Is Melbourne guilty of the same problem but we don’t want to admit it, particularly as a coaching group….we play one way and one way only and can’t, or won’t adjust when we need to

We are known as a team that overuses the ball, is vulnerable to pressure and is heavily  reliant on defence, particularly intercept marking, which when we come up against well coached and capable teams we eventually fall over - we have some very skilled players but our tactical planning and execution is letting us down

  On 05/08/2022 at 13:41, Blue-and-red said:

Is Melbourne guilty of the same problem but we don’t want to admit it, particularly as a coaching group….we play one way and one way only and can’t, or won’t adjust when we need to

We are known as a team that overuses the ball, is vulnerable to pressure and is heavily  reliant on defence, particularly intercept marking, which when we come up against well coached and capable teams we eventually fall over - we have some very skilled players but our tactical planning and execution is letting us down

We are poorly coached. Just fortunate we had a purple patch last year. Collingwood shown us tonight what happens when you convert your chances and maximize forward 50 entries. In addition, it looked as though our mids weren’t running both ways. Teams can easily run over the top of us.

I feel like the thread topics after a loss are a little one dimensional. 

In the words of Norm Smith:

"I ate humble pie, it had a terrible taste" 

All teams are. We have a game plan and Goodwin takes weeks to even think about tweaking.

Teams only ever change when they are losing, we too 6 weeks to make some moves and we got back to some form, tonight tho under any other circumstance we win, they don’t kick that straight again.

But in saying that, defensively if we get cut open there isn’t even plan A v2 let alone a plan B and kicking into f50 is only plan A.

  On 05/08/2022 at 13:41, Blue-and-red said:

Is Melbourne guilty of the same problem but we don’t want to admit it, particularly as a coaching group….we play one way and one way only and can’t, or won’t adjust when we need to

We are known as a team that overuses the ball, is vulnerable to pressure and is heavily  reliant on defence, particularly intercept marking, which when we come up against well coached and capable teams we eventually fall over - we have some very skilled players but our tactical planning and execution is letting us down

Yes, i am afraid Langdon's loose words have already come back to haunt us. (Predictably.) We have been thoroughly exposed. 4 wins from our last 10 matches. This isn't the performance of even a marginal contender. We have some great players, but too many mediocrities and/or players with serious limitations. And the great players have had relatively injury free years. What would Melb be without Oliver and Petracca? Shudder to think.

I would just love to see some variation to the plan occasionally. Obviously our game plan has served us well but when it isn’t working in game why not change it up as we are so predictable. Why do we ALWAYS kick our from full back to the left side of the ground. Why can’t we switch from a zone defence to one on one in game. Why is our default kick into the forward line to a pocket. I hope we have something up our sleeve for finals and it is not just blind faith and stubbornness as we have been worked out or it isn’t working as well as it should. There needs to be change whether it be “method” or personnel.

The “all duck no dinner” quote isn’t looking great, only because it perfectly describes our current form. As Goody said, I reckon if he could take it back he would. Love that he defended Lingers integrity though. Learnings! 

Looking forward to a three course feast when we front up against Caaaaarlton next week. GO DEES 

Edited August 6, 20222 yr by Wodjathefirst

  On 06/08/2022 at 00:11, Webber said:

The “all duck no dinner” quote isn’t looking great, only because it perfectly describes our current form. As Goody said, I reckon if he could take it back he would. Love that he defended Lingers integrity though. Learnings! 

Yep it was a stupid comment. 
Their one trick has beaten us twice this year. 
 

We are also one trick ponies. We only win when we shut down the game and play defensively. We can’t win shootouts. So we are no different to any other team.  

  On 06/08/2022 at 02:07, Jaded No More said:

We are also one trick ponies. We only win when we shut down the game and play defensively. We can’t win shootouts. So we are no different to any other team.  

Yes we are different, we can never win a close one and struggle to win in Victoria.

Is it worth altering training this week to about 1/3rd of the usual time spent on weekly training drills.

The other two thirds.... plus an extra separate shorter session purely on mid / forward transistion, forward craft in general and pressure elements inside 50 without the ball??

The rest we surely have a good handle on and just needs a brief 1/3rd freshen up.

Small / Medium forwards who don't cut the mustard in these sessions without the ball (bringing forward 50 pressure) may need to be culled in favour of in form Casey alternatives who are bringing it (where available and their form at Casey warrants the call up).

We need to sharpen the hell up here or we can kiss the 2022 cup goodbye.  This will also put everyone on notice that our game is very solid elsewhere with not much tweaking needed so that hopes are kept high in general however... reality is also put on the table.  If everyone works hard enough to improve this aspect of our methods/skills etc then we are still in the hunt.