Luka Vicelich, son of All Whites legend Ivan Vicelich, on the bench and a chance at an Auckland FC debut in the Australia Cup tonight. pic.twitter.com/2qFcIvospG
Without trying to curse them, they’re a bloody professional outfit.. just rock up to a hostile venue, against a team with history and a big reputation but never seem fazed by it, credit to them
By halftime, a couple of players have done enough to expect their marching orders with a second yellow if they carry on like this. Despite South Melbourne playing their usual "nuggety" direct and sometimes aggressive attacking style, A-FC show better overall vision and composure. De Vries has been excellent so far and May is putting in his usual tireless shift. Hall has been excellent too. For SMH, Lampard (3) has been absolutely everywhere on the pitch.
They look strong already AFC. Like a well oiled machine they just choke sides out of the match. Another reason not to like them is their cynicism. SM were quite lively early but just about every time they got going an AFC player would foul, often quite late. The yellow cards flowed and the match got quite heated. At one point Gallegos and an SM player came together. The SM player offered his hand but Gallegos just turned his back....serious dickhead.IMO
They look strong already AFC. Like a well oiled machine they just choke sides out of the match. Another reason not to like them is their cynicism. SM were quite lively early but just about every time they got going an AFC player would foul, often quite late. The yellow cards flowed and the match got quite heated. At one point Gallegos and an SM player came together. The SM player offered his hand but Gallegos just turned his back....serious dickhead.IMO
I was thinking about it - it might have been a long-standing Chilean-Argentinean animosity there, going all the way back to decades ago. But I agree it was not cool of Gallegos. The SM player (Banala? an Argentinean) was again all polite and proper with Guillermo May, when he clashed into him - all apologetic smiles and a pat on the back. But May is Uruguayan and accepted the apology with a nod.
Hurts to see him play for this bunch. It’s like an anointing of them as the successors to previous Auckland football. And though Ivan spent a long time at City, he bloody well comes from the west.
I really want him to do well, but I want this team to get checked by someone some time soon. Brook, Gillion, Brimmer and Vicelich as subs. Not much let up there. Rogerson not featuring as much as he did last outing this off season.
They look strong already AFC. Like a well oiled machine they just choke sides out of the match. Another reason not to like them is their cynicism. SM were quite lively early but just about every time they got going an AFC player would foul, often quite late. The yellow cards flowed and the match got quite heated. At one point Gallegos and an SM player came together. The SM player offered his hand but Gallegos just turned his back....serious dickhead.IMO
Not flashy, but nearly every time a SM player got the ball in midfield, 2-3 AFC players quickly surrounded him giving zero time & space. Choking other teams is yes what they do.
Could have easily won by more, May and Randall were quite wasteful. Early season rust. Then they bring on Brimmer and Brook. The latter looked serious quality in his cameo. He'll quickly become a starter ahead of Francois and maybe Randall I'd say.
Arguably this was a weak version of AFC. Verstraeten and Pijnaker missing, François starting, and an out-of-favour Brimmer again on the bench, along with some green reserve team players Of the new players, IMO Middleton looked good. Made a couple of errors but sharp and skilful with good control, technique, judgement and passing. Vicelich was mixed. Started with three unforced errors, tamely heading the ball out, passing to an opponent, and missing a header altogether. After that he looked pretty solid and nearly scored. Big, strong and aggressive, and hustles well. Not bad for 17! François again made too many poor touches, losing possession. Interesting that Rogerson switched to LW when Brook came on. Typical crushing performance by AFC. Too fast, too strong, but some nice skills too.
They look strong already AFC. Like a well oiled machine they just choke sides out of the match. Another reason not to like them is their cynicism. SM were quite lively early but just about every time they got going an AFC player would foul, often quite late. The yellow cards flowed and the match got quite heated. At one point Gallegos and an SM player came together. The SM player offered his hand but Gallegos just turned his back....serious dickhead.IMO
afc committed the most fouls per game last season, 50% more than us, and the most successfull tackles per game. Refs have been instructed to not be overly officious recently, so definitely the way to go is to press and tackle, irrespective if you foul or not or committ a foul if beaten.
It was interesting to watch the AFC vs South Melbourne match. They have a nice stadium and to get nearly 4000 fans in on a cold night midweek was great. I know there are 1001 reasons why the old NSL clubs dont get invited into the A League but more involvement like Australian Cup would be good for the game. I recently read a suggestion that when the A League playoffs are on the bottom four AL sides could play knock out tournament against the top eight from each of the Victoria, NSW and QSL leagues. Now thats a tournament the Nix could win LOL
