praha

The only teams playing consistently high pressure AND high quality atm are Collingwood and Geelong. Watching every other game with finals contenders and no team really seems to ever be getting out of second gear. Maybe it's just me.

My concern last year was that we seemed to choke at moments when games were there to take. Polar opposite to 2021. Sydney under lights at the MCG x2. Collingwood prime time x2. Two finals. The second Bulldogs game at Marvel. Freo at the MCG. As soon as good teams applied pressure we seemed to really struggle. Brisbane and Essendon have beaten us in almost identical fashion this year. They used the corridor and put together strings of possession into the flanks, putting defenders of guard and leading to a higher F50 efficiency vs Melbourne, and by a considerable margin. We should win this week but we're looking more like a mid-table side than a top 4 side atm. Maybe that's the reality and real reflection of where we're at, and we're expecting too much.

Getting this to under 20 points would be a huge win.

This was more Melbourne losing than Essendon winning. We had no run and looked slow from the first bounce. Essendon is extremely mid. Bad loss. Onto next week.

I mean it is though lol

Who cares, really. It's round 5. You honestly think this Essendon style could hold up in finals? They're playing a team who's travelled three times in 5 rounds and on a 6 day break.

Look it's a bad performance but people need to get a grip. Collingwood lost to West Coast's seconds last year. Geelong were 3-2 after 5 rounds and 4-3 after 7 last year. Richmond similar in 2019.

Switching off. Horrid. 10 goal loss written all over it.

Game over. Worst performance since 2019. Easily.

Essendon is the most mid team in the league. They're not even playing that well. Which makes this all the more frustrating to watch.

Draper. Sam. [censored]. Draper.

10 marks inside 50 for Essendon.

10 marks inside 50 for Essendon.

Melksham kicking a bag against the Bombers would make a win that bit more special.

Everyone complaining about Kayo. Pay a bit extra a month for Foxtel. Better value and a better overall football experience. Anyway, Essendon got 4 goals either directly from free kicks or from free kicks up the ground. Most probably there but debateable given they weren't called both ways. They are targeting our backline because of no Lever, pretty obvious. Their strings of possesion were very concerning. Especially given they aren't a very fast team. Draper tearing us up is giving me an aneurysm. If Stringer gets involved next, I'll vomit.

5 marks inside 50 in a quarter is horrid defence.

Essendon is so average. We look well below them atm.

Almost all of Essendon's score has come from free kicks.

Living in and around Essendon for the past 20 years, I've come to realise that Essendon supporters are essentially an affluent version of the Richmond supporter. Their version of the game is essentially "The umpire is always wrong, everyone is always out to get us, we have a rightful place amongst the greats, the league is grateful of our existence." Being at The Lincoln Arms or Royal during an Essendon game is truly nauseating, with 10-20 of them spreading out across enough seats and tables for 50 people, sipping on red wine and Pure Blonde. Don't make eye contact, no sudden movements. Avoid football small talk with an Essendon supporter at all costs: your eyes will roll so hard into your skull, you'll do a 360 flip. Anyway, Melbourne by 32 points.

Our kicks just always seem to fall short.

This umpiring is something else.

Langdon smoked teammates twice for a low percentage shot on goal.

All of their drive has come from intercepts at our CHF. When they don't interceot, we score.

Is the feed cooked for anyone else on Fox Footy? Bottom 10% of the screen is cut off, but then feeds through onto the top. EDIT: Nevermind, fixed

Classic Lobb goal. Out of position. Out the back. Checkside because no left foot.