ha ! copy and post didn't work either ..strange it has a button to upload video but not photos 

Young
Jaxk-Bowles-Pepper-OToole
TK-McKay(C)
Eric-Mauk-Tobi
Henrique

Tagz, Caletti, LDV, Leck, White

Hopefully the last match we see McKay start for the season. Carb the boys!

I recon he’s set up as a classic 433 not 4231

Brattan looks in all sorts here

Any idea what's happened? At the game and we're clueless

I'm here too. It looks like he got a boot to the head and somehow fell on his noggin coming down from it? I didn't see it but kid in front of me swears he saw it

No replay on stream. Believe they don't have the right equipment to remove them. Which is odd given the ambo is there and it's rugby league stadium.

Well it's only preseason and we dont take the FFA Cup seriously so......

That is super upsetting. I thought we played well enough to get something out of the game but what can you do. Freakish goal.

Rough result , we could have had 3 ....,
Next time

Was at the game, thought Roar deserved to win that. Mauk is a fantastic signing for Brisbane. Taggart seemed a little isolated when he came on. But Roar definitely look better than they did last season, even if this is preseason. City didn't show too much but had chances to score. Game was played at a good pace. 

Apparently there were scouts from a Russian UCL side at the game. Given there are three teams in the UCL, I had a look at the squads and CSKA Moscow is the only one that seems to have lost most of there squad, it looks like a youth squad. The other two have not lost any players. They have been a good stepping stone into the big leagues for many players in the past including Honda.

Wonder who they were looking at. Arzani is gone lol. 

Doubt they were scouting, probaly hacking into the hospital line delaying the 2nd ambo

Plenty of positives in there: Mikkelsen looks decent, Mauk excellent, Young’s retained his form; TK, Mackay both very good ...

Not so good: same as last season, we don’t hit the target enough. How many saves did the City keeper make (none?) yet we were up and out of our seats for how many near misses (5?). Ricky as a No. 9 - you’re having a laugh John, and as a winger later on he looked too slow. Taggart looked isolated when he cans on (as JonoMV says)

City look physically stronger than last year and weren’t afraid to show it, at times we were getting bullied out of the game. But overall that’s a “pass” despite the result - the teams looking good.

(But man, I friggin hate the FFA Cup !!)

Side note, that referee was terrible haha. 

Five Things We Learned

1. Why Eric never "made it" in France.
In a word: Inconsistency. One minute, he's bicycle kicking a through-ball volley to a player open on the wing. The next, he mistraps a ball and falls over his own feet. He's never learned to play within himself and he doesn't have a 'go-to' move. Everyone knew Broich was going to cut in from the wing and it didn't matter because he was so good at it. What can Eric do that can't be stopped? He needs to figure it out if he wants to enter Johnny Warren consideration.

2. Daniel needs to work on his Lecknique
He's tall. He's fast. He's strong. Does that make him a footballer? No. The lad has promise but he really needs to figure out how to use the ball. He's weak technically as well, so he has a loose dribble and often misplaces his first touch. I hope we have some better youth coming through (Akbari?).

3. Flamini: The Hero we need
We really need that marquee mid to place next to TK. We were easily overrun in the middle and we couldn't work the ball to our striker's (Ricky especially) feet. Relying on crosses is not an effective strategy in modern football.

4. New boys
Mauk was a gun. He can really play. Tobi looked good as well but I'd like to see more venom in his shot and a bit more aggression in general. Don't think he'll light the league up like Leory George did, but he'll be a good quality starter. Taggart looked good when he came on.

5. Bench
Misused and poorly structured imo. Caletti and LDV aren't impact subs. Once Ricky moves to the bench, it'll look a lot better. Dare I admit this, but that game was crying out for Brett Holman off the pine. Holman and Henrique gives us greater flexibility on the bench. McKay and either a defender or another attacker round it out well.

Bonus Thoughts
Unlucky to lose. Great goal for them. I hope Brattan is okay.

Atkinson is a genuine Asian Cup bolter imo - I wish Hingert was half as talented as him. Both teams should be top four again this season.

I would take Halloran back if it meant punting someone else while retaining the finances and cap position to sign Flamini as well - have him and Tobi fight it out of the wing and they'll both kill it.

Hes almost gone full circle back to Heart days.

Just needs to go up to the Den when Brisbane get a draw (when outplayed the whole game) and beat his chest yelling 'I am Roar, I am Roar!'

Agree with much of this ....I was underwhelmed over all though. We did not play through midfiield much and relied too much on balls over the top . A few here have said they liked Mikkaelsen..I was very disappointed . Hopefully he is just adapting to our game and willl improve greatly. Referee ?...way out of her depth ...back to NPL you go .
Eric is very erratic .
Hingert ?....looks a lovely lad...but a poor first choice right back ...poor skills ...runs all day....but a weak link in our team .
I know it is early days so will cut some slack but at present I am far less confident of a good season than I was .
I hope I am wrong .

@ BrissyRoo

That’s an excellent summation.

We were toothless in front of goal (again) but at least created chances even if they went whizzing past the post/bar. It’s a game we should have won but didn’t, and that should be of concern to Aloisi.

Analysis needs to take into account City’s performance where a near full-strength side played very well also. City look extremely strong and weren’t afraid to throw their weight around (but at the same time also prepared to throw themselves to the ground under a featherweight challenge). City will challenge again this year.

Both teams have reason to be frustrated with the referee. Totally incompetent would be an understatement; this is the best the FFA can give us?

I’m sorry but if you didn’t think Mikkelsen had a good game then you weren’t watching (he was wearing #22). That was an impressive debut and he and Bautheac will make a fine wing combo this season. I just hope he can score goals too.

Sadly our best football came in the first thirty minutes but having Ricky at #9 meant there was no finishing power to work with. Ricky was neither tall enough, fast enough or strong enough to leverage the play. In hindsight it was a mistake starting him.

The only plus is that we’ve seen the end of that god-awful white sleeved kit. May it get consigned to the bin asap.

Roars official photographer posted this pic this morning:

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217071818846680&id=1204563345&set=a.10202949974129388.1073741841.1204563345&source=48

That shows the incompetence of the referee.

Can't see it!

Here’s the link again:

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217071818846680&id=1204563345&set=a.10202949974129388.1073741841.1204563345&source=48

The shots by Paul Andrew Smith

Henrique starting up front was always going to be bad, but Taggart obviously isn't at full match fitness, so it made sense not to risk him for the entire game. I think Henrique can still make a fine bench player who can run out the last 20 minutes on the wing. Would have preferred we started with Wenzell-Halls over Henrique to see what he can do. 
I thought Mikkelson and Eric both played very well, and I think they will have a big impact this season. Both showed signs of real class. Eric needs to quit with the lunging tackles though, as his timing isn't good and he'll get sent off pretty quickly. 
McKay really isn't up to it anymore. For a player who is meant to shield our back four, he gets beaten way too often. He is meant to link up with our front three, but gives away the ball too often. Sorely need someone else to come in and partner Kristensen, who was solid. 
Defense seemed reasonably solid most of the game. Hopefully will be more so when Papa and DeVere are fit. RB/LB need to provide more in attack. 
City needed a worldie from Fornaroli in the 120th minute to win, so that says something at least. 

Overall, I think the team showed signs, but the cohesion and fitness between our new front three and midfield just isn't there yet. 

hmmmm ...I guess I am the only one who saw nothing to get excited about with Tobias . I am happy for him to show me more in future but can't think of anything he did that looked useful. He was playing right in front of me . Was dispossessed quite easily on a number of occasions  . His ball control was good (as you would expect from an import) but he did little with it other than controlling and passing backwards.I expect imports to be superior to what we have and to make things happen. Hopefully he will settle in more and be that player. It was his first A-League hit out so I am not condemning him.

nope not working for me

If Taggart is not ready after 2 months, when will he be? I would have thought he should have started this if JA was serious. Meaning, he should have been fitter. We had this problem last year, so why no change?

The big question is: “Has this loss disrupted our pre-season?”

I still say you’ve got to judge that performance on the opponents as well. City were very good and there was little to split the two sides, both will finish top 4 this season I recon. Bautheac had an off night in front of goal and should have scored two, we should have had a penalty but the ref from hell doesn’t give us penalties, and at the 119th minute point both sides looked supremely fit. That bodes well for the new season.

Taggart is class but by the time he came on Toby had gone, Ricky was spent, and Leck is fast but would have trouble crossing the road. I’m disappointed for the 6,100 that turned up, we deserved a bit better, but put Flamini (or another DM) and Avraam in that side plus start Taggart with a match fit Toby and maybe Nigro at LB plus have Holman, DeVere, and Ricky on the bench (and maybe Wenzel-Halls who was cup tied last night) and we will be contenders this season.

Disappointing night but no need to over react - if we’re this good now we will be great in October. The main sticking point imo remains the quality and decision making of our coaches - we have all the players we need bar one, they’re clearly a very fit team, so can the coaches do it?

I only saw the last part of the match.
I noticed the defensive structure was strongly adhered too when we lost the ball.
TK was busting a gut to get back after turnovers.I was worried he would explode.lol.He will be dreading summer.
Sadly did u notice the goal was scored because Caletti didnt get back in position quickly enough and made an ineffective block?TK turns away ....
In transition Mauk can move the ball quickly ok.Presumably under instructions.
There is a missing aspect to our play which resembles last year.That is when we get the ball to the final third ,we have little idea what to do to create a genuine opportunity once the defence is set.That's an issue for any team.But those with the creative players who can unlock defences ,separate the contenders from the rest.
If you look at last year, those teams excelled .SFC,MV and NJ all had those type of players.Ninkovic,George,Petratos,etc.
You still need all the other ingredients,but those playmakers make the difference.
If you look at JA's style,of play,He knows to get the ball forward ,even if it's too pragmatic at times ,however the final third play looks rushed and players struggle to know what to do,then lose the ball.
It's still early days.But we can't forget we started training early and had a 'home' game against a team just back in Australia .
So against a very weak WP and MC we can say at this stage we are competitive ,but nothing to suggest we are special or real contenders.

I think it is a little harsh to say that callettie is responsible for the goal. firstly lets not take away from it, it was a worldy, he dinked it up to volley top corner from well outside the box. But lets break down the move. At the beginning TK, leck and hingert were on the right hand sideline closing down 1 MC player. The ball gets passed inside to the MC AM. All 3 let the MC AM run around them and penetrate towards the top of the box. TK was well out of position with his player inside him in space unmarked receiving the ball, Leck was in the right position, hingert was probably a little too wide given where TK was, if hingert was a little tighter he would have been able to slow the AM and not let him get into a dangerous position. At that point callettie was in the right position defensively. TK didnt have enough gas to get back once he was beaten to slow the AM, Hingert also did not make enough effort to come out of the line, neither did pepper as the AM got closer to the top of the box.  Even though callettie was the furthest from the ball, because no one else was putting in the effort to close down he gets drawn out of position. this was the wrong decision but was caused by others not doing enough. 

from that point it is down to Callettie the ball gets out to MC's right hand player, not much anyone can do. then callettie gets done by a good body fake and doesn't get close enough to fornaroli, partly his fault but also good play by a very good striker.sure the end result callettie could have done a bit better but the play should never have got there and in the end it was a worldy. 

 

Melbourne City weren’t “weak” - where does that come from?

I was impressed with their strength and conditioning which is probably the highest I’ve seen of an A League side at this early stage of the season. Roar were as fit as they were but not as strong, but over 90 minutes we were the better side, but only just, in extra time things were even.

I agree the goal should have been stopped, it was a piece of brilliance but you’d hope for better faced with Fornaroli.

And yeah, City played a defensive line that we struggled to create shots on target from but we had the chances - Bautheac failed to hit the target twice with only the keeper to beat (once from inside the 6 yard box ffs), Ricky failed to hit the target from ten yards out, Ricky also was one on one with the keeper but failed to get a shot away, and twice we were out of our seats thinking we’d scored only for a near miss to rattle the side netting when it seemed easier to score. Chances were there.

City had no such problems forcing Young in to three or four good saves. That for me was the difference - City were the side most likely to score while we were our own worst enemy

There’s work to be done but reason to be optimistic. This looks the basis for a very good Roar side.