It's the timing of both Lyon and Ox's public shaming of the team that I like, and indicate their true (and honourable) intent, to get us up and firing to knock off the Suns.

One week at a time.

It's a simple game.

Build some form.

 

Will we have a player kick 20 goals for the season?

I am betting we wont.  Might as well own another pitiful record.

If we were irrelevant we wouldn't be talked about, we're being talked about so we're relevant. So let's knock that one away for now.

As for the rest, I think so much of it rests on game plan. I remember when we were at our worst with Neeld the players looked unsure of themselves and confused. I'm starting to see a little bit of that creep in, especially when looking forward of the centre. Once we pass the centre there aren't enough players looking to change the angle and come inside, too often we get say 65-70m out from goal and go the bomb to no one in particular.

I might be missing something but I think the defence is actually settling ok, I'm not saying it's amazing, but I do feel that we let a lot of cheap goals up through basic turnovers and the midfield not covering space well enough. 

We also win enough of the ball and win enough clearances to get ourselves into positions to be attacking, but they don't seem to be sure of what to do with it. Then all to often in order to almost force something to happen someone will play on without looking or handball off (looking at you Clarry) to someone in a worse position.

I've kind of left the topic so I'll get back to it now, I am worried about the clubs future because I am becoming fed up with it. I'm rusted on Red and Blue but in a world where there is so much happening that's sucking the life out of me, watching Melbourne is just making worse.
I don't know how much more I can take.

2 hours ago, Pates said:

I've kind of left the topic so I'll get back to it now, I am worried about the clubs future because I am becoming fed up with it. I'm rusted on Red and Blue but in a world where there is so much happening that's sucking the life out of me, watching Melbourne is just making worse.

I don't know how much more I can take.

My thoughts exactly.

In 2020 the entire AFL is being questioned for its relevancy because the world has turned on its head. In a less relevant environment, tolerating MFC issues is becoming a real chore.

Bartlett spoke last week of the club's plan to fundraise a million or so around Christmas...this just reeks of being oblivious to the current situation. Why donate to a lost cause or one that brings no joy?

I wouldn’t fall into the trap of saying our “effort is as good as anyone’s” and that our skills, decision-making and efficiency forward of centre are the main things letting us down.

Our effort is precisely the thing which has disappointed me the most this season.

Insipid in Round 1, inconsistent and coasting in Round 2. Then it got worse.

Countless strings of uncontested marks and possessions by Geelong pointed to laziness, issues with accountability and little preparedness to run and cover defensively. In other words, not everyone was willing to work hard off the ball. In modern footy (and soccer and basketball), it only takes one passenger to stuff up the whole team defence thing. We had more than a few stuffing it up.

The Tigers game then showed up more passengers in other ways, with certain players - more senior players, shall we say - half-heartedly going into contests or pulling out of contests altogether. When senior, highly-paid members of a team go into self-preservation mode and are unwilling to sacrifice themselves for their teammates, you know something is amiss. You know for a start that there’s a problem with standards and expectations around effort and a team-first attitude. There also appears to be a lack of positional awareness, and even trust, among players.

I’ve been reading quite a bit about my favourite German, Jürgen Klopp, and the transformational impact - in terms of effort, intensity and buy-in - he had on Liverpool FC players from the moment he arrived at the club a few years ago. (I love the Reds, perhaps more than the Dees now - get on board if you want to follow a team that wins, that scraps and is relentless in its pursuit of excellence!)

Klopp is an excellent man-manager and has always had a very clear idea and philosophy about how his teams should play, but I am particularly interested in how he manages to motivate and inspire his players - many of whom are superstars in their own right - to work so bloody hard when they don’t have the ball, like maniacs really, for 90 minutes game after game, season after season.

To give an insight into this, these are some quotes from their experienced hard-nut midfielder, James Milner, over the past week on Klopp's exacting training standards, focus on running and intensity, and how he changed that side of LFC's game overnight (even though the skill side of things and quality ball-use took longer):

Asked about Klopp's intense training sessions, Milner said [my emphasis in bold]: “We had to adapt to that - there were a lot of injuries early on. People were saying, 'You can't do that!' You could, you just had to get used to it. Straight away you saw the tempo and the intensity in that first game at Spurs. 

"It was ridiculous really, it wasn't like we played at a slow tempo under Brendan [Rodgers]. That journey started then with the manager's methods and how he wanted us to play. 

"You saw it come in bit by bit. One week the quality would be there and the next week we would be miles off it."

And this, spoken in the immediate aftermath of their Premiership victory:

"He [Klopp] is right up there at the top, if not the best. How he goes about training is different to anything I've done before.

"Never do you have a session when you are in auto pilot. Everything is about reacting to the next situation.

"He has a good relationship with the players and knows when a rocket is needed. He is very good at taking other opinions on board. The team always comes first.

"How we play as a team is different to how I have played anywhere else. If one player doesn’t do his job, the whole thing breaks down. That is down to the characters he has put together."

I want my Melbourne team to be as relentless, as cohesive, as driven and work as consistently and as hard as LFC, with all players held to the same standards and expectations, especially around defence, which everyone can do no matter how skilful or highly-paid you are. I want to see and feel that ‘the team always comes first’. This is all a supporter really wants from his/her team, isn’t it? But this is not what I’m seeing at the moment, and that in turn is driving me - and others no doubt - away from this once-proud and fierce club (at least, so my dad tells me), despite there being stuff-all else in life to look forward to in this dreary, and increasingly scary, locked-down world.

Our effort is great when we can be bothered..  problem is.. we cant be bothered for 4 qtrs.. we played close to what we are capable of for 4 qtrs we would be 3-1. 

On 7/6/2020 at 11:32 PM, ding said:

One of the best players we have ever had, and a crying shame his knees robbed him of the lasting greatness he was headed for.

I love that he is still so passionate about the club.

Is he a tiny bit OTT? Maybe, but he has earned the right to be as critical as he wants.

Thank Christ the heat is finally being turn up on this sorry [censored] excuse for a club.

Yep, still in absolute awe of his (Schwarta) Club sentiments and loyalties, and efforts. His ability as a footballer was absolutely immense, too. However, injuries were horrid but admiration must stem from his determination to get back onto the field to do his bit for the Club - and this was duplicated many times to demonstrate his own commitment to the MFC. His game, particularly, would so often demonstrate his anticipation and understanding of the game and the circumstances of the team. In his earlier days, prior to his totally debilitating run of injuries and physical recoveries, I used to rate him a few steps higher than Lyon and Neitz. His tactics and strategic efforts complemented his footy skills - he saw, he did, he surprised, repeatedly. Just like Flower - in a different function. For these thinking-man's contributions, I also rated his footy nouse above most across the past two decades. I still do and personally, I welcome his comments and feelings about our current team and its performances. The bloke is mature, diverse and legendary now - I'd even consider him to make a great coach of the team someday. 

He makes some reasonable points but board challenges are the biggest empty threat in footy.

On 7/7/2020 at 10:00 AM, Half forward flank said:

Beveridge is the man for the job at the Dees. .

Ex Demon player as well so he knows the culture.

That's why he would never want to coach here ?