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Season 23/24 - Round 5 -Melbourne vs Wellington Saturday 25th Nov - 2:30pm

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By MHFC-FAN,
in Melbourne City

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moops

moops

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

Nabbout and Leckie are going to need to make a hell of a difference even for us to make the six. We look like also rans with an ageing, underperforming squad. Bit like Macarthur last season.

Those two will make a huge difference, just on the pace side of things if nothing else. When they do they will be as raw as a cut prawn, they'll be under a lot of pressure and I can see the first few games being a bit average. Just have to support them and encourage, they're the only hope we have tbh.

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moops

moops

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Souprayen probably our best, Behich tried but was at fault for the goal, Talbot is the backpass master, Nadel as people have said seems pretty lazy, I'd rather play that kid who came on. A few balls across the goal weren't pounced on, is it a confidence thing, or a coaching thing?

Apart from Arslan the lion and Behich we have zero creativity, pretty tepid stuff.

I'm glad I bought some Japanese beer to try, the highlight of the game, it's not bad at all.

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fensaddler

fensaddler

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4 hours ago, fensaddler said:

I'd be wondering if there's not something wrong with the chemistry of the squad. But we're definitely carrying too many players who aren't performing.

I wanted to put a backstory on this comment. There was research done years ago which related success in football teams to the number and strength of social connections between the team members. The more the social connections the more united and successful the team. We lost a lot of people at the end of the season. We've maybe lost some key people in the squad, the characters who created the team spirit and sense of unity. We may even have brought in characters who don't work well in the group. At best it will take time for those bonds to develop. It may be as much off the pitch as on it.

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jw1739

jw1739

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25 minutes ago, fensaddler said:

I wanted to put a backstory on this comment. There was research done years ago which related success in football teams to the number and strength of social connections between the team members. The more the social connections the more united and successful the team. We lost a lot of people at the end of the season. We've maybe lost some key people in the squad, the characters who created the team spirit and sense of unity. We may even have brought in characters who don't work well in the group. At best it will take time for those bonds to develop. It may be as much off the pitch as on it.

Good point. We lost Jamo, our captain, and no doubt in my mind that he was a real driving force in the squad. And we certainly know of one strong social connection that was lost at the end of last season - that between Lam and Berisha.
https://aleagues.com.au/news/city-star-who-owns-hotel-fries-shop-in-amsterdam-has-met-his-second-son-in-the-a-leagues/

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belaguttman

belaguttman

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Posted (edited)

This is going to be a very long season. I doubt that we'll get much joy from the remaining three games, and I'd expect a good flogging in the derby on that performance. This is a case of the team's ability being well below the sum of the parts. Yes, we still have a team of apparent strangers, but after pre-season, four games and a week of training during the break, there is no sign of progression.

If we are going to push up with our FBs, then we either need to invert one or play two decent DMs, as we are leaving acres of space between midfield and the backline that even NPL teams carved through like a hot knife through butter. This is compounded by both Souprayen and Reis being slow, although Souprayen surprised me with better positioning today. Our forward play is dull and predictable; our crosses seem to either be overhit, not get past the first defender, or go to the keeper. We look aimless in set pieces, a far cry from a few seasons ago, and our conversion efficiency must surely be one of the worst in the League. Natel is a passenger.

Vidmar seems to have us playing more directly; for once our completed passes weren't double our opponents, but our turnover rate is still way too high.

Edited by belaguttman
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NewConvert

NewConvert

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Posted

This team lacks speed, lacks creativity and has little if any leadership on field. On top of that Natel is uninterested.

First up return Natel ASAP. Don't care if we bring a kid from the NPL. Even if the kid is crap, at least he is our own homegrown crap and I know he will give a damn.

Secondly, take the captaincy off JMac. Give it to Arslan or Behich.

Third, JMac to stop taking penalties. Against Bangladesh he said that he was not confident taking the penalty and gave it to Luongo. If he is not confident taking penalties give it to Arslan or Jakolis.

Fourth, someone has to explain why Talbot is preferred ahead of Galloway. The only thing I can think of is that Talbot is considered a project. Personally, I think that he will be an A-League journeyman. Start Galloway and play him for 70 minutes then sub with Talbot.

Fifth, the club has to accept that it has an ageing squad specially at the back. Reis contract should not be renewed. Good to be given a one year option as he has also considerably slowed down. Hall will either be given an opportunity to play or just be released. We should also note that JMac is not as fast as last season and his confidence is down. We should also note that if Nabbout and Leckie return, then they are also going to be slower. With Nabbout is more likely to commit fouls.

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jw1739

jw1739

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9 hours ago, NewConvert said:

This team lacks speed, lacks creativity and has little if any leadership on field. On top of that Natel is uninterested.

First up return Natel ASAP. Don't care if we bring a kid from the NPL. Even if the kid is crap, at least he is our own homegrown crap and I know he will give a damn.

Secondly, take the captaincy off JMac. Give it to Arslan or Behich.

Third, JMac to stop taking penalties. Against Bangladesh he said that he was not confident taking the penalty and gave it to Luongo. If he is not confident taking penalties give it to Arslan or Jakolis.

Fourth, someone has to explain why Talbot is preferred ahead of Galloway. The only thing I can think of is that Talbot is considered a project. Personally, I think that he will be an A-League journeyman. Start Galloway and play him for 70 minutes then sub with Talbot.

Fifth, the club has to accept that it has an ageing squad specially at the back. Reis contract should not be renewed. Good to be given a one year option as he has also considerably slowed down. Hall will either be given an opportunity to play or just be released. We should also note that JMac is not as fast as last season and his confidence is down. We should also note that if Nabbout and Leckie return, then they are also going to be slower. With Nabbout is more likely to commit fouls.

Pretty much agree here. Why we signed Souprayen for two years is beyond me - half the time we end up with two left footed CBs and the forward pass - when it finally happens - is painfully predictable. As well as explaining the Galloway situation IMO the club needs to explain the same for Hall. He played against Wellington in the Cup and gave a very solid performance.

Many of these points require some careful management within the club. We need to remember that we're just 5 matches into a 27-match season but if things don't improve I'm all for letting those older players go who are out of contract at the end of this season and starting a proper rebuild.

The problem with the penalty against Wellington was that Tolgay had been substituted and Antonis hadn't yet come on. But any professional football club should have at least two players on the pitch who are confident at taking a penalty. Poor player management IMO.

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belaguttman

belaguttman

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24 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

What differences do you expect to see?

It will be a big chance for Max Caputo, but he's a different type of striker. Let's see how Vidmar can use him. Hopefully, Reis isn't starting on the wing in place of Behich without a change in tactics; we need to find a way to play more compactly & close down the spaces between our lines and improve our cohesion. What I'm expecting is that we'll score less and concede more.

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malloy

malloy

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2 hours ago, belaguttman said:

It will be a big chance for Max Caputo, but he's a different type of striker. Let's see how Vidmar can use him. Hopefully, Reis isn't starting on the wing in place of Behich without a change in tactics; we need to find a way to play more compactly & close down the spaces between our lines and improve our cohesion. What I'm expecting is that we'll score less and concede more.

Imo Caputo is much more suited to our style of play than JMac. 

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jw1739

jw1739

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23 hours ago, belaguttman said:

Imagine our team during the Asian Cup early next year: no JMac, no Aziz, likely no Leckie😱

Leckie has played little part in the season so far so I don't see his absence as changing anything.

As for Aziz and JMac I don't see their absence as having much effect. As Vidmar has said,  professional footballers don't suddenly forget how to play football. Although IMO our signings are not wonderful, I point the finger at the the over-elaborate possession-style of football that we are playing rather than the squad as a whole or individual players.

If this style is "mandated" by CFG then it's absurd. No-one should expect footballers at our level to reproduce the style played by the flagship Manchester City, who have virtually unlimited resources to harvest talented players from all over the globe. And, incidentally, face 115 charges laid by the EPL concerning financial fair play, but who IMO will not be sanctioned (unlike Everton) because they will simply filibuster in the courts until the EPL is exhausted by the process.

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NewConvert

NewConvert

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4 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Leckie has played little part in the season so far so I don't see his absence as changing anything.

As for Aziz and JMac I don't see their absence as having much effect. As Vidmar has said,  professional footballers don't suddenly forget how to play football. Although IMO our signings are not wonderful, I point the finger at the the over-elaborate possession-style of football that we are playing rather than the squad as a whole or individual players.

If this style is "mandated" by CFG then it's absurd. No-one should expect footballers at our level to reproduce the style played by the flagship Manchester City, who have virtually unlimited resources to harvest talented players from all over the globe. And, incidentally, face 115 charges laid by the EPL concerning financial fair play, but who IMO will not be sanctioned (unlike Everton) because they will simply filibuster in the courts until the EPL is exhausted by the process.

I don't think that Pep would recognise our style of football TBH.

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