FFA Cup Final

[JackMariner]

Par for the course on just about every game I have watched where he has been fielded.

Sorry let me qualify that A-League not FFA

 

[Forum Phoenix]

We were solid defensively but lacked go forward, perhaps that was the cost of stepping up the defending I don’t know. Their CBS were equal to the long ball approach and we did very little of anything else. Not enough chances made to expect a win unfortunately. Still much improved on a week ago.

I don't think we had a long ball approach so much as we simply could not keep possession in the middle of the park and therefore had no option but play more direct.

Imo, Given we have Muller, Beni, Goddard, Moresche to play wide now, we should be putting NIzzy back in central midfield to help Olly get control of games. Steele can't play out under that kind of pressure. Olly barely could manage it. Ballard did better when he came on against a tireder press, but he struggled last couple of games.

For mine our defence was mostly excellent, but our midfield could not get a foothold and bring our forwards into the game. Very sad for everyone. Hate Popovicball - such a master of anti football. But it's always been depressingly effective . Except when he lost the grand final to us.

We'll be a better side this season for that loss I think. but it f**king hurt. God I wanted to get into Asia and have that as a draw card for recruitment and keeping players.

To me it seems like there's a big gap between us and the Melbourne sides, and our key issues are in midfield.

Anyway lads, we made it to a final again... amazing how much we can punch above our weight. Looking forward to some actual f**king home games to enjoy.

 

[midfielder]

Tho we had a pen but overall officials did a decent job IMO...

Our backs were amazing tonight all of em....

MV gotta be fav's to take the title ... they simply out played us and we did not play bad...

 

[Corsair]

Literally the only person in 14 yrs I've raged like this against, but no, I'm drunk.....? nothing to do with the Muppet on the end of it.
No. Not what I meant, and I don't trust Victorians to get that.

Emotions run high in a cup final, take a chill pill mate. You clearly don't like me and I'm ok with that, we can both still love the club.

 

[Ozhammer]

Spot on FP, Nizzy in the middle with Ollie could have made a big difference in a game like this one. Steele is a willing player but he doesn’t yet have the game smarts that Nizzy does.

I did think that Ballard made a difference when he came on but by then it was a rearguard action and hopefully Monty will review the game and look to make improvements going forward.

I remain of the view that playing Nizzy out wide diminishes the return we get on his talents and I’m sure we now have the players to cover the wide positions more effectively.

The back four can hold their heads up high after their performance, Birras’ failure to trust his wall cost him any chance of tipping Davison’s free kick over the bar but there wasn’t much he could do with the Iknomidis shot, it was such a sweet strike.

My biggest regret is that we waited too long to take the game to them and ended up playing reactive football for almost the entire game. When we put their defence under pressure at the death we got some reward, so we should have gone for it earlier.

I remain on the fence about Beni personally, yes he is willing but he just doesn’t look like a cultured footballer to me yet, just arms and legs that seem somewhat uncoordinated (which has earned him the nickname of unkololo with me). Goddard too appears likely to struggle with the physicality of the league but can hopefully come to terms with it over time.

Our forwards were effectively living off scraps all game because we wouldn’t (or couldn’t) support them adequately from midfield, so that must have been frustrating for them and there wasn’t much in the way of substitute support on our bench.

That’s three losses on the bounce now, so the rot really has to stop against the Heiffers on Thursday, where we should see Cummings make his home debut.

 

[Huddo]

Tho we had a pen but overall officials did a decent job IMO...

Our backs were amazing tonight all of em....

MV gotta be fav's to take the title ... they simply out played us and we did not play bad...

Will be with that help...

 

[Corsair]

Tho we had a pen but overall officials did a decent job IMO...

Our backs were amazing tonight all of em....

MV gotta be fav's to take the title ... they simply out played us and we did not play bad...

Agree totally, Rowles was a boss but whole back line played out of their skin. Hall had an amazing game, but they all did. Bozanic next level, MOM for me.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Spot on FP, Nizzy in the middle with Ollie could have made a big difference in a game like this one. Steele is a willing player but he doesn’t yet have the game smarts that Nizzy does.

I did think that Ballard made a difference when he came on but by then it was a rearguard action and hopefully Monty will review the game and look to make improvements going forward.

I remain of the view that playing Nizzy out wide diminishes the return we get on his talents and I’m sure we now have the players to cover the wide positions more effectively.

The back four can hold their heads up high after their performance, Birras’ failure to trust his wall cost him any chance of tipping Davison’s free kick over the bar but there wasn’t much he could do with the Iknomidis shot, it was such a sweet strike.

My biggest regret is that we waited too long to take the game to them and ended up playing reactive football for almost the entire game. When we put their defence under pressure at the deathwe got some reward, so we should have gone for it earlier.

I remain on the fence about Beni personally, yes he is willing but he just doesn’t look like a cultured footballer to me yet, just arms and legs that seem somewhat uncoordinated (which has earned him the nickname of unkololo with me). Goddard too appears likely to struggle with the physicality of the league but can hopefully come to terms with it over time.

Our forwards were effectively living off scraps all game because we wouldn’t (or couldn’t) support them adequately from midfield, so that must have been frustrating for them and there wasn’t much in the way of substitute support on our bench.

That’s three losses on the bounce now, so the rot really has to stop against the Heiffers on Thursday, where we should see Cummings make his home debut.

In turn, that whole post nails it for me OH.

 

[Corsair]

No need to see guys who call games for the opposition with 13 minutes left. They can just disappear. How about it.....

For the record where did i "call it"?

 

[true believer]

Ruon would not get away with the number of fouls that Ollie does. Being the older pro and captain saves him from a few yellows I think. Ruon wouldn't have that luxury.

yep but in balard and steele we lack the physicality we need at 6

 

[scottmac]

yep but in balard and steele we lack the physicality we need at 6

I'm not sure about that. Both Ballard and Steele have a good level of physicality. But Ruon (at last year's form) and Oli would destroy any midfield currently.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Great brief summations by Oz and Phoenix amid all the alcohol fumes and cheating ref accusations. Thank goodness for some clear thinking.
I decided to let the air clear before oner night and slept on my thoughts before posting.

We were owned by the better side last night. Our play out from the back was effectively shut down by swarming defence and boxing us on the sidelines. Our forwards were totally isolated and taken out of the game. Long balls were played not as a tactic but in desperation to get out.
Victory then stormed through the midfield with superior speed passing and skill. Thank goodness our defence was solid. However under the amount of pressure a goal had to come and only happened from a set piece. The second was not surprising when we went all out to try and even the score.

I have no complaints about the officiating and the continual complaints about ref bias is getting very boring, as well as bringing nothing to the discussion.

It was obvious that the after effects of the covid infections are still playing a roll on the fitness (usually a strength) of the squad.
What do we need? Improving fitness and Nizzy back in the centre of the park.

 

[Huddo]

Great brief summations by Oz and Phoenix amid all the alcohol fumes and cheating ref accusations. Thank goodness for some clear thinking.
I decided to let the air clear before oner night and slept on my thoughts before posting.

We were owned by the better side last night. Our play out from the back was effectively shut down by swarming defence and boxing us on the sidelines. Our forwards were totally isolated and taken out of the game. Long balls were played not as a tactic but in desperation to get out.
Victory then stormed through the midfield with superior speed passing and skill. Thank goodness our defence was solid. However under the amount of pressure a goal had to come and only happened from a set piece. The second was not surprising when we went all out to try and even the score.

I have no complaints about the officiating and the continual complaints about ref bias is getting very boring, as well as bringing nothing to the discussion.

It was obvious that the after effects of the covid infections are still playing a roll on the fitness (usually a strength) of the squad.
What do we need? Improving fitness and Nizzy back in the centre of the park.

I don't think we were "Owned". The truth is we had to control the defensive structures to control the game. Victory are renowned as a team that counter attacks, so if you want to beat them you have to sit deeper then them and control our final 3rd, we did that, besides the Davidson goal which was a dead ball, I can't think of one big save Birraz had to make.

We were starting to turn the screws when they scored.

The issue was our counter, it wasn't fast enough, or direct enough.

The officiating in most areas was good, but they had 2 extra officials on the by-lines just to watch for penalty infractions, so why couldn't he see some thing 6 feet from him. Literally it was his only job.

 

[Ozhammer]

Actually after someone calling me a c**t over and over i think I'll take you up on that earlier advice and give this forum a miss for a while.

Please don’t do that Dobbie, we can’t be eating each other alive and everyone is entitled to their view whether others agree or not. I think that insults are best left on the school yard and when it gets personal, folk need to just take a chill pill.

Perhaps common sense might prevail in the cold light of day?

 

[marinermick]

Sitting at the airport hungover and knackered.

Huge congratulations to Shaun and the staff for putting on a memorable experience for the supporters. From the pregame function, to the tour shirt, to tickets to post match function.

Despite the loss it was a pleasure to hang with the players at the post match function and chat with them. Felt like the old days of the Mariners where there was regular contact.

And to the legend Michael from DMC who put a thousand dollars over the bar, thank you. Amazing sponsor.

The travelling support was incredible. So many made the effort at short notice and while we could never match the numbers of the north end, we didn’t give up singing. Everyone owes Pete Prior a beer. Again he was the heart and soul of our active support.

Victory were deserved winners. They were the better team. Monty’s game plan was solid. We contained them very well (Rowles and Hall are incredible players) early and when we wanted to be more expansive the second half we didn’t have the energy. We brought on Benni and they brought on Ikonomidis. You just can’t compete with that. It took two spectacular goals to break down our wall.

Having a good chat with Monty after the game and he said Covid has really affected the team. Players can’t play with the intensity they did pre-illness.

The club is in such a good place at the moment- competitive team, thoughtful coach and brilliant engagement with the fans. Heart broken for the loss but I am still upbeat.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Sitting at the airport hungover and knackered.

Huge congratulations to Shaun and the staff for putting on a memorable experience for the supporters. From the pregame function, to the tour shirt, to tickets to post match function.

Despite the loss it was a pleasure to hang with the players at the post match function and chat with them. Felt like the old days of the Mariners where there was regular contact.

And to the legend Michael from DMC who put a thousand dollars over the bar, thank you. Amazing sponsor.

The travelling support was incredible. So many made the effort at short notice and while we could never match the numbers of the north end, we didn’t give up singing. Everyone owes Pete Prior a beer. Again he was the heart and soul of our active support.

Victory were deserved winners. They were the better team. Monty’s game plan was solid. We contained them very well (Rowles and Hall are incredible players) early and when we wanted to be more expansive the second we didn’t have the energy. We brought on Benni and they brought on Ikonomidis. You just can’t compete with that. It took two spectacular goals to break down our wall.

Having a good chat with Monty after the game and he said Covid has really affected the team. Players can’t play with the intensity they did pre-illness.

Pretty much this. Getting beaten by a better side on the night is no disgrace.

 

[Coastalraider]

Unco-lolo might just be the greatest thing I’ve read today?

 

[Josho Howe]

Didn't go our way last night but to see so many down here and supporting the boys with everything against us, made me immensely proud to support such a special club with so many great people.

Shall we do it again in a couple weeks?

 

[Avoca]

Tough day at the office for all - players & fans included. It did warm my heart seeing our Yellow Army on TV last night.

Our possession statistics greatly improved by the second half, & I believe Melbourne showed signs of frustration, which complemented our defence.

Had we taken Melbourne into extra time, I believe momentum would have shifted & been with us.

I loved Ollie’s passion. He’s a great leader.

I absolutely can’t wait until the FA’s little darlings eventually venture up to Gosford for a wickedly frosty reception. I’ll be in the crowd, ripping into them.

 

[Corsair]

If all else fails, make use of the ignore function.

Didn't know about this, thanks that's perfect