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NPL: Montemurro assess first half of the season


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NPL: Montemurro assess first half of the season

 

Thursday, 4 June 2015

 

 

Melbourne City FC NPL coach Joe Montemurro believes his side have started to adjust to the rigours of the National Premier League despite a difficult start to their inaugural campaign.

 

A hard-fought 2-2 draw against Whittlesea Ranges at Epping Stadium last Saturday leaves City in seventh position on the NPL 1 West table after 13 matches, and Montemurro believes the squad turnover from the National Youth League has contributed to his side’s inconsistent start.

 

“It's been an indifferent season,” Montemurro said. “You have to take into consideration that from the NYL squad that we lost six starting players; older boys that could have given us more stability going into the NPL.”

 

“The transition has been really difficult but it has been a great opportunity to really work and learn and I think the boys are starting to get it, which is great.”

 

City have at times struggled to adapt to physical approach adopted by their NPL opponents this season, but Montemurro insisted the focus must remain on player development and playing a style of football that is consistent with the Club’s philosophy.

 

“The objective is to play our brand of football,” he said. “With the ball we have a lot of possession. Teams are combating us by putting in two blocks of four and sometimes blocks of five. We can't penetrate and all it takes is us pushing forward and we get caught on the break.”

 

“We can't lose focus on developing footballers, training to the high tempo, detail and qualities that we need to produce a player at City, so it is very important to us.”

 

With the team moving straight into NPL duties following a championship winning season in the National Youth League, Montemurro believes exposing players to the unpredictability of the competition is the perfect way to develop the Club's next generation of talent. 

 

"It's exactly what we need from a youth development point of view,” Montemurro said. “The NYL challenged them tactically and technically but in the NPL we have an unpredictability of different systems, different structures and different sizes of players."

 

"It's about the physical and mental learning and I think over eleven months within the NYL and NPL we can really determine who is going to be a player and who isn't. It works perfectly for our youth development."

 

Melbourne City FC continue their NPL 1 West campaign against Richmond at Epping Stadium next Friday.

 

http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/npl-montemurro-assess-first-half-of-the-season/1es963vkxtjte1lxpta74cou31

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“The objective is to play our brand of football,” he said. “With the ball we have a lot of possession. Teams are combating us by putting in two blocks of four and sometimes blocks of five. We can't penetrate and all it takes is us pushing forward and we get caught on the break.”

 

http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/npl-montemurro-assess-first-half-of-the-season/1es963vkxtjte1lxpta74cou31

 

This was the para that caught my eye. Seems to me it's the weakness in this "City system" and that we're always going to be vulnerable to teams who can play a fast counter-attacking style.

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Possession football is only effective if you have the skills to penetrate opposition's defensive line with succession of quick, pin point accurate passes.

Holding the ball in midfield and going sideways as well as back in your own half using full backs is not effective possession football.

It's what you do when you don't have the players capable to execute the plan.

A league...... Not there yet

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To often you'll see a game with

Possession 70/30

Score 0:2

It kills me to say it but tards have most balance game plan and execution in the competition. They know when to hold on to the ball well enough and long enough to have an effective counter punch.

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Possession football is only effective if you have the skills to penetrate opposition's defensive line with succession of quick, pin point accurate passes.

Holding the ball in midfield and going sideways as well as back in your own half using full backs is not effective possession football.

It's what you do when you don't have the players capable to execute the plan.

Quite right.  as i see it you can build a movement with 2 touch, but you'll rarely break a well organised defence down with 2 touch, needs to be one touch in the final third.  To do that you need the requisite skill set.  i hope we are trying to build some players like that in our youth side.

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