Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

Sign Up Now!

Official South Melbourne Hellas thread 🔵⚪

Rouge takes:
Pithoulas didn't look THAT bad before the disaster, kicked the ball well and was passable in the air, good command of area. Is this the first time in our NPL history we have been down to our 3rd choice? First half was 50/50, played most of the second half on the back foot but at least we could some what get the ball into their end of the half. Full credit to Preston for being able to do what we struggle at most of the time, being able to capitalise off of big chances.

EDIT: A NPL teams ability to make crosses have always been bad but this season we are particularly shit
 
southoftheyarra said:
Rouge takes:
Pithoulas didn't look THAT bad before the disaster, kicked the ball well and was passable in the air, good command of area. Is this the first time in our NPL history we have been down to our 3rd choice? First half was 50/50, played most of the second half on the back foot but at least we could some what get the ball into their end of the half. Full credit to Preston for being able to do what we struggle at most of the time, being able to capitalise off of big chances.
Click to expand...
I agree fully, but that error was truly sunday league levels at best!!

Losing Bonada especially and PA took the wind out of any pressing game we had, evwb though defensively we were good tonight and werent overly pressured until we went down, so things were the improvement rom Monday we expected..

Main problem is we continue to play for throws/deadballs and have zero open play game to score! Teams this season have worked it out, Preston tonight locked it down with their centre backs backingnoff enough and we continuen to not have an alternate game plan when this happens.
 
Hellenic_blue&white said:
I agree fully, but that error was truly sunday league levels at best!!

Losing Bonada especially and PA took the wind out of any pressing game we had, evwb though defensively we were good tonight and werent overly pressured until we went down, so things were the improvement rom Monday we expected..

Main problem is we continue to play for throws/deadballs and have zero open play game to score! Teams this season have worked it out, Preston tonight locked it down with their centre backs backingnoff enough and we continuen to not have an alternate game plan when this happens.
Click to expand...
At least our wing play is fairly decent. Agree on the set pieces, wasted 99% of our free kicks, we are especially bad at them this season...
 
Maybe
southoftheyarra said:
At least our wing play is fairly decent. Agree on the set pieces, wasted 99% of our free kicks, we are especially bad at them this season...
Click to expand...
Honestly im more and more getting cemented in the idea the Estban has finally run his course! I keep wanting him to prove me wrong but im not seeing it!
Not to say i know what the alternative should be mind you, nor if there is a right alternative, whatt im starting to believe though is that we are on the brink of wasting the one year we CANT afford to waste!

Thats whats truly deflating!
 
We have some good players but its been coached out of them. Seeing experienced players like Jankovic and Mells just kicking it anywhere all panicked is a symptom of our tactics. Prestons ability to switch the point of attack, have wingers actually run at our defenders with the full backs making overlapping runs is completely foreign to us.

We continue to play like Sawyer is there, his ability to drag 2 players away from the play and create space for others is gone.

We've established that our championship window is over, and we likely arent playing finals. Is this not the point you move on from Esteban?

We obviously arent getting an Anastasiadis or Tolios in right now. Perhaps give it to Nick Marinos until seasons end, his young port side played good stuff last year.
 
southmelb said:
We have some good players but its been coached out of them. Seeing experienced players like Jankovic and Mells just kicking it anywhere all panicked is a symptom of our tactics. Prestons ability to switch the point of attack, have wingers actually run at our defenders with the full backs making overlapping runs is completely foreign to us.

We continue to play like Sawyer is there, his ability to drag 2 players away from the play and create space for others is gone.

We've established that our championship window is over, and we likely arent playing finals. Is this not the point you move on from Esteban?

We obviously arent getting an Anastasiadis or Tolios in right now. Perhaps give it to Nick Marinos until seasons end, his young port side played good stuff last year.
Click to expand...
Fuck maybe Leech will get a game, did Marinos coach Mells when he was at Port? He was getting best in the league shouts when he was there...
 
Hellenic_blue&white said:
I got a feeling he missed him by a year... Marinos was coaching under 21 in 2023 at Port and Mells was in senior side and when Marinos took over the senior side he was at Avondale...
Click to expand...
Yeh missed him by a year, Marinos had a very young side last year and had port in the top 6 until his departure caused by the financial issues. He also coached our 21s for many years prior to being at Port. Im desperate for the club to try something different and in reality its a bit of a free hit. Esteban is a results based coach, your tolerate his shit football in exchange for wins, now that the league has gotten 20% better and he cant win because his tactics have finally hit the wall. You surely have to turf him.
 
southmelb said:
Yeh missed him by a year, Marinos had a very young side last year and had port in the top 6 until his departure caused by the financial issues. He also coached our 21s for many years prior to being at Port. Im desperate for the club to try something different and in reality its a bit of a free hit. Esteban is a results based coach, your tolerate his shit football in exchange for wins, now that the league has gotten 20% better and he cant win because his tactics have finally hit the wall. You surely have to turf him.
Click to expand...
He also had a solid stint at my "other" fondness APS Zakynthos.. We struggled for a while but he managed to settle the team in a tough 3rd division group on a very small budget that was full of talent but needed a decent coach... just missed promotion that year!

Your spot on on all of it mind you!
 
It use to be that only Oakleigh, Avondale and at times Heidelberg could pants us. The rest of the league we would bully with our set pieces and win.

We've copped such a huge reality check from our last 3 opponents, the speed and ball movement is just too much for us.

It seems like we just assumed the league would continue to be shit. We capitalised on clubs tightening their belts post Covid but now clubs are splashing the cash and looking to excite.

I just dont understand how we train 4 days a week at 7am and cant produce anything more than what we show.

Dumping Esteban now is as much about preparing for the championship as what it is salvaging the season, lets be honest the guy doesnt belong anywhere near a national comp, our title window is slammed shut as well. Literally no reason to keep him on.

The purpose of the rest of the season needs to be to improve our style of play and fresh ideas, pull the trigger now. Even if we finish mid to bottom half it doesnt matter.
 
Last night showed that most clubs have improved and strengthened their squads. We have either remained stagnant or gone backwards.

The only way we will score is either through a set piece or a throw in. That’s it.

Preston played well and they were the better team in the first half but we valiantly tried to hold on and stay in the contest.

Goalkeeper brain fade turned everything around. But to be honest, it was a matter of not if, but when Preston would open the scoring. It just happened through a goalkeeper blunder. As for his antics when he was walking off the park - the less said the better.

Preston put on a great event. They had portable toilets for the South fans and security along the perimeter. There was a spot for the South fans to buy food and drinks. We were well behaved and good to see they held back the Preston fans for 10 minutes to let us out and depart the surrounding area quickly.

There will be excuses on injuries and the goalkeeping error, but the way we have been playing lately, it is very concerning.

What a stupid decision of resting 7 players on Monday it was. We got outplayed against Preston. Monday’s match was a good chance to get 3 points. We now have 1 from a maximum of 9 points from last 3 games.

The question is this - what do we do over the next week to put on a competitive effort against Dandy Thunder away?
 
Last edited:
SMFC1959 said:
The question is this - what do we do over the next week to put on a competitive effort against Dandy Thunder away.?
Click to expand...
What we do hear, hopefully, in the next few days is that Esteban has apologised and offered his resignation!! If not, then his sacking after a loss to Thunder!

Everything else falls short!
 
I dont see us getting a point in the next 2 weeks (thunder and hume away)

Was randomly thinking earlier about season 2021, when we topped the league for the first 10 rounds, then Sawyer missed 3 months with a broken toe and we went winless dropping all the way to 9th until Covid prematurely ended the season.

Esteban cant coach without that tall mobile forward wins everything in the air and runs his ass off, he was blessed with Sawyer, and even Riak wad fantastic in that role in 2023, one trick pony has nothing now, Moller has the height but cant really run.

I seriously think we are fucked and destined to be bottom 6.
 
southmelb said:
I dont see us getting a point in the next 2 weeks (thunder and hume away)

Was randomly thinking earlier about season 2021, when we topped the league for the first 10 rounds, then Sawyer missed 3 months with a broken toe and we went winless dropping all the way to 9th until Covid prematurely ended the season.

Esteban cant coach without that tall mobile forward wins everything in the air and runs his ass off, he was blessed with Sawyer, and even Riak wad fantastic in that role in 2023, one trick pony has nothing now, Moller has the height but cant really run.

I seriously think we are fucked and destined to be bottom 6.
Click to expand...
Moller cant stay on his feet let alone run. I watched the replay and cant believe how many times he fell over...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top