Asunto: S15 - The Australia Cup

so you'll be playing your normal cup lineup then?!

Haven't even thought about it as yet.

Looks like today's fixture has decided my fate for our game.

Out - my best defender
Out - my best passing midfielder
Out - my best striker

Thinking about going with my 2nd XI now....only thing stopping me being certain is supporter mood copping a greater hit.

Ive got somewhat the same problem....

Out - Barjuan - One of my strongest Defenders Injured
Out - Morton - Another of my strongest Defenders Injured
Out - Bayraktaroglu - 2nd Best Midfielder. 3rd Yellow
Out - Schoofs - No real big deal here, but still a blow. Injured

Should be able to manage, considering I'm playing Salgaocar twice in the week, will need to field some of the younger kids this game for training purposes. Adkins/Neill in the defensive wing positions, Censini playing either on the wing or in the centre of the park (undecided yet)

I should be able to pull through this weekend, the next challenge will be beating Tollygunge.

Sigh, well moment of truth coming shortly. Haven't been past the 5th round for a very, very long time and if there was a single round I have the wobbles you can bank it's this one. Hope to get away and progress into the 6th round where a cash prize awaits. I feel with a few decent draws for cup games, there's nothing preventing me from making the final. Got to get past this game first and as confident as I'd like to be, they've recently beat my 1st XI 3-0 and they'll use their 1st XI again tonight.

Bring on the match I say, although I won't be watching it live due to the WCQ against Japan being significantly more important not to miss ;).

Edit: Damn that red card was a blessing in disguise!
(editado)

Thought about it long and hard and went with a training lineup. Red card to one of my back three in the third minute killed things off and within 25mins I was 3-0 down. Just not enough depth in my training stocks this season with my training overhaul.

Goooooooooooooooone.

that's a joke.

TG were extremely fortunate. 1st goal came from an easy take spill from Masi. 2nd goal came from a long range strike and as much as it's a quality finish, questions must be asked why the defense didn't tackle him. 3rd goal came from somehow beating Siemaszko in a duel that 95% of the time would see Siemaszko win the ball. Final goal came from a through ball played from well inside their own defensive half.

Meanwhile I get 10 shots and only score twice. 20% accuracy as opposed to their 57% accuracy.

Guess that's just how it's meant to be. Makes it 7 times in a row now out in the 5th round, 6 times in a row I get beaten the first time I concede a goal.

Looks like the cup is Tribe's to lose now. Guess it's back to focussing on taking the A League title crown now but hugely disappointed in the result.
(editado)

Pretty happy with the tactic I went with. Its my usual one with modifications to allow for the Soul's highish off-side trap. Despite being only 1-nil up it was working nicely until the 45th minute when Hirons picked up his red card. That was when I realised I'd forgotten to set conditional orders for the first time this season. (Normally Croxall would move across and take the point and I'd essentially play with 1 wing/forward instead of 2)

We had to do a lot more defending in the 2nd half as we were hesitant sending the ball forward (no central target). When we did get it forward it wasn't too bad though and eventually Link found Croxall who drilled it in at the far corner to make things a bit more comfortable. A few tense moments in defense, but have to be happy with only conceding 4 shots to a very good side. You give yourself every chance of victory with a 10-4 shot count.


Watched the Comets vs 'Gunge game as well. Certainly some unfortunate fumbles and Aloisi's long shot was a beauty. At a guess he wasn't tackled because your defenders thought your DM's were going to come back to get him, its one of the costs of having defensive mids that distance from your back-line, I see it with my guys occasionally. I hate those long through-balls as well, but to be fair cometer, your usual tactics with a huge gap between your mids and strikers often generates the same sorts of balls.

Don't have time to watch the other games, but just from the results...

* Very impressed with Tong's win over TBF, looks like they've done a good job of replicating the TBF formation and served it right back at them.
* I was happy with my 2-0 win on my 10-4 shot count. I suspect Tigermaster won't be impressed with his 0-2 loss with his 10-4 shot count against Salgaocar. Bummer.
* FCM tigers forfeiting against PRT was disappointing for everyone I'm sure, used to be one of the great rivalries of Australia Sokker, and they don't get many competitive games these days.
(editado)

but to be fair cometer, your usual tactics with a huge gap between your mids and strikers often generates the same sorts of balls.

Most of mine go through to the winger rather than through the defense line, but yeah I do generate a lot of long passes so perhaps I shouldn't complain but with everything else like the 1st spill for example followed by their 3rd goal. They'd be the two I'm most annoyed with.

As for the 2nd, don't think it's the DM's I actually think the striker got 50-50 in distance between the defs and so consequently neither made the move expecting the other too. I'll take a rewatch later.

The actual aim was to keep them out, rather than to outscore them. That plan backfired in a major way and perhaps my DM's pushed a little too far upfield.

Join the club, cometer. To rub salt in my wounds Losers got pumped by Cumlionibus.

Comets, TBF, Froggies, Achmids and Chelsea all gone. Devastation in round 5!

All that needs to be said is: MEH - Cup not a big factor this season for me.

Dave: Suck it up! Its the cup, Definitely Tribe's to lose, Just focus on the NT =)

On a side note, I am not sure what my plans are for the rest of this season considering I will be in Europe for the Majority of next season (thus relinquishing the NT U21 Position at season end) The question I am asking myself is; Do i want to stay in the A League for next season, and get pummelled for not being active, or Do I relegate this season (if I am in 5th or below) and then attempt to move back up the following season.

Tough decisions to be made by season end. Out of the cup, not big deal, Training has definitely been the priority of late.

Join the club, cometer. To rub salt in my wounds Losers got pumped by Cumlionibus.

It would be another II.03 team that pumps Losers though wouldn't it, adding extra annoyance to your early exit last week.

Still I guess the advantage is now I can seriously attempt to gain points over the next few weeks that Tribe are in the cup, hopefully able to take a slight lead heading into the back half of the season. Seems I can knock TBF off but not TG though, lost 2 games this season, both to Tollygunge :(.

We all have our bogey teams. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, but that's the way it goes. On the upside, no injuries.

"* FCM tigers forfeiting against PRT was disappointing for everyone I'm sure, used to be one of the great rivalries of Australia Sokker, and they don't get many competitive games these days."


It sure was. FCM have sold many players and haven't had time to buy new. Hopefully my mate TigerTUFF will get time enough to get his Tigers back on track. One of the most fun things in this game is to play your mates and I do not want mine to quit!

I had to read your spill to see what happened in the game. I just finished my two day drive up to north QLD with the only check being to make sure i set my firsts as my lineup against you. I obviously didn't make a tactic for this game but that was more because i wanted to see the effect of the tactic i think i selected against one of the best teams in aus. Congrats on the win mate, and good luck with going on to win the cup. I can get back to my relaxing season in II.04 now