Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United matchday jamboree©

[mcjules]

Here's something that has crossed my mind a couple of times since Friday. Were these changes Josep made to the starting line up:
1. a bit of mind games by not showing all our cards so early in the season,
2. just played a variation of their tactics we haven't seen much of yet because of how MV line up, or
3. something else entirely

Personally I haven't fully made my mind up but giving Awer a start was a bit of a gamble that wasn't tactical from what I can see. It paid off though.

Playing Marrone and Elrich as wing backs was clearly because they're better defensive players than Goodwin and MV have good wingers who often get in 1v1s.

Cirio in the midfield was the main one I'm not sure on, perhaps because MV play with to DMs he thought he could afford to have another more attacking midfield over Jeggo?

So if that was the case then I think maybe mostly option 2 with a bit of option 1. Interested what others' observations might be

[tinby]

Mabil is oh so frustrating. So many attacks break down because he just drills the ball into the box without looking, usually there are 2 defenders that gladly accept the ball and the attack is finished.

Shit night, 2 own goals, 1 disallowed and Malik injured, what can you do? This is football..

Awer seems to struggle to play aerial balls into the box. Always low balls to the near post. Our players should know this and position themselves accordingly.
He is still a work in progress but has so much potential.
I watched Flecha closely in the warm up and he was clearly upset about being on the bench. Body language was horrible and he was clearly disinterested. With our depth, especially in the attacking half, all players will have to accept time on the bench and make sure when they get their chance they grab it. A good team is made up of everyone accepting their role and playing their part no matter what that is.

I agree, Flecha didn't look very happy at all. I wouldn't be too surprised if we lose him at end of season. Would be a real pity seeing as how his crosses & shots have led to goals, last year against Victree was good and those two against Sydney were awesome as well.
Can't understand why Flecha is not starting. IMO Mabil's dream of playing for Man. Utd is just that - a dream. He'll have to improve a few hundred times before he even gets close.
I hope his trial with Ajax & Anderlecht go well. He's just turned 19, and he really should have it all together by now.

[shinAUFC]

Flacha has already mentioned in interviews he has received offers from europe and asia for his services next year.

We wont have him , we were only ever going to be a stepping stone . Goodluck to him

[Geogeo]

We were rattled by a large hostile crowd early on.

But to be honest, we had two sitters that we should have burried.

(mabil early on and another one in the 93rd min)

If we scored those two sitters it could have been 4-3, but then you take a away the two poor own goals.. its 4-1.

this game could have been very different.

[Outcast350]

I wondered if flecha would have been bought on if Ozzie wasn't injured? Probably wasn't a bad thing considering MV play with brass knuckles, and his poor run with injury this season.



In saying that, if flecha started and mabil came on at 60-65 Min it may have been a different outcome? It's so interesting to see how the whole team lifts when awer comes on, I don't know if it's just at coopers (because the crowd get behind him) or not though.

[Old Gregg]

Don't know if it's been posted already but Kossie's column was spot on (can't remember if it was in the Saturday or Sunday paper).
Basically, he was talking about the setup as a gamble which failed for a couple of reasons - notably lack of defensive nous in midfield (due to Chelo & Cirio partnering up) and Marrone getting slayed on the right side of defense - but the key factor is not that Adelaide played badly per se but that we just couldn't deal mentally with the relentlessness of Melbourne's press (so, business as usual for Adelaide then) .

Unfortunately the Malik injury forced Gombau's hand a bit, I'm certain that Ferreira would have played a part otherwise.

[mcjules]

I'm interested in seeing some of the analysis from one of the more indepth tactical sites like Leopold Method or Australia Scout.

There's no doubt we went to pieces in a couple of moments and we got punished but I'm not sure the gamble was an abject failure. I don't remember Milligan and Valeri having standout games on the ball due to the lack of defensive pressure for example.

Fozz on Extra Time made a good point regarding Gombau not feeling too concerned about the result considering all the things that went against us this time. I'll try and get a copy of the footage later.

[shinAUFC]

I'm interested in seeing some of the analysis from one of the more indepth tactical sites like Leopold Method or Australia Scout.

There's no doubt we went to pieces in a couple of moments and we got punished but I'm not sure the gamble was an abject failure. I don't remember Milligan and Valeri having standout games on the ball due to the lack of defensive pressure for example.

Fozz on Extra Time made a good point regarding Gombau not feeling too concerned about the result considering all the things that went against us this time. I'll try and get a copy of the footage later.

Yeah im with you on this.

We lead every stat apart from the one that mattered, so one could easily argue gombau was correct with his changes , own goals and missing opportunities to score is not something the manager can control.

[mcjules]

Reading back I sound like a fan boy and that no one can do any wrong in my eyes That's certainly not the case, I'm disappointed the team didn't do better and of all teams to lose to, this one is the one I can deal with the least!

[EdDog]

Don't know if it's been posted already but Kossie's column was spot on (can't remember if it was in the Saturday or Sunday paper).
Basically, he was talking about the setup as a gamble which failed for a couple of reasons - notably lack of defensive nous in midfield (due to Chelo & Cirio partnering up) and Marrone getting slayed on the right side of defense - but the key factor is not that Adelaide played badly per se but that we just couldn't deal mentally with the relentlessness of Melbourne's press (so, business as usual for Adelaide then) .

Unfortunately the Malik injury forced Gombau's hand a bit, I'm certain that Ferreira would have played a part otherwise.

Yes I read this too. Sunday's paper. Kossie actually sounded intelligent.

[mcjules]

Fozz on Extra Time made a good point regarding Gombau not feeling too concerned about the result considering all the things that went against us this time. I'll try and get a copy of the footage later.

Whole thing is worth a watch but I've set it to start at the relevant bit
[youtube]0jx-_Ux6Lmo?start=293[/youtube]

[EdDog]

Does it seem like the AU v MV rivalry from the Victory supporters' perspective is diminishing?

Only 22k to their 10th anniversary game against us on a Friday night.

I think the "Big Blue" and the Melbourne Derby are a lot more important to their fan base than the Reds now.

[sevengoals]

After the game is before the
game.

[RedTide]

It was a moral victory to us - the Failure were playing their usual version of Thai kickboxing, they should have had at least one player sent off (Princess Leijer - who else?) and possibly two, and we gifted them two goals. Take away the two own goals and allow either Mabil's sitter at 8 mins or Sanchez's sitter at 93 mins and suddenly its 4 -1 our way and everyone is talking about Adelaide's chances of lifting silverware.

It's always disappointing to lose, especially against the most hated and spiteful team in the competition, but it's not the end of the world. The Failure has peaked too early and we still have at least 20% improvement to come. Chins up lads - it's time to belt the Western Wallys next weekend!

[EdDog]

Don't forget Goodwin's free kick RedTide - should have been 5-1!!!