I have this picture in my head of a MV fan opening his only Xmas present and finding Berisha.

Then seeing the look on his face when his MC brother opens his 3 bigger presents.

No need for a proper holding midfielder when you have Mooy and Murdocca there who can both tackle. Shades of McKay/Brattan

City to play Bury, Oldham and Bolton this month over in England.

Nice.

-PB

So a Championship, League 1 and League 2 club .. that'll be interesting.

This new ownership is becoming real... last year we trumpeted our match in Shepparton!

I'm very excite!

lampard will fit under the cap :cool:

That backline and goalkeeper still look rather concerning for City.

Doesn't matter if your scoring 2-3 goals down the other end if your defense is leaking more.

Just revealed the new kits and a new Etihad deal.

you would think that mooy would get pretty dirty about being stuck as a DM after leaving WSW when he couldnt get the job as the starting AM.

Really need you guys to nab a win so I can complete my signature.

If Germano ever gets fit, he's our best DM, in fact only.

But same goes with RB.

Edited by mulhollanddrive: 17/7/2014 05:21:27 PM

The club has released the first merchandise:

NEWS: Exclusive FFA Cup Merchandise



Thursday, 7 August 2014

Melbourne City FC has released a merchandise range that will be available at the FFA Cup clash in Ballarat.

The Club has released a limited range of merchandise for our FFA Cup clash in Ballarat against Sydney FC.

This will be the first time members and the public will be able to purchase Club gear with a more extensive range released closer to the season.

The range includes the Fashion Tee that David Villa has been pictured in.

Remember to redeem your Member-get-Member shop vouchers that you can use with this exclusive release.

Prices are listed below and will be available until stocks last:

Supporter Cap one size fits all $25
Kids Fashion Tee 1-14 $35
Adult Fashion Tee S-3XL $40
Adult Supporter Polo S-3XL $70

http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/news-exclusive/1x29e37q510rl16pek4u69wrx1

And our remaining Pre-season schedule:



http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/news-melbourne-city-fc-announces-additional-pre-season-matches/1drho48ap4d661osxo91bj859z

Majority mercy a solid sky blue...
Further proof in my eyes the club has no intention taking the 'sky blue+navy blue stripe' anywhere further past this season.

Hurry up and announce your legal action already. We know it's coming.

I'm really curious as to what JVS and the players of Melbourne City's views are, on Villa and the Guest arrangements? How does JVS plan to accommodate/utilise him?

Has City's pre-season reflected how JVS may utilise Villa? Is Villa even likely to start right off the bat? Or being a player short on Match-Fitness, would he be transitioned in or used as an impact player even?!

JVS hasn't spoken much about what he thinks overall of Villa coming to City (as nearly every question he's had about Villa is 'when is he coming?'), except for what he said about Villa in the official club announcement:


http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/article/melbourne-city-fc-confirms-david-villa/idkytoxh8mib17j1vcv2jgqdy


And the only statement I've seen from players about playing with Villa that go beyond platitudes (like 'it will be amazing') was these words from David Williams:



http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4021/a-league/2014/07/08/4943748/bring-it-on-williams-welcomes-villa-competition


JVS hasn't spoken about how he'll play Villa in the team. The club has had something of a media blackout about the subject for whatever reason, possibly because they are waiting to have a big splash when Villa arrives, rather than talk about what it'll be like when Villa arrives for weeks before he arrives in Australia. Anyway, it broke today that Villa will arrive next month, seemingly in the first week of October, with Villa making this statement today: "I don't know if it's official, but it will be next month," said Villa (http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/09/18/new-york-city-fc-star-forward-david-villa-seattle-sounders-class-above-rest-).


So the club has said precious few things about what Villa's time will be like at Melbourne City. But there's a few things that can be reasoned/guessed from the club's pre-season:

- Given that Villa will arrive so soon to the league starting, he either may not play the opening game, or he may miss one game early in the season. Especially because Melbourne City's 11th game is the 2nd Melbourne derby, I'm tipping the club to rest Villa in one game so that 1 of Villa's 10 games can be the 2nd derby.

- I'm not expecting Villa to play 90 minutes in every game he plays for Melbourne City, mainly because of the lack of pre-season he'll have with the team. So I reckon he'll either be subbed on, say at the start of the 2nd half or on 60 minutes, or he'll be subbed off, possibly after 60 minutes or so. There's a possibility though that he could play more than people might expect, as he's been training in the gym for several weeks and yesterday David Villa posted this instagram video of him training with the ball, http://instagram.com/p/s7pJ3pvBcZ/ , so it's possible that Villa might be well prepared to integrate into the team quite quickly (and he is not too old at 32, and he trained & played as recently as the World Cup, and how long should a world class player like him actually need to fit in and play for a team?).

- JVS has played 3 up front all pre-season, so Villa will either play as the striker/no 9 or as the left winger. I'd guess that he will play as the striker, because City have been playing Williams, Marino and James Brown as our striker (and Brown played in that position last match), and the striker position is the position in most need of improvement. The team is fine for wingers, with Duff, Dugandzic, Williams and maybe Garuccio. And given that the Australian marquee spot will only seemingly be filled with Josh Kennedy joining the team in late December, I'm pretty certain that Villa will be the focal point of the team's attack and he is planned to be played as the striker.


Anyway, due to the lack of info released there's a lack of certainty about what Villa's stint at Melbourne City will be like, but IMO the above points are the best bets regarding what will happen when David Villa joins the club between October and December.

Thank you for that Murfy! really answers most angles to my queries!! =d>

And indeed, with more answers come more questions and indeed - I suspected that too - A controlled PR campaign and it means that it's soo opaque as we can't tell when he'll be utilised, let alone 'how'. It even gives the impression to a degree as to how much is his arrival a help or hindrance. Arriving a week before the A-League is far from ideal, for any arrival. And in the end, he only a guest.

Managing his stint is an interesting task for JVS, but like Crook's difficulty, not an enviable position to be in - especially as he himself has hinted at, the 'greatly increased expectations'. That is essentially what Crook faced! Expectations are greatly changed now, especially during the period Villa there? Same time, he's only there 10 games and measuring his impact on and off the field, is a variable in itself.

Though good point about how the 10 games can be implemented - so they're not required to be in a block or certain window?! :-k I still presume there's some restriction, so even if he doesn't play some due to injury, he can't be here too long. Though naturally there's an external restriction with the NYC pre-season, season start.

Also, interesting remarks from Williams - in some ways he would be the player of the bunch, who's position would be threatened by Villa's arrival. But same time, depending on tactical shape and player utilisation, Williams could/should be on one of the attacking flanks. Villa upfront makes sense. A front 3 of (R>L); Williams, Villa and Duff, seems logical and given Duff's age/fitness risks and Villa's temporary stint, that combination will only be 10 games very most - So Dugandzic, James Brown and co should see plenty of opportunity.


With LB - discussion from another thread IIRC - Ramsay could STILL be 'the-go' even if he can't defend? Depends how JVS sets up and if they throw caution to the wind some games and just attack-attack, especially with a full strength, Villa-lead, line up?! They might go for out-scoring an opponent, especially with fast, attacking overlapping wingbacks like a Ramsay or Garuccio at LWB? :-k Thinking about it more - would make even more sense if the older/slower Duff is the LWer infront? Would compliment his relative lack of pace and engine/stamina, if Garuccio or Ramsay are pushing forward to overlap and support Duff - draw defenders?

It may be old-school, but high-scoring games entertain the casuals too. :p

Edited by GloryPerth: 20/9/2014 10:18:29 PM

Home kit released today. $90 plus postage.

http://www.nikestore.com.au/2014-15-melbourne-city-fc-stadium-home-726423-100#

Got my shirt today at the family day. Very good quality and fit. Vast difference from the stuff Kappa served up.

Merchandise was selling fast today at family day, with long lines to buy all through the few hours that the event was on. Impressive.

Great turn out, excellent weather and a fairly well organised event.

As a side note to that, the new pitches look to be very high standard, but the facilities still look to be lacking. I know they were meant to have did some minor upgrades inside the pavilion but the space isn't huge.

Wonder when a major upgrade and expansion will be announced.

The LB position for City, like for seemingly every A-League side, is a problem position, and probably City's biggest problem position IMO. The team just has no LBs.

Garuccio has missed a significant amount of pre-season due to Young Socceroos callups, and a few days ago he rolled his ankle, so he'll be out for a little while. I think he is JVS' preferred LB, as whenever JVS has the opportunity he has seemingly played him over Ramsay.

And yeah Ramsay is pretty much all attack and no defence at LB. He has the motor to get up the pitch and help out with attacks, but despite playing at LB for most of pre-season he still looks very raw defensively to me.

I think it's spot on to say that the plan is to throw caution to the wind and attack-attack-attack. So, if things go to plan, Melbourne City will have the majority of possession, and City will be putting pressure on the opposition's defense and will be making them work, whilst Ramsay's defensive qualities (or lack thereof) won't be put to work too often.

Ramsay does get up field a lot as a LB, and will overlap. But despite Duff's advanced years, to my surprise, he really is pretty good pace-wise, and on top of that because he has very smart movement, I'm tipping his runs to unsettle many an A-League defender.


There's still a chance that Melbourne City will sign a left-back. Scott Munn said 2 months ago the club is looking for an 'attacking left back', so the club seems to be keenly aware that they need to bring in a LB. They tried to sign Australian James Meredith of Bradford City 6 weeks ago, but the League One player thought he was too good for the A-League. And the club is rumoured to be trialling the 19 year old Aussie Ryan Go at some stage.
So the club knows what's required, and an LB would pretty much be the final piece of the puzzle. If the club can sign an LB that's good by A-League standards, as well as Josh Kennedy, it will be a near perfect period of recruitment by the club, and the team will be unrecognisably better when compared with last season's team.

Rumours continue to circulate that David Villa isn't coming. This can be confirmed by the fact that he is still in New York. Oh well I suppose anything to bump up the pitiful crowds & memberships of this hilarious terrorist financed entity.....

Edited by lollywood: 22/9/2014 02:09:59 PM

The plan was for him to arrive early October, if he doesn't show up before then there's some cause for concern :lol:

Don't know anything about those unsourced rumours, but David Villa himself said a few days ago that he'll be arriving next month:



http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/09/18/new-york-city-fc-star-forward-david-villa-seattle-sounders-class-above-rest-

Also, JVS announced yesterday at the Melbourne City Family Day that there will be an official announcement about Villa's arrival this week.

You are in need of new sources of your information, or just a bad troll based on the rest of that post.

Good luck with that one :lol:

solid troll, 2.3/10

Not troll, your company funds ISIS.

9,500 full season members have signed up and we haven't played our first home game yet.

Last year at this point we were sitting on 6,190...that's an increase of 53.5% =d>