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EF 2: Melbourne City vs Perth Glory, 23/04/17, 7:00pm, AAMI Park


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9 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

 

Basically I agree with the above. Probably the worst game I've seen the team play in either Heart or City jerseys. I never want the team to lose, but I confess that I'm glad that the season is over and that, as we understand it, by failing to qualify for the ACL we have not met CFG's objectives for us for the season. I therefore hope that heads roll.

Clearly none of the interim coaching staff are ready for a senior coaching role. As others have said, not to start Caceres and Fitzgerald, to persist with playing Fornaroli and Cahill when it has not worked at any stage of the season, and to leave Sorensen to rot on the bench, is just stupid. I will allow for the interim coaching team to point to our known defensive weaknesses right from the start of the season, but that's all I will allow them.

Normally we pin everything on the coaches rather than the players, but tonight there were some gutless and inept performances from a number of players. To talk the talk that we've seen this past week and then come out and play like that...just unacceptable. Our passing was dreadful, our thought processes slow, our use of the ball glacial, movement off the ball virtually non-existent. Only in the last 20 minutes or so did we look as if we cared a shit. I've never seen our back line so inept - Franjic and Malik looked as though this was their first ever game, and it's kind to Jakobsen and Rose to say that they were very, very average. Kamau - worst ever match for the club, likewise Brattan -why must he put his foot on the ball every time he gets it?

The problem I see that we have is that many of the players have at least one more year on their contracts. It's going to hard to move on players if they don't want to go.

Incredibly disappointing night for us, the fans, especially those of us who have been here from the start. We were let down by the club tonight.

 

1 minute ago, Tony999 said:

David Davutovic just summed up the night for us in the Herald Sun saying "City's worst ever performance"

Enough said, I am off to watch it Milan play

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We were LITERALLY never in the game.

All our painfully obvious deficiencies were exposed spectacularly, like a pair of shiny testacles on a bulldog. 

As I sat watching the game, there was never any hope, just a morbid sense of doom.

It was insipid. It was disgusting. It was unforgivable.

Lowe seemed stunned himself after the game by how retarded our tactics were. 

Time for a cleanout.

Time for CFG to do the one thing it is yet to do for us long suffering supporters. INVEST IN A DECENT AND EXPERIENCED COACH!!! DO THIS OR THE CLUB WILL GO BACKWARDS BEYOND REPAIR!!!

I am yelling this out because CFG and the execs in charge of Melbourne City FC don't get it for some reason ... or maybe they do, but they really don't give a shit about us being successful, as long as we give them an Aaron Mooy type player, every few years ... 

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Extract from article in The Guardian. My emphasis re Bold and Underline.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/24/melbourne-citys-desperately-timid-ending-is-a-microcosm-of-their-slump

Melbourne City's desperately timid ending is a microcosm of their slump

Jonathan Howcroft

Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar progressed from contrasting elimination finals to move within one game of the A-League championship decider, but it was Melbourne City’s abject capitulation against the former that grew into the story of the weekend. Uncertain in possession, apathetic without the ball, the home side looked overawed by the occasion at AAMI Park. It was a desperately timid end to a campaign that could hardly have begun with greater fanfare.

3000.jpg?w=460&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=5948fc40a7f3aabababb899919310a79

The preseason signing of Tim Cahill dominated the footballing agenda, and by the end of November the club had secured its first piece of silverware and turned in a derby victory featuring football as glorious as the competition has ever witnessed.

But from that FFA Cup final triumph it has been a slow but inexorable decline. Just six wins in 20 games tells its own story, but even those damning numbers hide constipated play and an uncertainty in tactics and selection. Sunday’s disaster was not an aberration, it was a microcosm of the slump.

The way City failed to track Glory’s runners for the two first-half goals was bewildering for a team supposedly readjusted to absorb counterattacks, including an extra defensively-minded midfielder for just that purpose. Diego Castro and Joel Chianese each delivered moments of poise to take advantage of City’s lethargy, the industry of Perth’s wide men in stark contrast to Melbourne’s mannequins.

Defensive instability has long been singled out as City’s Achilles heel but their season has also become bogged down by ponderous ineffective possession. Plan A – the one executed to perfection in round two – with the high press and punchy combinations has been absent for months. In its place has been a tortured passing game that but for one thumping of the wooden spooners has been all fart and no poo. It took 81 minutes at home to a team with the joint-worst defensive record in the competition to fashion a chance you expected to see finished.

The culprits are numerous. Nicolás Colazo has failed to live up to his marquee billing and was a passenger before he was substituted on Sunday; Bruno Fornaroli has been a shadow of the irrepressible player of last season; Bruce Kamau’s decision making continues to frustrate. Cahill has scored his fair share of goals but he is accommodated as a No10 and the lack of a playmaker to lubricate City’s attacks has been exposed often.

The City Football Group’s Brian Marwood endured the misery from the stands alongside former England manager and now coaching advisor Roy Hodgson. He has some decisions to make over the lengthy offseason, figuring out how to convert his franchise’s massive advantages into on-field success.

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1 hour ago, HEARTinator said:

Extract from article in The Guardian. My emphasis re Bold and Underline.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/24/melbourne-citys-desperately-timid-ending-is-a-microcosm-of-their-slump

Melbourne City's desperately timid ending is a microcosm of their slump

Jonathan Howcroft

Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar progressed from contrasting elimination finals to move within one game of the A-League championship decider, but it was Melbourne City’s abject capitulation against the former that grew into the story of the weekend. Uncertain in possession, apathetic without the ball, the home side looked overawed by the occasion at AAMI Park. It was a desperately timid end to a campaign that could hardly have begun with greater fanfare.

3000.jpg?w=460&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=5948fc40a7f3aabababb899919310a79

The preseason signing of Tim Cahill dominated the footballing agenda, and by the end of November the club had secured its first piece of silverware and turned in a derby victory featuring football as glorious as the competition has ever witnessed.

But from that FFA Cup final triumph it has been a slow but inexorable decline. Just six wins in 20 games tells its own story, but even those damning numbers hide constipated play and an uncertainty in tactics and selection. Sunday’s disaster was not an aberration, it was a microcosm of the slump.

The way City failed to track Glory’s runners for the two first-half goals was bewildering for a team supposedly readjusted to absorb counterattacks, including an extra defensively-minded midfielder for just that purpose. Diego Castro and Joel Chianese each delivered moments of poise to take advantage of City’s lethargy, the industry of Perth’s wide men in stark contrast to Melbourne’s mannequins.

Defensive instability has long been singled out as City’s Achilles heel but their season has also become bogged down by ponderous ineffective possession. Plan A – the one executed to perfection in round two – with the high press and punchy combinations has been absent for months. In its place has been a tortured passing game that but for one thumping of the wooden spooners has been all fart and no poo. It took 81 minutes at home to a team with the joint-worst defensive record in the competition to fashion a chance you expected to see finished.

The culprits are numerous. Nicolás Colazo has failed to live up to his marquee billing and was a passenger before he was substituted on Sunday; Bruno Fornaroli has been a shadow of the irrepressible player of last season; Bruce Kamau’s decision making continues to frustrate. Cahill has scored his fair share of goals but he is accommodated as a No10 and the lack of a playmaker to lubricate City’s attacks has been exposed often.

The City Football Group’s Brian Marwood endured the misery from the stands alongside former England manager and now coaching advisor Roy Hodgson. He has some decisions to make over the lengthy offseason, figuring out how to convert his franchise’s massive advantages into on-field success.

Have to agree with almost every dot and comma of that.  It's put into words a lot of what many of us have tried to articulate.  The game I enjoyed most this season was perversely the match against Brisbane when we had to play the kids. Then we saw passion, determination and commitment which seems to have been lacking for much of the rest of the season.

What we need now is for CFG to work out what to do next (and you have to hope that much of this is actually worked out), and then communicate to us clearly a. That this season failed to live up to expectations,  that they recognise that, and express some degree of apology to the fans b. That they know what went wrong, and what needs to be done, and here is what we're going to do and c. Then get on and implement the plan.  

I can live with something that isn't a quick fix by chucking money about. If it's about building strength through having a brilliant youth development policy and excellent community engagement, that'll be fine with me.  I don't need big names, I just want to feel that we're getting somewhere, that the players who run onto the pitch really want to be there, and can play as a team.

But there is one hell of a repair job to do.  Last night was a fitting end to a horrible season, because it showed up very clearly all our problems.  Now we need to know how the hell we move on from here.

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Fark that was horrid. Mass clean out.

But farken hell its more embarrassing the amount of people who come on here bragging about not watching the game or not attending the game like it's some sort of badge of an honour. 

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1 hour ago, fensaddler said:

The game I enjoyed most this season was perversely the match against Brisbane when we had to play the kids. Then we saw passion, determination and commitment which seems to have been lacking for much of the rest of the season.

Cannot agree more. The only thing a should add is that we also had a different game plan against Brisbane, not a usual sideways and backwards possession crap.

 

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TBH I am happy with the result because of one reason, that Marwood and Hodgeson were in the stands to witness the train wreck of a club we are on and off the field.

The last thing we needed was an honourable and competitive loss so not to set off the CFG alarm bells.

Nothing is better than seeing this football abomination in the flesh.

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Probably the worst, most spineless performance I’ve seen from this side, certainly in the City era. From the outset the players looked nervous af, and the lack of willingness to show any degree of cunt by anyone was sticking out like a sore thumb. I’m someone that always looks for the positives but there were pretty much none last night. Valkanis is done and dusted, thanks for trying but not up to it even slightly.

For a season that promised so much and delivered so little it is bitterly disappointing and heads have to roll. I maintain we have the best squad in the comp so that output is utterly atrocious. Since the Cup final its been an absolute disaster.

Anyways, here’s to the offseason.

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How many changes did Valkanis make in the starting eleven. Tongyik, Brattan out, Malik in mid. 3 changes going into a prelim final. What a fucking goose. Again, three outstanding players are out on the bench. Valkanis is a dumb cunt, how the fuck can you justify these changes. And then how can you justify not starting our best players. Even in the post match interviews Perth saw the changes and it gave them a boost. Maschistic cunts or dumb cunts. That's the only explanations for the absolute brain fart decisions made by management. Tongyik messed up the first goal but can you really blame him when he's had no game time then expected to have the right level of match fitness to compete with players playing week in week out. Kamau is a drop kick. Bruno gave him a huge spray at the start for not putting the ball in earlier. 

All in all totally detactched from the game. Was able to sit there and not be upset the whole time. This club has ruined my enjoyment of the game. Get fucked. 

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Lowe shocked by City formation change

Clement Tito
http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/lowe-shocked-by-city-formation-change-459354

Glory were dubbed predictable by City coach Michael Valkanis on Saturday but the visitors were able to carry out their counter-attacking threat with the game sealed at the half hour mark.

Lowe said he felt confident when he saw City’s starting XI leave Luke Brattan on the bench before he came on for Ruon Tongyik at half-time.

“I was glad to see Brattan not there and (Osama) Malik there, no disrespect to Malik but Brattan gets on the ball, he causes problems, got craft and guile so that was an interesting situation,” Lowe said.

“Therefore, Timmy (Cahill) is not a natural midfielder and he’s finding himself in that situation quite a lot, so really you’ve only got to take care of (Neil) Kilkenny from a creative perspective to a certain extent because we executed.

 “The crazy thing is they changed their shape which was a massive compliment to us to counter our strength which is counter-attack, but we got two counter-goals.

“At the end of the day, if you’ve got quality – whether it’s a delivery from a corner, free kick or through ball, it’s very difficult to counter that and that’s what we’ve got.”

Glory will now face Sydney FC on Saturday and Lowe said they could be camping in Melbourne as they anticipated a clash with Victory in the semi-final.

The Englishman joked about smashing beers before the semi, but made his message loud and clear – all credit goes to his men.

“I think it shows how good we were, it wasn’t how poor they were,” he said. “For them not to have a shot… it wasn’t because they weren’t trying or anything like that, it was because of our quality defensively.

“We didn’t allow them to turn up, they’re getting on the ball, looking for a pass, there wasn’t a pass and they were playing sharing balls.

“They had a lot of long balls that didn’t quite get there. They didn’t have that crafting guile that they’d normally have in the middle of the park.

“We’re decent, if you look at the form, the last 10 games going into this one, we’ve lost two and that was against Victory and Sydney. We’ve played Brisbane Roar, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Adelaide United. We’ve done really well.”

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16 minutes ago, haz said:

Lowe shocked by City formation change

Clement Tito
http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/lowe-shocked-by-city-formation-change-459354

Glory were dubbed predictable by City coach Michael Valkanis on Saturday but the visitors were able to carry out their counter-attacking threat with the game sealed at the half hour mark.

Lowe said he felt confident when he saw City’s starting XI leave Luke Brattan on the bench before he came on for Ruon Tongyik at half-time.

“I was glad to see Brattan not there and (Osama) Malik there, no disrespect to Malik but Brattan gets on the ball, he causes problems, got craft and guile so that was an interesting situation,” Lowe said.

“Therefore, Timmy (Cahill) is not a natural midfielder and he’s finding himself in that situation quite a lot, so really you’ve only got to take care of (Neil) Kilkenny from a creative perspective to a certain extent because we executed.

 “The crazy thing is they changed their shape which was a massive compliment to us to counter our strength which is counter-attack, but we got two counter-goals.

“At the end of the day, if you’ve got quality – whether it’s a delivery from a corner, free kick or through ball, it’s very difficult to counter that and that’s what we’ve got.”

Glory will now face Sydney FC on Saturday and Lowe said they could be camping in Melbourne as they anticipated a clash with Victory in the semi-final.

The Englishman joked about smashing beers before the semi, but made his message loud and clear – all credit goes to his men.

“I think it shows how good we were, it wasn’t how poor they were,” he said. “For them not to have a shot… it wasn’t because they weren’t trying or anything like that, it was because of our quality defensively.

“We didn’t allow them to turn up, they’re getting on the ball, looking for a pass, there wasn’t a pass and they were playing sharing balls.

“They had a lot of long balls that didn’t quite get there. They didn’t have that crafting guile that they’d normally have in the middle of the park.

“We’re decent, if you look at the form, the last 10 games going into this one, we’ve lost two and that was against Victory and Sydney. We’ve played Brisbane Roar, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Adelaide United. We’ve done really well.”

Kenny Lowe is a better City coach than our actual coach. 

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5 hours ago, LB said:

Fark that was horrid. Mass clean out.

But farken hell its more embarrassing the amount of people who come on here bragging about not watching the game or not attending the game like it's some sort of badge of an honour. 

I certainly don't see not going as a badge of honour but the time slot for country fans with young kids was horrible and the cost not insignificant. 

But let's be honest - I've missed a few games over the last couple of months and tbh if the team can't be fucked putting in a good performance and having a crack, then my enthusiasm has plummeted. Driving 100 km each way to watch a pack of guys who largely just didn't give a shit just wore myself and my kids down.  Like many on here it's just become too hard to get fired up about this team, and with kids sport and school ramping up next year, we're already talking about whether we can be bothered to renew. It just sucks that it's come to this - and I can't even be angry at the performance last night. 

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I'm mates with Michael Petrillo's nephew who does keeper sessions with Bouzanis. Told me today Bouzanis abused a fan after the match in front of the the man's son and Bouzanis is a dead man walking. He agreed Bouzanis is an egotistical shitcunt and deserves the send. Let's bring in a quality keeper who has full command of the area and a huge and confident presence on the field.

 

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3 minutes ago, MattN said:

I'm mates with Michael Petrillo's nephew who does keeper sessions with Bouzanis. Told me today Bouzanis abused a fan after the match in front of the the man's son and Bouzanis is a dead man walking. He agreed Bouzanis is an egotistical shitcunt and deserves the send. Let's bring in a quality keeper who has full command of the area and a huge and confident presence on the field.

 

Oh dear. It wasn't Berisha's son by any chance?

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1 hour ago, Defibrillator said:

I certainly don't see not going as a badge of honour but the time slot for country fans with young kids was horrible and the cost not insignificant. 

But let's be honest - I've missed a few games over the last couple of months and tbh if the team can't be fucked putting in a good performance and having a crack, then my enthusiasm has plummeted. Driving 100 km each way to watch a pack of guys who largely just didn't give a shit just wore myself and my kids down.  Like many on here it's just become too hard to get fired up about this team, and with kids sport and school ramping up next year, we're already talking about whether we can be bothered to renew. It just sucks that it's come to this - and I can't even be angry at the performance last night. 

I do! Well maybe not a badge of honour. More like a gold star. A reward for making a smart choice.

My wife suggested i go but i decided to stay home and watch wreck it Ralph with my daughters and nieces. We had such a fun night. The movie finished and i flicked over to fox sport just as half time started. I saw the score and realised how much time i have wasted on this retarded club that i will never get back. Very happy with the decision i made

Edited by KSK_47
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24 minutes ago, MattN said:

I'm mates with Michael Petrillo's nephew who does keeper sessions with Bouzanis. Told me today Bouzanis abused a fan after the match in front of the the man's son and Bouzanis is a dead man walking. He agreed Bouzanis is an egotistical shitcunt and deserves the send. Let's bring in a quality keeper who has full command of the area and a huge and confident presence on the field.

 

Saw it mentioned on F'book briefly last night, before it was removed. Sounds like there is something in it.

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Hi All,

First post on this forum.

As a MVFC supporter I don't care too much about the result. And I am not going to bang on about last nights performance. I would have preferred to see City go to Sydney next week though.

What does concern me is the low attendance. I have been to a few City home games and was tossing up whether to go to this one. Had it been at 5pm we probably would have gone. But I don't think you can blame the low attendance on the starting time.

It would have been nice for football in general if there was a decent crowd of about 15k. I don't know why the crowd figures are not getting better. I am sure this will be analysed by people who are more capable of this sort of thing than I am.

 

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9 minutes ago, JohnV said:

Hi All,

First post on this forum.

As a MVFC supporter I don't care too much about the result. And I am not going to bang on about last nights performance. I would have preferred to see City go to Sydney next week though.

What does concern me is the low attendance. I have been to a few City home games and was tossing up whether to go to this one. Had it been at 5pm we probably would have gone. But I don't think you can blame the low attendance on the starting time.

It would have been nice for football in general if there was a decent crowd of about 15k. I don't know why the crowd figures are not getting better. I am sure this will be analysed by people who are more capable of this sort of thing than I am.

 

Fuck outta here boi. You're in the wrong hood

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13 minutes ago, JohnV said:

Hi All,

First post on this forum.

As a MVFC supporter I don't care too much about the result. And I am not going to bang on about last nights performance. I would have preferred to see City go to Sydney next week though.

What does concern me is the low attendance. I have been to a few City home games and was tossing up whether to go to this one. Had it been at 5pm we probably would have gone. But I don't think you can blame the low attendance on the starting time.

It would have been nice for football in general if there was a decent crowd of about 15k. I don't know why the crowd figures are not getting better. I am sure this will be analysed by people who are more capable of this sort of thing than I am.

 

You remember the Magilton and Darukovic days when you guys got 7.5k to a game at one stage? Same thing here mate. Play shit football CONSISTENTLY your numbers will drop dramatically.

Edited by Tony999
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