Melbourne FC

[Dry Rot]

Re: Melbourne FC

That was the first time this year that the bad traits of Melbourne from years past reared its head. Low pressure (Spargo, ANB and Pickett had 4 tackles between them), lax defending across the ground and particularly through the corridor, their inside mids reverted back to being like bees to a honeypot and forgot about their opposition on the outside and they just torched the ball by hand (Pendles had an insane amount of intercept possession for a midfielder).

Oliver and Petracca both had their worst games for the year.

I thought as a club they had stamped out these behaviours but they're still lying dormant if today's performance is anything to go by.

Interesting, insightful post.

What did the Crows do to beat them?

[comrade]

Re: Melbourne FC

Interesting, insightful post.

What did the Crows do to beat them?

I haven't seen that one besides the last few minutes but from the post match analysis, it seemed like Adelaide were really effective going forward by hitting up short targets and kicking goals from further out than teams usually do. Similar to how Sydney broke down Richmond.

For Melbourne, the Adelaide loss was probably an unlucky one where both sides played well but they were just on the wrong side of the ledger. Yesterday, they were comprehensibly beaten all day and the final margin flattered them. I'd imagine there would be some red lights flashing internally after that sort of performance.

[Happy Days]

Re: Melbourne FC

I haven't seen that one besides the last few minutes but from the post match analysis, it seemed like Adelaide were really effective going forward by hitting up short targets and kicking goals from further out than teams usually do. Similar to how Sydney broke down Richmond.

For Melbourne, the Adelaide loss was probably an unlucky one where both sides played well but they were just on the wrong side of the ledger. Yesterday, they were comprehensibly beaten all day and the final margin flattered them. I'd imagine there would be some red lights flashing internally after that sort of performance.

Adelaide also took them on through the corridor and kinda lucked out in never being punished for it. An exciting and admirable effort but not something you can really seek to replicate.

[jeemak]

Re: Melbourne FC

The shape of the grounds may have a bit to do with how Melbourne were broken down.

You can spread the defence length wise well at Adelaide and transition into the corridor on the diagonal/ laterally. It doesn't seem like much, but a bit like at Geelong or the old Subiaco if you got it right transition can be quick and you can break a line.

The SCG is short, so if you manage to get it into the corridor you can break lines and get the ball deep really quickly. It's also wide enough to chip laterally and diagonally if you need to go slow between the arcs.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Melbourne FC

I really rate Viney as an out. It’s similar to Libba, Dunks for us. Shut down Oliver they don’t really have a really decent grunter in their current system.
Harmes/Brayshaw can play that role and they have a young guy whose name escapes me but Viney is a superb player IMO at ground level with contested ball.
Yesterday he was missed.

[comrade]

Re: Melbourne FC

I really rate Viney as an out. It’s similar to Libba, Dunks for us. Shut down Oliver they don’t really have a really decent grunter in their current system.
Harmes/Brayshaw can play that role and they have a young guy whose name escapes me but Viney is a superb player IMO at ground level with contested ball.
Yesterday he was missed.

He's a bit of a loss but he's a shocker when it comes to tunnel vision on the inside. Just gets sucked into the contest and leaves his opponent as an outlet. Harmes has been a very good replacement for him, they haven't lost much at all in production.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Melbourne FC

He's a bit of a loss but he's a shocker when it comes to tunnel vision on the inside. Just gets sucked into the contest and leaves his opponent as an outlet. Harmes has been a very good replacement for him, they haven't lost much at all in production.

It’s interesting I have a really high opinion of Viney and the opposite of Harmes. Whenever I see him play he seems the heartbeat of that team, and really set a standard of work rate in times when they had many one way runners. Maybe I’ve got an unconscious bias because I like that type of player but I’d have Viney any day and I thought he should’ve been their captain when they announced Gawn.

[comrade]

Re: Melbourne FC

It’s interesting I have a really high opinion of Viney and the opposite of Harmes. Whenever I see him play he seems the heartbeat of that team, and really set a standard of work rate in times when they had many one way runners. Maybe I’ve got an unconscious bias because I like that type of player but I’d have Viney any day and I thought he should’ve been their captain when they announced Gawn.

I like Viney but I'd rather him going head to head with Libba, than someone who will completely sacrifice his own game.

[1eyedog]

Re: Melbourne FC

It’s interesting I have a really high opinion of Viney and the opposite of Harmes. Whenever I see him play he seems the heartbeat of that team, and really set a standard of work rate in times when they had many one way runners. Maybe I’ve got an unconscious bias because I like that type of player but I’d have Viney any day and I thought he should’ve been their captain when they announced Gawn.

I rate Viney. He offsets everything else they bring quite well. The only reason he wasn't made Captain is that he refused to sign a new contract at the time.

[Scraggers]

Re: Melbourne FC

I think the biggest difference between Melbourne 2021 and Bulldogs 2021 is the fact we are winning the games we are expected to win whereas Melbourne would have penciled their two losses in as win at the beginning of the season. They're having brain fades, we are playing more consistent football.

[Bornadog]

Re: Melbourne FC

I think the biggest difference between Melbourne 2021 and Bulldogs 2021 is the fact we are winning the games we are expected to win whereas Melbourne would have penciled their two losses in as win at the beginning of the season. They're having brain fades, we are playing more consistent football.

In their 13 games, they have beaten Hawks by 50 points, but the rest of their wins have been around 30 points or under.

They haven't really put anyone away comprehensively, like we have.

[comrade]

Re: Melbourne FC

I would say Melbourne have easily played more bad quarters than we have, but have played well enough in their good quarters to win games. In fact, we haven't come close to playing as badly as Melbourne did yesterday, even in our loss to Melbourne (which was a shocker but was really 1 horrible quarter and a couple of average ones).

IMO, their ceiling isn't as high as ours and their floor is lower based on performances so far, they've just been able to get closer to their ceiling for long enough.

[jeemak]

Re: Melbourne FC

I would say Melbourne have easily played more bad quarters than we have, but have played well enough in their good quarters to win games. In fact, we haven't come close to playing as badly as Melbourne did yesterday, even in our loss to Melbourne (which was a shocker but was really 1 horrible quarter and a couple of average ones).

IMO, their ceiling isn't as high as ours and their floor is lower based on performances so far, they've just been able to get closer to their ceiling for long enough.

I don't think either Geelong or Richmond brought any substantial heat to their games against Melbourne either. Possibly easy for me to say and I might be biased, though neither seemed to be anywhere near the level they've been when at their best this year.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: Melbourne FC

I don't think either Geelong or Richmond brought any substantial heat to their games against Melbourne either. Possibly easy for me to say and I might be biased, though neither seemed to be anywhere near the level they've been when at their best this year.

This was absolutely the case. Both were well down, as were we. I don’t want to knock Melbourne because they’re bloody good and may have won anyway but this was certainly the case.

[jeemak]

Re: Melbourne FC

This was absolutely the case. Both were well down, as were we. I don’t want to knock Melbourne because they’re bloody good and may have won anyway but this was certainly the case.

It's not really something the footy world wants to talk about, in lieu of some pretty powerful talking heads in the media landscape being MFC acolytes or ex-players.