Oh well. It will hurt in the morning, but not as much as after Adelaide game. Then we were close, this time we were not. I still reckon Perth are a better team than a number of people here would grant. They overran us in the first half, and took the foot of the pedal late in the game.
They did have 10 men!
Plus I fail to see why he didn't drag Burns, who had an unusually woeful night, or Brockie for Cunningham. Kenny may not have the greatest touch in the world, but he's fast, and scored 7(?) goals for us last season. Surely he would have been worth a punt at the stage when our front-line has produced virtually nothing. But Ernie seemed to have totally lost faith in him, which makes you wonder why he was on the bench in the first place.
If I was Cunningham, I'd be very peeved we didn't take the game to them when we were 2-0 down, and even more so when they had 10 men. Positive action brings positive results.
cry me a river....
This team is only 3/4 players from being one of the topsides.
Our problem has always been the defence. Apart from two seasons ( and we ended up 4th both times) we have conceded more than we have scored.
Three of our back four plus Brockie should be replaced ( don't know with who) but it is the old story--if you don't concede you can't lose.
Our defence was the least of our problems last night, excepting the first goal which was Doyles fault. We weathered their attacks very well, Moss, Dura in particular.
This team is only 3/4 players from being one of the topsides.
Our problem has always been the defence. Apart from two seasons ( and we ended up 4th both times) we have conceded more than we have scored.
Three of our back four plus Brockie should be replaced ( don't know with who) but it is the old story--if you don't concede you can't lose.
Our defence was the least of our problems last night, excepting the first goal which was Doyles fault. We weathered their attacks very well, Moss, Dura in particular.
But we still conceded two soft goals.
cry me a river....
Pretty sure the ref goes straight to his red card pocket before every crowds around and he checks with his assistants.
This team is only 3/4 players from being one of the topsides.
Our problem has always been the defence. Apart from two seasons ( and we ended up 4th both times) we have conceded more than we have scored.
Three of our back four plus Brockie should be replaced ( don't know with who) but it is the old story--if you don't concede you can't lose.
Our defence was the least of our problems last night, excepting the first goal which was Doyles fault. We weathered their attacks very well, Moss, Dura in particular.
But we still conceded two soft goals.
I didn't think the second was a soft goal at all.
In any case, what Perth did do was attack, and put the ball in the penalty area, and take shots on goal.
When you do that, things happen.
We seemed to be relying on that one perfect delivery coming so we could score , and we got close to it but Krishna couldn't finish it.
But we aren't playing the numbers game.
And the way we are playing is very frustrating and dull to watch, not likely to encourage massive support at home.
cry me a river....
The ref did appear to be chewing things over a bit. Often with red cards , its shown very quickly to get the player off the pitch. But the ref is entitled to think about it - I also got the impression he may have been listening to comments on his earpiece. At the end of the day, a red card was hardly a surprise, although I think the tackle did look a bit worse than it probably was. The ref had a good view of it.
If he had the yellow card out and changed to red, that does not mean the decision is incorrect.
I said at the time in the match thread as this unfolded that as we had not seen the red out straight away, it was going to be yellow. Then he pulled red and I was like 'ok shit I was wrong'. I think that very much lends credence to what you are saying Fenix about taking his time and checking with his team. Put it this way, the reaction of the Phoenix players alone (and this is not usually an indicator) was pretty strong for something that was only going to be a yellow.
I've sat on this cause I am not sure how I feel about this game.
On one hand, I sit here and go 'Did we play really dumb?' We had no width to our game at all and when we used Doyle, he stunk it up and got caught out of position going up the flank and losing it. Because we had no width, we had to put everything through Riera whom was then pressured into mistakes when they ran a second man at him or sat off him and blocked all options. He was also guilty of holding the ball too long. Lets be honest, his performance was shithouse. He has been ultra consistent and everyone has a bad game at some time. That game was it for him. I also look at what we did with Burns. Perth ran an extra man at him and shut him out. Did we not consider using him as a decoy and dragging the defense? I saw no alteration. When we did not have the ball, we pushed Krishna and Brockie wide to the touchlines and basically said 'come up the middle'. We made some dumb decisions (1st goal) and when they were a man down, all we did was pass it around. I respect we don't want to go back to Ricki ball but there needed to be a directness or more of a directness than what was shown. If you are passing it around half way with 2 to go, you can guarantee Perth are gonna sit off and leave you there to pass around. From 50 out, you are not a threat! I also wonder the substitutions. I would have dragged Doyle at the half and bought Rodriguez on for Riera and Boyd in sooner for Burns once it was picked he was squeezed out of the game.
On the other hand, I don't think Perth are that flash so I sit here and go 'Did they play well'? We can't mark a ball into the box (be it set piece or a cross) and they capitalised on that. Every single time, we looked like deer in the headlights. I think as much as people say they have a nose bleed being that high, are they that good? Did we make them look good or are they good. I have to ask this because surely we can not be THAT dumb as I wrote above.
I thought Vince Lia had a good game and was split between him and Moss as MOM. I guess Moss has those kind of saves where you go 'WOW' so he stands out. Lia showed some skill I did not think he had with some deft turns and then the field opened up for him. He is looking more like a footballer than a thug along with Sigmund. I have not been a fan of Sigmund but he is playing well, looking like a footballer and not a street thug. Kudos to him for consistent performance.
McGlinchey brings a lot of players into the game that Krishna does not. Krishna has his own talents and he is looking better in his own HAL skin but I think he one of the 3 men off the bench. He has taken that from Kenny whom has been poor this year and is not looking like recovering. Adios Kenny. Nice to have had ya.
Otherwise I though Doyle had that game that all new players have where you remember that they have no experience. That 1st goal...... Why you need to lunge in there when you can jockey and leave him out there..... I thought Brockie suited his game vs the top high striker at the point. I thought he put in a good shift.
Next game will see McGlinchey for Krishna. You have to wonder on that showing and JBSs one prior, do you swap JBS and Doyle? I also wonder about Rodriguez and I think he was a missing link in there. I was obvious we had nothing creatively in the front 3rd so push Roly a little higher and let A-Rod be a link man. It means Brockie to the bench again which is not fair on him after that game I think but we are not a team with a 3 man front line.
I think Ernie comes out of this trip with a headache in terms of player personnel decisions to make and also how to get out backs to defend a ball in the box. Its inherently obvious we can't do that so if I was MCFC, I would pump the shit out of it.
Doyle probably should have come off the bench. Not fit enough too play for the AWs and then chucked on to start in Perth with out the same level of midfield support he's had before. To be fair the whole formation was again kind of new and simply didn't work. Burns could hold the ball.
The short passing game without width(as you say above) is very easy to close down. Watching WSW tonight even tho they are bottom they pass the ball around well and have that width and were not averse to long balls..as did Perth.
Didn't we have Roly high for the Adelaide game.?.I didn't think it worked well there either. We simply don't have enough quality attacking players. We are set up to defend more than attack and it isn't working well enough. Wee Mac for Brockie would be my preference but that still wont solve goal scoring problem with leaky defence.
Yeah good point in the first paragraph. I guess you can see the difference with Fenton as he hugged a touchline with the sole role of being a galloping outlet to get us forward.
Roly was high and I think we look to the diamond and Burns McGlinchey pair up top. I think it allows us to collapse the middle AND send Lia and A-Rod wide to shut the flanks. Push them all 5-10 yards higher and press against MCFC is what I would do.
Next game will see McGlinchey for Krishna. You have to wonder on that showing and JBSs one prior, do you swap JBS and Doyle? I also wonder about Rodriguez and I think he was a missing link in there. I was obvious we had nothing creatively in the front 3rd so push Roly a little higher and let A-Rod be a link man. It means Brockie to the bench again which is not fair on him after that game I think but we are not a team with a 3 man front line.
Imagine below shows average position for game against Perth (left) and Adelaide (right). Pretty hard to compare the performances because we played so differently.
Few interesting patterns in there:
1) Doyle played higher (ie. got forward more)
2) Quite interesting how high Hersi was playing. Basically didn't do any defending at all.
3) Krishna didn't provide any cover like he did against Adelaide.
Which suggests that Doyle was getting isolated when we defended. Which probably contributed to his poor performance. The unwarranted yellow card early probably didn't help him for fear of being sent off.
Very interesting. Where did you get these from?
(---) You have to wonder on that showing and JBSs one prior, do you swap JBS and Doyle? I also wonder about Rodriguez and I think he was a missing link in there. I was obvious we had nothing creatively in the front 3rd so push Roly a little higher and let A-Rod be a link man. It means Brockie to the bench again which is not fair on him after that game I think but we are not a team with a 3 man front line.
I think Ernie comes out of this trip with a headache in terms of player personnel decisions to make and also how to get out backs to defend a ball in the box. Its inherently obvious we can't do that so if I was MCFC, I would pump the shit out of it.
That was something that I have wondered too - what is the best place for A-Rod and Roly.
Ernie still has a lot of work to do with this squad. Not a well bedded-in unit as yet at all.
Very interesting. Where did you get these from?
Click on match stats. Few options you can play around with
As far as quick red cards goes does this take the record off Rory?
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night. We held possession well in our defensive third generally, but anything other than a sideways pass was invariably given straight to Perth.
Probably the worst game I have seen from Riera. All the good work he did defensively was eclipsed by the number of times he gave the ball away.
Brockie may have been poor but at least he looked interested while being poor and covered quite a bit of ground. Burns offered very little other than the one shot at the end. Krishna will have the odd moment where he looks ok due to his pace, but he offers very few other qualities.
Mystified by the subbing of Roly (as was he). He was probably one of the better players on the park, although that is not saying a lot.
Doyles mistake in the frst couple of minutes is one that you would be pissed off if a player in Cap 5 made, compounded by Manny being outmuscled by a bearded dwarf at the near post.
Perth certainly aren't flash but they made us look pretty ordinary for 90% of that match.
Disappointing two weeks but onward and upward.(Hopefully)
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night.
Cos Perth knew it was coming. The pass through the middle of the pitch was all too predictable Im afraid.
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night.
Cos Perth knew it was coming. The pass through the middle of the pitch was all too predictable Im afraid.
For all the bagging Fenton got on here he was providing us a wider threat that needed some close marking, and injected some pace and ability to get to the byline. Plus some real enthusiasm and workrate. We had options in the front half of the pitch on one side and that helped the midfield and made us less predictable. And the last couple of games continue to suggest to me that Fenton is no worse a defender than Manny.
And, for all his sometimes invisibility, I think Gorrin actually provides more creativity and one touch play to unlock defences than has been recognised.
We missed these guys big time v Perth, imo, as well as McG.
Travel blog for the away trip to Adelaide and Perth here.
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night.
Cos Perth knew it was coming. The pass through the middle of the pitch was all too predictable Im afraid.
For all the bagging Fenton got on here he was providing us a wider threat that needed some close marking, and injected some pace and ability to get to the byline. Plus some real enthusiasm and workrate. We had options in the front half of the pitch on one side and that helped the midfield and made us less predictable. And the last couple of games continue to suggest to me that Fenton is no worse a defender than Manny.
And, for all his sometimes invisibility, I think Gorrin actually provides more creativity and one touch play to unlock defences than has been recognised.
We missed these guys big time v Perth, imo, as well as McG.
Id agree with that. Id have Fenton and Gorrin in the team.
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night.
Cos Perth knew it was coming. The pass through the middle of the pitch was all too predictable Im afraid.
For all the bagging Fenton got on here he was providing us a wider threat that needed some close marking, and injected some pace and ability to get to the byline. Plus some real enthusiasm and workrate. We had options in the front half of the pitch on one side and that helped the midfield and made us less predictable. And the last couple of games continue to suggest to me that Fenton is no worse a defender than Manny.
And, for all his sometimes invisibility, I think Gorrin actually provides more creativity and one touch play to unlock defences than has been recognised.
We missed these guys big time v Perth, imo, as well as McG.
Id agree with that. Id have Fenton and Gorrin in the team.
Even with a dislocated arm? Very confident in Fenton
Piss drinking blog for the piss drinking trip to Adelaide and Perth here.
Probably all said before but very disappointing game.
Hard to tell whether it was a lack of movement from the front three but we barely made a pass into the front third stick all night.
Cos Perth knew it was coming. The pass through the middle of the pitch was all too predictable Im afraid.
For all the bagging Fenton got on here he was providing us a wider threat that needed some close marking, and injected some pace and ability to get to the byline. Plus some real enthusiasm and workrate. We had options in the front half of the pitch on one side and that helped the midfield and made us less predictable. And the last couple of games continue to suggest to me that Fenton is no worse a defender than Manny.
And, for all his sometimes invisibility, I think Gorrin actually provides more creativity and one touch play to unlock defences than has been recognised.
We missed these guys big time v Perth, imo, as well as McG.
Id agree with that. Id have Fenton and Gorrin in the team.
Would you have Fenton and Doyle though?
For all the bagging Fenton got on here he was providing us a wider threat that needed some close marking, and injected some pace and ability to get to the byline. Plus some real enthusiasm and workrate. We had options in the front half of the pitch on one side and that helped the midfield and made us less predictable. And the last couple of games continue to suggest to me that Fenton is no worse a defender than Manny.
And, for all his sometimes invisibility, I think Gorrin actually provides more creativity and one touch play to unlock defences than has been recognised.
We missed these guys big time v Perth, imo, as well as McG.
Id agree with that. Id have Fenton and Gorrin in the team.
Would you have Fenton and Doyle though?
Probably a year from now when they got more bedded in and put on some more muscle (esp. Fenton).
At the moment it pays to have Manny in the mix. Doyle has the potential already, but maybe not the nous. However, he is likely to have the burst of speed which Manny still has but not as much as in the past (remember how quickly Leo lost his).
Doyle is still a bit too raw for mine. He hasn't shown anywhere near the quality he did in those two pre season kickabouts.
I'd have Fenton on the right for his attacking ability and Manny on the left.
Doyle is still a bit too raw for mine. He hasn't shown anywhere near the quality he did in those two pre season kickabouts.
I'd have Fenton on the right for his attacking ability and Manny on the left.
meanwhile back in round 10...
