Season 23/24 - Round 2 - Melbourne vs Adelaide Sunday 29th Oct - 7.00 pm

[playmaker]

25 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

Our For-Against is 1-8, the last few seasons it was almost the opposite; as you've identified, our problem is in all three lines, and all we can successfully manage are low-pressure/low-value possession passes. Half our passes last night were back passes

Agreed, MC have not got the players to play the style that CFG demands. One option to stop the bleeding is to set up a defensive block, lure an opposition high line and hopefully Arslan can orchestrate a counter with Jamie having space.

Antonis and Ugarkovic know this style well.

I think Rado would know this but won't be allowed to do it.

Edited October 30, 2023 by playmaker

[jw1739]

40 minutes ago, playmaker said:

Agreed, MC have not got the players to play the style that CFG demands. One option to stop the bleeding is to set up a defensive block, lure an opposition high line and hopefully Arslan can orchestrate a counter with Jamie having space.

Antonis and Ugarkovic know this style well.

I think Rado would know this but won't be allowed to do it.

I don't think that CFG micromanage to this extent. It doesn't do them any good from a business perspective to have losing teams. First under PK and now under Rado we are seeing not just possession but players consistently ignoring the forward movement option and just passing backwards and sideways for the sake of it. Many of our moves end up like this because the players in front of the ball carrier are static - literally zero movement. Similarly the issue of substitutions - or lack of them; I don't believe that this is mandated by CFG - it's just a coach too timid to try something new.

[playmaker]

5 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

I don't think that CFG micromanage to this extent. It doesn't do them any good from a business perspective to have losing teams. First under PK and now under Rado we are seeing not just possession but players consistently ignoring the forward movement option and just passing backwards and sideways for the sake of it. Many of our moves end up like this because the players in front of the ball carrier are static - literally zero movement. Similarly the issue of substitutions - or lack of them; I don't believe that this is mandated by CFG - it's just a coach too timid to try something new.

We will see what happens going forward. With the players we have it will be ineffective to continue with the game plan of the last 3 years. I would hope Rado realises this and creates a solution to the problem that you and many others have identified. If he doesn't then I suspect there is a directive to play the CFG style with a midfield that isnt capable of doing so.

There is a way out of this and it requires a re-think of the style of play which will result in weeks of defensive, highly organised, lower possession, and counter-attacking football which I believe the squad is capable of executing successfully and this will also stop the score blow outs and keep them in the game.

 

[belaguttman]

2 hours ago, playmaker said:

Agreed, MC have not got the players to play the style that CFG demands. One option to stop the bleeding is to set up a defensive block, lure an opposition high line and hopefully Arslan can orchestrate a counter with Jamie having space.

Antonis and Ugarkovic know this style well.

I think Rado would know this but won't be allowed to do it.

I think that we are one starting CB snd a DM short of doing it. Souprayen and Reis are too slow and Ugarkovic may or may not be able to do it, but certainly isn't able to play at the necessary level at the moment to do it

[n i k o]

If statistics ever needed a game to show how misleading they are this was it. 

We had 60% possession.

88% pass accuracy compared to 82%.

Tackles won the same 52%

13 shots compared to 15.

The list goes on.

 

[NewConvert]

6 hours ago, playmaker said:

Yeah let's blame Rado for CFG raping the MC team of Floran, Van der ven, O'Neil, Barisha, Jordan and Tulio. Why MC is rubbish is in plain sight. Ange couldn't even manage this disaster of a list.

Doesn't matter if they play 4 high on an attack if there is no supply, doesn't matter how good the defenders are if there is no supply cut off.

Jamie standing there waiting for supply, there is none as it was taken away with a stroke of a pen.

Antonis and Ugarkovic are seasoned players from a defensive counter mindset and not a high press possession game and might not fit in at all.

The mid field is where the game is won and MC has none.

Let's see what happens when Arslan and Leckie are on the pitch but until then don't expect much from this list.

Welcome back.

First Bos, Tulio & O'Neil were always going to leave: they are young and promising and we all knew that Europe beckoned. That is not CFG's fault - indeed the A-League is setup as a feeder league and so we have to live with it. VdV returned to Europe because of family as did Lam. Berisha was on loan and he also returned. Also Glover  departed for similar reasons.

Also of note is that CCM also lost a lot players to overseas as did AU. CCM and MC are not coping but AU are.

The question is given that MC were most likely aware of the players departing, why were they replaced by the lot we got? And what about our youth academy? surely they would have been taught the City way and at the very least would have the energy and enthusiasm to do something. I could cope better with losing by 6 goals if we had tried youth players than some of this lot.

And Ange would not have lost by 6.

[belaguttman]

32 minutes ago, NewConvert said:

The question is given that MC were most likely aware of the players departing, why were they replaced by the lot we got? And what about our youth academy? surely they would have been taught the City way and at the very least would have the energy and enthusiasm to do something. I could cope better with losing by 6 goals if we had tried youth players than some of this lot.

And Ange would not have lost by 6.

I was wondering this during the second half of last season as it became apparent that we were going to have a significant player turnover. Why weren't we playing our bench and academy players, particularly after it was clear that we would win the Premiership? It seemed to be poor planning.

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

I was wondering this during the second half of last season as it became apparent that we were going to have a significant player turnover. Why weren't we playing our bench and academy players, particularly after it was clear that we would win the Premiership? It seemed to be poor planning.

Because Rado is too timid. Poor recruiting and poor planning - absolutely. But it wasn't just last season, it was also the season before. I look at the other A-League teams and there are ex-City youth players such as Gauci and Rafa playing comfortably in their new clubs, but we wouldn't even let them have a few minutes. We're doing the same now by signing Jamie Young - why sign Beach if he isn't good enough?

[playmaker]

1 hour ago, NewConvert said:

Welcome back.

First Bos, Tulio & O'Neil were always going to leave: they are young and promising and we all knew that Europe beckoned. That is not CFG's fault - indeed the A-League is setup as a feeder league and so we have to live with it. VdV returned to Europe because of family as did Lam. Berisha was on loan and he also returned. Also Glover  departed for similar reasons.

Also of note is that CCM also lost a lot players to overseas as did AU. CCM and MC are not coping but AU are.

The question is given that MC were most likely aware of the players departing, why were they replaced by the lot we got? And what about our youth academy? surely they would have been taught the City way and at the very least would have the energy and enthusiasm to do something. I could cope better with losing by 6 goals if we had tried youth players than some of this lot.

And Ange would not have lost by 6.

I agree with everything you are saying, and here is the question I pose.

How could the coaching staff not be alarmed in the pre-season when comparing our current squad's performance with the squad of the last 2 seasons?

Surely alarm bell should have been going off.

Surely the type of players to execute this game plan should have been identified and recruited.

A 6-0 thrashing in the 2nd game of the season is a reflection of many problems that should have been addressed already.

Is it Rado's fault? I don't know, however I can suggest that our current list can not play this current system.

In the short term we need an immediate response to develop a defensive mindset and tweak the system accordingly, and then build from there even at the cost of 1-0 losses as thrashings destroy team morale.

 

[belaguttman]

He'll be gone if the media reports are correct and he has lost the dressing room. Of course, that affects the women's team as well

[fensaddler]

35 minutes ago, belaguttman said:

He'll be gone if the media reports are correct and he has lost the dressing room. Of course, that affects the women's team as well

So likely we don't know what this squad is capable of.

[jw1739]

12 hours ago, belaguttman said:

He'll be gone if the media reports are correct and he has lost the dressing room. Of course, that affects the women's team as well

Personally I have never liked the father-son set-up that we have. IMO this inhibits freedom of opinions and ideas.

[belaguttman]

2 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Personally I have never liked the father-son set-up that we have. IMO this inhibits freedom of opinions and ideas.

I agree, both for the organisation and for both coaches