stevethemanjordan

What I was thinking. Happens even if it’s not Dusty.

I just find it funny when posters are confused by criticism around a player. If a bunch of supporters and footballing followers share a common view for a player, there’s got to be some sort of truth to it. A whipping boy doesn’t magically appear without reason.

Not my fault the editing posts is bugged. Hope you read that post that I tagged you in btw and it’s all making sense now.

@Nasher @Wiseblood

Both dumb and stubborn. Either he needs to crack down on players during a game who continually bomb the ball inside without thought or immediately make a move to help stop the opposition pinging the ball back the other way at the speed of light. It's one two things. Not hope that the players will magically start kicking inside forward 50 with care and thought after goal number 5 in a row conceded.

Sooooooo MFC.

Forever and always.

Relax. I understand you're more upbeat than I am, so we'll settle it at that. Obviously all sides concede run-ons at one point or another. We however, have a deep-seated issue given the frequency and number of them. It's a big problem Wiseblood and a major flaw in our gameplan under Goody given the way we're playing.

It seems strange that there'd be a media circus, (including expert footy analysts) around only one team who have developed a bad habit if indeed every other side was conceding the same amount of 'run-on' goals? Would it not? They're the ones who do the critical analysis. I find it hard to imagine they'd only point the finger at us if it were happening to most other sides.

That's true. However, last year was the same story and we didn't have Lever.

Haha! Only you could take a positive out of the fact that the Carlton football club have beaten us in that particular stat. A team who is in complete rebuild mode. Amazing.

I'm interested in why it happens to us and how we can fix it. None of us needed to see those 'stats' to be able to recognise the ease at which opposition sides score once in our back-half. And yes of course there's a direct correlation between that happening and the result of a match. I can't imagine there'd be too many teams ahead of us in that list that Gerard brought up. And if there are, they'd be most likely Carlton, Gold Coast, North and Brisbane. Please yourself though if you, like Wiseblood, believe to think it's no big deal.

Almost every football analyst/media outlet shares the same view and has pointed to the same pattern that has developed. If you're not listening to the rest of the football world out there who watch objectively, then you're clearly not going to listen to your fellow demon supporters who have identified this long before last weekend's game. I say this because you've just stated that you don't think it's a huge issue, lol. I don't think you understand. In 21 of 26 games, we have conceded a run on of 4 or more goals. In eight of those games we gave up 4 unanswered goals. In five games we gave up 5. In four of the games we gave up 6. In one game we gave up 7. (Brisbane in round 2). In two we gave up 8. And we gave up 10 against Hawthorn last weekend. No biggie though I guess..

Umm. Really?

It'd be premature to address it just yet eh @ProDee?

Obvious to say, but Guss’s concussions from last year have set his development back significantly. Not only has he had limited continuity in playing games at AFL level, but we haven’t even seen him play those games in his most natural and best position, which is starting in the square. He was drafted to this club as a hard nosed, big bodied inside mid with a few other strong attributes including contested marking and an ability to kick both sides which gives him some positional flexibility. The club were rightly cautious last year when bringing him back into the side with a different role, but it’s definitely not where I want him going forward. As others have already noted, I think a contributing factor to our break down during games through the middle is due to the fact that we have so many personnel rotating through that midfield mix. It’s a double edged sword if I’ve ever seen one. Whilst it’s great to have some flexibility and options for different setups, it also takes away any sort of continuity and chemistry we could be building with a smaller and more concentrated group of mids. I have no concerns over Gus as long as he remains uninjured going forward. But really, once Lewis and Jonesy move on, we should be playing a consistent group of inside mids that play 80% + midfield time that include Viney, Oliver, Brayshaw, Salem and Petracca. Trac obviously playing more of a Dusty balance of mid/forward time due to his one-on-one dominance. I hate Tyson on a wing and I hate the fact that’s Goody continues to play far too many numbers through that part of the ground who don’t contribute enough. Our next step is to find some speed and power runners for the wings so we don’t have to continually play inside, one-sided and one-paced mids like Tyson on the outside. Clearly I’m on a rant and have entirely lost track of this thread but [censored] me can we please start playing blokes on positions they’re suited to.

Would much rather a player who would run half that amount but actually have an impact both with the ball in hand and when it’s in their area. Posters believe he is playing his ‘role’ because he’s in the team. He might be playing, but he’s not performing at all. It’s no use winning the ball and then doing nothing with it. He, like Harmes and Melksham (and some others), has started the season in a very underwhelming way.

Usually there’s someone who posts it on YouTube a few days later? Should be up tomorrow, I’ll share the link if I find it.

I don’t believe it’s a personnel problem. Except maybe when we have both of of Lewis and Vince in the backline at the same time due to their inability to keep their feet and Keck of pace. Most of our back six are fine and would benefit greatly from playing a less agressive and more defensive setup imo.

I urge you (if you haven’t already) to watch ‘on the couch’ for an insight into what a rabble we are in our defensive setup. Brown pointed out some really ordinary defensive efforts from both Lewis and Vince which also highlighted their lack of speed which again is problematic in the type of defensive structure Goodwin is trying to implement. The lack of accountability is pretty disguising from two very senior players.

^ There's your larger than life sample. Cheers

Sure it's ridiculous. But is that good? He is 7 cm taller than McEvoy. That's a lot so it's not really that surprising. Go and watch his taps, he can be very hit and miss and needs to be much more aware of where opposition mids are standing and dangerous spots that he seems to hit to. I love Gawn and when he's on he is one of the best ruckman in the competition without question. But yesterday he missed another sitter in front of goal which would have put more pressure on Hawthorn early and he could have been a lot smarter with his taps on many occasions.

Good points. They do all naturally gravitate to an aerial contest but I still firmly believe that it's partly to do with the way play as a unit. We're a rolling defence which means players are frequently swapping on opponents. And that is problematic when there's an aerial contest. It constantly looks like our players aren't sure of where their opponent is so they all fly. Agree, no idea. Down in so many areas. Not as clean when the ball is on the ground and hasn't been anywhere near good enough with his ball use.

Lever benefitted from having a backline that played a less aggressive zone and a more one-on-one style setup which allowed him to play his natural role as an elite intercept player. He was number one in the comp. We're doing him no favours in the way we're playing as a defensive setup. No favours. I'm similarly confused at why we'd go so hard after Lever and then play him in in a defensive structure that doesn't allow him to do what he does best. But this is nothing to do with him. It's to do with our style of defence. It's the same with Oscar. After seeing him play so well yesterday, I can see him being a successful full back down the track once he builds his body a bit more. But again, playing him in a zone that needs players to guard space is not a strength of his. His strengths don't lie there. We need to rijig asap.