Far less enjoyable when mv aren’t getting smacked
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Needs a soul destroying 92nd minute goal to deny MV a point from the game
And with that draw MV have maintained an enviable record of not losing 4 consecutive ACL games apparently…
Useless stat if ever I heard one.
No doubt Brenton Speed would’ve announced that one.
Melbourne Victory officially the first team eliminated from the 2019 Champions League.
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Their reserve keeper in Acton gets the armband for tonight. 
Don’t care if it’s just the kids, it’s nice to watch them lose.
Melbourne Victory, Australia’s shame.
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When you’re in their ACL group, you automatically start with 6 points.
Enjoy Melbourne getting embarrassed one last time under Muscat. Thomas should get an assist for that third one. 
Officially the worst points tally ever for an Aussie team in the ACL. The cherry on a delicious week long cake bake!
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I thought it was also pretty telling listening to Honda’s post-match interview, Fox talked to him instead during Valeri’s presentation. Asked about his limited effectiveness in the second half of the season he said it had nothing to do with his injury break, just that other teams had worked out how to stop him and counter MV’s style in general… must have been some rumblings of discontent with Muscat behind the scenes as he didn’t appear happy it was allowed to continue and that they just rocked up and played the same way regardless.
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It always seemed weird that they shifted Honda into a CM role to accommodate Barbarouses and Troisi. I know it worked for a little but but they really needed to play their best player in their best role and go to a 4-2-3-1 with something like
Valeri/Baena-Antonis
Barbarouses-Honda-Troisi
Ola
It’s simple A-League logic that you want your two head-and-shoulders-above-everyone-else players to play near each other, so they can lift you when the rest of the team is having an off night. There’s a reason teams with Ninko/AlF/[SdJ], Bobo/Holosko, Castro/Ikonomidis and Broich/Berisha have been among the most successful in the league’s history, and Honda and Toivonen couldashouldawoulda been high up there on that list.
Basically confirmed we’ll be down to 1+2 for ACL 2021 onwards.
Forget falling below Thailand, we’re at risk of falling behind Phillipines next year after we lose the R16 qualifications from 2016.
I came across this document that suggests that 9 Australian clubs applied for licences for the ACL in 2019, but only 6 were granted — Adelaide, CCM & Perth being the ones not granted.
I assume it’s not a big deal (and those clubs may have put more effort into getting licences had they qualified), but does anyone know any more about this?
Edit: have found some old links saying 8/9 were granted in 2018 (Adelaide missing out), while Wellington applied and were granted a licence in 2016 for some reason.