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City v. CCM, Saturday 22nd May, 7.10 p.m., AAMI Park


citymad
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Ok. I can’t go to sleep and I’m not out on a bender, so some football analysis.

First half. Central Coast made it hard for us. Got men behind the ball.

we created a few chances, but mostly in the first 25 minutes. CCM for their part didn’t particularly threaten.

Second half we had a flying start, chance after chance, until Noone scored. After that we kind of sat back and let Gosford United have the ball, which was frustrating. Having said that they never had a decent chance despite their possession. 
Cola made a difference when he came on and set up the Mclaren “goal”. No idea why it was disallowed, the thing they showed on the screen didn’t look like a foul to me. Some obscure rule perhaps? Again Central Coast never looked like scoring till gifted a pen for their keeper falling over, thankfully having shafted us, VAR unshafted us and it was ruled out.

I though Noone was fantastic. He pretty much created every chance we had and ultimately was why we got across the line tonight (vs a few days later)

Edited by Shahanga
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18 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

Ok. I can’t go to sleep and I’m not out on a bender, so some football analysis.

First half. Central Coast made it hard for us. Got men behind the ball.

we created a few chances, but mostly in the first 25 minutes. CCM for their part didn’t particularly threaten.

Second half we had a flying start, chance after chance, until Noone scored. After that we kind of sat back and let Gosford United have the ball, which was frustrating. Having said that they never had a decent chance despite their possession. 
Cola made a difference when he came on and set up the Mclaren “goal”. No idea why it was disallowed, the thing they showed on the screen didn’t look like a foul to me. Some obscure rule perhaps? Again Central Coast never looked like scoring till gifted a pen for their keeper falling over, thankfully having shafted us, VAR unshafted us and it was ruled out.

I though Noone was fantastic. He pretty much created every chance we had and ultimately was why we got across the line tonight (vs a few days later)

Pretty much it. CCM pressed us high, and that combined with some slightly sloppy control and indecisive passing from us really let them look better than they are. Although I'd have to say that Gianni Stensness bossed us around in midfield. Maclaren was well shackled by Tongyik. IMO Tilio is not  as lethal on the right as he is on the left,  but we largely ignored him in the first half which didn't help.

Yes, Cola made a difference. Like you I could see nothing wrong with Maclaren's disallowed goal - in fact I'd have disallowed Noone's before I'd have disallowed the second one as Noone was all over his defender's back. Agree, Nooney has to be MOTM .

A little bit disappointed with the crowd, but what we lacked in number was made up for in great support for the boys all evening. A great night for us all, especially Heart Foundation Members, thank you to the club and the players rewarding us at last, and thank you to all of you on the Forum for making the journey so much better.

Asian Champions League here we come again. WE ARE THE PREMIERS!

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8 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Pretty much it. CCM pressed us high, and that combined with some slightly sloppy control and indecisive passing from us really let them look better than they are. Although I'd have to say that Gianni Stensness bossed us around in midfield. Maclaren was well shackled by Tongyik. IMO Tilio is not  as lethal on the right as he is on the left,  but we largely ignored him in the first half which didn't help.

Yes, Cola made a difference. Like you I could see nothing wrong with Maclaren's disallowed goal - in fact I'd have disallowed Noone's before I'd have disallowed the second one as Noone was all over his defender's back. Agree, Nooney has to be MOTM .

A little bit disappointed with the crowd, but what we lacked in number was made up for in great support for the boys all evening. A great night for us all, especially Heart Foundation Members, thank you to the club and the players rewarding us at last, and thank you to all of you on the Forum for making the journey so much better.

Asian Champions League here we come again. WE ARE THE PREMIERS!

Our 2-0 was disallowed due to a Jmac handball in the build up play. He had a very frustrating bad game overall, which he openly admitted on TV. I don’t think he managed to control a single ball last night which hindered most of our quick attacks.

I agree, my initial impression with the Noone header was “push and hands in the back” and therefore chalked off - lucky it wasn’t!!!!!

Edited by Mr MO
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12 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

Our 2-0 was disallowed due to a Jmac handball in the build up play. He had a very frustrating bad game overall, which he openly admitted on TV. I don’t think he managed to control a single ball last night which hindered most of our quick attacks.

I agree, my initial impression with the Noone header was “push and hands in the back” and therefore chalked off - lucky it wasn’t!!!!!

Well that makes sense but on the big screen I couldn’t see a handball by JMac. Maybe by the defender.

A silly rule that has led to a number of goals disallowed around the globe that should have stood. Anyway. Champione. Ole ole ole. 

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49 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

Completely ignored on ABC TV news this morning as far as I could see. According to them nothing happened in the A League last night....

About what I’d expect these days.
Nick D’Urbano has an excellent article in The Australian.

If free is your go Joey Lynch on ftbl 

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1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

Our 2-0 was disallowed due to a Jmac handball in the build up play. He had a very frustrating bad game overall, which he openly admitted on TV. I don’t think he managed to control a single ball last night which hindered most of our quick attacks.

I agree, my initial impression with the Noone header was “push and hands in the back” and therefore chalked off - lucky it wasn’t!!!!!

Jmac has had a great season in terms of goalscoring and he's developed his game into also contributing more in general play. But I've felt that he's been slightly off the pace for the past few matches. Last night there were huge gaps in the CCM defence that he could have moved into and drawn Tongyik away from the centre, especially when Reis was in possession and was looking for that long ball of his, but instead he stayed central.

On the VAR, well what can you say? The terms of reference for the VAR seem to change weekly. Yes, you could say that the VAR saved us last night, but I would argue that it had we been at 2-0 that final passage of play would not have occurred anyway. They showed what was finally determined to be a handball several times on the big screen, but I don't think too many people could see it.

My point on the use of a Video Assisted Referee. is that the game is played in real time, not frame-by-frame. The VAR should be called upon by the field referee only if he feels he needs confirmation of a decision, and if the VAR can't come to a decision in 30 seconds then the original decision should stand. Some of the great moments and great matches in football over the years would not have been so had the VAR been in use at the time.

Edited by jw1739
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10 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Jmac has had a great season in terms of goalscoring and he's developed his game into also contributing more in general play. But I've felt that he's been slightly off the pace for the past few matches. Last night there were huge gaps in the CCM defence that he could have moved into and drawn Tongyik away from the centre, especially when Reis was in possession and was looking for that long ball of his, but instead he stayed central.

On the VAR, well what can you say? The terms of reference for the VAR seem to change weekly. Yes, you could say that the VAR saved us last night, but I would argue that it had we been at 2-0 that final passage of play would not have occurred anyway. They showed what was finally determined to be a handball several times on the big screen, but I don't think too many people could see it.

My point on the use of a Video Assisted Referee. is that the game is played in real time, not frame-by-frame. The VAR should be called upon by the field referee only if he feels unable to call a decision, and if the VAR can't come to a decision in 30 seconds then the original decision should stand.

Both VAR calls were 100% correct last night with both instances the ref had the opportunity to review and make the final call. The penalty was a tumble of people and Jmac benefited from his arm to gain possession and send Cola away. 

Its not here or you but I don’t understand why people are so upset (probably non city fans) “CCM will miss the top two” bla bla without acknowledging that they would have been 2-0 down if the VAR wasn’t here. If any the VAR kept them in the game.

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2 hours ago, fensaddler said:

Completely ignored on ABC TV news this morning as far as I could see. According to them nothing happened in the A League last night....

It's a miracle that Michael Lynch was given some precious space that could have been wasted on AFL. Luckily we won the Premiership in Melbourne, if it had been away it would have received no coverage at all

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1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

Both VAR calls were 100% correct last night with both instances the ref had the opportunity to review and make the final call. The penalty was a tumble of people and Jmac benefited from his arm to gain possession and send Cola away. 

Its not here or you but I don’t understand why people are so upset (probably non city fans) “CCM will miss the top two” bla bla without acknowledging that they would have been 2-0 down if the VAR wasn’t here. If any the VAR kept them in the game.

From next season Maclaren’s handball offence won’t be an offence. Which is a logical change. But you’re right in that both goals were correctly overturned as the rules apply now. The penalty call was closer than I thought though. Was it a clear and obvious error? Perhaps. It would’ve been a bit soft given those things happen a lot during corners but given that the ref called it a penalty it had to be clear error to be overturned. Maybe just. VAR helped us with the penalty but helped them with the handball. So it was even Steven.

As for the match, it was tough. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was expecting us to start strongly and put a few past them, but they were more than up for the challenge. Stensness looked very good and Rowles was solid. They were compact but didn’t exactly break us down. Bit of a strange one but not unexpected due to the circumstances. It was a tense night.

Crowd number was a little disappointing. Felt like it would be over 10K outside the stadium but can’t be too down with 8K. Hopefully our semi final gets 15K.

Anyway, a really nice night to win the Premiership. Now let’s finish off the season unbeaten and win the Championship. 

Edited by Harrison
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On 23/05/2021 at 8:22 AM, Mr MO said:

Our 2-0 was disallowed due to a Jmac handball in the build up play. He had a very frustrating bad game overall, which he openly admitted on TV. I don’t think he managed to control a single ball last night which hindered most of our quick attacks.

I agree, my initial impression with the Noone header was “push and hands in the back” and therefore chalked off - lucky it wasn’t!!!!!

It was a tough handball decision, the ball looks to have become briefly jammed between JMac and the defender in front of him, touching his arm that was by his side. The first goal looked a foul to me, although the defender, sensing Noone coming in behind him, stopped, leaned forward to draw the foul. Noone headed the ball just prior to contact. The disallowed penalty looked the correct decision to me, although tough on CCM

Edited by belaguttman
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45 minutes ago, Harrison said:

From next season Maclaren’s handball offence won’t be an offence. Which is a logical change. But you’re right in that both goals were correctly overturned as the rules apply now. The penalty call was closer than I thought though. Was it a clear and obvious error? Perhaps. It would’ve been a bit soft given those things happen a lot during corners but given that the ref called it a penalty it had to be clear error to be overturned. Maybe just. VAR helped us with the penalty but helped them with the handball. So it was even Steven.

As for the match, it was tough. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was expecting us to start strongly and put a few past them, but they were more than up for the challenge. Stensness looked very good and Rowles was solid. They were compact but didn’t exactly break us down. Bit of a strange one but not unexpected due to the circumstances. It was a tense night.

Crowd number was a little disappointing. Felt like it would be over 10K outside the stadium but can’t be too down with 8K. Hopefully our semi final gets 15K.

Anyway, a really nice night to win the Premiership. Now let’s finish off the season unbeaten and win the Championship. 

The other clubs have woken up to our style and applying the high press and not allowing us time to settle on the ball. Welly did the same. A number of times our boys dwelt a fraction too long on the ball and the intended pass was deflected or cut off.

What is the change/are the changes in the handball rule for next season?

Stensness reminded me of Kew Jaliens. Perhaps he'd be a good signing to replace an ageing Griff?

Just watched the first part of Stacjic's press conference - he's a stroppy little lad isn't he?

Edited by jw1739
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57 minutes ago, Harrison said:

The penalty call was closer than I thought though. Was it a clear and obvious error? Perhaps. It would’ve been a bit soft given those things happen a lot during corners but given that the ref called it a penalty it had to be clear error to be overturned. Maybe just. VAR helped us with the penalty but helped them with the handball. So it was even Steven.

For me it was a clear error, multple players tripping and falling backwards, no obvious shirt or body pull.

One could argue that the one hand from O'neill on Biri's hip when both players were already on the way down would be severe enough for penalty.

The replay with the camera angle behind goal was the most conclusive - in essence nothing really happened besides players falling over.

Just watched the full replay - so tense but delicious!

How quiet did Andy Harper get after the penalty was overturned, you could sense that he was frustrated - bitter man.

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5 hours ago, fensaddler said:

Completely ignored on ABC TV news this morning as far as I could see. According to them nothing happened in the A League last night....

I fear I was a bit hard on them. We were entirely unmentioned in the "sports that are really Australian" section where we found out about the AFL, the two rugby codes and that the only Australian F1 driver hadn't done very well in qualifying, but we got coverage in the "other weird sports that only strange un Australian people like" section.

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after getting home in the early hours of this morning, i sat at my computer for 45 minutes not knowing how to express the emotion of last night (finally deciding to pack it in and post after some sleep).  in many ways, i still don't.  i'm sure there are a few others in the same boat.  

wow, just wow. such a euphoric feeling, yet it feels almost as much of a release of nervous energy too.

game was super tight.  thought that Mariners didn't really push hard going forward (until we scored - which also meant we were just as happy to then sit off), but then again their style was to try and hit us on the counter. we ground it out fantastically, as City sides have done so well over the last two seasons.

active bay was great. honestly felt like a pre covid bay against a Sydney, Wanderers, etc. massive kudos to all.

i'm a little surprised about the total attendance, but will take the premiers plate all the same.  COYCB

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17 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

I fear I was a bit hard on them. We were entirely unmentioned in the "sports that are really Australian" section where we found out about the AFL, the two rugby codes and that the only Australian F1 driver hadn't done very well in qualifying, but we got coverage in the "other weird sports that only strange un Australian people like" section.

We just shaded the Aussie boy who had a blister on his unmentionable in the Giro.

I fear that if we do move to a winter competition, here in Melbourne we will be obliterated by AFL. We don't have enough "champions" in the right places to influence the coverage. IMO it's something the APL is going to have to address.

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37 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

We just shaded the Aussie boy who had a blister on his unmentionable in the Giro.

I fear that if we do move to a winter competition, here in Melbourne we will be obliterated by AFL. We don't have enough "champions" in the right places to influence the coverage. IMO it's something the APL is going to have to address.

couldn't agree more.  summer presents more opportunities for exposure and clean air.  it's on the people here who run the game to market appropriately.

plus you look at the state of test cricket currently, we could see a bit more space over the summer.  Basketball, Australian Open and Big Bash do present some challenges, but no where near the same as the winter codes

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It was cagey and tough won match. A trophy can't be lifted after an easy game. One more CL is guaranteed. It looked well attended and sounded even better. After those 3-4 thousand games, the last night felt like a full house. 

The comments regarding CCM are right.  Their number 6 with dyed hair (Stensness) surprisingly controlled  area as DM, together with Bozanic.  This is the space were we usually put the pressure and score. 

Noone was the best from the very first minute.  He paid off his contract. 

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58 minutes ago, mattyh001 said:

couldn't agree more.  summer presents more opportunities for exposure and clean air.  it's on the people here who run the game to market appropriately.

plus you look at the state of test cricket currently, we could see a bit more space over the summer.  Basketball, Australian Open and Big Bash do present some challenges, but no where near the same as the winter codes

Exposure on free to air news channels might change depending on who gets the broadcasting rights next season don’t you think?

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11 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

Question. Now that the premiers plate is rightfully City's, should PK start the fringe players and give the team better options if later in the year? or alternatively substitute players for longer periods?

We have done that a little lately I thought, I think Brisbane would some see changes anyway with the short turn around. Maclaren won't play, Noone seemed sore.

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4 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

Question. Now that the premiers plate is rightfully City's, should PK start the fringe players and give the team better options if later in the year? or alternatively substitute players for longer periods?

He's repeatedly said that the objective is to win every match. IMO it's not really the right behaviour to step away from that objective because there's more riding on the results of matches than just us - Brisbane are jostling with other clubs in the hunt for second place and a place in the ACL qualifiers, Newcastle and MV are down the bottom but have to go into the preliminary play-offs for the FFA Cup, so we shouldn't be doing anything other than aiming to win all three.

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2 hours ago, NewConvert said:

Question. Now that the premiers plate is rightfully City's, should PK start the fringe players and give the team better options if later in the year? or alternatively substitute players for longer periods?

I reckon if I was manager I would play the best team available, however give more minutes to the players likely to be available for the semi and if we make it the final. 

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7 hours ago, jw1739 said:

I fear that if we do move to a winter competition, here in Melbourne we will be obliterated by AFL. We don't have enough "champions" in the right places to influence the coverage.

Very very true.  A-League coverage in Australia's biggest daily newspaper here in Melbourne  has been dismal since the full-time football writer at the title left for another job.   That paper now relies on network coverage from other writers in the group, which means football is WELL down the priority list.  A-League coverage would be absolutely minimal here if it was a winter season. I suspect the lack of enthusiasm has been compounded by V*****y being rubbish for this season and last.  The season has to stay in our summer, when everybody here is also passionate about their fave Euro league and there is FAR more media space in all forms of media. .

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