R4 vs Melbourne Victory | Monday 3rd Nov | 9:30pm

Roly on Friday...

That's actually the key to the game right there. Ernie highlighted before the game we needed to take more care in midfield not to get away and its still our biggest problem. 

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Team selection needs to come into question.  Why did they bring in Lia.  we had enough central midfielders.  We won 4-1 last week why change a winning formula?  Also why are we not playing Boxall at right back like last season.  he did well there last season.  In desperate need of a proper striker as well.  All our strikers are to small to play the lone striker role.  Brockie the only reasonably tall on and we all know what hes like.  We shouldve kept stein instead of krishna in my opinion.  Also needa start playing Kenny, he scored some good goals last season.

Thread locking.  

Harsh.

You think he played like by chance. Ernie would have hold him to get forward. If he hadn't then that would be one less in the attacking third, and we would have been even less dangerous up there. Very really do you need your 4 defenders to stay. Particularly if you've got one or two holding midfielders.

Problem was we weren't retaining possession for long enough periods. When that happens, a fullback can often get caught forward by no fault of their own.

Yep the 78% pass completion was the cause of a lot of our problems.

Interesting that McGlinchey spent loads of time stationed very wide on the left but barely touched the ball out there, we really couldn't get him in the game out wide.

We push Fenton forward a lot, but he's not giving us an awful lot just now

It's always a bit of cat and mouse with fullbacks getting forward;  if the opposition winger doesn't track them they can be free and cause trouble but then do leave themselves exposed to the counter.  If the opposition winger does track them and are forced deeper then they don't pose as much of an attacking threat.

I see someone posted a passing percentage would be interesting to find out how many of those completed passes were when yet again we reverted to takeing the ball to halfway then knock it around the backline put it back to Moss who lumps it back to the opposition.Yes things are on the improve but we still at times revert back to that aimless passing around at the back.

Fenton and Lia are level in that heatmap which is really what you kind of expect with a midfield diamond. Lia and Fenton shared defensive duties down that side and Fenton was the man getting forward trying to create width. 

And anyhow, the ripping came down the other side with Kosta managing to isolate Manny one on one and deal to him numerous times. Perhaps thats why Rodriguez was yanked and the formation changed at HT? 

Not sure what game you were watching but when we lost the ball it wasn't from Moss lumps after passing between CBs. I actually thought Roly did rather well winning the goal kicks - Moss tried to hit him every time so he must have a reputation for that despite not being the tallest. 

It was quite clear, especially in the first half, that we were trying to play out from the back in tight areas all the time. With all those midfielders on the pitch we obviously backed ourselves to do that. We didn't usually lose it in our box but we never seemed to get it over halfway, and therein lay the problem for me.

I was there.

I haven't read 600 odd posts in this thread. But here's what I saw and felt at the game.

First Half:

We came out and we were positive.

In the first 22 minutes the foul count was 4 or 5 to 1 in our favour. It MUST have been very close to tipping point where the ref was going to lose patience, and a pile of yellows might flow against the Victory. Almost ALL of these fouls were in the midfield. I've glanced at the thread and it seems like the angst-o-meter has seen us obsess on Manny's yellow. Truth be told, from where I was watching Manny actually played pretty well. What we should be focusing on is the avalanche of yellows that the Victory gave away early in the midfield.

Why was that? Because we were all over them like a bad suit. Alex Rodriguez in particular was playing like a man possessed when they had the ball. He would come sprinting in from 20 or 30 metres away and close the Victory down on their right/our left flank.

Riera, Liaand Roly were playing superbly, individually and together as a hub, and Fenton, Manny, Wee Mac and Burns were all feeding off Roly and Lia. We looked very threatening going forward, and at the back we had the occasional blip - mostly when Siggy was exposed for pace, but all in all they had really threatened that much before the first goal. For the record I think Fenton played superbly well.

The first goal really came against the run of play. The people around me in the away bay just felt shocked and deflated that we'd conceded after being so much in charge up to that point.

After the goal, again MOSTLY we were the team looking likely. They were threatening for sure on the break, where their pace (particularly Kosta) was a threat, but in measured build up we were more than holding our own.

I felt sure Burns was going to level it, but alas. We went in at half time and I felt really cheated to be 1 - 0 down.

Oh, and the Victory fans were F***ING Awesome in the first half. What an atmosphere!

Second Half:

I was shocked to see A Rod hooked, but when I worked out that Eddie had brought Brockie on I shrugged and thought, okay I can see what he is doing, and someone had to make room to put a point man in.

However, the second half just saw us gradually overwhelmed. Wee Mac in particular was almost totally non-existent in the second half. The midfield dominance first of all evaporated (Maybe not having A Rod on was a big factor?) and then it was reversed. We were no longer winning a lot of fouls - I think because we were not frustrating the Victory midfield - in the first half we were pressuring and rushing them and they were giving the ball away, and then coming back and committing fouls. The pressing disappeared, they were no longer as rushed, they kept the ball more, and didn't retaliate, and the foul count dropped.

The second goal was awful. It completely killed our morale.

The highlight of the second half was the Victory crowd. They were awesome in the first half and went stratospheric in the second half. The North Terrace were ON FIRE. It was worth going just to see them.

I left the ground and had a good chat with a couple of Victory fans on the walk back to South Yarra. It was a disappointing result but a good night.

One day Roger Fitch, one day...

Thanks for the great report.

As well as he's played so far, by my count that's now four from four one-on-ones he's had saved. One of them he managed to bundle in at the second or third attempt. Not sure if it's a concern just yet but he could probably be a bit more clinical with those chances.

A "this" for the use of the strap line from an old tip top trumpet ad.

http://leopoldmethod.com.au/melbourne-victory-2-0-wellington/

Good take on the game.

Thats a good article and marries up with what both EG and News were saying. I still think our FBs sit too high but oh well.

Man that is such a soft free kick at the end of the video (that led to Finkler's goal). I had to watch it twice to see where the foul was.

By Lia

Scapegoat, scapegoat

Yeah its not the biggest foul you will ever see when I guess when you ask yourself 'Did Lia play the ball or the man' the answer is kinda obvious. Its that kind of discipline that Ernie goes on about.