History for Mainland FC

Tegal, I do not think JV and you are necessarily at odds here. Yes these factors do matter, but they do not really seem to make a difference for our play against teams that beat us at home as well as away. Perth is a case in point.

As I said earlier, the issue here is "why does Phoenix have historically poor record on the road".  And the answer for the Phoenix is simply the mental factor, after all other issues and problems (tactics, team changes, injuries, AW selection) are taken into account. 

Good teams win regularly on the road and at home against teams below them in the pecking order. Perversely, If we regularly lose both the away games to Victory, Adelaide, Sydney and (some seasons) WSW and Brisbane and also at home, I'll stop complaining. That simply means they're good, and we're not. But at the moment, we can beat some of them (well, not Adelaide or Victory or Perth it seems, this season) at home, but not away.  As others pointed out, it is a league with a salary cap, so it should not be that regular (or TAB would cut the odds).

As a result, I am sometimes getting sick and tired of our discussions here picking apart the minute details of positioning, individual performances, and who we should recruit. This is just so much of a wank-fest if the team regularly produces a Jekyll and Hyde like performance against the same opposition team here and away.  This is not the case necessarily confirmed yet this season, as we have only played Perth both home and away. We lost both games - so maybe they're the much-improved-team this season after all. They never won away against CCM either before.

If we keep winning most of the games at home but keep losing most games away, my point would be confirmed. I hope I am proven wrong: we already won on the road against CCM, we should also win against the Jets away.  We may win against Melbourne City both here and away, on their current form.  If WSW and Brisbane start improving we may not be so lucky against them away but on the present form they could be still beatable even away (ie in Australia). If however I am proven right (if we win at home but lose away) then it is just about the mental edge I mentioned. The mental edge must be there as a necessary condition to win away from home against a team playing equally well, or maybe just a little below our performance. It is about not conceding in the first minute. It is about not conceding in the last minute, either.  

Without that mental edge we can win away games only against teams that really turn in a shocker performance as a one-off, or are having a bad season like Brisbane seems to be right now.

At the end of the day the mental edge is about the role of a team leader to model it and bring it out in younger players. Maybe we need more than one team leader, as some teams seem to do and benefit from it (and older tougher guy, and a younger inspirational star). 

This is not something Ernie can easily fix himsel, but it is fixable with modern sports psychology and with careful team management.

Tegal, I do not think JV and you are necessarily at odds here. Yes these factors do matter, but they do not really seem to make a difference for our play against teams that beat us at home as well as away. Perth is a case in point.

As I said earlier, the issue here is "why does Phoenix have historically poor record on the road".  And the answer for the Phoenix is simply the mental factor, after all other issues and problems (tactics, team changes, injuries, AW selection) are taken into account. 

Good teams win regularly on the road and at home against teams below them in the pecking order. Perversely, If we regularly lose both the away games to Victory, Adelaide, Sydney and (some seasons) WSW and Brisbane and also at home, I'll stop complaining. That simply means they're good, and we're not. But at the moment, we can beat some of them (well, not Adelaide or Victory or Perth it seems, this season) at home, but not away.  As others pointed out, it is a league with a salary cap, so it should not be that regular (or TAB would cut the odds).

As a result, I am sometimes getting sick and tired of our discussions here picking apart the minute details of positioning, individual performances, and who we should recruit. This is just so much of a wank-fest if the team regularly produces a Jekyll and Hyde like performance against the same opposition team here and away.  This is not the case necessarily confirmed yet this season, as we have only played Perth both home and away. We lost both games - so maybe they're the much-improved-team this season after all. They never won away against CCM either before.

If we keep winning most of the games at home but keep losing most games away, my point would be confirmed. I hope I am proven wrong: we already won on the road against CCM, we should also win against the Jets away.  We may win against Melbourne City both here and away, on their current form.  If WSW and Brisbane start improving we may not be so lucky against them away but on the present form they could be still beatable even away (ie in Australia). 

If however I am proven right (if we win at home but lose away) then it is just about the mental edge I mentioned. The mental edge must be there as a necessary condition to win away from home against a team playing equally well, or maybe just a little below our performance. Without that mental edge we can win away games only against teams that really turn in a shocker performance as a one-off, or are having a bad season like Brisbane seems right now.

At the end of the day the mental edge is about the role of a team leader to model it and bring it out in younger players. Maybe we need more than one team leader, as some teams seem to do and benefit from it (and older tougher guy, and a younger inspirational star). 

This is not something Ernie can easily fix himsel, but it is fixable with modern sports psychology and with careful team management.

Tegal, I do not think JV and you are necessarily at odds here. Yes these factors do matter, but they do not really seem to make a difference for our play against teams that beat us at home as well as away. Perth is a case in point.

As I said earlier, the issue here is "why does Phoenix have historically poor record on the road".  And the answer for the Phoenix is simply the mental factor, after all other issues and problems (tactics, team changes, injuries, AW selection) are taken into account. 

Good teams win regularly on the road and at home against teams below them in the pecking order. Perversely, If we regularly lose both the away games to Victory, Adelaide, Sydney and (some seasons) WSW and Brisbane and also at home, I'll stop complaining. That simply means they're good, and we're not. But at the moment, we can beat some of them (well, not Adelaide or Victory or Perth it seems, this season) at home, but not away.  As others pointed out, it is a league with a salary cap, so it should not be that regular (or TAB would cut the odds).

As a result, I am sometimes getting sick and tired of our discussions here picking apart the minute details of positioning, individual performances, and who we should recruit. This is just so much of a wank-fest if the team regularly produces a Jekyll and Hyde like performance against the same opposition team here and away.  This is not the case necessarily confirmed yet this season, as we have only played Perth both home and away. We lost both games - so maybe they're the much-improved-team this season after all. They never won away against CCM either before.

If we keep winning most of the games at home but keep losing most games away, my point would be confirmed. I hope I am proven wrong: we already won on the road against CCM, we should also win against the Jets away.  We may win against Melbourne City both here and away, on their current form.  If WSW and Brisbane start improving we may not be so lucky against them away but on the present form they could be still beatable even away (ie in Australia). 

If however I am proven right (if we win at home but lose away) then it is just about the mental edge I mentioned. The mental edge must be there as a necessary condition to win away from home against a team playing equally well, or maybe just a little below our performance. Without that mental edge we can win away games only against teams that really turn in a shocker performance as a one-off, or are having a bad season like Brisbane seems right now.

At the end of the day the mental edge is about the role of a team leader to model it and bring it out in younger players. Maybe we need more than one team leader, as some teams seem to do and benefit from it (and older tougher guy, and a younger inspirational star). 

This is not something Ernie can easily fix himsel, but it is fixable with modern sports psychology and with careful team management.

Tegal, I do not think JV and you are necessarily at odds here. Yes these factors do matter, but they do not really seem to make a difference for our play against teams that beat us then at home as well as away.

As I said earlier, the issue here is "why does Phoenix have historically poor record on the road".  And the answer I have for the Phoenix is simply the mental factor, after all other issues are taken into account. 

Good teams win on the road and at home. If we regularly lose both the away games to Victory, Adelaide, Sydney and (some seasons) WSW and Brisbane and also at home, I'll stop complaining. But at the moment, we can beat some of them (well, not Adelaide or Victory or Perth it seems, this season) at home but not away.  

As a result, I am sometimes getting sick and tired of picking minute details of positioning, individual performances, and who we should recruit, if we produce a Jekyll and Hyde like performance against the same team here and away.  This is not the case necessarily confirmed yet this season, as we have only played Perth both home and away, and we lost - so maybe they're the much-improved-team after all.

Once we start winning most of the games at home again but keep losing most games away, my point would be clear as a bell. I hope I am proven wrong - we won on the road against CCM, we should win against the Jets away.  If WSW and Brisbane start improving we may not be so lucky against them away but on the present form they should be still beatable away (ie in Australia). The mental edge I mentioned (and JV seemed to agree) should be there to win away from home against a team playing equally well, or maybe just a little less good then we do. Without that mental edge we can still win away, but only against teams that really turn in a shocker performance.

At the end of the day it is about the role of a team leader, or maybe having more than one team leader. 

This is not something Ernie can easily fix, but it is fixable with modern sports psychology and with careful team management.