Mariners V Roar

[Ironbark]

My take -

The scoreline wasn't reflective of the game. We bossed BR around the majority of the game but they were very well organised, worked hard, and absorbed everything we threw at them. This includes, admirably, when we were down to 10 men.
Our shots at goal were flaccid at best. This has been a problem for a while now and we lose or draw games because we don't take our chances.

Their first goal was bad luck falling straight to their player from our attempted clearance.
The second was a good goal and down to poor marking.

In the end Staj had 2 options once we were down to 10 - continue on as was, which wasn't achieving much. Or roll the dice and throw on some energetic youngsters with a bit of unpredictability and hope they could create some magic with the risk of becoming more vulnerable. This is what he did and BR absorbed it and took advantage of the new lack of cohesion this caused and scored twice more.

I thought Miller had a decent game and showed he has skill, strength and drive.

We missed Kuol and need a Plan B for when teams play us this way, as surely most will now until we adjust. The next game is now the most critical.

 

[Tevor]

My take -

The scoreline wasn't reflective of the game. We bossed BR around the majority of the game but they were very well organised, worked hard, and absorbed everything we threw at them. This includes, admirably, when we were down to 10 men.
Our shots at goal were flaccid at best. This has been a problem for a while now and we lose or draw games because we don't take our chances.

Their first goal was bad luck falling straight to their player from our attempted clearance.
The second was a good goal and down to poor marking.

In the end Staj had 2 options once we were down to 10 - continue on as was, which wasn't achieving much. Or roll the dice and throw on some energetic youngsters with a bit of unpredictability and hope they could create some magic with the risk of becoming more vulnerable. This is what he did and BR absorbed it and took advantage of the new lack of cohesion this caused and scored twice more.

I thought Miller had a decent game and showed he has skill, strength and drive.

We missed Kuol and need a Plan B for when teams play us this way, as surely most will now until we adjust. The next game is now the most critical.

Every game is critical from now or we are out of the 6, we need to win every game other than the City game which we have no chance down in Melb. I doubt we can win all of these games based on the last 5 games. We are in a real rut and really need more goal scorers to stand up, Nizzy, Clisby, Stens, Nigro need to score at least 1 I'm bit over watching these blokes miss great opportunities and they have all had plenty to at least snag one. DDS needs to find his shooting boots again because at the beginning of the season he looked as if he was ready to score 7 or 8 for the season. Look at Mauk as much as I dislike the bloke that is a great goal return for a number 10 and 3 goals is just not good enough.

A lot of talk on social media that the wheels have fallen off and I can no longer ignore those statements. It's been a better season that I was anticipating however missing the finals with the start we had will hurt.

 

[BrisRecky]

For parts of the game we bossed them , then we’d have 5 mins of Okon ball ...to say I was stumped is a understatement ....lads best remove their digits now for the rest of the season ....as for the ref, he was deadset convinced that fkn ball came off his elbow THEN Kurt fkn Ames stuck his two cents worth in ...twice if you count the yellow card that suddenly got sunburnt , sure Marcos scratched up his leg , but still , once the cards been pulled out , it can’t be changed..can it ?

 

[soccer mad]

Stats dont win games goals do and BR did exactly that we have been so wasteful in front of goal and still lacking that killer punch imo.

 

[marinermick]

Stats dont win games goals do and BR did exactly that we have been so wasteful in front of goal and still lacking that killer punch imo.

100%.

Staj sounded like Okon in his press conference - dominated game, possession, blaming the referee.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Playing without any pace up front just allows the other side to push up and press without worry.
Even if the ball goes over the top we won't get to it very often.
Not hard to fix.
4411 with someone quick in front of Urena
Oh and a #6 who can pass.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

For parts of the game we bossed them , then we’d have 5 mins of Okon ball ...to say I was stumped is a understatement ....lads best remove their digits now for the rest of the season ....as for the ref, he was deadset convinced that fkn ball came off his elbow THEN Kurt fkn Ames stuck his two cents worth in ...twice if you count the yellow card that suddenly got sunburnt , sure Marcos scratched up his leg , but still , once the cards been pulled out , it can’t be changed..can it ?

By the laws it can....though I thought in the AL they had a policy where they wouldn't be upgrading yellows to reds, due to how many times VAR has f**ked it.

the penalty should have stood for me. He straight up deliberately played it with his arm. I mean, the arm even comes out. Thought their first goal should probably have been disallowed too - thought Clisby's touch could've been considered a save.

Man, to think I nearly skipped board game night to watch this dross...glad I didn't.
I wonder how Staj will respond - any significant changes, or BAU? I mean, no Urena means a significant change anyway....should only be 1 week though.

I wonder how much of our loss of form is due to other teams figuring out how to exploit our positional weaknesses

 

[Big Al]

There was a rumour about Kuol not playing. It was not from a reliable source but if its true, Staj was cutting off his nose to spite his face.

That was my first thought as well (shit thought I know). Is it disciplinary.
Would have to be pretty sick not to play 20mins unless didn’t want to infect the team.
Obviously it is just an unfounded rumour but I think Staj was right if he did. We were going to loose last night right from the start and it says to the boys staying i am not going to give in or loose our culture to anybody especially someone leaving.
Lets just hope he was sick and he gets better by Sunday.
Hoodoo no. 2. Melbourne away

 

[Big Al]

I tell you what that hit by Joey Champness was something else. He really got a hold of that.

From my angle i was right behind his shot and it absolutely flew off the boot.

That said Birraz should not be diving into his own net. That’s bad angles from him. The shot was always past him but still his angles weren’t great.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

One in 8. 7pts from a possible 28.

Jesus. I only looked at the last five. it’s a pretty serious wobble. Hoping Staj can level up and get us off the guard rail before we flip and tumble down the M1.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

Jesus. I only looked at the last five. it’s a pretty serious wobble. Hoping Staj can level up and get us off the guard rail before we flip and tumble down the M1.

I think we've been on this trajectory since a match or two before the City game, so about 6 weeks or so.

 

[turbo]

Every game is critical from now or we are out of the 6, we need to win every game other than the City game which we have no chance down in Melb. I doubt we can win all of these games based on the last 5 games.

I dont think we need to win every other game to stay in the 6. Plenty of matchups where someone around us has to drop points. We've got 2 games against Newcastle and 1 against Victory, 9 points there would do a lot to keep us safe. That would take us to 40.

Then we have games against Brisbane, WU and Macarthur where we should be able to find at least 3 or 4 points. Let's call it 43 points there. That should be enough to play finals, maybe even hosting if we're lucky.

We also play City and I'm not expecting much out of that but if we want a decent finals run we need to be looking for a point there at least.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

100%.

Staj sounded like Okon in his press conference - dominated game, possession, blaming the referee.

Not happy about this. Means we won’t be changing. In his own words most of our possession was not effective possession. We were out fought and until we upped the tempo and went at them, we tactically had no answer for their back five. We didnt look dominant at all. We looked exactly what we were. Contained.

Referee performance was by HAL standards was one of the better ones. Which I know is a very low bar, I was miffed about the VAR handball reversal - but I don’t blame the referee. He’s being told in no uncertain terms that it isn’t a pen.

The Red was warranted. General play otherwise was pretty standard.

And we were beaten before the red. If anything it triggered our best period. Albeit we were exposed and copped a couple like you do in these positions.

 

[Big Al]

We've got 2 games against Newcastle and 1 against Victory, 9 points there would do a lot to keep us safe. That would take us to 40.

Was just about to put something similar in the season thread.

If we can’t beat MV and the Jets we probably don’t deserve to be in the finals.

We have only been dominated once all season so we have improved an awful lot but the luck of the bounce of the ball has gone and we were getting it alot in the beginning of the season

 

[Ozhammer]

I wanted to watch the game back on replay before posting on here but here is my two cents for what it’s worth:

FP and others have pretty much nailed most of the key points in their posts but the one other thing that sticks out to me is Staj’s insistence with playing in a 4-2-2-2 formation. This makes us so narrow in both defence and attack and as has already been pointed out, if our opponents nullify our FB’s our attacking options are very limited.

It is no coincidence that our best results came early in the season, when we were set up in a 4-4-2 formation, so imho, we need to go back to that, if we want to save our season and finals prospects.

 

[Tevor]

Was just about to put something similar in the season thread.

If we can’t beat MV and the Jets we probably don’t deserve to be in the finals.

We have only been dominated once all season so we have improved an awful but the luck of the bounce of the ball has gone and we were getting it alot in the beginning of the season

We couldn’t beat MV at home and have you seen how poor we are when we leave NSW. I see the MV game as a real banana skin. We need to go there super fired up or the seasons over and no finals. Last nights performance was mediocre at best and not good enough for a top 4 team.

 

[Tevor]

I dont think we need to win every other game to stay in the 6. Plenty of matchups where someone around us has to drop points. We've got 2 games against Newcastle and 1 against Victory, 9 points there would do a lot to keep us safe. That would take us to 40.

Then we have games against Brisbane, WU and Macarthur where we should be able to find at least 3 or 4 points. Let's call it 43 points there. That should be enough to play finals, maybe even hosting if we're lucky.

We also play City and I'm not expecting much out of that but if we want a decent finals run we need to be looking for a point there at least.

Hope you are right, I think some large cracks are forming. Mentally we don’t seem to be in a good space and our ladder position may have them too comfortable. We will slip a fair bit this weekend I feel and I don’t want to rely on other results. ACL nothing but a pipe dream now.

 

[MidfieldMessy]

Something has changed from earlier in the season, the players still seem to be putting in but tactically there has been a change, as has been said. I don't know why Staj would want to change a winning formula but clearly it's changed.
I only listened to the first part of his interview, for him to be saying those things makes me question what he thought he was watching. Staj has to reflect but those words from him were stubborn and naïve.

 

[Tim]

I’m a real fan of Staj but that post Roar interview wasn’t his best. First, he thought it was over in a flash and leaped out of his chair only to let out an audible sigh when others wanted to ask questions and he sat down again. He may be right in defending his players but we were pumped 4-0 and whatever the reason he needed to properly acknowledge that and I’m not sure he did. We need to lift and find another gear. Other sides are lifting or bolstering their playing stocks (which I think is crock for WSW, how many name strikers can they seriously have on their books). If we are unable to do that then we need to lift and that’s the challenge for the coach and senior players!
I do, however, think the atmosphere at the Sydney game was so good that anything after that was an emotional let down. If it was for me then it might have had a similar impact on the players...

 

[BrisRecky]

Re the piss weak reversal of the blatant handball ...Kurt Amrs was the VAR ..correct...?...can’t Shaun request he not be allowed anywhere near a CCM game ever again EVEN if and includin* the maggot piece of shit buys a f**kING ticket...and while we’re at it let’s get that moron Delovski sacked for letting his nitwit collection run rampant