Saturday vs Western, 29 Jan, 7.45KO

[jw1739]

WTF our defence can't clear the ball.

[mattyh001]

Our visa Italian attacker comes on with only 5 min to play and down by one. Wtf? 

Edited January 29, 2022 by mattyh001

[jw1739]

7 minutes ago, mattyh001 said:

Our visa Italian attacker comes on with only 5 min to play and down by one. Wtf? 

Stupid coaching. Kisnorbo out.

[Torn Asunder]

Fuk that one. JA does the double over PK. With Wales, BG and Kilkenny all shit kicking round the pitch. 

Penalty was harsh (noting it ultimately led to the goal)

Geez, maybe if a few more of our boys had some minutes in their legs we'd have fared better.

Aloisi continues to be the bane of our club

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Torn Asunder

[kingofhearts]

Missing half the team doesn't help but we just looked disjointed for the majority of the game

Glover deserves the match ball as he was the only thing keeping us in it.

Looks like Geelong United have won their granny! Congrats to them

[Thrillhouse]

disgrace losing again to those useless cunts 

[jw1739]

Just now, Torn Asunder said:

Fuk that one. JA does the double over PK. With Wales, BK and Kilkenny all shit kicking round the pitch. 

Penalty was harsh (noting it ultimately led to the goal)

Geez, maybe if a few more of our boys had some minutes in their legs we'd have fared better.

Poor defensive work though. Keep passing back to Glover when 50% of the time he'll turn over the ball. And Berenguer such a frustrating player - so often his pass just behind where it should be.

Raphael looked OK.

[HughJass]

15 minutes ago, mattyh001 said:

Our visa Italian attacker comes on with only 5 min to play and down by one. Wtf? 

and compared to what JA did with bringing Pierias on changed the game but kisnorbo the flop surprised he even made a 2nd sub 

[Nate]

Western's defence are mighty difficult to break down but jeez, we looked bereft of ideas. Thought Berenguer was really good with his creativity and positive play but ultimately, he didn't have much help going forward, made worse by how toothless we were in attack. Cola didn't do much to help his lack of gametime cause sadly.

We really missed the Socceroos quartet + Nabbout above all else though, it was always going to be hard.

[n i k o]

4 minutes ago, Nate said:

Western's defence are mighty difficult to break down but jeez, we looked bereft of ideas. Thought Berenguer was really good with his creativity and positive play but ultimately, he didn't have much help going forward, made worse by how toothless we were in attack. Cola didn't do much to help his lack of gametime cause sadly.

We really missed the Socceroos quartet + Nabbout above all else though, it was always going to be hard.

Cola isn't even in the right position. And I don't get why the Italian was given such little game time. 

[fensaddler]

2 minutes ago, Nate said:

Western's defence are mighty difficult to break down but jeez, we looked bereft of ideas. Thought Berenguer was really good with his creativity and positive play but ultimately, he didn't have much help going forward, made worse by how toothless we were in attack. Cola didn't do much to help his lack of gametime cause sadly.

We really missed the Socceroos quartet + Nabbout above all else though, it was always going to be hard.

Berenguer would be amongst the positives, but apart from Bos there wasn't enough help. Very difficult with four of the best attackers in the league missing. And that's before we account for missing Metcalf and Good. Western are becoming a really annoying side to watch, not apparently very good but keep bloody winning.

[jw1739]

I don't know what anyone sees in Berenguer. He's at three-quarter pace whatever he does, and there's no end-product.

[belaguttman]

Despite our chances we looked like we'd struggle to score and be likely to concede. However...

Positives:

All the kids looked good and deserved their spots

It looks like we've just signed some Italian dude, he must have just arrived from the airport as he was only played for 5 minutes

Improved performance from Glover

Good game tonight from O'Neill, I must say our midfield has looked much better balanced the last two matches

Negatives:

Backline disorganised in the second half as WU pressed more

Poor service to Colakowski

The smirk on lucky John's face.

[rass]

44 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

Berenguer would be amongst the positives, but apart from Bos there wasn't enough help. Very difficult with four of the best attackers in the league missing. 

Agree. Thought Berenguer was terrific and Bos worked really well with him on that side. On the other side, Galloway just not attacking enough.

Thought Glover was outstanding but O'Neill was shit. So many backwards passes and lost it a lot too.

The worst however was PK. Fuk me Cola hadn't touched it for 20 minutes but only made the sub after we conceded. Even then, should've sent on Pucca to negate that slimy, diving ToppaShitkunt.

Shithouse from PK.

[n i k o]

Hes gone under the radar but ONiell was ordinary. So many turn overs and had chances to shoot or make a penetrative forward pass and didn't. Just not good enough. 

Edited January 29, 2022 by n i k o

[Mr MO]

So John Aloisi is a better coach then PK, at least he puts the money on the park and the result was there. With that many players missing and seeing a 500k a year Serie-A player warming up for 85min is so wrong. 

[Mr MO]

54 minutes ago, n i k o said:

Hes gone under the radar but ONiell was ordinary. So many turn overs and had chances to shoot or make a penetrative forward pass and didn't. Just not good enough. 

He’s not gone under the radar for many but getting a little slack I think.  You are putting an all out defensive midfielder in the City system in an attacking midfielder position in our complex pressure system - just bad coaching really. It’s like swapping Rodri with Silva or KvdB a big No No.

Games are won in midfield, few understand this.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Mr MO

[moops]

Colacovski wouldn't shake or acknowledge Kisnorbo when he came off, things aren't right between the two.

Jordan Bos looked great again, he has good control, needs to look up and see the final ball though.

[citymad]

Cola is off contract at the end of the season and after his game last night and the reaction when he was necked , i'd say he will leave. 

[HughJass]

10 hours ago, Nate said:

We really missed the Socceroos quartet + Nabbout above all else though, it was always going to be hard.

Same time they didn't exactly help in the first match we played them either still lost 1-0 

[jw1739]

12 minutes ago, HughJass said:

Same time they didn't exactly help in the first match we played them either still lost 1-0 

Agreed. What we're seeing is a lack of creativity. An inability to create a clear-cut opportunity to put the ball in the net. There's no cutting edge like there was last season.

[neio]

Incredibly frustrating, give them credit they defend very well but how we have lost to them twice is baffling. 

Thought florin and Bos were the only 2 who gave us any attacking potency. Thought the selection of Galloway as a winger was a bad one, hasn't shown ever in his career he can be a winger, was a real square peg in round hole situation. 

 

Last thing, how bad is the commentary apart from Simon Hill in this league. The absolute jerk fest about Diamanti was embarrassing. He was good for one season, ok last season and probably the same this season. But you would think he is a cross between Ronaldo and Messi. Nearly fell off the couch when they were praising him when he missed a penalty for running over and taking the corner, like it was some form of set play genius from him 

[NewConvert]

For me, the game was lost by the manager. PK is underwhelming this season.

[n i k o]

12 hours ago, Mr MO said:

He’s not gone under the radar for many but getting a little slack I think.  You are putting an all out defensive midfielder in the City system in an attacking midfielder position in our complex pressure system - just bad coaching really. It’s like swapping Rodri with Silva or KvdB a big No No.

Games are won in midfield, few understand this.

The tactics are a topic on their own. My point was the errors I'm talking about are his own errors. If you can't hit a 3 metre pass and turn it over on multiple occasions thats down to the player. 

[jw1739]

In fairness to the players, we know that Curtis Good is really struggling with COVID. I wonder how many others are too? It can't help to be playing in these humid conditions either. The sweat was pouring off Griff and others. It's not doing their kidneys any favours in the long term.  Under those conditions, even without COVID, it was madness for PK not to use his subs.

I have gone the full 180 degrees on the question of the season, and I now think it's essential for the health of the players to move away from these hot months.

[hakz7]

Can’t believe we’ve lost to Aloisi twice in one season…

[jw1739]

40 minutes ago, hakz7 said:

Can’t believe we’ve lost to Aloisi twice in one season…

He out-coached PK. Brought on a key sub. when they had all the momentum and had been camped around our goal for what seemed an age. PK was far too late bringing on Pucci.

[HughJass]

57 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

PK was far too late bringing on Pucci.

Even then not sure how much he could contribute being his first mins in the aleague not like he could have come on in other matches to get some game time 

[Jovan]

2 hours ago, jw1739 said:

In fairness to the players, we know that Curtis Good is really struggling with COVID. I wonder how many others are too? It can't help to be playing in these humid conditions either. The sweat was pouring off Griff and others. It's not doing their kidneys any favours in the long term.  Under those conditions, even without COVID, it was madness for PK not to use his subs.

I have gone the full 180 degrees on the question of the season, and I now think it's essential for the health of the players to move away from these hot months.

I think I've been banging on this for ages, but the League must move to winter. You just can't play soccer in summer it just doesn't make sense. 

Last season the majority of games was played in the cooler months, and even with many "bigger" players gone the overall quality of games was better (IMO).

As for us, our game style won't work in the heat. As long as we are near abouts come finals we might come good, problem is we might not.

What we need to do is develop a city style condusive to the heat.

[belaguttman]

5 hours ago, NewConvert said:

For me, the game was lost by the manager. PK is underwhelming this season.

I'm not sure how much impact a 39-year-old who hasn't really played all season is going to make at the 85' mark.

Galloway played out of position, Atkinson could do it, but not Galloway.

WU was always going to sit deep and defend, we needed mobile creative forwards to pull them out of shape. Tactically, overloading one side was a good idea but our final balls into the box have all been predictable and easy to defend for most sides that can keep their defensive shape.

Colakowski is a different sort of 9 from Maclaren, our crosses into the box were nor providing him with any service and the times that he did hold up the ball there weren't players running off him to accept the ball. He was double marked most of the night so that should have freed up space for someone else.

6 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Agreed. What we're seeing is a lack of creativity. An inability to create a clear-cut opportunity to put the ball in the net. There's no cutting edge like there was last season.

We are playing a formula, other teams have learned the formula.

[jw1739]

5 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

I'm not sure how much impact a 39-year-old who hasn't really played all season is going to make at the 85' mark.

Galloway played out of position, Atkinson could do it, but not Galloway.

WU was always going to sit deep and defend, we needed mobile creative forwards to pull them out of shape. Tactically, overloading one side was a good idea but our final balls into the box have all been predictable and easy to defend for most sides that can keep their defensive shape.

Colakowski is a different sort of 9 from Maclaren, our crosses into the box were nor providing him with any service and the times that he did hold up the ball there weren't players running off him to accept the ball. He was double marked most of the night so that should have freed up space for someone else.

We are playing a formula, other teams have learned the formula.

He's 30, not 39.

[belaguttman]

5 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

He's 30, not 39.

Sorry, I was one key out, I meant 30! He probably felt like 39 in that humidity though

[belaguttman]

18 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Stupid coaching. Kisnorbo out.

He needs a better assistant

[Mr MO]

2 hours ago, jw1739 said:

He out-coached PK. Brought on a key sub. when they had all the momentum and had been camped around our goal for what seemed an age. PK was far too late bringing on Pucci.

I think the Pucci sub was not planned, Cola had trouble all game with this strapped in knee and hobbled of the pitch in the end. Pucci wasn’t supposed to play.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Mr MO

[belaguttman]

1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

I think the Pucci sub was not planned, Cola had trouble all game with this strapped in knee and hobbled of the pitch in the end. Pucci wasn’t supposed to play.

That makes his recruitment even worse. 

[Zanty]

I think "PK Out" is still a bit early tbh, obviously we are no where near where we need to be rn, but where we are at the middle-end of the season is when judgement should be cast, obviously this game we had no LMN, Tilio and Metcalfe and the mariners performance showed that we are decent side still, we just have to hope we got on a similar undefeated streak as last season.

[The Aardvark]

Such a frustrating performance. 

Again selection and subs atrocious. I'm assuming we did plan to target the left side through Bos, Jamieson and Berenguer, in which case why play Galloway on the right wing? I'm assuming it was so that we could shoehorn our most experienced 11 in there by fitting Jenkinson in but Galloway has never shown anything as a winger (and Mombaerts tried him there a lot including the granny). Would have been much better off starting Borges or swapping Colakovski there and getting them to drift in as more of a second central striker option, frequently on the crosses Bos did make Colakovski was either stuck behind someone or had overrun the cross, we needed another central player to be a target for these. 

Colakovski was poor. I get it is hard playing on two central defenders, one of whom is a gun, but he failed to ever get dangerous and the few times it came to him his first touch was very poor. He looks down on confidence and I'd like him to get some gametime as a winger again if we can facilitate it because playing as a striker is a pretty unforgiving place to find form for him it seems and he just isn't seeing enough time on the ball nor space to do anything with it. 

O'Neill was not good in the more attacking role, which is not really his fault. It's hard because I thought Gomulka was pretty good and he misses in this scenario but this was the perfect time to at least try an attacking mid type with experience as a striker and has vast experience in Pucciarelli. O'Neill just played like he does in DM except higher up the pitch. 

Glover was fantastic aside from one errant pass, and seems to have returned to better form these last 3 games (still with errors but much improved on earlier season). 

 

Commentators are terrible, agree the Diamenti wankfest is sickening, I really like watching him and get the appeal, but thought he was pretty ineffective last night and can't believe they were crediting him with setting up the goal. 

Also thought we deserved a point which is pretty impressive considering arguably our 6 most talented players (and all our socceroos) were out through either callups or injury. 

[Mr MO]

3 hours ago, Zanty said:

I think "PK Out" is still a bit early tbh, obviously we are no where near where we need to be rn, but where we are at the middle-end of the season is when judgement should be cast, obviously this game we had no LMN, Tilio and Metcalfe and the mariners performance showed that we are decent side still, we just have to hope we got on a similar undefeated streak as last season.

He will just finish the season, we never rush with hasty decisions anyway. 

I’m afraid that the tactical inability, player management and presentation is not inline with the long term views to bring the club forward and wider academy forward or further establish it self according to the high standards of the CFG - it just requires a different pedigree. It seems that PK is just stuck in “it worked last season” so let’s keep going.

We can all remember that PK got fast tracked, appointed during the pandemic and plugging the Mombearts gap.

And yes he did well last season when the players performed and the EM philosophy was still fresh but that’s the easy part, usually good coaches surface in challenging times.

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Mr MO

[Young Polak]

10 hours ago, hakz7 said:

Can’t believe we’ve lost to Aloisi twice in one season…

Where's the PK that won the double last season? was that just a fluke using mobaert's template and now other coaches have caught up to him or has he just lost his way of making bad decisions this season 

[Mr MO]

13 hours ago, Young Polak said:

Where's the PK that won the double last season? was that just a fluke using mobaert's template and now other coaches have caught up to him or has he just lost his way of making bad decisions this season 

It's still the same PK - most concerns were already raised and visible last season.

However the main differences with last season in my opinion;

• league overal is stronger than last season, we are not
• Opposition has adapted, we are predictable
• Senior mature assistant coach is gone 
• High paid new recuits have not contributed
• Goal conversion is not on the same level, unfortunately goals wins you games
• Settled players are just out of form and have cost us points, think about Glover (not against WU), JMAC and Metcalfe is less infuencial for a key AM role.

In short many things went our way last season and perhaps the indivual performances covered the cracks.  However this season so far it's falling the other way but it can turn around quickly.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Mr MO