that Duff is already playing eye-catching football, and it suggests that we will have "a marquee under the salary cap" in Damien Duff next season. 

 

 

But perhaps best of all is the fact that the team now seems to be playing as a unit, with everyone on the same page, and are producing good possession-based attacking football. We didn't have our best players in this match either (no Koren, Villa, Australian marquee, and maybe a few other players), so you can't ask for much more in pre-season than a result like this. A very welcome outcome that builds on our 2 previous draws.

 

Bring on Sydney

One of the features of the coming season compared to our previous ones is the competition for spots on game day. Duff, Villa, Mooy, Koren will all be putting presure on the rest of our team to step up or be bench warmers. This is what we've needed to get the best out of the squad. And our younger teams members and youth squad must be pretty excited about training with Villa et al. Gonna be a great vibe at the club.

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I'm curious, to all those of you who have been watching Heart a whole lot longer than I (and I'm awful at analysing tactics anyway): from what you've seen of the pre-season videos, does it look like you're playing a completely different style so far, or is this more of the same?

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I'm curious, to all those of you who have been watching Heart a whole lot longer than I (and I'm awful at analysing tactics anyway): from what you've seen of the pre-season videos, does it look like you're playing a completely different style so far, or is this more of the same?

still conceding soft goals so that's nothing new
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I'm curious, to all those of you who have been watching Heart a whole lot longer than I (and I'm awful at analysing tactics anyway): from what you've seen of the pre-season videos, does it look like you're playing a completely different style so far, or is this more of the same?

Under JVS it was about playing football on the deck mostly and controlling the game through possession. Under Aloisi, it seemd to shift to quick counter attack style, with many more long aerial balls to a 5 foot nothing Maltese Messi. Suffice to say we went from a reasonable footballing style to shite. Now JVS is bringing our original style back and has a pretty good bunch of players at his disposal.

Edited by HEARTinator
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I'm curious, to all those of you who have been watching Heart a whole lot longer than I (and I'm awful at analysing tactics anyway): from what you've seen of the pre-season videos, does it look like you're playing a completely different style so far, or is this more of the same?

Under JVS it was about playing football on the deck mostly and controlling the game through possession. Under Aloisi, it seemd to shift to quick counter attack style, with many more long aerial balls to a 5 foot nothing Maltese Messi. Suffice to say we went from a reasonable footballing style to shite. Now JVS is bringing our original style back and has a pretty good bunch of players at his disposal.

 

we seem to playing it along the deck well, but persuing a more direct flow of passing. I wouldn't be surprised to see jvs try and increase the speed of our play now that we have technically capable players in our midfield

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Do we know if we are playing anymore preseason games? (Not counting ffa cup)

Well there's still the obligatory two friendlies against A-League sides. CCM seem to have been confirmed as one of the two games.

Yeah CCM in Lismore again.

Wonder if the peninsula select game will be on this year.

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Do we know if we are playing anymore preseason games? (Not counting ffa cup)

Well there's still the obligatory two friendlies against A-League sides. CCM seem to have been confirmed as one of the two games. Yeah CCM in Lismore again.

Wonder if the peninsula select game will be on this year. Sauce?

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Do we know if we are playing anymore preseason games? (Not counting ffa cup)

Well there's still the obligatory two friendlies against A-League sides. CCM seem to have been confirmed as one of the two games.Yeah CCM in Lismore again.

Wonder if the peninsula select game will be on this year.Sauce? garlic aioli

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Confirmed:

 

Lismore to host A-League friendly
27 July 2014

 

Big spending Melbourne City with new star signing Damien Duff are heading to northern NSW to play Central Coast in a friendly on September 7.

 

This is the third consecutive year Melbourne City (formally Heart) has played a pre-season match in Lismore, which has been lauded by team coaches for excellent facilities and enthusiastic crowds.

 

Central Coast Mariners has been one of the leading sides in the Hyundai A-League since its inception, and the Club will host a pre-season camp in Lismore from 1-8 September.

 

“This A-League pre-season match and pre-season camp highlights that Lismore has the capacity to host high-level sporting fixtures and clubs are now taking advantage of that,” Lismore Council’s Tourism and Events Manager Mitch Lowe said.

 

“With the professional support of Lismore City Council, Far North Coast Football and the broader local community, we offer a very attractive destination for sporting clubs and it’s something we will continue to build on in the future. It’s incredibly exciting for our community, who love football and are now getting to see world-class games at a local level.

 

As well as the fixture itself there will be a wide variety of community initiatives in the week leading up to the game for local football fans.

 

Kick-off is at 2.30pm on Sunday 7 September, and tickets are on sale now. People are advised to book early to avoid disappointment. Go to www.visitlismore.com.au.

 

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/news-display/Lismore-to-host-A-League-friendly/91373

Edited by Murfy1
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Seems like more of a CCM event this time as they will be hosting a camp for a week up in Lismore.

The interesting thing this year is that the pre-season is a mix of competitive and friendly matches for all clubs, unlike previous seasons. That will require teams to up their level quicker if they wish to do well in the FFA Cup.

Just how teams find the balance, ensuring that peaking too early does not occur.

I do hope though we don't overload too many HAL friendlies into the schedule, as playing them 3 times a season at minimum is well and truly enough :lol:

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