Australia Cup 2023

[MHFC-FAN]

17 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

I don’t recall him ever catching a corner so it will a lottery when these balls drop in the box. Not his strength.

Yeah not a great outing for him. He did at least make that save to stop Oakleigh going up with a few minutes to go...

Absolute peach of an assist from Antonis though! 

[jw1739]

Well, it was a very pleasant afternoon of football that reminded me of the pleasures of football in bygone years. A small lunch, making our way to the ground as a couple of friends should, settling in to our seats, chocolate biscuits at half-time, and home again for tea. An idyllic Sunday afternoon at a small suburban ground basking in the chilly afternoon sunshine, a stadium that made me think that perhaps we could pay a little more attention to basic facilities such as main exit gates that could open at the conclusion of the match instead of keeping the crowd for 15 minutes penned behind fencing more suitable for Guantanamo Bay. And perhaps a public address system, although the silence was better for the ears than the incessant babbling at 100dB to be endured at AAMI Park.

The match started as a Sunday afternoon match should, Curtis Good forgetting that he was not out for a leisurely stroll with his dog but playing a match in a competition the winner of which will play in the Asian Football Federation Cup next season. From the resulting corner Oakleigh were 1-0 up after just 32 seconds. Inability to get the ball away from set-pieces threatening the City goal was going to be a feature of the afternoon. Oakleigh defended well, broke quickly, and had the City defence in all sorts of bother all match. The centre pairing of Good and Reis looked in trouble for pace, but Hall and Talbot stood up well, the latter a continual threat down the left flank and getting plenty of rough handling, but seemingly the referee had jammed the zip on his yellow card back pocket. City gradually took control in midfield where Arslan stood out as did Jakolis on the right wing, but failed to really create a goal-scoring opportunity.

Max Caputo was introduced for the second half and began to make his presence felt by the Oakleigh defence. An unmissable hand-ball in the area was a gift for City, and Arslan put the resulting penalty away neatly. The midfield was working hard but again the goal-scoring opportunities were not being created and eight minutes later Jamie Young and the City defence made a complete hash of a corner and Oakleigh were deservedly ahead again and City were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat until another hand-ball in the box gave them a lifeline with a second penalty. After mind-games from the Oakleigh goalkeeper, only ended when a wet sponge from the Oakleigh trainer cured what seemed at first to be a career-ending leg injury, an unfazed Arslan put the penalty away even more emphatically than his first.

With just seconds remaining in time-added, Terry Antonis finally found space on the left and crossed beautifully for Alessandro Lopane to put the ball into the roof of the net for City's winning goal. Daylight robbery if ever we were to see it.

All that said, my take on the match:
- Oakleigh did themselves proud;
- Jamie Young is not the answer in goal;
- Our defence needs stiffening because we could not deal properly with any dead-ball situation threatening our goal;
- Our new recruits are solid, but we have to solve this problem of sterile possession and failure to create good goal-scoring opportunities;
- It's polite to say that JMac was invisible during the first half. Caputo was more visible in the second, but no-one's going to score if we can't set up the ball properly for them.
- Mathew Leckie doesn't have the close control necessary when the opposition plays a close-press game.

Plenty of work for Vidosic to do before the next round, scheduled for 27-30 August. Quarter-Finals 16-17 September. If we make the QF how we're going to play then when our first ACL match 18-20 September is going to be a challenge!

Edited August 13, 2023 by jw1739

[Zanty]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

Well, it was a very pleasant afternoon of football that reminded me of the pleasures of football in bygone years. A small lunch, making our way to the ground as a couple of friends should, settling in to our seats, chocolate biscuits at half-time, and home again for tea. An idyllic Sunday afternoon at a small suburban ground basking in the chilly afternoon sunshine, a stadium that made me think that perhaps we could pay a little more attention to basic facilities such as main exit gates that could open at the conclusion of the match instead of keeping the crowd for 15 minutes penned behind fencing more suitable for Guantanamo Bay. And perhaps a public address system, although the silence was better for the ears than the incessant babbling at 100dB to be endured at AAMI Park.

The match started as a Sunday afternoon match should, Curtis Good forgetting that he was not out for a leisurely stroll with his dog but playing a match in a competition the winner of which will play in the Asian Football Federation Cup next season. From the resulting corner Oakleigh were 1-0 up after just 32 seconds. Inability to get the ball away from set-pieces threatening the City goal was going to be a feature of the afternoon. Oakleigh defended well, broke quickly, and had the City defence in all sorts of bother all match. The centre pairing of Good and Reis looked in trouble for pace, but Hall and Talbot stood up well, the latter a continual threat down the left flank and getting plenty of rough handling, but seemingly the referee had jammed the zip on his yellow card back pocket. City gradually took control in midfield where Arslan stood out as did Jakolis on the right wing, but failed to really create a goal-scoring opportunity.

Max Caputo was introduced for the second half and began to make his presence felt by the Oakleigh defence. An unmissable hand-ball in the area was a gift for City, and Arslan put the resulting penalty away neatly. The midfield was working hard but again the goal-scoring opportunities were not being created and eight minutes later Jamie Young and the City defence made a complete hash of a corner and Oakleigh were deservedly ahead again and City were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat until another hand-ball in the box gave them a lifeline with a second penalty. After mind-games from the Oakleigh goalkeeper, only ended when a wet sponge from the Oakleigh trainer cured what seemed at first to be a career-ending leg injury, an unfazed Arslan put the penalty away even more emphatically than his first.

With just seconds remaining in time-added, Terry Antonis finally found space on the left and crossed beautifully for Alessandro Lopane to put the ball into the roof of the net for City's winning goal. Daylight robbery if ever we were to see it.

All that said, my take on the match:
- Oakleigh did themselves proud;
- Jamie Young is not the answer in goal;
- Our defence needs stiffening because we could not deal properly with any dead-ball situation threatening our goal;
- Our new recruits are solid, but we have to solve this problem of sterile possession and failure to create good goal-scoring opportunities;
- It's polite to say that JMac was invisible during the first half. Caputo was more visible in the second, but no-one's going to score if we can't set up the ball properly for them.
- Mathew Leckie doesn't have the close control necessary when the opposition plays a close-press game.

Plenty of work for Vidosic to do before the next round, scheduled for 27-30 August. Quarter-Finals 16-17 September. If we make the QF how we're going to play then when our first ACL match 18-20 September is going to be a challenge!

Quarter Finals are from the 13th I believe so gives us at least 5 days until the ACL starts, assuming we make the QF and are fixtured appropriately. 

[IssySG]

Admittedly a small sample size, but I reckon today could have been Jordan Hall's best outing in a City shirt. Not that he was especially good, just looked more composed and more assured today I thought. 

[MHFC-FAN]

3 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Well, it was a very pleasant afternoon of football that reminded me of the pleasures of football in bygone years. A small lunch, making our way to the ground as a couple of friends should, settling in to our seats, chocolate biscuits at half-time, and home again for tea. An idyllic Sunday afternoon at a small suburban ground basking in the chilly afternoon sunshine, a stadium that made me think that perhaps we could pay a little more attention to basic facilities such as main exit gates that could open at the conclusion of the match instead of keeping the crowd for 15 minutes penned behind fencing more suitable for Guantanamo Bay. And perhaps a public address system, although the silence was better for the ears than the incessant babbling at 100dB to be endured at AAMI Park.

The match started as a Sunday afternoon match should, Curtis Good forgetting that he was not out for a leisurely stroll with his dog but playing a match in a competition the winner of which will play in the Asian Football Federation Cup next season. From the resulting corner Oakleigh were 1-0 up after just 32 seconds. Inability to get the ball away from set-pieces threatening the City goal was going to be a feature of the afternoon. Oakleigh defended well, broke quickly, and had the City defence in all sorts of bother all match. The centre pairing of Good and Reis looked in trouble for pace, but Hall and Talbot stood up well, the latter a continual threat down the left flank and getting plenty of rough handling, but seemingly the referee had jammed the zip on his yellow card back pocket. City gradually took control in midfield where Arslan stood out as did Jakolis on the right wing, but failed to really create a goal-scoring opportunity.

Max Caputo was introduced for the second half and began to make his presence felt by the Oakleigh defence. An unmissable hand-ball in the area was a gift for City, and Arslan put the resulting penalty away neatly. The midfield was working hard but again the goal-scoring opportunities were not being created and eight minutes later Jamie Young and the City defence made a complete hash of a corner and Oakleigh were deservedly ahead again and City were staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat until another hand-ball in the box gave them a lifeline with a second penalty. After mind-games from the Oakleigh goalkeeper, only ended when a wet sponge from the Oakleigh trainer cured what seemed at first to be a career-ending leg injury, an unfazed Arslan put the penalty away even more emphatically than his first.

With just seconds remaining in time-added, Terry Antonis finally found space on the left and crossed beautifully for Alessandro Lopane to put the ball into the roof of the net for City's winning goal. Daylight robbery if ever we were to see it.

All that said, my take on the match:
- Oakleigh did themselves proud;
- Jamie Young is not the answer in goal;
- Our defence needs stiffening because we could not deal properly with any dead-ball situation threatening our goal;
- Our new recruits are solid, but we have to solve this problem of sterile possession and failure to create good goal-scoring opportunities;
- It's polite to say that JMac was invisible during the first half. Caputo was more visible in the second, but no-one's going to score if we can't set up the ball properly for them.
- Mathew Leckie doesn't have the close control necessary when the opposition plays a close-press game.

Plenty of work for Vidosic to do before the next round, scheduled for 27-30 August. Quarter-Finals 16-17 September. If we make the QF how we're going to play then when our first ACL match 18-20 September is going to be a challenge!

Probably your best piece I've seen written on this forum! You could easily put this on a football blog and wouldn't be out of place! Nice work!

[HughJass]

14 hours ago, jw1739 said:

- Our defence needs stiffening because we could not deal properly with any dead-ball situation threatening our goal;

will be interesting as Oakleigh have a full time set piece coach so no doubt a-league teams will be the same level if not better with set pieces and full time training once the season starts 

[jw1739]

13 hours ago, IssySG said:

Admittedly a small sample size, but I reckon today could have been Jordan Hall's best outing in a City shirt. Not that he was especially good, just looked more composed and more assured today I thought. 

Definitely. I can't recall whether he's played a full match before, but he looked as though he'd been an established senior player for quite a while. Talbot was my pick of the defence. Good was culpable for the first goal, Nuno had strapping on one leg - I couldn't really fault them except that they looked uncomfortable with the high press and all at sea for set pieces. 

A couple of decent additions and all the pieces of the jig-saw are there, but Rado has got to find where they fit. If we were voting I'd have to give 3 points to Tolgay Arslan; he was the mainspring in midfield and kept his cool under a fair bit of pressure to slot away the two penalties. 1 point to Callum Talbot; got forward well and took quite a bit of physical from Oakleigh. His head jerked back after one jolt and he could well have been seriously hurt. The 2 points  - very tough. I'd have to share them 1 each for the winning goal to Terry Antonis and Alessandro Lopane; right place, right time.

[citypool]

Draw is tonight 

 

Who do we want to play? 

[MHFC-FAN]

14 minutes ago, citypool said:

Draw is tonight 

 

Who do we want to play? 

Anyone but Wellington 🙃

[kingofhearts]

We want another state team where we can play like shit for 80% of the game and still win the match

[IssySG]

First preference is for it to be in Melbourne, after that I'm not overly bothered.

After our two games this past week against NPL teams, it might be nice to go up against an ALM team to get a better gauge of where we're at.

[jw1739]

56 minutes ago, IssySG said:

First preference is for it to be in Melbourne, after that I'm not overly bothered.

After our two games this past week against NPL teams, it might be nice to go up against an ALM team to get a better gauge of where we're at.

Don't think we need that do we? A last-gasp winner against Oakleigh tells us where we are - a long way from where we need to be in 4 weeks time for the ACL. With the season now effectively starting in August with the Cup, and three clubs to play in ACF competitions, we're going to have rethink all this business of when the players return to training, pre-season matches and how long the off-season really is  - and it's not 6 months as we used to joke.

[IssySG]

27 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Don't think we need that do we? A last-gasp winner against Oakleigh tells us where we are - a long way from where we need to be in 4 weeks time for the ACL. With the season now effectively starting in August with the Cup, and three clubs to play in ACF competitions, we're going to have rethink all this business of when the players return to training, pre-season matches and how long the off-season really is  - and it's not 6 months as we used to joke.

Thats why we exactly why we do need it. I thought it was implied, but what I was inferring is that obviously we're off the mark, going up against another professional club will be a much better gauge on how far off the mark we actually are.

[jw1739]

16 minutes ago, IssySG said:

Thats why we exactly why we do need it. I thought it was implied, but what I was inferring is that obviously we're off the mark, going up against another professional club will be a much better gauge on how far off the mark we actually are.

What do we need to confirm? Where do you think the issues are? I identified what I thought.

[HughJass]

8 hours ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Anyone but Wellington 🙃

hahahaha

[MHFC-FAN]

Just now, HughJass said:

hahahaha

Got to be fking kidding me...3 seasons in a row 🙄

[citypool]

Least we get a home match 

[IssySG]

15 hours ago, jw1739 said:

What do we need to confirm? Where do you think the issues are? I identified what I thought.

Well for starters, I think one of the biggest issues we have so far is the fact that a quite sizeable part of our squad has only been playing together for about three weeks 😂 And while I do think we were very so-so against Oakleigh, I do think these boys need a little bit more time before we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

For me I'd like to figure out what our best midfield looks like. Anotnis was very solid against Dandenong (obvious caveat being that it was a friendly with nothing to play for) and he had a decisive impact when he came off the bench at the weekend - so I'd like to see him start again.

As well as that I think its time to mix up the centre back pairing - even it means giving Jordan Hall a go in the centre back and switching up the full backs - whether that means bringing Galloway in or hopefully Aziz is up and running by then.

[Le Hack]

2 hours ago, IssySG said:

Well for starters, I think one of the biggest issues we have so far is the fact that a quite sizeable part of our squad has only been playing together for about three weeks 😂 And while I do think we were very so-so against Oakleigh, I do think these boys need a little bit more time before we throw the baby out with the bathwater.

For me I'd like to figure out what our best midfield looks like. Anotnis was very solid against Dandenong (obvious caveat being that it was a friendly with nothing to play for) and he had a decisive impact when he came off the bench at the weekend - so I'd like to see him start again.

As well as that I think its time to mix up the centre back pairing - even it means giving Jordan Hall a go in the centre back and switching up the full backs - whether that means bringing Galloway in or hopefully Aziz is up and running by then.

We also haven't seen what Souprayen can bring to the defensive third, possible that he would be the fix to the corners problem. 

[citypool]

Will they play at aami park? 

[MHFC-FAN]

1 hour ago, citypool said:

Will they play at aami park? 

Hopefully not Casey Fields again...

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, citypool said:

Will they play at aami park? 

I suspect not because of the cost and that it will be in the boondocks commitments made to the council down there at Casey Fields.

[Cityamatic]

3 hours ago, jw1739 said:

I suspect not because of the cost and that it will be in the boondocks commitments made to the council down there at Casey Fields.

I think the commentators mentioned on Sunday that we had approached Oakleigh to use their facilities, following some comment along the lines of 'whoever wins it looks like we'll see another cup game here'

[jw1739]

14 minutes ago, Cityamatic said:

I think the commentators mentioned on Sunday that we had approached Oakleigh to use their facilities, following some comment along the lines of 'whoever wins it looks like we'll see another cup game here'

I hope so.

[fensaddler]

5 hours ago, Cityamatic said:

I think the commentators mentioned on Sunday that we had approached Oakleigh to use their facilities, following some comment along the lines of 'whoever wins it looks like we'll see another cup game here'

At least I know where it is now... Nice little ground. Needs more food options and people who can find their keys though...

[jw1739]

6 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

At least I know where it is now... Nice little ground. Needs more food options and people who can find their keys though...

Every other time I've been there the exit gates at the back of the food service area have been opened before the end of the match. Don't understand why this was not done on Sunday, especially with a crowd about 6 times normal (2,562).

[moops]

Forgot all about this game, I just watched the replay and this is my take in no particular order, just as my thoughts come to me.

Nuno has really declined, which is disappointing and will be the whipping boy this season again. Hopefully Souprayen will fill that void.

Lopane looks like a DM playing the 8, Ugarkovic looks like an 8 playing the 6 and they should switch, Ugarkovic was one of the better players in the match but made some pretty poor defending errors.

Arslan looks great.

Jacko looks ok, did some nice things but his teammates don't understand him yet and weren't there at times to take advantage, he also needs to get used to the physicality of the league.

Hall and Talbot did alright, it may take a whole season to get them used to their new positions, Talbot probably quicker. Hall was alright, but no where going forward except for the second pen, that will be his biggest thing to learn if we are going to persist. I'm not against it, but I have to  wonder about Galloway, is he not liked in the dressing room or something?

Caputo looked ok and put himself about more than Macca, though those balls across the goal mouth would have been pounced on by Macca if he was still on the ground I feel. He had a bad miss, I reckon he was trying to curl it over the defenders leg, but didn't put any spin on the ball that he would have liked to make it dip enough, hitting it with the inside of his foot I'm sure that's what he was trying.

Antonis looked good, would be a real game changer coming off the bench, able to play in the midfield or either wing, could be a good option to start but he had limited time.

All our other players looked like they had just had 4 months off and pretty rusty, a bit more game time and they should be alright.

We are still missing a creative force in the middle as good as Arslan looked, but he's not that type of player, could it be Ugarkovic or Antonis?

Edited August 17, 2023 by moops

[MHFC-FAN]

32 minutes ago, moops said:

Nuno has really declined, which is disappointing and will be the whipping boy this season again. Hopefully Souprayen will fill that void.

Hall and Talbot did alright, it may take a whole season to get them used to their new positions, Talbot probably quicker. Hall was alright, but no where going forward except for the second pen, that will be his biggest thing to learn if we are going to persist. I'm not against it, but I have to  wonder about Galloway, is he not liked in the dressing room or something?

You could tell Nuno was past it last season, slow and making poor challenges to make up for his lack of pace.

Galloway I believe is looking elsewhere to play from what I've  heard. Was not too pleased at all with the Aziz signing...

[moops]

3 minutes ago, MHFC-FAN said:

You could tell Nuno was past it last season, slow and making poor challenges to make up for his lack of pace.

Galloway I believe is looking elsewhere to play from what I've  heard. Was not too pleased at all with the Aziz signing...

Ah ok, I don't think he fit in sadly for Galloway, he has the talent.

Yeah, it's not just his pace but his reactions as well, he seems to like the longball frustratingly as well more than not.

Forgot about Aziz, so we'll probably not see the Talbot Hall thing again, I expect will Aziz start.

[MHFC-FAN]

23 minutes ago, moops said:

Ah ok, I don't think he fit in sadly for Galloway, he has the talent.

Yeah, it's not just his pace but his reactions as well, he seems to like the longball frustratingly as well more than not.

Forgot about Aziz, so we'll probably not see the Talbot Hall thing again, I expect will Aziz start.

Yeah he has been really unlucky not to have been a starter already. Probably the most capable non starter in the league sadly.

Yeah I had seen enough last season from Nuno and his flaws were massively exposed in the grand final. Sigh....

Yeah I would imagine Aziz is the lock for LB and Talbot the lock for RB. However we may play that defence for ACL or some A-League games.

[kingofhearts]

2 minutes ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Yeah he has been really unlucky not to have been a starter already. Probably the most capable non starter in the league sadly.

Yeah I had seen enough last season from Nuno and his flaws were massively exposed in the grand final. Sigh....

Yeah I would imagine Aziz is the lock for LB and Talbot the lock for RB. However we may play that defence for ACL or some A-League games.

Yeah yeah yeah

[MHFC-FAN]

6 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah! Didn't even realise. Whoops...

Edited August 17, 2023 by MHFC-FAN

[moops]

27 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

Yeah yeah yeah

Advanced hair, yeah, yeah!

 

[MHFC-FAN]

40 minutes ago, moops said:

Advanced hair, yeah, yeah!

 

Nah I prefer this...

 

 

[moops]

41 minutes ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Nah I prefer this...

 

 

Got me on that one, lol.

[Tommykins]

The amount you all are capable of reading into squad depth and strength early in what is our pre-season is very impressive.

[IssySG]

Seeing as its supposed to be next weekend, would be good to get some more details about when and where our loss against the Nix will take place.

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, Tommykins said:

The amount you all are capable of reading into squad depth and strength early in what is our pre-season is very impressive.

The eternal pre-season optimism of the football fan! It's all part of making football what it is. Embrace it.

[jw1739]

49 minutes ago, IssySG said:

Seeing as its supposed to be next weekend, would be good to get some more details about when and where our loss against the Nix will take place.

Agreed. Quite frankly, pretty poor show all round. Zero build-up. It's our home match so we ought to be organised by now.

No build-up into the ACL either. Can't expect fans to get excited if you don't communicate.

No use hoping that the circle-jerk over the WWC will lead to growth in football if you don't advertise what your club is doing.

[MHFC-FAN]

1 hour ago, IssySG said:

Seeing as its supposed to be next weekend, would be good to get some more details about when and where our loss against the Nix will take place.

Hahaha!! 🤣