It means our season is going so much longer than the others. That could come back to hurt us later in the season. We’ll never know for sure, but I personally believe this result is not a disaster. We’ve got more time to get key players fit for the coming season.
I don’t necessarily buy this argument. The season is already as long as it will be when the players return from holidays to start pre-season. The season has already begun.
You’re better off getting players fit playing competitive fixtures than you are from playing friendly exhibition matches behind closed doors.
Treat every fixture like there’s something to win.
I’m pretty disappointed with how Talay has obviously viewed this competition. A very similar outlook to the way he treated it at Wellington which is more understandable.
He’ll be playing for a NPL team from about 2025 onwards along with Patrick Wood.
2 Likes
What exactly could have been much different? That’s the squad we have at this point. The back 5 are pretty much a first choice ALM defense, the two lines in front were badly affected by injury, suspension, and the clubs lack of incoming player movement this far.
These games will go like this if your squad is both out of condition (inevitable at this time of year) and incomplete (club ignoring our memes). In a lot of ways it’s much better to draw a fellow ALM side in this round, making a more predictable prospect for us.
However I agree with you in that this is of no benefit to us. Getting into condition playing Australia cup is much better than with friendlies, though it hardly got our league campaign off to a flying start last year.
3 Likes
If anything i’m honestly disappointed and fully lay the blame on this loss on these forums. We sign ONE player and suddenly the Simpsons memes just disappear! FOR SHAME!
4 Likes
9 Likes
We had a youth team out there (excluding Grant and Redders of course), don’t know what anyone else expected with no real other options and half the starters injured or suspended. Much like the Corica hate used to be, the Talay hate on this one is confusing.
Hey!
I made a meme during the game, and moments later we were given a penalty.
10 Likes
I think you can totally understand the result given the state (and age) of the squad and how Talay views the Aus Cup, but you can also be disappointed with the way that the team performed. There was so little positvity in our play, the inability to create any sort of decent chances, the horseshoe of death, the lack of intensity or pressing, and the midfield just being overwhelmed.
Not what you want to see first competitive game of our season.
7 Likes
We played like Arse
1 Like
wow wow wow… I know we played badly but do we really need Arsenal comparisons???
3 Likes
Were we bad enough to compare ourselves to Scunthorpe?
Still didn’t think we were that bad, especially with the team available. Sure we didn’t create anything too clear cut, JK’s best chance got deflected out for a corner and our two best other chances fell to Amanatidis who unfortunately has as much conviction as Bruce Lehrmann. And fair play, Oakleigh were clinical with the few chances they had.
There were still enough good signs from all the other youngsters to make me think we’ll be fine if needing a couple of them to slot in, maybe just not 4 or 5 of them at once. Caceres and Burgess would’ve made a huge difference, we’ve still got Lolley and an entire foreign spine to come.
3 Likes
Also didnt help that the 3 most experienced members of the back 5 were as rusty as the Antikythera mechanism
3 Likes
You’ve got a squad who are 2-weeks into training for a season that starts proper in October playing against a team who are 24 matches into a league season.
People panicking need to touch some grass.
2 Likes
Season proper started last night. The league doesn’t start till October.
The league > Pre-season cup
Fuck me this country has a long off season.
2 Likes
Agreed.
Australia Cup - actual national competitive cup with prize money and continental qualification as rewards > Pre-season Cup - Pre-season national knockaround meant for match fitness and blooding triallists.
I guess the subtlety was lost
1 Like