RD 19 We're having some visitors over at AAMI

[loriente]

32 minutes ago, Pete Heartspur said:

Deadset second yellow, should have been off.

Yep. Wouldn't have happened if khalfallah was rightly sent off previously. 

[Jestr]

FFA should simply take away at least 3 home games from visitors and force them to play away instead. 

With no open away bays for tard's fans there either. Period. 

[Tony999]

No MV fans for the game? KFC would make a killing that day!

[jeffplz]

I think we should use the other groups' use of flares as a contrast against our good behaviour and use that to allow us banner tifos soon

[n i k o]

Edited February 15, 2016 by n i k o

[Jestr]

As soon as those numnuts are put on good behaviour bond, I'm heading into Death Star in a fluro vest and sneaking near the north end with a flare in my pants.

light the fuker up and dump it under the seat while walking slowly away with a visible limp while saliva is drooling out of my mouth, yelling " get fucked heart!"

deduct 3 points!!

[thisphantomfortress]

8 hours ago, jeffplz said:

I think we should use the other groups' use of flares as a contrast against our good behaviour and use that to allow us banner tifos soon

First text I sent on Monday morning was basically this 

7 hours ago, Jestr said:

As soon as those numnuts are put on good behaviour bond, I'm heading into Death Star in a fluro vest and sneaking near the north end with a flare in my pants.

light the fuker up and dump it under the seat while walking slowly away with a visible limp while saliva is drooling out of my mouth, yelling " get fucked heart!"

deduct 3 points!!

You won't even need to they'll do it to themselves without a doubt 

[raw10]

10 hours ago, jeffplz said:

I think we should use the other groups' use of flares as a contrast against our good behaviour and use that to allow us banner tifos soon

Like this idea but don't encourage them to behave but rather encourage them to misbehaved and let them ruin their own club themselves. North Terrace are rather quiet on this I noticed. None of them come out to condemn this idiocy and yet if you look at their FB page, they are full of photos of flares being lit which means one thing and one thing only, they supported them... Twat! 

Edited February 15, 2016 by raw10

[japiedog]

This photo is causing a stink over on the Victory forum

I'm sure that is just Thomas' water bottle

 

on another note , there is a lot of anger towards the wankers that let of the Flares

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by japiedog

[Ray]

Some of our supporters are a bit two faced about these flares. I can remember not long ago having discussions about the virtues of having or not having flares at City games.

So why are our flare throwing supporters any better than those of the tards? It's only a matter of time before one of our own do the same thing. Will we all be calling for suspensions and fines and loss of points then?

It's a sickness that WE the supporters need to stamp out and not turn a blind eye to. I guarantee that there are those amongst us who know damn well who in our midst are also likely to, or have already ripped a flare.

Its only a matter of time before a City supported lights one and give the news outlets even more fodder to denigrate our great game. I for one will be cheering when they start taking points off teams until it stops.

 

[thisphantomfortress]

9 minutes ago, Ray said:

Some of our supporters are a bit two faced about these flares. I can remember not long ago having discussions about the virtues of having or not having flares at City games.

So why are our flare throwing supporters any better than those of the tards? It's only a matter of time before one of our own do the same thing. Will we all be calling for suspensions and fines and loss of points then?

It's a sickness that WE the supporters need to stamp out and not turn a blind eye to. I guarantee that there are those amongst us who know damn well who in our midst are also likely to, or have already ripped a flare.

Its only a matter of time before a City supported lights one and give the news outlets even more fodder to denigrate our great game. I for one will be cheering when they start taking points off teams until it stops.

 

Perhaps the leaders of the terrace have been trying to stamp them out? Have you not realised we haven't had one in a over a month and a half and none at either home derby? Culture change doesn't happen overnight.

[japiedog]

1 minute ago, thisphantomfortress said:

Perhaps the leaders of the terrace have been trying to stamp them out? Have you not realised we haven't had one in a over a month and a half and none at either home derby? Culture change doesn't happen overnight.

I might be wrong, but I'm sure someone let one rip at the Christmas Derby

the Victory end let 2 off, and there was a massive groan around the stadium, then someone let one off at our end

Glad to see we kept our noses clean at this game ( and hopefully for the future )

[thisphantomfortress]

Just now, japiedog said:

I might be wrong, but I'm sure someone let one rip at the Christmas Derby

the Victory end let 2 off, and there was a massive groan around the stadium, then someone let one off at our end

Glad to see we kept our noses clean at this game ( and hopefully for the future )

None Xmas derby, the last one was WSW and that got boo'd by pretty much everyone besides the kid who lit it

[belaguttman]

42 minutes ago, japiedog said:

This photo is causing a stink over on the Victory forum

I'm sure that is just Thomas' water bottle

 

on another note , there is a lot of anger towards the wankers that let of the Flares

 

Is that the goal where Bruno Fornaroli chipped 'Sorenson' after his 'robona' pass? (see Dom Bossi's Fairfax article)

[japiedog]

11 minutes ago, thisphantomfortress said:

None Xmas derby, the last one was WSW and that got boo'd by pretty much everyone besides the kid who lit it

stand corrected , thanks Phantom

 

[playmaker]

59 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

Is that the goal where Bruno Fornaroli chipped 'Sorenson' after his 'robona' pass? (see Dom Bossi's Fairfax article)

Ha ha, I am pretty sure Sorenson ran down to help Vukovic save Bruno's goal, little did they know 3 goalkeepers couldn't have saved that one.

[belaguttman]

6 minutes ago, playmaker said:

Ha ha, I am pretty sure Sorenson ran down to help Vukovic save Bruno's goal, little did they know 3 goalkeepers couldn't have saved that one.

'Sorenson' may have but Sorensen just admired the beautiful team goal

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, japiedog said:

This photo is causing a stink over on the Victory forum

I'm sure that is just Thomas' water bottle

If you watch the video there was no such water bottle there - no, what you can see was the ball I'm afraid. But in fairness to the officials you can watch the replay (at normal speed) over and over again and it is not possible to say with certainty that the ball crossed the line. It's very easy to say "the ref/linesman should have seen it", but like catches in cricket and line calls in tennis despite the best will in the world the officials are not infallible. Having once, as an (amateur) ref, not awarded a goal when the ball came back off the inside of the stanchion so quickly it looked as if it had hit the post I'm just glad that I was not in the middle of AAMI Park during a Derby...

[japiedog]

15 hours ago, jw1739 said:

If you watch the video there was no such water bottle there - no, what you can see was the ball I'm afraid. But in fairness to the officials you can watch the replay (at normal speed) over and over again and it is not possible to say with certainty that the ball crossed the line. It's very easy to say "the ref/linesman should have seen it", but like catches in cricket and line calls in tennis despite the best will in the world the officials are not infallible. Having once, as an (amateur) ref, not awarded a goal when the ball came back off the inside of the stanchion so quickly it looked as if it had hit the post I'm just glad that I was not in the middle of AAMI Park during a Derby...

i was just taking the piss

[possiblygeorge]

Good morning 

[Alexxxandro]

Wowee.

[possiblygeorge]

9 minutes ago, Alexxxandro said:

Wowee.

Don't think that the dumbass flogs in their active areas won't light another one, They will, and we'll all have a chuckle 

[Ruckoo]

start going to victory games in victory shirts and let the flares rip boys.

[possiblygeorge]

3 minutes ago, Ruckoo said:

start going to victory games in victory shirts and let the flares rip boys.

Was thinking the same thing. They could potentially do it to us too. Could get ugly lol

[fortheloveofthegame]

Where can I buy some flares?

 

[bt50]

18 minutes ago, possiblygeorge said:

Was thinking the same thing. They could potentially do it to us too. Could get ugly lol

FFA will be all over it, as will rival terraces. 

[possiblygeorge]

1 minute ago, bt50 said:

FFA will be all over it, as will rival terraces. 

How would they know if it's an opposition fan at an oppositions match doing it?

[rass]

1 hour ago, possiblygeorge said:

Good morning 

Same as WSW. Was never going to be anything stronger, despite the alleged assault on the camera crew.

[belaguttman]

4 minutes ago, rass said:

Same as WSW. Was never going to be anything stronger, despite the alleged assault on the camera crew.

It was a Channel 10 crew and someone took the camera man's hat!

[Red or Dead]

33 minutes ago, Ruckoo said:

start going to victory games in victory shirts and let the flares rip boys.

You'd have to give the flare to one of the retards and convince them to light it, then sneakily back away...last thing you want as a City fan is to get caught on CCTV or by the cops lighting it. I'm sure a few of them are stupid enough to light a 'free' flare  

[bt50]

22 minutes ago, possiblygeorge said:

How would they know if it's an opposition fan at an oppositions match doing it?

For starters, if someone drops one inside a terrace that the rest of the terrace don't know, they'll throw him in.

Generally speaking, most flares in a terrace are dropped amongst certain groups and they cover for each other. They won't cover for an outsider, they'll dob him in, particularly if it deflects punishment from them.

If it's a bit further out in the terrace amongst the 'scarfers', the scarfers will dob them in anyway cos that's not their scene.

Outside the ground would be a little harder to police, but the scrutiny isn't as high either.

[possiblygeorge]

19 minutes ago, bt50 said:

For starters, if someone drops one inside a terrace that the rest of the terrace don't know, they'll throw him in.

Generally speaking, most flares in a terrace are dropped amongst certain groups and they cover for each other. They won't cover for an outsider, they'll dob him in, particularly if it deflects punishment from them.

If it's a bit further out in the terrace amongst the 'scarfers', the scarfers will dob them in anyway cos that's not their scene.

Outside the ground would be a little harder to police, but the scrutiny isn't as high either.

All you need is group of 10 Victory flogs to f**k s**t up, hopefully no ones stupid enough to do so given you're risking a huge fine and possible jail sentence, but you never know

[jeffplz]

8 hours ago, bt50 said:

For starters, if someone drops one inside a terrace that the rest of the terrace don't know, they'll throw him in.

Isn't the terrace a free for all though, anyone could join in at any time so the participants can be new at any time.

[Alexxxandro]

Whatever the case dropping a flare in anyone's terrace is something I hope no one here would seriously contemplate.

[bt50]

56 minutes ago, jeffplz said:

Isn't the terrace a free for all though, anyone could join in at any time so the participants can be new at any time.

Yeh of course, but with the stakes so high now id fully expect the people around the flare dropper to dob them straight in to the seccos.

Not everyone will dob someone in, but i reckon half would.

I wouldnt have any hesitation to drop someone i didn't know in, i can tell you that much.

[n i k o]

City alter shape to counter Victory’s attack

As is often the case in matches played between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City, Saturday night’s game at AAMI Park had a frenetic feel to it. There were four goals, a red card and, in the wake of 51st minute freekick hit by Gui Finkler, a moment when goal line technology could have certainly assisted the referees. In the end the teams played out an eventful 2-2 draw.

Yet for all of the talking points and issues surrounding crowd behaviour, this was also a fascinating match in a tactical sense. This started even before the opening whistle, when the team sheets were released, that John van ‘t Schip would move away from the much-discussed 3-5-2 in order to use a more workable flat back four.

City alter shape and style

City’s experiment with a 3-5-2 was fun while it lasted, but for the crucial Melbourne Derby van ‘t Schip decided to move back to a 4-3-3 formation. The changes didn’t end there either, as instead of applying an aggressive high press, the Dutchman asked his charges to sit off a little more. This shift gave City a far more structured look to counter Victory’s attacking talents.

After all, Victory are a team full of pace and incision in the final third, with the likes of Kosta Barbarouses, Besart Berisha and Fahid Ben Khalfallah capable of launching quickfire counter-attacks at a moment’s notice. To allow Victory to break in behind on a consistent basis would be wilfully impractical.

So City adjusted. They played in a kind of medium block, still sticking tightly to their direct opponents but not necessarily charging towards the ball carrier in order to regain possession quickly. They were more patient, structured and diligent in the way they approached their defensive duties, going man-on-man in midfield and forcing Victory to make the play in an attacking sense. While this might have come at the expense of possession – City finished the match having only enjoyed 34.5% of the ball – they were much more difficult to break down.

Example of City’s medium block

Particularly important to this process was the play of Aaron Mooy. He dropped back from the No. 10 role he has occupied in recent weeks, and played alongside Anthony Caceres and ahead of holding man Osama Malik. Like the rest of the team, this initially took the form of sitting off the opposition defence, but once the ball made its way into midfield, Mooy showed a genuine eagerness when snapping at the heels of the Victory midfielders. He attempted six tackles for the match, completing four of them, and on many other occasions, too, his pressure was such that it rushed the opposition.

Mooy’s approach to the game was emblematic of City’s wider strategy, in that while he initially set up within the confines of an ordered 4-1-4-1 shape during the defensive phase of the game, he nonetheless stayed close to his man and closed down with intensity once the ball entered the midfield zone. This was a long way from the Melbourne City of previous weeks, but van ‘t Schip’s shift in outlook allowed his team to be far more reliable in defence.

Finkler vs. Malik

As mentioned above, City tried to go man-on-man through the central midfield zone. Caceres and Mooy usually picked up their opposite numbers, in Oliver Bozanic and Leigh Broxham, while Malik tracked Victory’s playmaker Finkler.

These match-ups were interesting in a number of ways, but the duel between Malik and Finkler was arguably the most fascinating aspect of the midfield battle. This was because Malik showed a real willingness to follow Finkler. The ex-Adelaide United star was far from happy to give his Brazilian counterpart time and space on the ball, and so, when Finkler drifted into the wide positions, Malik tended to track his movements intently. This is evidenced in the example below, as Malik matched Finkler stride-for-stride until he eventually fouls him out on the right-hand side.

There were pros and cons attached to this approach. While it allowed City to limit the freedom afforded to Finkler, it also meant that there was additional space for Victory’s other players in the centre of the pitch. As the match progressed, the likes of Broxham and Victory left-winger Ben Khalfallah started to recognise this space more readily.

They started to take advantage of it, too, especially early in the second half. 46 minutes into the match, for instance, Ben Khalfallah picked up possession along the left-hand side. Finkler then moved into a similar position to support his Tunisian teammate, and Malik duly followed. This resulted in a cramped pocket of turf near the touchline, but as Ben Khalfallah cut back inside, Malik briefly hesitated. He was caught somewhere between tracking Finkler and closing down the ball carrier and, in the end, he really did neither. Ben Khalfallah used this moment to breeze by Malik and charge through to the centre of the pitch. Caceres did his best to get out to the tricky Ben Khalfallah, he only succeeded in leaving his own opponent, Broxham, free and clear. Naturally enough, Broxham soon picked up a pass from Ben Khalfallah and, after steadying himself, had a shot on goal.

His effort may have been deflected out for a corner, but from the ensuing set-piece Finkler nodded home to make the score 2-2. Then, only a few minutes later, the Brazilian playmaker sprinted out towards the right. The ball didn’t come his way, but he again opened up the space in between the lines by dragging Malik out of the middle. Ben Khalfallah again combined with Broxham, this time via a neat short pass. Victory’s veteran soon brought the ball forward and played it into the feet of Berisha. A free-kick followed after the Albanian was fouled by Patrick Kisnorbo, and although Finkler slammed his shot in off the crossbar, it was regrettably ruled offside in the game’s most controversial on-pitch incident.

Still, the chance was brought about by Finkler’s clever movement. Finkler regularly pulled his direct opponent out of position, and while he wasn’t always the man to receive a pass in these situations, his movement meant dangerous positions were often left vacant. His teammates took advantage of this, and Finkler, by having an impact from the subsequent set-pieces, ended up having a big say as well. Simply put, the Victory No. 10 was excellent both on and off the ball, and perhaps sensing this, van ‘t Schip opted to rejig his central midfield zone.

Mooy drops deeper

After 65 minutes, City’s newest recruit, centre-back Alex Wilkinson, was summoned to the bench. Paulo Retre was his replacement, and as many observers expected, Malik took Wilkinson’s place in the back four while Retre moved into midfield. Yet while that came as no surprise, van ‘t Schip reconfigured his central midfield unit in a way that was surprising.

He pushed Retre up alongside Caceres, which meant that Mooy, a man who has spent most of the past few weeks operating as a No. 10, slotted into the holding role. The Socceroo was therefore City’s deepest midfielder, and this risky yet attacking alteration created an interesting dynamic in the middle of the park.

In a defensive sense, Mooy wasn’t quite so eager to track Finkler all over the pitch. He often let the Brazilian drift towards the wings unattended, which gave the City midfield a little bit more structure, in terms of a pre-defined shape, but also meant that Finkler had more room to move. This is shown in the example below, as City find themselves in a more traditional 4-5-1 configuration, with Mooy taking up a standard defensive midfield station. At the same time, though, Finkler has pulled wide, out towards the right, and found a little pocket of space to the side of Caceres. Mathieu Delpierre’s pass then allows the 30-year-old to stride forward and zip a vertical pass into the path of Barbarouses.

The New Zealand international’s cross may have failed to find a teammate, but only a few minutes later, the pair again combined. This time, Finkler dropped into that same pocket of space and played a short pass to Barbarouses, who was stationed in between the lines. Barbarouses used this opportunity to wrongfoot two Victory players, including a centrally-located Mooy, before firing a shot on goal. This moment highlighted the added space that Finkler was starting to find, as well as the fact that Mooy probably wasn’t quite as comfortable, at least in a defensive sense, when operating in the holding role.

The story didn’t end here, though, as Mooy offered a lot to City on the attacking end. He quickly became City’s deep-lying playmaker and, in the manner of an Andrea Pirlo, set about providing a fulcrum through which they could recycle possession. This was important for the team, as up until that point in time, things had been steadily slipping away from them throughout the second period of play.

In the example below, Mooy illustrated his ability to circulate the ball. Here, he sat slightly behind the rest of City’s attackers, keeping the final third ahead of him in order to act as the architect. He completed a slick pass out to Michael Zullo on the flank, got it back and played a neat 1-2 with Retre. Mooy followed up by sliding a vertical ball into the feet of Novillo, and though the move eventually ended with a poor cross from Ivan Franjic, the right-back had plenty of time and space to make his delivery, largely due to Mooy’s earlier set-up work.

Throw in the fact that Mooy kept a cool head when under pressure, often playing sharp little passes to kick-start attacks, and he looked more than capable in a relatively foreign defensive midfield role. With about 10 minutes left, this change in the Melbourne City midfield seemed likely to shape the rest of the contest. Then Caceres brought down Delpierre with a mistimed challenge, for which he received a second yellow and a subsequent red card.

City were forced to defend from that point on, and though they managed to hang on for a creditable 2-2 draw, it was unfortunate to see van ‘t Schip’s Mooy-related experiment come to an early end.

Conclusion

Put simply, this was a thrilling Melbourne Derby. Victory were probably the better team on the day, and were extremely unlucky not to go 3-2 up in the wake of Finkler’s disallowed goal. They also held onto the ball well and pressed with greater intensity, but their habit of giving away cheap free-kicks in dangerous areas meant that City had plenty of chances to capitalise upon Mooy’s superb delivery – something they did for Bruno Fornaroli’s second goal.

For van ‘t Schip and his players this was a far more disciplined and determined performance in defence. They were far more organised in the way they approached the game, and this didn’t just make it more difficult for Victory to play through them, but it also prevented the likes of Berisha, Ben Khalfallah and Barbarouses from breaking in behind what was a previously exposed backline. It’s also worth mentioning that Fornaroli was again superb, holding up the ball beautifully on the break and scoring two impressive goals in the process.

In overall terms, this was a brilliant game for the neutral. It may have been marred by some of the antics from fans in the stands, but that shouldn’t detract from the exceptional on-pitch performance produced by the players.

By Will Stratmann|February 17th, 2016|A-League, Match Analysis|0 Comments

[KSK_47]

Fuck me dead. Did Murf call in sick or something Niko?

[Torn Asunder]

Another reason NOT to light flares at AAMI

Melbourne's AAMI Park stadium covered in 'combustible' cladding, safety inspections reveal

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-17/melbournes-aami-park-covered-in-combustible-polyurethane-audit/7178008

 

 

 

[Jovan]

20 minutes ago, Torn Asunder said:

Another reason NOT to light flares at AAMI

Melbourne's AAMI Park stadium covered in 'combustible' cladding, safety inspections reveal

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-17/melbournes-aami-park-covered-in-combustible-polyurethane-audit/7178008

 

 

 

Oh no 

You know what that means!

No more SAUASAGES. 😨😨😨😨

[n i k o]

3 hours ago, KSK_47 said:

Fuck me dead. Did Murf call in sick or something Niko?

In my defence I just copied and pasted. Writing that much would give me terrible flashbacks to staying up all night and trying to finish uni assignments. Fuck that.