2020/21 W-League Thread

stax on the mull

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Couple of quality strikes by Taylor Ray and Rachel Lowe in the 2nd half for SydneyFC gave them a 2-1 win over Newcastle after being down at half time.




 

acm21

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Melbourne city are not up there this year. Lost 6-0 to victory.
 

stax on the mull

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Annalie Longo and Kyra Cooney Cross controlled the midfield and Lisa De Vanna up front provided lots of spark, assisted in cameo bursts by Melina Ayres. De Vanna was as involved in the first 2 before scoring the 3rd. I watched Kira Cooney Cross 18 months back playing with the Young Matildas and her physique now is so much more athletic. Always looked like she had lots of talent from when she played her first game with the Victory when she was 15, but now looks like the real deal that can be a dominant player in the W League and go on to play for the senior national team. Angie Beard at left back also had a good game winning the ball back through tackles and contributing attacking crosses.

Not much to say about Melb City. When they tried to play out of defence they didn't get to halfway before being cut off - often being dispossessed in a one on one after Victory forwards closed down space and pressured the passes out. Their defenders didn't seem on the same page with their criss cross passing back via their GK and they're missing Emma Checker. Two youngsters in their starting 11 brought in from the Brisbane Roar - Leah Davidson and Hollie Palmer hardly touched it.

The Japanese midfielder Kira was their best in the first half along with Withers up front who had some speed to take on and get around defenders and Cain had a good patch getting a couple of good shots close to goal. Withers had the clearest chance to score off a free-kick deflected back to her but her left foot wasn't up to it.

When Chidiac came on she showed she had the skills to play the ball in a positive way and construct some interplay with her team mates, but Kira was subbed shortly after and that pairing I was hoping for never eventuated and it turned out to be just a little fizz of excitement as all the City players seemed to capitulate in the heat when it was clear the game was lost and the last 3 Victory goals were piled on without resistance.
 
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Yeoman-Dale made a good comment during the coverage yesterday that Vidosic has kept the same tactics and formation for City this season that he used last season when he had basically half the Matildas, plus other internationals turning out for City week-in and week-out when he doesn't have the same team any more.

Johnson is three games into her comeback to professional football after retiring in 2019 and she looks a liability. IMO, McCormick is wildly overrated as a defender (and her whinging about her time in Spain doesn't help matters) but basically Vidosic doesn't have anyone else fit to play in the heart of defence, with Checker still coming back from stress fractures. It's certainly no Checker-Stott-Barnes in defence for City.

Vidosic wants the wing-backs pushing forward to support the attack. I think Cain was horrible in midfield. Her positioning was all over the shop and illustrates the difference in quality between this season's roster and last season's roster. Last season, Vidosic could push his wing-backs (Carpenter and Catley) forward because he knew that Luik and Kinga were there to disrupt any potential attack if the ball got turned over. Cain simply doesn't know where to position herself to fill Luik's role and doesn't have the ball skills to set up play like Luik could do last season. So, Vlajnic and Allen can't push forward to support the attack, which means that Withers and Kira were isolated whenever City managed to get the ball beyond half-way.

Vidosic needs to dump his current formation and go to a more traditional 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 formation to better utilise the resources he has at his disposal. I'd be inclined to stick with Withers, because she was promising and leave Dobson as a winger rather than as a centre forward (because she isn't). Get Chidiac into the middle of the park and Kira as the attacking midfielder with licence to roam.
 

acm21

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Another week, another change. The Canberra Newcastle game (to be held at McDonald Jones Stadium) will now be a Newcastle Brisbane game, with Canberra having a bye.


Also shouldn't say ANZ Stadium as the naming rights have finished with the stadium now being referred to as Stadium Australia.
 
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W-league Round 4

Thursday 14th January
Perth Glory V Adelaide, Dorrien Gardens, 89:05pm ESDT 6:05pm WST

Saturday 16th January
Sydney FC V Western Sydney Wanderers, Stadium Australia, 7:40pm ESDT

Sunday 17th January
Melbourne Victory V Melbourne City, Epping Stadium, 4:05pm ESDT
Newcastle Jets V Brisbane Roar, McDonald Jones Stadium ( No2 Showgrounds) 6:40pm ESDT

Bye: Canberra United
 
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City win the second Derby 3-2! Victory coming back from 2-0 down but then hurt with a sucker punch winner by City. The match was marred by a few dickheads in the Victory active throwing bottles on the pitch. None the less an entertaining match!

I'm starting to enjoy watching the W-League more than the A-league this season so far, maybe its because Victory have only played one A-league match but honestly it's some good entertainment for Sunday afternoon.
 
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stax on the mull

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Chidiac is not the quickest midfielder going around, but a couple of passes through to Withers late in the game were perfectly weighted - one set up the winner.
 
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The Melbourne derby served to show that there's a big step up from NPLW to the W-League. City had Johnson, McCormick and Tori Tumeth starting in defence yesterday (the same back three that was ripped apart by Victory the previous weekend). Johnson is still getting back to full match speed after spending a year in retirement but has almost 100 NSWL games and a couple of seasons in the W-League to her name, McCormick runs hot and cold but is a capped Matilda, while Tumeth is playing her first season of W-League after being signed out of NPLNSW. Tumeth is a player of the future (she's a Young Matilda) but she's definitely the weakest link in the back three, and when Checker came in for her in the second half, it was pretty obvious just how much the City defence stiffened against a Victory team looking for the winning goal.

I have to say I don't quite understand why Vidosic insists that Withers has to play on the right flank. She's a centre forward but every time she had the ball yesterday afternoon, she went straight to the right flank - the only two times she didn't, she missed a shot on goal then scored the winner. Withers spent four seasons playing US college football and set a scoring record for her college (37 goals in four seasons), and then she scored 12 goals in 14 games for Souths United in the NPLW Queensland competition in 2019-2020. For a team crying out for a striker, it's remarkable that Vidosic insists on playing the sole striker on their books out of position. At least it's slightly better than playing a natural winger in Dobson up front.

Despite the win, I'm not sure that Vidosic has got the formation right this season.
 

stax on the mull

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The Melbourne derby served to show that there's a big step up from NPLW to the W-League. City had Johnson, McCormick and Tori Tumeth starting in defence yesterday (the same back three that was ripped apart by Victory the previous weekend). Johnson is still getting back to full match speed after spending a year in retirement but has almost 100 NSWL games and a couple of seasons in the W-League to her name, McCormick runs hot and cold but is a capped Matilda, while Tumeth is playing her first season of W-League after being signed out of NPLNSW. Tumeth is a player of the future (she's a Young Matilda) but she's definitely the weakest link in the back three, and when Checker came in for her in the second half, it was pretty obvious just how much the City defence stiffened against a Victory team looking for the winning goal.

I have to say I don't quite understand why Vidosic insists that Withers has to play on the right flank. She's a centre forward but every time she had the ball yesterday afternoon, she went straight to the right flank - the only two times she didn't, she missed a shot on goal then scored the winner. Withers spent four seasons playing US college football and set a scoring record for her college (37 goals in four seasons), and then she scored 12 goals in 14 games for Souths United in the NPLW Queensland competition in 2019-2020. For a team crying out for a striker, it's remarkable that Vidosic insists on playing the sole striker on their books out of position. At least it's slightly better than playing a natural winger in Dobson up front.

Despite the win, I'm not sure that Vidosic has got the formation right this season.

I reckon Withers played more as a striker last week when Dobson didn't start the match.

Yesterday Kira seemed to play more forward with Chidiac starting.

It seemed to work well with Vlanjic and Dobson on one side and Withers along with a little bit more forward play from Tumeth on the other - they had a lot of pace down those flanks and the midfielders switched the ball wide.

MCY also got better contributions from Palmer and Davidson. I think it was Davidson that dispossessed the MV player and put the ball through to Kira for that lucky deflected 2nd goal.

The other thing was they controlled more of the possession so they weren't under constant attack and they didn't have to play out of the back so much, but yesterday Micah often went the long kick to gain territory rather than play out and invite pressure (although several times she just ended up booting it over the sidelines).
 
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W- League Round 5

Thursday 21st January
Adelaide United V Melbourne City, Marden Sports Centre, 7:05pm ESDT

Friday 22nd January
Brisbane Roar V Melbourne Victory, Gold Coast Sports Centre, 9:05pm EDST 8:05pm EST

Saturday 23rd January
Newcastle Jets V Western City Wanderers, No. 2 Showgrounds, 4:05pm ESDT

Sunday 24th January
Canberra United V Perth Glory, Vikings Stadiums, 4:05pm ESDT
 

hey shorty

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This Adelaide side has got some game about them.
 
This Adelaide side has got some game about them.

Peacock said that they go equal top after beating City. Looking at the raw stats, City would feel pretty aggrieved about not coming away with at least a point. They dominated possession but the lack of a cutting edge up front undid them, as well as a turnover in midfield allowing Holmes to smash home the winner from down-town. City have compiled a lot of midfielders but have nobody to play as a striker for them, and I believe the new Norwegian player that Peacock referenced in the coverage is yet another midfielder. The squad looks unbalanced when Vidosic is forced to play Kira and Chidiac, both midfielders, up front.

Adelaide rode their luck, but they also made the most of their opportunities when they created them. The inter-play that led to Holmes' first goal was exquisite, as it manipulated the City defence out of position and allowed Holmes to slip through the defence and score her first ever W-League goal. I believe that Holmes is eligible to play for Australia and also Brazil, as she was born in Sao Paolo. I think there's a bit of a push to get her into the Matildas, so that she doesn't get called up by Brazil when international football returns (the USWNT did thrash Colombia this week). I do think she's a fair way short of the calibre needed to play for the Matildas, but if she keeps improving she could earn a cap or two in the next 12 months.
 

hey shorty

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Peacock said that they go equal top after beating City. Looking at the raw stats, City would feel pretty aggrieved about not coming away with at least a point. They dominated possession but the lack of a cutting edge up front undid them, as well as a turnover in midfield allowing Holmes to smash home the winner from down-town. City have compiled a lot of midfielders but have nobody to play as a striker for them, and I believe the new Norwegian player that Peacock referenced in the coverage is yet another midfielder. The squad looks unbalanced when Vidosic is forced to play Kira and Chidiac, both midfielders, up front.

Adelaide rode their luck, but they also made the most of their opportunities when they created them. The inter-play that led to Holmes' first goal was exquisite, as it manipulated the City defence out of position and allowed Holmes to slip through the defence and score her first ever W-League goal. I believe that Holmes is eligible to play for Australia and also Brazil, as she was born in Sao Paolo. I think there's a bit of a push to get her into the Matildas, so that she doesn't get called up by Brazil when international football returns (the USWNT did thrash Colombia this week). I do think she's a fair way short of the calibre needed to play for the Matildas, but if she keeps improving she could earn a cap or two in the next 12 months.
I thought we were comfortably the better side TBH.

City did have the ball, but they never really looked likely, even the goal came from nothing.
 
Watching the US v Colombia friendly on ESPN2 this morning. I thought W League referees were bad, but the referee for this match (from the NWSL, I believe) is horrible. According to her, the USWNT players can do no wrong while the Colombians give a free kick away whenever they touch the US player. The Colombians are outclassed but the referee is the US 12th player on the pitch.
 
Horan pushing over her marker in the Colombian penalty box and scores a goal. Referee gives the goal. Women's football will never reach its heights while refereeing standards are so poor. It's simply not good enough.
 
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