japiedog Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 very interesting to go back to read the first page of posts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 3 hours ago, rass said: Really? So when did he exactly re-tear his calf in rehab? Recently or 5 weeks ago? I'll stick by what the club put out on last game's squad and say he'll be back in a couple of weeks. From the inventors of the "Germano?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rass Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 1 minute ago, jw1739 said: From the inventors of the "Germano?" lol.. I just don't get why people jump on here stating a player has torn a muscle and hence won't be back - when that player is actually currently training fully with the main squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shahanga Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 44 minutes ago, rass said: lol.. I just don't get why people jump on here stating a player has torn a muscle and hence won't be back - when that player is actually currently training fully with the main squad. Very pleased to hear it. He can't contribute from his hospital bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony999 Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 You watch when Koren gets back to full fitness, he will destroy the league! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnno cpfc Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Tony 999, me thinks you have that Quote permanently embedded in your files ,lol. Think i have seen it before quite a few times . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cityscape Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 Screw it, let's go get Zlatan next season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyboozeadams Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 IF Koren gets back on the pitch and is at full fitness, i actually think he will be a better player for us. everyone is going to mark Mooy and Fornaroli, leaving a bit more space for Koren to operate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted November 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 1 hour ago, Cityscape said: Screw it, let's go get Zlatan next season. I'm more likely to be our international marque next season than Zlatan. I honestly can't think of a player in world football that's less likely to ever play in the A-League. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jun Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 1 hour ago, Jimmy said: I'm more likely to be our international marque next season than Zlatan. I honestly can't think of a player in world football that's less likely to ever play in the A-League. Samaras? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSeater Posted November 30, 2015 Report Share Posted November 30, 2015 7 hours ago, Cityscape said: Screw it, let's go get Zlatan next season. If CFG went after Zlatan, I can 100% guarantee it wouldn't be to send him to Melbourne... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony999 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 On November 30, 2015 at 9:47:34 PM, Jun said: Samaras? Lock it in for next season. I want my green line now. Giddy up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony999 Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 Can someone tell me how did our marquee man go on derby day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 Came on for a bit, very calm, part of a few setups, looked classy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyperfuzz Posted December 20, 2015 Report Share Posted December 20, 2015 from memory there was a moment late in the game where he needed to track back with pace and just had no speed whatsoever. seeing as he was the freshest player on the pitch this was really worrying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony999 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I guess so. Then we'll just wait till full fitness and he will destroy the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFG_82 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 bring back Engelaar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 1 hour ago, Tony999 said: I guess so. Then we'll just wait till full fitness and he will destroy the league. I agree. He has such presence, hope he gets more playing time this week. When he gets fully fit then he and Mooy will be the a huge headache for any team, bordering on unstoppable. Fark just imagine Mooy, Koren, Bruno and Novillo all in perfect harmony........ pure beauty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jovan Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Seriously. I've given up on the bloke. He plays a Credible 20 minutes were he actually looks like he's in the game. Yes he is a classy and is a level above. He's our bloody Marquee on 900k per season. He should be pushing Mooy in the weekly motm votes. How many votes would he have got so far? Best we can hope for from him is 30 to 40 mins and the occasional full 90 but for him to dominate the league I doubt it. Just ask reliable strider what he thinks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofhearts Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 He's still pretty average. Sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strider Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 35 minutes ago, Jovan said: Seriously. I've given up on the bloke. He plays a Credible 20 minutes were he actually looks like he's in the game. Yes he is a classy and is a level above. He's our bloody Marquee on 900k per season. He should be pushing Mooy in the weekly motm votes. How many votes would he have got so far? Best we can hope for from him is 30 to 40 mins and the occasional full 90 but for him to dominate the league I doubt it. Just ask reliable strider what he thinks. gimme 900k and i'll benefit the club more than that sack of shit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony999 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 37 minutes ago, strider said: gimme 900k and i'll benefit the club more than that sack of shit Would you rub Novillo's third limb for 900k? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofhearts Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Just now, Tony999 said: Would you rub Novillo's third limb for 900k? He'd do it for free most likely. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Last season 1,593 minutes of A-League football for us, this season just 186 minutes. No-one "destroys the league" with those statistics. Had he been able to maintain match fitness throughout and play every match, perhaps things would have been different, but it didn't work out that way. Best option? Start Mauk, and bring on Koren when Mauky runs out of puff. Next time around? Find a right-winger in the Fornaroli mould. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperial Pints Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 2 hours ago, strider said: gimme 900k and i'll benefit the club more than that sack of shit I don't think fluffers get paid 900k a year mate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 The beauty with Koren is he has to be marked as he is the type of player the when given space can bust the game open in 5 mins. If he can get fit and with his quality, I see him as a valuable as Mooy as a playmaker. Time will tell I suppose but the potential is definitely there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shahanga Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Sorry mate but you don't talk about 35 year Olds "with potential" 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I beg to differ, I think he has a potential benefit to the team in our current foward structure, a level headed playmaker would make a valuable contribution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n i k o Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Can't see him being anymore than a bench player. For one when he's been reasonably fit he hasn't performed, and two we need mobility in the midfield which he generally won't provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I think we have good mobility, just think we lack passing quality which really only Mooy can provide at a similar level as Koren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jovan Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 7 hours ago, playmaker said: I think we have good mobility, just think we lack passing quality which really only Mooy can provide at a similar level as Koren. He has to get the ball first. He either has work pretty hard to get into space to receive or he has to win a contested ball. Both of these basics he so far has shown to struggle with. For me Retre, Mauk and an inform Melling are ahead of him in the order of a starting position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyboozeadams Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 On the plus side, we have such strong midfield with great depth that our marquee can't get a game. but that defeats the point of a marquee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 8 hours ago, playmaker said: I beg to differ, I think he has a potential benefit to the team in our current foward structure, a level headed playmaker would make a valuable contribution. He is the marquee. The international marquee. Phrases such as 'have potential' or 'make a valuable contribution' should not be made about the player you are supposed to build a team around. He should be turning games on their head. Look at Berisha, Broich and Carusca. That's what an international marquee should be to a team, pivotal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bt50 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Fwiw Carrusca was left out of the side for a few weeks earlier in the season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Actually, of the current crop of nominated international marquees, who really does qualify in terms of their impact on matches on a regular basis? Aren't we supposed to be talking about players who are stand-outs? The only name that readily comes to my mind is Berisha - not that I like him, but one cannot deny his impact. The others all might be good players, but I question that "stand-out" quality. Last season I would have nominated both Keogh and Janko. In terms of City, I'd rate Novillo and Fornaroli way ahead of Koren in terms of impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rass Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 In fairness to him (and I obviously have some bias to and hence faith in Koren), I believe he was integrating much better earlier this season/pre-season with the higher quality footballers around him, up until his injury which undoubtedly set him back. There have been some concerns already about his failure to run back on Saturday night, but I don't believe this is correct. There were several times, he was able to take possession of the ball and push forward after starting in a default deeper position (obvious instructions defending a 2-1 lead against a marauding opponent), but also to track back and help out when under siege. I recall one instance late in the game where I believe it was Mooy? who had the ball forward of centre. As he was controlling it, it was obvious he was going to cough it up as the Victory players were closing him down and he was buggered. Koren recognised this from out wide and ran behind him to take the ball off him moments before he lost it - and then took the ball with him out to the other wing, hence keeping possession in a far less threatening position. If not, we would have turned it over leaving us really vulnerable with them pushing forward. Now sure, this may sound like a minor thing that every player should be doing, but given the state of the game at that point, it was an extremely important and valuable contribution. One that smacked of experience and class. Does it justify him as a marquee player? Probably not - I would label him a classy visa player. So in that respect, I can understand the popular view that he is a let down as marquee. But given where we are at the moment and with the quality we now have in midfield and up front, I am of the opinion the whole 'our marquee player must be a game changer' argument as a little overblown and frankly not that important right now. We have those players in Mooy, Novillo and Tuna. He instead offers someone who can join the dots between all these players, something he has shown he does better than most. So in summary for mine, is he marquee worthy? No. Does it really matter at this point? No. His value to the team will be shown when he becomes fully fit again, jointly pulling the strings with Mooy in that midfield. FWIW in terms of 'marquee', I believe where we need that labelled player most is someone who can control the game from a DM position, ala Isaias from previous seasons. Something Victory proved with the combo of Milligan and Valeri last year, franked by the shitness of Mahazi and unavailability of Valeri in their results this season . Fortunately at this point, we have Retre coming on in leaps and bounds and a thankfully improving Paartalu. Anyway, that's my take on it all. Carry on..... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playmaker Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) Agreed with the above, as a sub I believe he will take the heat off Mooy and allow him a bit more freedom to create due to the fact that the opposition need to focus on 2 quality playmakers with vision that the younger players just don't have yet. As we see with Mooy, when given time, can create unstoppable opportunities for our forwards, I see the Koren contributing the same way, as he did with the Bruno opportunity on Saturday late in the second half when we were just needing something to keep the tards honest with their forward pressing, and really 99% of the time Bruno would have slotted that in and game would have been dead. Time will tell, but I see a critical role for Koren even off the bench. Edited December 22, 2015 by playmaker 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murfy1 Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Melbourne City's Robi Koren takes the flak but is now fit to answer the critics December 22, 2015 Michael Lynch Robi Koren has endured plenty of criticism during his injury plagued two seasons at Melbourne City, with many fans calling for the cashed-up City group to show their ambition by replacing him with a marquee player who gets on the pitch regularly and plays a major part in the team's performances. Koren has endured another frustrating season having missed most of the campaign so far as he battled to recover from a calf injury picked up in the second round, the 3-2 derby loss to Melbourne Victory. It was a similar story in 2014-15, when another calf injury kept out of action until the New Year. When he has played he has showed flashes of the sort of talent that brought him a lengthy career in the English Premier League, with Hull City and West Bromwich Albion. But it has been an all-too-rare occurrence. However, having come back into the squad in the past two weeks, with cameos off the bench in City's wins over Newcastle and that nailbiter against Victory last weekend, Koren feels he is now at last over his problems and ready to do himself justice as City bid to mount a serious title challenge. And, he says, the criticism and the suggestions that City should have a much bigger name marquee player than him don't concern him at all. "When you're playing football you're always under pressure. You want to do well, it doesn't matter if you're the marquee player or not, and that's pressure," he said. "What people are saying around, I don't care, I don't mind. I'm here to help the club, the club will decide if its good enough or not. I don't have problems with that." Koren says he is now ready to start having been a substitute in the past two games - if coach John van 't Schip wants to change the line up, that is. "It's good to be back, I am fit and ready to go. I trained for the last two weeks, so I am looking forward for the next games. Unfortunately I got injured again. The same thing as last year. In football injuries happen, we needed to deal with that, but I am fit now and hopefully I can stay fit until the end of the season," he said. "It's always hard when you are not involved in the games, but when the team is doing well things are easier. This year things are much easier than last year because the team is doing well so I can take more time to come back and we can be more sensible, we don't need to rush." The mood around the City camp is certainly buoyant after four wins on the spin, and that reflects the way the players approach games. "The team is doing well, we won the last four games, that's really good for the confidence. The last game was really good, to win the derby was brilliant, to give a Christmas present to our fans. We enjoyed this win and we can build on that," Koren said. "It [the 2-1 derby win] was really up and down, box to box. They were really open, they tried to win the game as well. They did really well in the second half. They had some good spells and chances. But overall we did enough to win the game and we deserved the three points ... it's really important for the club, the players and the fans." Koren, at 35, is one of the team's veterans and he has looked on approvingly as the youngsters like Paulo Retre, Jacob Melling and Stefan Mauk have come of age as midfielders this season. But, he says, your birth certificate doesn't really come into it. It's whether a player can perform for the team that counts. "It is not about age when you're playing football, you're good enough or you're not good enough. The young boys have done really well," he said. "I'm here to help the club, help these young boys but we need to know we've done nothing yet. All that matters is what happens at the end of the season." http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-citys-robi-koren-takes-the-flak-but-is-now-fit-to-answer-the-critics-20151222-glt4bo.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strider Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Pls refer to my sig Thx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyh001 Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) in the short term i hope that we get a great second half of the season from Koren. cant see the guy being sacked / let go with a mutual termination unless there is something massively altered with the total marquees allowed per season. so we are stuck with him. and with all the money CFG have pumped in (to signing Koren as well as the facilities side of things) it really shows how inept things still are if Koren keeps getting all these niggles well into 2016. but given how we finished 3rd come Christmas even with the issues around injuries etc, i see the perennially injured / 'reinjuries' at the club finally starting to settle down and come good so i see an injury free Koren giving us a fair boost going into the second half of the season, particularly where two of the top five have ACL commitments and are going to be stretched. first home final for the club is quite the reality (IMO we are odds on), with a home grand final quite possible. long term i see Koren as being a big positive. not as a player, not as a manager / coach / fitness staff, but as a massive lesson to CFG on how not to sign marquees. Edited December 26, 2015 by mattyh001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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