The Run Home

[Luke]

59 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

I agree. While we remain a rump competition of 10 clubs that operates for just six months per year our league will remain unattractive for players who are trying to build a career, especially those who are, or are on the fringes of being, representative players. Simply not enough exposure.

(We probably should move this discussion into the "Australian Football" sub-forum. It's really an "A-League discussion.")

Just the fact that those in and around the national team will naturally want to test themselves in europe in coming years, However long the A-league has little to do with that fact 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Luke

[belaguttman]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

More socceroos won't play in the A-league. I think you'll find it'll remain steady into the future 

Imagine losing Franjic, Zullo, Mooy, Gamiero and Wilkinson to a Socceroos qualifier

[SF33]

Arguably the toughest test of our run home now out of the way. Still no walk in the park to pull it out from here, but to say that last night gave our hopes a massive boost is an understatement. Huge back-to back home games against Brisbane and Wellington, before one of the toughest assignments in the game, away to Perth and then finishing the season back home against Adelaide for what we can only hope will be the biggest game in the club's history.

[belaguttman]

Toughest test is away to Perth

[SF33]

17 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

Toughest test is away to Perth

Fair call. I just hope we keep up the form at home over the next fortnight, so we can go into Perth without the pressure of needing a win to stay in the hunt. 

It's why Brisbane is so massive. If we win, we've got a 'soft' (yeah, I know) game against Wellington at home the following week. Win that and we can go into Perth with a point probably being a satisfactory outcome. Then the last round against Adelaide at home, which will, of course, be absolutely huge.

Although I'm mainly barracking for draws in the games involving Brisbane/Adelaide/Wanderers/Victory from here, I wouldn't mind Victory picking up a win or two against Roar/Wanderers.

[Jestr]

Top 4 shuffle now is between us, Adelaide, WSW and fake coach, that's it

wheels have fallen off bling FC (WSW stolen spare as well)

victree is imploding as musky has finally eroded Ange's work and now has them playing his style with barisha so angry he is scoring goals at the wrong end because he can't win the golden boot.

Perth has by far the easiest run home and barring any disasters they should finish with 12 points. This would bring them right up there depending what the current top 4 play like. 

Intersting 4 weeks ahead. 

Edited March 13, 2016 by Jestr

[Murfy1]

Yep it's very competitive at the top. The positive with so many teams scrapping for points is that they are likely to take points off each other (for example, WSW play Adelaide next weekend. So one of our rivals will drop points; and a draw wouldn't be an unlikely outcome either).

 

So as long as Melbourne City keep doing the business at home (9 of our last 12 points being home matches), and keep performing in both defence and attack, then there's a real chance that Melbourne City can finish the season strongly.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Murfy1

[bellydrum]

A-league site predicts us to finish 3rd on 47 points (WSW 1st, Roar 2nd, AU 4th) - Thats 9 points (3W, 1L) from last 4 games. http://www.a-league.com.au/article/hyundai-a-league-fixture-run-in-and-predictions/e04c3o9wcvnr1k2kwbic314mc

SBS predicting 4th place on 44 points (WSW,Roar,AU top 3) - 6 points (2W, 2L, or 1W, 3D) from last 4 - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2016/03/15/who-will-place-leagues-photo-finish

Edited March 15, 2016 by bellydrum

[Alexxxandro]

Game against Wellington probably a real danger game if we win this week. Sorry if I remain pessimistic right up to winning the final. Supporting Heart from day one has taken its toll.

[SF33]

12 minutes ago, Alexxxandro said:

Game against Wellington probably a real danger game if we win this week. Sorry if I remain pessimistic right up to winning the final. Supporting Heart from day one has taken its toll.

I'd be surprised if even newcomers to this club weren't feeling a little bit worried about that game, assuming we get the chocolates against Brisbane.

I guess the saving grace this year is that almost all of our disappointing performances have been away from AAMI. Our last genuine shocker at home was in mid-November against WSW.

[jw1739]

One match at a time for me. One goal either way, one injury, one refereeing decision either way - it's too close to call.

[NewConvert]

The team has to redeem themselves after that last debacle in Wellington. Oh, JVS that means you too so don't stuff up team selection again.

[Tonyboozeadams]

i can see us losing every game from here on in

[MHFC-FAN]

So 4 games remaining, crunch time for all the challenger in the top 4.

We have the most home games remaining of the top 4 teams with 3 out of 4 being at home. Facing 2 of the top 4 sides in Brisbane and Adelaide last round with a challenging away trip to Perth in between. Really need at least 3 wins and a draw in the last 4 games to have a shot at top 2.

Brisbane have 2 home and 2 away, they face only one top 4 side in us tomorrow otherwise the remaining opponents are 5th and below. Hopefully Sydney give them a hard time in Brisbane, given they don't have any ACL commitments to distract them. Wellington away could be decisive. I think Brisbane could lose at least 2 of their remaining games (Hopefully against us and Victory away) and struggle against Sydney and Wellington.

WSW have the same travel requirements as Brisbane. Their 2 home games are against Adelaide(hoping for a draw) and CCM (most likely 3 points in the bag) Its their 2 away games that could throw a bit of a spanner in the works with Victory(not having to worry about ACL distractions) and Wellington presenting challenging tasks. Hoping for a maximum of 2 wins in their remaining 4 fixtures.

Adelaide looks to have the toughest run to end the season with 1 home game and 3 away. You could lock in 3 points against CCM at home. But their 3 away trips could bring them unstuck with WSW, Sydney and then us as their opponents. Could see Adelaide taking at least a win and a draw from the remaining 4 games.

Interesting conclusion to the end of the season to say the least...

[Alexxxandro]

12 hours ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Interesting conclusion to the end of the season to say the least...

Sure is. I think the task for City to come first is huge but if we go on a special JVS mini run anything is possible. He's had them before just never at the end of a season. WSW have shown in the past they know how to do the business. I'd put my money on them. Adelaide I reckon will now deflate a little having finally lost a game. Brisbane have a good run home though. Win tonight and it will be theirs to give away.

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by Alexxxandro

[SF33]

I'm officially barracking for Victory in two of its last three games of the season. If Wanderers drop points this week and we win, regardless of what happens against Perth and any other results (praying for Sydney to do us a huge favour as well against Brisbane though, as well as Victory in the last round), if we beat Adelaide in the final round, we have a chance to win the premier's plate.

Come on you boys in blue!!

[jeffplz]

18 minutes ago, SF33 said:

I'm officially barracking for Victory in two of its last three games of the season. If Wanderers drop points this week and we win, regardless of what happens against Perth and any other results (praying for Sydney to do us a huge favour as well against Brisbane though, as well as Victory in the last round), if we beat Adelaide in the final round, we have a chance to win the premier's plate.

Come on you boys in blue!!

hahahahahaha. sound.

[Kinnibari]

Too bad they're looking woeful at the moment. But yeah seriously hoping they do over WSW for us.

[alexli]

I absolutely hope Tards can draw or win WSW, but, if they gonna lose, pls be a humiliating 0-5 loss to WSW at home. That will be the best good friday ever.

[Alexxxandro]

On 21/03/2016 at 8:58 AM, alexli said:

I absolutely hope Tards can draw or win WSW,

Well they did the job on WSW. Pity Sydney didn't do us a favour with Brisbane.

Playing last this round has not been good for City as the pressure is now on. Hopefully it's more excitement they feel as first place beckons.

[Dylan]

I think we will finish third. We have the worst run in of the top 4 teams. The perth away game is going to be a nightmare.

[Alexxxandro]

21 minutes ago, Dylan said:

I think we will finish third. We have the worst run in of the top 4 teams. The perth away game is going to be a nightmare.

Jesus, just noticed they are only one point below us...

 

I think Brisbane's last game at AAMI park against Victory is going to be very tough- I should hope Victory would win that. Adelaide we play last at AAMI park so... their last game is certainly not easy.

 

Basically I think if we win tonight the biggest danger is WSW winning their last two games and us dropping the Perth game.

 

But first we need to win tonight.

[Dylan]

Adelaide: SFC, City
Brisbane: Jets , Victory
Wanderers: CCM , Nix 
Glory: City , SFC 
City: Glory , Reds 

Few bogey teams in there. Perth in Perth is definitely one of ours (and most). 

But Brisbane is Newcastle's bunny and WSW's record against the nix is pretty bad. 

 

[japiedog]

can't rely on our cross town rivals to do us a favour,

they may look at their last match against Brisbane, see that they cant get higher then their current position and rest most of their player for the Finals and ACL , plus ensuring that we don't win the league ( if the the cards fall that way )

 

Adelaide: Away SFC,  Away City
Brisbane: Home Jets , Away Victory
Wanderers: Home  CCM ,Away Nix 
Glory: Home City , Away  SFC 
City: Away Glory , Home  Reds 

[rass]

Just win.

Then all what-ifs are irrelevant. 

[SF33]

1 hour ago, japiedog said:

can't rely on our cross town rivals to do us a favour,

they may look at their last match against Brisbane, see that they cant get higher then their current position and rest most of their player for the Finals and ACL , plus ensuring that we don't win the league ( if the the cards fall that way )

 

Adelaide: Away SFC,  Away City
Brisbane: Home Jets , Away Victory
Wanderers: Home  CCM ,Away Nix 
Glory: Home City , Away  SFC 
City: Away Glory , Home  Reds 

It would be ideal if Sydney managed to knock off Adelaide this weekend and Wellington beat Victory. Since Sydney plays its final game of week 27 after Victory, Victory would know that it needs a draw to guarantee its spot in the six.

21 minutes ago, rass said:

Just win.

Then all what-ifs are irrelevant. 

That would make for a pretty boring topic. This thread is about the what ifs.

[bellydrum]

Can see Brisbane losing to Victory in final round. They have a bad record playing in Melbourne.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Wanderers draw either of their two games. Their front third can sometimes struggle with finishing (scored 1 in past 3 games).

Not sure about Adelaide, but don't see them as much of a threat as the above two. See how they go against Sydney

[hakz7]

Lol if Victory ends up giving us the title with a win in the final round.

[recyclosaurusrex]

2 hours ago, SF33 said:

It would be ideal if Sydney managed to knock off Adelaide this weekend and Wellington beat Victory. Since Sydney plays its final game of week 27 after Victory, Victory would know that it needs a draw to guarantee its spot in the six.

Pretty much best case scenario for us I think. At least if this happens we can win the league with 4 more points instead of the 6 we need at the moment.

[Thrillhouse]

horrible fixturing, we play 5pm perth time on sunday and back it up at home on the friday

[Shahanga]

9 hours ago, Thrillhouse said:

horrible fixturing, we play 5pm perth time on sunday and back it up at home on the friday

Really?

In Europe they'd squeeze in a cup game mid week for good measure.

[bt50]

1 minute ago, Shahanga said:

Really?

In Europe they'd squeeze in a cup game mid week for good measure.

Exactly. People get too caught up on AFL concepts with Australian soccer; things like ýoungsters being the future of the club and x days break. The world game is a different beast completely.

5 days break is plenty in football. I look forward to the days of 3 day break and ACL next season

[cadete]

6 minutes ago, bt50 said:

Exactly. People get too caught up on AFL concepts with Australian soccer; things like ýoungsters being the future of the club and x days break. The world game is a different beast completely.

5 days break is plenty in football. I look forward to the days of 3 day break and ACL next season

Best ever was the bloke who said once we had missed finals in S3 that Heart should send the Seniors on Holiday and only play NYL players...

Even though none of these players had senior contracts with the club meaning that if any other club saw them perform well they would have just as good a chance as we did in signing them as a Senior Player.

Also this was after we had already been burnt at the end of S2 by the exact scenario happening with Goodwin... who chose bloody Newcastle over us.

[Alexxxandro]

20 hours ago, Dylan said:

Adelaide: SFC, City
Brisbane: Jets , Victory
Wanderers: CCM , Nix 
Glory: City , SFC 
City: Glory , Reds 

Few bogey teams in there. Perth in Perth is definitely one of ours (and most). 

But Brisbane is Newcastle's bunny and WSW's record against the nix is pretty bad. 

A nix that's completely out of finals contentions/in dire form/losing players/last game of season... If WSW can't beat them I'd be amazed. I think WSW are the most likely to win both remaining games.

 

It's about time we got over our Perth bogey. To lose this game would just be too predictable and too depressing So my bones tell me we wont lose...

Fascinating round it's going to be.

[Shahanga]

45 minutes ago, bt50 said:

Exactly. People get too caught up on AFL concepts with Australian soccer; things like ýoungsters being the future of the club and x days break. The world game is a different beast completely.

5 days break is plenty in football. I look forward to the days of 3 day break and ACL next season

I also suspect AFL teams could turn around faster if they HAD to (rest older guys etc etc) but the "pay me more, rest me more" narrative seems to have hold right now. Let's not let that disease spread to football.

 

[bt50]

5 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

I also suspect AFL teams could turn around faster if they HAD to (rest older guys etc etc) but the "pay me more, rest me more" narrative seems to have hold right now. Let's not let that disease spread to football.

 

Sounds reflective of Australia and its Unions...

[belaguttman]

6 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

I also suspect AFL teams could turn around faster if they HAD to (rest older guys etc etc) but the "pay me more, rest me more" narrative seems to have hold right now. Let's not let that disease spread to football.

 

I'm always a bit sceptical of these guys who need a week to recover from 90 minutes of high intensity exercise when professional cyclists can ride a 3 week Grand Tour with only 2 rest days and ride for 5 hours a day for 200km at nearly 40km/hr average speed and ride days with 5000m of climbing.

[jw1739]

Probably can't be done because of the TV deal, but I reckon the matches in each of the last 3 rounds ought to be played simultaneously.

[Shahanga]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

Probably can't be done because of the TV deal, but I reckon the matches in each of the last 3 rounds ought to be played simultaneously.

Just the last round. Same as the big leagues. The match day drama is special (though relegation helps that).

[bumpyknuckles]

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

I'm always a bit sceptical of these guys who need a week to recover from 90 minutes of high intensity exercise when professional cyclists can ride a 3 week Grand Tour with only 2 rest days and ride for 5 hours a day for 200km at nearly 40km/hr average speed and ride days with 5000m of climbing.

More to do with cycling being a low impact sport.

I race bikes and while it's definitely the hardest thing I have physically done in my life, if you are fit you can back it up pretty well.

I go for a run and I'm on the couch for a week recovering.

Add bumps etc. and it takes alot more time to recover.