R14 v Melbourne City | Sat 6th Jan | 9.50pm | SS3

Something was not right with Krishna all night. Looked really unhappy the whole game.

We've got more immediate concerns.

The heat playing tricks with the frost top?

I'm not sure what is more disappointing at the moment, the shark results or the style which we've reverted to playing?

This is the first year I've followed the Nix closely. I remember in October 2017 (it feels like a lifetime ago) sitting on the couch at the in-laws in Wellington watching us take on Sydney FC. Sure we lost 3-2 but we played some beautiful, possession based football. Kaluderovic and Vidosic scored two nice goals and we gave Sydney a genuine contest. 

Fast track to January 2018. We're parking five defenders in the box and letting the opposition control possession and ultimately the game. We're relying on the counter-attack and lobbing the ball forward in the hope that one of our forwards can work a miraculous goal (like Roy's yesterday). It's shark to watch and it hasn't improved our results. 

If we keep playing this style of defensive football, it won't matter who we bring in. We need to change the mindset and actually start playing to our strengths. Give Krishna, Burns, Kaluderovic, McGlinchey and Paracki the license to push forward and have a go. I'd rather we lose playing some possession based, attacking football than watching the shark I sat through yesterday. I'm also concerned that if we continue to play like this attacking players like Kaluderovic and Krishna might start looking at other options.

Thankfully I am back in Iraq so don't have to go to watch more of this shark at Westpac on Wednesday night. I have serious concerns about Darje's approach. It's just not working and I don't see that he's prepared to change. Perhaps Rado was the one pushing the possession based style we rolled out at the start of the year?

I also miss Kegan Smith. He provided some genuine entertainment :). 

Rant over.

Pocession based football requires players who are technically good, confident and in form. We have nobody who ticks all three of these boxes.

I have no problem with his tactics away from home, we need points badly. I don’t think the club have given up on the chance of playing in the semi finals yet.

Sit back and try to hit in the break away from home is the best we can do with the players we have in the form they are in.

If we see more of the same at home however, I will be disappointed 

The possession based football we played for the first few games was quickly sorted out by our opponents, simply because we didn't have players technically good enough across the park to keep playing that way.

It also exposed our lack of defensive quality, which is why Darje is setting up with 5 defenders for now. He's secured Burns and Ljujic, but surely will be bring in some new defenders as part of the rebuild. 

Agree that Krishna's body language wasn't great last weekend, but having to score 3 or 4 goals every game to get a result is not great either.

I also don't think the club has given up on finals football this season, but regardless am just happy that the quality, or search for quality benchmark, has been raised.        

I stayed up to watch it on the weekend - pretty bleak all in all. Shame we couldn't come home with at least a point. Melbourne were the better side and dominated possession but I personally have nothing against ultra defensive mindsets (I'm Italian after all).

I actually find the whole counter attack game plan quite exciting as it makes for a lot of 1v1s and exciting situations each time you're team is on the attack.

I also think, given our current run of form, on and off the field issues and general inability to get results, that this is the right way to play for us at the moment.

If and when start getting some confidence (and points!) back, then we can look at switching, but I don't believe we have the players to execute Kalezic's ideal game plan right now.

Also, had AK scored with that header, instead of hitting the bar, we could all be celebrating today.

I am with NZPower on this - while the first half was pretty bleak to watch I can understand what Darije was trying to do.  This was however predicated on a low-speed game because of heat and our defensive formation forcing the opposition to do most of the work in the field and with us relying just on AK and Roy to threaten on the counter.  We might have won the game, deservedly or not, had this setup continued.  This was undone by Melbourne City bringing on one young fast player (Arani), very much like Singh I would say, who made all the difference to the speed of Citeh attack which we could not counter.

While it is easy to criticise Daije on his defensive tactics, I actually disagree with his critics. I still maintain Ernie Merrick is a good coach, and Darije seems a decent coach too. What each of them can/could achieve with limited resources, human and financial ones, is borne out on the pitch.  At this point we just do not have enough players who are good enough at this level, and this has seemingly got worse with time while we scramble around for answers. Even the good players (Rossi, Krishna, AK) can make mistakes on the night, but the not-so-good ones around them won't be able to fix the problem or provide an alternative.

When were we playing consistently well last time?  Was it when Burns was here?  Take out Burns from the equation and let me know when was it last time we played well without the old Burns. 

Yes, the young Mariner did make a difference to them but really those 2 goals shouldn't have been scored. Marginally better defending would of prevented them and just maybe a lesser experienced striker wouldn't have been so clinical with his finish.

For the second goal, where McCormack was unmarked at the back post, even blind Freddy could not miss it.

does being a defence minded team work when you need to be getting three points every game? Draws are not enough 

Good point Greenie.

Flip the question on its head - does bringing a possession/attack/high pressing game mentality give you a chance of winning when you don't have the right players?

I'd rather see an attacking team of course, I just think Kalezic is trying is best to get the most out of his players and maximize our chances of winning games.

And I'd like to see more of this - again if AK had scored that second goal, we probably would have cruised to victory on the weekend.

So far, we've had 13 games with an attacking game plan - I wonder how things will go in the next 12 (not counting Saturday) if we stick to our guns? 

Plus it'll be stick to our guns ++, with a couple of extra signings.  Especially if one of those really helps the defence.

We're in a hole, but the potential's there to turn it around and still make something of this season.  Especially if Welnix are giving Darije the backing he needs.  

We've always looked like we were operating on an overly optimistic financial model regarding our player spend - not by much but enough to be a problem.  Maybe absent one good impact player or having one performance killing weak area every year - especially with injuries.  And maybe no-one has been prepared to tell Welnix that something more is required. 

Seems to me Ernie promised Welnix miracles and ultimately couldn't deliver on the budget.  If that's changed and some reality has sunk in, then we may have turned a corner.  And Welnix may also see a return with better results and crowds if they put some more in.  It can't look good for them otherwise.

I've got no reason to suggest that, other than we've never talked about ditching players and strengthening with 2 or 3 players in the January window before.  And financial guys are conservative and financially tight till they realise they've strangled the operating model and are risking the whole investment.  We'll see.  Desperate times bring ... change, and darkest before the dawn and all that.

Every other year I've felt we have been kidding ourself we had enough to turn it around.  Only Ifill and Burns(I) gave us the little more we needed.  This time feels different. We'll see if that's the case with the quality of the signings.