SurreALeague: C#ntworthy XI and baby pigeons

Western Sydney's biggest Sky Blue Alex Brosque joins Robbie and Macca to discuss all the real and the surreal from the weekend's @AleagueMen including Wellington Phoenix's second-half kick-off and the Sydney Derby! Before the trio of CCs explore the idea of designated c@#ts in the A-League. Forget your marquees, get the C@#ts out there!

#soccer #football #aleagues

Transcript

0:01

Ahem. Call me a posh prick, people, with my fake Aussie accent. Call me a woke wanker with my literary references. I am the A-League self-proclaimed Rena-fucking-sance man. And to prove the point, yesterday, before catching up on the MacArthur game, I went to the New South Wales Art Gallery and I saw the final day of the Rennie Magritte exhibition. Now, you may not recognise the name, He's one of the most famous surrealist painters of all time in the 20th century. You would probably recognise his works. They're often a guy in a suit and a bowler hat and a trench coat with no face, just clouds or an apple. quite famously, he painted a tobacco pipe and he put it big in the centre of his piece and wrote underneath it, this is not a pipe. Now he was obviously channeling his surrealist slash A-League fan inside him because we know more than fucking anyone, things are not always what they seem. Now this weekend, we saw some fucking surreal shit on the football pitch over the A-League. On Saturday, Makar and I were in Newcastle. where we saw a man come back from the dead to see his side win a fucking game for the first time this season at home. Shout out, Dr. Claudia Lawson, the legend that we saw work harder than any fucking player on that football pitch to make it happen. Sydney FC didn't take things at face value. They didn't think a 3-1 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers was going to happen. They proved that to everyone. Philip Kerto and Olly Sale were repping both ends of the surreal spectrum this weekend with their goalkeeping performances. Rennie Magritte once said something that resonated deeply with the Australian football fan in me. He said, Being a surrealist means forgetting everything you have ever seen and being on the lookout for what has never been. So thank you, Kazuki Nagasawa, the Wellington Phoenix midfielder, for that second half kickoff. That was fucking surreal. A midfield bomb. Jesus. Fuck me. And then to complete the weekend, as if to just highlight and cap everything off. I saw something that has never before been seen on the streets of Redfern out the front of my house. I saw a baby pigeon. I saw a baby pigeon. And I have proof. I filmed the fucker. And perhaps we will even put it in this. Has anyone ever seen a baby pigeon? I put this to you, Daniel McBrain. have not and we had this discussion didn't we a few weeks ago and Grace Gill tried to tell us she saw one we said where's the evidence I forgot to take a photo bullshit Grace Gill you fucking didn't see it and I always want to see well exactly I want to see the video I want to see the video just like I want to see lots of the videos and the highlights from the weekend because like my tweet said fucking injected into my veins It's our league and it's fucking brilliant. I had my wife come out and obviously I don't support Sydney or Western Sydney but the game was so fucking good that I was like, And she said, what is going on out here? I'm just watching the football, don't worry about it. She was like, right, eh? And look, even some of the other games, I saw people talking about the atmosphere. Of course it's great. If we had that game, Western United and MacArthur. If that had 30,000 people, everyone would be saying, what a fucking game that was. It was unreal as well, but the atmosphere brought on that Sydney Derby was phenomenal, and that's why we love our game. Exactly. And I'm very pleased to say we've been joined by another man who was there. I don't know his position on surrealism, but I suspect he was pretty fucking happy that things were not as they seem midway through that second half. Alex Brosk. How are you boys? mean, speaking of surrealism, I'm not really, but what is surreal in having a look at you there, Robin. I don't know if it was inspired by your visit to the art house, is your hair. Looking very Elvis Presley. Looking Elvis, very Elvis Presley, mate. Throw a black jacket on. That'll be surreal. We do rock it. game boys. was there. First one I was actually able to just watch without working for a long time and just enjoy. And, Mackerel was the same mate. For about, well, after the third Wanderer's goal, I sat there deflated until about the 88th minute just throwing my toys out of the cot. I was upset at everything Sydney were doing. Wasn't happy thinking, right, we're copping too many goals. This can't be it. And then out of nowhere the boys just came back and... Yeah, had me jumping around like a five year old. exactly how we like to be. Take me back to being five. Fucking good old days. Before we go into depth about that game and we're going to spend a fair bit of time talking about it, we are going to start at the very beginning for the weekend which started on Waitangi Day in New Zealand, Wellington Phoenix, the three o'clock kickoff that probably caught a few people on the hop against Brisbane. I've taken down a few notes, I was watching it. So it finished 1-1. Isaac Hughes, in his own surreal moment, didn't score an own goal, didn't give away a penalty, actually got one in the right fucking net this weekend. Didn't fall over. And it was a nice goal as well. Good on him, well done Isaac. We all support you in your efforts to bring surrealism to the A-League. And then Henry Hoare, equalising with the mesodersal finish, the little bounce. finish over the keeper diving at his feet. It was nice. There was the start of the second half, but probably one of the big talking points in this one was the fact that clearly, and we're going to have to get head of referees, John Moss onto the pod at some point. Broski because they have decided that there are going to be no more penalties given in New Zealand for the rest of the A-League season because this is three weeks in a row. We've had games in New Zealand and everyone's sort of like, well, we do ask for consistency. We want consistency. It's like, okay, no more pens in New Zealand. And that's it, done. Whether you're playing against Auckland or for Wellington or whatever, no more pens. Where did you stand on this one? Look, I didn't mind that it wasn't given. I felt like the touch... guess if there's a way to bring consistency, it's having a blanket approach like that, either a pen for everything or no pens, I like that. look, no, I I thought if she does go down a little bit easy there, so I'm not sure, I'm not sure that it was a pen. I was happy for it to not be a pen. See, I disagree. there was a lot of focus, especially from the commentators, was about the kick in the knee. No one seemed to really talk about the arm across the chest that knocked him off balance, pulled him off balance first. He was pulled back that way and then the challenge came in as well. And yeah, he was probably already maybe falling from that, in my opinion, from that pull of the arm or across the chest, the arm across the chest. And then he gets kicked in the knee as well. I thought it was a clear pen. I would have been spewing and you would have been spewing, Broski, if that was in your... Yeah, there you go. everything that either one of us would have done. He felt the contact, he exaggerated the movements, and he went down. Great strikers play, but I, yeah, look, is it, I do feel as though they do need to factor all those things. Is he going to be able to get possession back and actually have a chance on goal? If not, then he's milking it almost, you know, unless he's really taken out. So I did feel... that it was a little bit light, he tried to get the most out of it as we all would have, but I'm fine that it wasn't. Well, Chifi actually agreed. Chifi watching it, least this is what he said to the media. Now maybe this is all just part of the nice Chifi conspiracy because he is a great guy. And he sort of came out afterwards and said, look, the touch was a bit heavy from Ushige. I'm not sure he was going to get it. It wasn't like a studs in challenge. It wasn't a swinging leg. He didn't kick his legs out from under him. There was contact, but was it enough really to give a penalty? And he let it go like that. I thought it was a pen. But when you talk about the ball going away, what about Newcastle? And we'll get to it and we're going to chat, obviously. But LA Rose is crouched over, facing the other way when he gets punched in the sort of upper back, which goes then rides up. And it might have even been open hand, I reckon, from... Mitch Langerac, because he was coming to palm the ball away. He wasn't getting that ball. He was facing the other way. The ball was bouncing over behind. It was going out. He wasn't going to get there. But he got a pen. I mean, if there's a foul, it's a foul, isn't it? Yeah, I think if he wasn't that first one where the guy, I can't even remember who it was now, put his arm out, I didn't even put in my notes, he put his arm out and just sort of grabbed him on the chest and pulled him that way. I think if... I think if that... one wasn't there, I would probably agree, but I think that one knocks him off balance enough that he's like, shit, I'm off balance here, and he might be going down. I don't know. It's one of those ones where you have the line as pen and no pen, and you can see why it can shift on either side, and you can see we're split here, that some of us think it is and some of think it isn't, but I would have given it a pen. And that's why I think there's enough to argue possibly on both sides. And that's why, I mean, then we go with the rest decision. If he doesn't give it, then it's not conclusive enough to be able to say, that's a definite pen. Yeah. And to be fair, that's what we've seen over the last three weeks in New Zealand. I think most of the pens have sort of been, if you're for one side, then you'll say it is a pen. If you're for the other side, you'll say it probably wasn't. So, look. if the ref gives that penalty, then I'm not against it being a penalty either. I think it's definitely one of those. There's arguments for both, in which case just go with the referee. Yeah. Yeah. this is the refs, the refs are getting their, do you call it? Yeah, they're getting their power back exactly to make decisions that they want. He was called over by the way, which is the rarity. So fair play, Jack Morgan. We know that periods during this season, you forgot to take your whistle out onto the field and your cards. on this occasion, so Chris Griffiths-Jones thought it was a pen, so he obviously called him over to have a look at it and he went, nah not enough threshold for me, which is fair enough, like you say, okay he makes his decision, we want them to make their decisions, we keep saying that so we can't sit there and say, I've been called over, you've gotta give it. He's had a look and went, not for me. But for me, one of the biggest things that stood out in this game was when they cut to Marco Rojas in the crowd and he had Birkenstocks with socks on and I know I'm old now because cool and when I grew up that was the most uncool thing you could fucking do was wear Birkenstocks or slaps or anything of those things with socks on and now it's fucking cool and I know they're in New Zealand and it's cold but I saw that and was like no that's fucking outrageous so I know I'm old It was the German thing. It was always the German thing, socks and Birkenstocks. then, and Macca, don't know about the slaps, the slaps are the thongs, aren't they, with the band across the top, because I never knew that terminology. Slides, yeah. So Brazil were rocking that in the 1990s. Remember USA 94, were all, whenever you saw a Brazilian player, Babetto, Romario, big white socks, halfway up the shins, and slides on. Hmm. Yeah. Nah. Nah, you couldn't. But now apparently it's cool. But I digress from the football on the field stuff. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest because it's hit me in the face. then. Well, he did spend time in Germany, didn't he? well. Marco Rojas. Maybe that's where he picked it up. OK. Wellington Phoenix. Now, I was just having look through the stats as I do. They are, when you have look at their shots at goal, before this weekend's matches, they had had 78 shots at goal all season. Now that's in... 478 less than everyone else, yeah? Exactly. They are the only side that is below the 100 mark and they are well below it, 78. I'm just looking here. Sydney FC 182. So more than a hundred more shots have been had at goal. Shots on target, it's even fucking worse. Shots on target, 36. They basically get two shots on target a game, a little more. Whereas Sydney, who are again the leaders or were until the weekend, and I assume that hasn't changed. 100 shots on target against 36. So I guess some Wellington Phoenix fans feel like we're giving Phoenix a hard time on this podcast, which, you know, perhaps is fair. But, but there are stats that back it up that last season it was the same, but they were defending like fucking chain dogs let off the leash in a penalty box and were brilliant. It hasn't been the case this season and they haven't had that killer efficiency in front of goal either. But apart from that, on this one, in this game, 1-1, what do we think, fellas? Fair result? Probably in the end, yeah. know, Aishay hit the post with that great volley. Klein had that header from three yards out that I still don't know how he missed that one. So yeah, look. a great, that offside goal in the first half was an outstanding finish across his body. That was quality. Yep. No, exactly. Ultimately I think it was probably a fair result like if you looked at the stats across the board it evened out pretty much at the end didn't it? They both had their moments in the game where they sort of looked like they were going to wrestle the game from each other. much more to say to be honest, I totally forgot it was on. What I will say is, next year on my tangy day, how about they have a Auckland Wellington Derby and make a real big thing of it. I think that's gotta be next year, surely. That will go off the fucking chain. Yeah, that's what you need to have those, set those traditions. And some might say, we're already gonna get a crowd for a derby, so why do we waste it on a public holiday when either club can get a good crowd anyway for a public holiday? But you're right. No, no. like? Good question. I don't know. gonna have to edit this in later. Because if you're not going to do a derby, at least bring someone that's going to attract the crowd, don't bring Brisbane. Yeah, or have both teams playing at home maybe. Look to get that. Is the crowd written somewhere? Hang on. This is thrilling. 9,000. 9,084. Yeah. not fucking go for it. Yep, Earth. I agree. All right, let's move on. Friday nights at Cooper's. Well, sticking with the theme, things not always what they seem. Aren't these meant to be fucking great entertaining games? What the fuck happened here? Well, fucking hell, that wind obviously played a huge part. Because did Adelaide even have a shot in the first half? I can't remember. I don't even think they had a shot in the first half. Oh, the little toe poke that just rolled past, yeah. the grass cutter, worm killer. and Melbourne city at half time I think you and I Robbie were talking about it saying we think they might rule all this dominance and they really didn't trouble Ethan Cox at all with that you know all that possession all that movement all that field position as well and they didn't trouble trouble at all it was frightening how much they didn't do in the final third with all that stuff. When you had Leckie back and okay I know Leckie and Tillio and these guys and Caputo they're all going to take a bit of time to get back into the real swing of things but they were pretty toothless in that front third. We've discussed this before I think maybe on the pod or on the... What do you think about this one, Broski? We talked about they had no one in the front, they probably had six players in their front third out Melbourne City and all the young players were playing and getting the job done. When the big dogs start coming back and start to take the time, does that start to piss the young players off going, well hang on we were alright doing it and now that the other guys are back they're straight in? Do you think that's going to maybe cause some friction in the group or do you think they'll just go, you know, yeah the big guys... it back and that's that. You know what, more so these days I think, because there's a bit more entitlement with the youngsters these days, you know, and they... because I remember feeling it when I was a young kid, but you wouldn't say anything, you'd sort of carry on and know that, right, if I just kick up a stink here, I'm out of the squad completely, so you need to almost work harder to try get yourself back in. There'll be a frustration, no doubt, and to be fair, they have been doing well, so I think for Viti, it's how he... brings those players back in but in the right way because you're right you don't want to upset the change room and I think if the young boys have been doing great which they have you've got to reward them as well you know I think that all coaches have shown a lot of faith in youngsters at the moment you don't want to sort of make it the easy target you do sort of see around the league as well that it's very easy as a coach to make that that easy decision and an older more experienced player, he's fit again, he goes straight back in. But I don't know, think you get possibly more out of it if it's a winning industry, right? So no point bringing a player back just because he's a big name. I think it needs to be done correctly. So with Thilio coming back in, there's definitely a place for him in that starting lineup without a doubt. It's how he does it. But I don't think it'll do too much of the change. I think Vidy is experienced and if there is a player who's gonna... cause any issues, see you later. You know, don't have the mental sort of strength to be here and out you go. I don't see that in any of those young boys, but you're right. It needs to be managed properly. But if you're talking about a young kid who's getting pissed off, he better fucking be a serious gun player. mean, really, do you really think that would be, if you've got Lekki and Tillio, who have just been at the World Cup two years ago in an amazing performance from the Socceroos who are there, you've got your foreign players, Cohen, who's already scored five goals this season despite being injured, Kuhn, who's got fucking five assists. If they're gonna come back, the kids are gonna... Accepted aren't they? mean are we talking full Samir Nasri type, know, I'm the best player in the world. I should be in this team now. No! we're looking at those young kids, then have any of them really stood out enough to be keeping Attilio out, you know, or any of them? No, you're right. Yes. No, no. these guys are starting to come back. but you know, I don't think Sulemani hasn't hasn't yet scored. I mean, he's playing up front. He's coming back from an ACL. Gosani's laid on an assist, but he they haven't scored. Laurence Wong looks good. Some nice touches. But, you know, we're not talking world beaters just yet, are we? No, I don't think so. experience, Macca? Why do you think that maybe, you know, have you had this experience as well? You weren't even, you were never a young person. You're like a baby pigeon. You started playing when you were 23. Yeah, I know. No one's, no, that's me, mate. The baby pigeon. No one saw me when I was little. I was little till I was about 23 and then all of sudden I was a man. Yeah, I know. I agree with what you're saying. I think, you know, you're in those positions. You know, you've got your Lekis and your Tilly, all these guys to come back. And yes, I do think... particularly in our generation, Broski, you would just be like, yep, well, I'm out. I don't know, I just feel it's a new generation. There's a lot more kids getting minutes, they're doing okay. They were still getting results. I know they lost their last, well, three now, isn't it? But up until that moment, they were doing well. getting points, winning games away from home, I just thought, maybe is that, just be a little bit of angst, because also there's so many of them that were getting a chance, they could be this little group now going, these fuckers are back now, know. But, you know, it's just a question of, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, and I don't think. late at night after the game when they're sneaking some fries and nuggets. Yeah, exactly, But anyway, let's get back to the game. Archie Goodwin. let's chat Adelaide and the goal. Archie Goodwin, great goal on what was a tough night for him otherwise, Macca, at least tough first half. Yeah, well obviously with that wind every time they played the ball forward Ferreira and Soprain just fucking monstered him and headed it over the, you went over the top of him and headed it but second half we knew or we thought it would open up and we talked about he might get some joy with that wind running off the shoulder well he got some joy off the corner. He ran about five or six yards past the front post and still managed to guide that header in the far side. He's doing everything that everyone in Newcastle knew he would do if he could get regular game time and that would be score goals because he's an exceptional talent. It's just a shame that he couldn't get his body right or they couldn't. help him get his body right and give him a minute to hit Newcastle because this is what we knew would happen and Adelaide have done it well. They've utilised him well, they've given him the confidence. Carl said before the game, yeah, okay, he had a flat week last week but I'm sure he'll bounce back this week and he's bounced back and scored the goal and he's second in the golden boot and yeah, Adelaide just keep on keeping on. one comment about Adelaide then, and this is if we're saying, I mean, they'd drawn one and lost the week before, lost badly to Sydney 4-1. Yeah. But in that one, if they'd scored early, that could have been different. They had two or three really good chances in their game and that could have been a completely different game. But, go on, yep. yeah, true. Well, the point is, I think you're looking and just to talk about this game then against Melbourne City, Stefan Mork, who's been outstanding this season, we barely saw him. Zach Clough, apart from the assist, barely saw him in the game. J Barnett was there, but it wasn't an Adelaide side that was playing with, you know, they score from a set piece. Ethan Alligich has been playing deeper. spoke about this. I reckon at the start of the season, they were playing with one six and two eights, Mork and Alligich. And Alligich was a real engine up and down. And he's playing a lot deeper in the last couple of weeks. Now, is that because they've changed something at the back? We know Kikiannis isn't there, they're, Carl's decided to play with two sixes and they're not playing the same attacking. It's looking more transition for Falami, for, you know, it's Pirias, think we saw Pirias on the weekend, what we'd seen of Pirias in previous years, where he's got all that engines getting up and down, but that final product kept letting him down. and I think we even said it in comms that that's probably the thing that's stopping him from going to the next level at the moment. If he can work on that, that final product, it could be a different thing. But I think that's a sign of a good team as well though, Broski. Your star players aren't playing great, it's not a real good game, it's pretty scrappy. The first five minutes, I think, passes went astray left, right and centre from both teams. made a single pass the whole game. I mean, in that first five minutes. and then you grind out and get a one-nil result as a sign of a good team, in my opinion. 100 % agree. think when you're not always going to be playing that nice free-flowing football, creating chances. So when it's off, for whatever reason, whether it's a tactical change or players playing in different positions and you're probably still adjusting to that, if you can still find a way against a Melbourne City no less, again, who is a very good team, I think Carvede's got them humming along very, very nicely. I don't think anyone predicted they'd be where they are this year. So the fact he's able, you know, we're a lot of... lot of coaches are looking sometimes at excuses regarding tactical changes or player changes and what that does. If he's able to tinker with things and still find ways to win, think they're doing extremely well. I Stefan Mork is one of the most underrated players in the league. Honestly... No, you're right. it's not just the footballing side and probably less so more than what he actually gives us. That guy that just runs all day, he's in the box defending, helping his team out, he's yelling at everybody, making sure everyone's on their toes, everyone knows where to be. He's then on the other side in the box creating scoring chances. It's that presence that he has in that midfield that, you're right, Mac, is very underappreciated. like he's a bit of a grub, he can get people off their game, position, his positional sense between the lines, between players as well, so he nearly always sets himself to be between, yeah I know, exactly, and. And they don't need to. Again, I don't think it's so much about him. Clough is the guy, Falami is the guy. They're the guys you want on the ball creating things and getting the ball in the box the good one. Mork, again, has that other stuff that the team needs. I think he generally... has, he affects three or four other players on the other team with his positioning. So he'll affect the centre back, he'll affect the full back, he'll affect the winger and the six. They all start narrow off a little bit because he's right in the middle of all four of them, which then creates the space for your clubs, for your overlapping runs from full backs, kiddos and those kind of guys. So you're right, it's not just, you you probably look at him on the ball and go, yeah, he's okay. It's all that other shit for me that makes him really, really underrated and really good. including his late aerial challenge on the goalkeeper outside the box midway through the first half. Do you remember that? Where we went flying in and the Melbourne City players on Patrick Beach and it was that exactly what you're saying though. was fucking hell, where are we? No one is laying a fucking finger on City. They're playing with us. We can't get out of it. And he just went straight through and maybe he didn't mean it to be quite as dangerous as it was. But he caught Patrick Beach in a way also to say, be careful when you come out to play outside your boxkeeper because I'm going to break your leg. All words to that effect. That brings us to, and this may be a bit of a long bow, I've brought that up in particular to try and bring out, bring in our Shattestat. I don't think he should have been sent off for that foul, but. And this is in part because, as courtesy of Andy Howe, AndyHowe underscore Stato at on X, and I guess other places you can find him, he is our official statistician and he has supplied us with the Shatterstat for this week, which is after the weekends games, the A-League men is now on a streak of 29 games without a red card. This is... The most recent send off was Auckland's debutant, Adama Kulliballi, against Perth on the 11th of January. So we are now, tomorrow that will be one month without a red card in the A-League. 29 is the longest run of games without a sending off in A-League history. So if you think this is weird, going a month without a red card is unprecedented. The longest of any season, since 1992 when 40 NSL games in a row were played without a red card. Now can that be right? I thought the NSL was all fucking butchering people the whole time. Ah, that's right, there were no red cards. There was no VAR. Nah, you got away with everything behind the play. It was brilliant. that's good, but you still got more. Fuck. Sorry. Sorry. Here come the stats. despite three red cards in the first four games of the season, 2024-25 is on track to have one of the lowest rates of red cards in A-League history. 13 reds in 103 games so far or 0.13. Now the last two seasons, we've had the most in A-League history. of red cards and I think at one point, Macca, two years ago, we were looking at it, it was nearly fucking a red card every three games or something. It was over .3. Anyway, the average record is 0.22, so at the moment we're half that at the moment. Yellow cards are also way down this season, not casting any aspersions or thinking of any reasons why that may be the case, that yellow cards are down, that people aren't trying to pick up yellow cards. The current rate, 3.2. yellows per game. The lowest of any A-League season to date as well. Well below the average of 3.9 per game. This season's most prolific players in terms of yellow cards were Gabriel Kler of Wanderers and Western United's Angus Thurgate and Louis Vestrada who have all just got five yellow cards each. I think Gabriel Kler was basically on a card a game until he got injured and now he's... Now he's cooled down with his suspension. So he's on a card every two games at the moment. So there you go. Mackie, you were saying. Bookings. Referees. you could look at it either way, that that's good, that they're letting the game flow, or I know there's been plenty of talk about shirt pulling and like cynical fails that aren't getting yellow carded, that a lot of us are going, well that's a clear yellow card. Which then you think on later on in the... Short pulling. pulling on the weekend. But then you think they have a knock-on effect, those ones that aren't being given early for clear cynical stopping the play, pulling a guy back. Later on, they're getting a yellow card where that really would have been their red card. So maybe that is a flow-on effect from that kind of shit. Anyway, we don't wanna see the refs, just fucking get the games flowing. Exactly. It's all fine. It's all good. OK. Perth won. Central Coast Mariners won. This was the late game on Friday night. That is now four draws in a row for the Mariners. Lockheed Wales with the assist for Adam Taggart in the eighth minute. And then Hayne Eames with one that Olly Sale will like to forget. Gentlemen, Perth very much changed. Mariners not yet changed. There were some threats that there could be some fresh blood coming into the squad before the end of the transfer window. As we record here on Monday, they've got three more days left to try and bring someone in, the transfer window shutting, I believe on the 13th, if memory serves me correctly. At any rate, they're almost done. We'll see if there's any movement in these last few days. Broski, I think Perth, apart from, well, I mean, what can we say about Olly Sale, seriously? Fucking hell. Ha ha. He's been better. He's a good keeper. He's a New Zealand international. But fuck, man. This season. And last season. Since he's gone to Perth. What the fuck? Seriously. mean, they're coach killers. When you're to get your season going, the goalkeeper needs to... Look, they can't always be relied upon to pull off big saves, but they've got to be relied upon to not let one through their legs like that. And look, Maka, we've had air swings, mate. We've missed control balls, and I get it. It's position on the field where you just cannot afford to make a mistake. And maybe we are being harsh, but at a time when they least needed it, they give the Mariners a point, you know? And it's tough because, know, poor old Drulli's trying to get things going and it's been a horrendous start. They've been one of the worst teams to watch for most of the season. They finally bring in some reinforcements at the back. know, Mille use this, Wood, Wales starting to, you know, hopefully help tag it. He had probably his most productive game in terms of creating or getting chances and... looking more like himself and threatening. still, a game that they probably should have won actually with the chance they had, they still can't. So it's tough, Oli Sale needs to get himself going as well because that can't happen. was fucking dog shit, let's just say it, alright? And he'd admit it. Obviously he's the first one that says fucking... But it's not that. It's the fact that this is a recurrent theme. This is the thing. Oli Sale, I've noticed as well when there's an error, he always leaves, I think when there's an error, just fucking get up and get the ball, get on with it. I'm starting to see, and I've seen it for a while now, I've really made notice with him, is that when there's an error and it goes in, or a deflection goes in, he just lays prostrate on the floor, he's giving that image of, oh we're defeated, I can't believe this has happened. When he let that in, he gets up and he pulls his shirt over his head and he stands like that and it's like, well, you're giving all this imagery of you're fucked up, you're fucked up, you're fucked up. And I'm like, just get on. Just get on with it. You made a mistake. Get up, get the ball and go. But this body language after these things happen, it's like almost defeated. Like, we fucked up again. I can't. And I think that has an effect. Even if it's a small effect, I think it has an effect. Because he pulled off some epic saves before that and after. He was great, except for one fucking moment. as well. And it's cost them and you do feel for Zrilla in that occasion and all of them really to be honest because they were good They're starting to look they're getting each week. I think they're getting better and better Wales has been good coming in. You've got Pennington I'm a really big fan of that young Freeney who's been playing as well You know, you've got Taggart now has another strike partner. I don't think Pat Woods really settled in as well as Lucky Wales in that yet, but he's a good player. It gives them another outlet and some strength. And they're starting to look good and they're looking to play better football and they're pressing a little bit better. And then, fuck, that happens and you're like, Yeah, it's something, it feels, it's like there's a element of, it's fatalistic. You know that it's gonna happen. And that's terrible for a team to play with that fear in the belly that they've got to fucking score two. They've always got to have a two goal cushion to try and hang on. I mean, that's, you can't play with any freedom. You're right then. mean, in those cases then, you expect your experienced players to, all right, you cop a goal like that, and don't give the team that feeling like, fuck, here we go again, we copped another goal, we're not winning today. Get the ball, go back and say, right boys, fuck, my bad, keep going. Get me another one, pull me out of this one, you know? Yeah, you're right, you're right. But credit to them, they could have won the game at the end as well, like desperate defending and, and Praet's culling. Yeah, yeah, exactly. There was chances to put, yeah, so we're, but we, but we don't. like broski said you sort of get away with that when you're a striker a little bit or a midfielder because it doesn't is not so glaring but they had the chances and asmo he looks good always when he comes on and lively that one that went across he should have scored then there was blocked chance yeah he just couldn't get it sorted out and unfortunately, and I say this with the utmost respect again for Hamzaoui, we may not see another moment like that from him this season. Cause that was a great ball. And we haven't seen it so far from him. That was a great cross. And fuck mate. Lightning may not strike twice. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, we've waited this long to see it and we saw a glimpse of it. Round 26 we'll get another glimpse. And on the Mariners, what, there was Edmondson, that header, straight down the, I'm not sure if that might have got pulled back on VR for a push, I'm not sure. Theoharis had that shot, that great save from Sale. But again, they're just a bit... bit of a blank in the front area aren't they? They're not... But this, Makka, you said a few, couple of months ago on this very podcast that Newcastle were vanilla. Newcastle had no character. Fucking hell. There are people that are giving the Mariners a lot of fucking credit for the last two years and saying that they may still be, I'm not seeing a whole lot of character or punch or, you know, character out of this fucking team. I still think there's that work-riding ethic, like, Docker works his arse off, goes everywhere, Theoharis tries to put himself around a bit. I still think for me, Brian Kaltec and Trent Sainsbury, who I thought would be the best centre-back pairing in the league, they still look a bit off, they? Neither of them are hitting their heights that we know they can reach, so they're not particularly fantastic at the back, or not as solid as we all thought they would be. got no punch going forward and it's the same like I said before we can put the broken record on and just keep saying it because that's what it is there's no punch and you don't see where it's going to happen or where it's going to come from All right, let's keep moving. That was Friday night out west, Saturday, no afternoon game. I was waiting for this one for something out of New Zealand again, for no more penalties out of New Zealand, but it didn't come, so I was able to make the drive up to Newcastle just listening to country music in the car on the way up and not listening to... I was thinking. Squirrel like a pig. Deliverance, little reference there from Daniel McBrain. Jeweling banjos, love it. Best film, what was his name? Burt Reynolds. Best film Burt Reynolds ever fucking made. All right, go check it out, but be careful, it is rather confronting, that film. Don't, if you're not ready for it, don't watch it, because that's full on. So, Newcastle, speaking of confronting things, now this is a bit more serious. Before we talk about the game perhaps, shall we knock this on the head? Makar and I were witness to some pretty fucking full on scenes where just as the penalty was given via VAR or during the VAR process, there was a medical emergency on the sideline. Now I don't know the victim still, but we were witness to what was happening. And as a commentator, you don't really know what you should say, whether you should ignore it, whether we should talk about. You know, the game, it's not easy to talk about, you know, the chances we've had so far in the match during a stoppage when you're seeing this volunteer doctor at the game giving CPR for fucking nearly 10 minutes on this body, on folded chairs, the family, all the people around. I mean, you're talking, you know, kids that were there being taken away. The whole scene is fucking brutal. And yeah, not easy to deal with. I'll tell you what, Makar and I, we were looking at each other and sort of going, fuck, and talking about how the game's gone so far and trying to talk about what this means. But there's no escaping the fact that someone has fucking stopped breathing, their heart is not beating on the sideline, and people are acting. And this is what's fucking brilliant. It was gonna be my intro. about rather than just people watching it and thinking, fuck, this is tragic, people went, fucking hell, we're not gonna let this happen, got in there. And so again, shout out Claudia Lawson, but also the medical staff from the Jets and Melbourne Victory. And the relief from Maka and me when we saw this body. First of all, there was a sheet being held up so we couldn't see, and we couldn't see the victim. When we saw the person come around, they were a lot younger than Macca and I both thought. We were like, holy fuck, this is, you know, don't know the age, but it was not the classic, yeah, not the classic heart attack scenario you expect to see at a football or anywhere. And then we saw, just as he's coming out in the whole stadium, people wouldn't have necessarily known what was going on, but there was applause, the players were applauding, and the fucker gave the thumbs up on the way out of the stadium. and the sense of joy and relief, was... fucking hell, it was amazing! I nearly, I'll be honest at the time when it was happening, because we could see, we couldn't see the person, but we could see the doc. She was going, like, the palpitations. And I... You did most of the talking because I was, I'll be honest, I was getting emotional because I'm thinking someone's just gone to a football match with their family and you could see the family members were really distraught obviously and you're shit they might go home without a family member and it was fucking very very emotional and then to just see him put his, and the doc was going hard with the compressions and you're like fuck it's going on forever and ever and ever and then when he gave that thumbs up it was like fuck, thank, just the relief ran out of our bodies and you're like And apparently, you know, the last we heard he was doing well and is on the road to recovery. So yeah, massive shout out to the doc. She jumped over the fence and was in straight away. She took control of situation. Both team doctors got in and then all the other volunteers and then obviously the paramedics turned up. So well done to all of them because that was fucking scary and no one should go to a game, you know, anything, a sport and go home without their family members. So we're so glad to hear that he's cool. Exactly. No, was a full on moment. Do we need to raise the point that why the fuck aren't the paramedics at big sporting events? I mean, I remember Juan de fucking sitting on the ground with his leg facing back up his ass for fucking 20 minutes on the pitch. And that was fucking awful. And no one there. No paramedics to come. mean, fuck, can you imagine if Christian Eriksen during the Euro that happens? When we were all watching that, what happened there? And I think it's this isn't a fault of of is this a fault of the football or is this a fault of the just availability of. I think if you pay, they will be there. But it's not required. Among your kai-e-dashaj or whatever, your brief to put on a sporting event, you don't have to have the St. John's Ambulance there or whatever. in this case for example Newcastle they know that they've got Dr Neil Halpin on the bench with the first team, they've got another doctor there, they've obviously got other doctors who are in that maybe they know they've got enough qualified people there that they think it yeah. And obviously they've done their job yeah and they got it done and possibly brought someone back from the brink of death so that's great news that he's recovering so let's talk about football because it was horrible talking about it. What? At home? You fucking lie! second miracle at McDonald Jones Stadium. were carried out of the stadium, he would have had another heart attack. Unbelievable. call me Nostradamus. Robbie, what was I saying in the call? I said, if Newcastle can get players facing forward in the midfield and play the ball in behind. They'll cause problems for victory. said, Lockie Wales will come on and make those runs and it'll be a danger. I said, the ball will get to Cote. Yeah, LA Rose. Sorry, LA Rose. If they could get the ball to Cote or Misunuma, he'll put good balls in for Lockie that Lockie will want. And what's all the things that happened? Every fucking thing I said, it was so obvious and they finally got there in the 999th minute, the 1011th minute and the 1013th. It was just... I don't know. First half victory had all the dominance. Noah James who had almost, well we could almost say a debut because he played once, 458 fucking million years ago. Four and a half years ago. He was fantastic in the first half. And they just couldn't get through and we noticed, didn't we Robbie, at half time, Arthur Dillis. It was in no time, he was back sitting in the dugout on his own, just sitting there and we were like, well he must have just walked in and said, do the same, you'll get a goal or that because he wasn't in there long and he was back out just sitting there letting all the others do their thing but whatever he said didn't work because the second half, I don't think they had a shot victory on target until, not at all, not at all. And Newcastle finally gave Rob Stanton a 90m performance and I think that's probably the first time we've seen a 90 minute performance. They always have a 10 or 15 minute period or even 30 minute period where they let it all slip but they didn't. They were fantastic. Not a shot on target in the second half. Not a single one from Melbourne Victory. Broski, this... actually. I remember a couple of weeks ago, think it was Ibusuki was interviewed at the end of the game and I mean in his broken English it was very clear that their message was, we knew, stay in the game till half time, second half, victory go down. And it's incredible how obvious it is. I don't know whether it's a fitness thing or whether it's a tactical thing, which I don't think. I can't see Dillard's just closing up shop and that's what he went in. to say at half time, maybe, right boys, second half, let's just sit back and do what we normally do because it happens every single week and it's a real problem. Their second halves are shocking. They come out and they don't have anywhere near the same intensity, the same ball movement, nothing. They just completely go flat and allow the opposition to run over the top of them. And look, if not for that stoppage, it probably would have ended nil or, but asking the victory, I guess, to go into 20 minutes of extra time. too much for them. mean they caught three late goals. And yeah, good on the Jets I think because they have played some See You go online and people, it's plainly obvious, because every Joe Blow out there that supports victory says it is. Why are they playing with a high line when they don't have the two centre backs aren't that quick, are they? Let's be honest. And they're playing with such a high line and like I said, in comms I said it. If the Jets can find someone who can get face forward and play a ball in behind, victory are in trouble. And bang, Lockie Wales goes through, gets the penalty, Lockie Wales. Lockie Jackson, LA Rose goes through and gets the penalty. um... and then clinton taylor he got in early remember just like a few weeks ago got in earlier and didn't hit the target didn't put punish them but then got in and punished them and then the third one was exactly what we said would happen ball in behind the code a square ball tap in for locky so it's everyone can see it and so they've got to do something about that because it's going to end up costing them so let's let's talk about then because the last two games they had won 2-0. They won both their last two games 2-0. It looked like they perhaps turned the corner. This was proof that that's not the case. But, Broski, I think sometimes when you're watching a coach and it's... Is this all about Arthur Dillis? I'm not sure because I think it was probably, you know, that this is the team that Patrick Kuznobo dominated the Cup final against MacArthur. and managed to lose. There were other series this under Patrick Kisnowa where we saw the quality they have in attack, the Arzanes and all this without getting results. So it's not, it's not only Arthur Dillis, but what solution do you have then when you know your side fade systematically in the second half, do you, even though it might not be appropriate to this match or you think, fuck, our first half was really good again here today, maybe this is where we turn the corner. Or do you say, I'm making two changes. five minutes into the second half just to fucking shake shit up and keep the team on their toes. I'm gonna be up on the edge of my technical area screaming at them even though it's not necessarily warranted today. I know what's been happening over the last two months so I need everyone to fucking react to stop to avoid what could happen. Yeah, look, I think definitely an experienced coach, you know, he'll get obviously over time, he's doing exactly that. He's identifying and understanding which moments he needs to be vocal. know, I mean, Michael Zuller used to hate Arnie on the sideline because he was at him for the entire 45 minutes that he was up and down that sideline. it was for that reason only, he sort of knew that he needed to get the best out of Zuller and to make sure he made that run that he was required to make. Arnie had to yell at him and because he'd make it before he even did to stop Arnie from yelling at him. So I think good coaches understand that, that sometimes they need to just scream for the sake of scream and get the side going. So if he knows that in the second half they tend to fade, that whole second half he needs to be barking instructions, not just expecting that it's going to happen. that, again, I'm not suggesting that he is, that he's thinking, right, we've turned the corner, all of a sudden we're good in the second half now. To your point, think if you're having that issue and it is a glaring issue, a change needs to be made there. You don't play such a high line, especially if your press is not that great where you're not exposed to a ball in behind. There's so many quick players. Eli Adams, mean, his distribution is great. Taylor as well, the balls, they can play in behind. And when you've got quick guys coming off the bench like Newcastle did, you're going to get punished. And they're not the only team that can do it. So think every team is now looking. say right victory have got 45 good minutes in them let's hold them out second half they open up they play a high line let's get balls in behind so something he's got to he's got to look at he's got to change because he's got a lot of experience back there and I'm surprised it's not even coming more from them you know Hamill, Miranda, Rawlins, Traore these guys are experienced players you know if they can see themselves that they've been beaten by an easy long ball I'd send that message into midfield to get better pressure on to make sure those balls don't get played or you drop off a little bit, you know? I mean, they're more experienced to be able to do that. He made the point there about midfielders. Now we know that and Valadon have been exceptional for victory this year. Ryan Teague was dragged, whether this was a ploy or not, but Ryan Teague was dragged all over the joint on the weekend. He was playing right back, I remember at one stage we were like, fuck he seems to be at right back all the time because they were dragging the right back out and he had to follow the run of Clayton Taylor. And I guess when you're talking about fatiguing, if he's getting dragged into that position to defend and he's trying to get back into midfield, then he's chasing back again. More often than not when Newcastle did break quickly, he was one of the first ones there to respond to get back to shove them away or make the challenge. Eventually that takes its toll and you start to think well that's when the space opens up in midfield and it was late in the game. Yeah I know they had a big break with the medical emergency but you know dragged on and that's when they started to find the space. They found it for the penalty just before and then they found it for a couple of times after that. if he's, they, him and Valadon are getting dragged all over over the place trying to cover full backs who are getting dragged out, eventually there's gonna be space where someone's gonna find that space, a good play as well, and they can play those balls in behind and you're in trouble. So fair play to Newcastle, really, really good. it's good coaching from Robbie Stanton to identify that, know they get tied and right. These two guys are their engine. If we can get them moving all over the place, drag them out of position, things will open up. Our tens will get on the ball more, or our sixes, and then we can play through balls and kill them. So, I mean, waiting until the 90, whatever minute it was for that to eventuate and get three goals is a bit late, but you can see it there anyway. Shout out Bruno Fornarelli's 200th A-League appearance, unable to add to his 108 goals in 200 games, and a pretty miserable afternoon for Melbourne victory all up. All right, let's get to the one that we know Broski and Maka both want to talk about. Should we try and come up with a team that's first half Melbourne victory, second half Sydney Oh, I thought we were talking about MacArthur-Weston United. That's the one Broski wants to talk about, isn't it? The first half, Melbourne Victory, second half, Sydney FC, because Sydney FC, not for the first time this season, have shown that they can step on the gas when they need to and dig deep and find resources. Mac, Broski, we'll go to you because if I was a Sydney FC fan, yes, this was amazing. Yes, this was awesome. Yada, yada, yada. I'm starting to get And I know this, think that's the ninth home game in a row. They've scored at least three goals. It's spectacular. It's entertaining. But when you see how this team can play for 15 minutes, aren't you getting frustrated that you're not just killing the league the way we thought they would at the start of the season? Because this is a quality squad that when they want to, they can almost play with the opposition and they're sabotaging themselves a little bit at the moment. That's exactly right. And I am frustrated. It's very frustrating watching them because I think for all the excitement, was everything leading up to that that has been there at Achilles heel all year. going forward, it's probably, and I was sitting there with Luke Wilkshi talking at the end of the game, right? And we're just going over, analysing, talking shit as we do after a game like that. You're still here doing it. upset, he was a bit upset at me because pre-game I did a little interview with with Steph Brands just in the the members section. She asked me about the team I said look this this team on paper is one of the best that Sydney FC have ever had and Luke he didn't he didn't like that he said mate they're nowhere near our team. I said look to be fair to be fair he's not wrong in terms of results in the way they play right because this team should be 10 points clean. There's nobody that should be getting anywhere near them with the quality that they have, with the way that they're able to toy with teams, Robbie, like you said. think watching them play, I can't remember who they played in the Champions League a couple of months back. It was the Japanese side. It was the best I've ever seen an Australian side play against a Japanese team. think Hiroshima, would I be wrong? Yep, was the last two games. The way they kept possession and made the Japanese teams run around is unseen when we're playing against them. It always feels like we're playing against 20 players when we're up against Japanese teams. It's hard to get the ball. It's even harder to keep the ball. The way they played, I thought this team with Senna, Lolli, Kasara, Swahim is incredible going forward. And Clemela. love what he brings. I thought his first goal, everyone's talking about Caseras' assist, which was fantastic and great to see Caseras being what he can be. He's such a brilliant player, great to watch. But Clemela's run, and Maka, you would have noticed it as well, he comes towards Caseras first, drags the defender, then bang, goes in behind. Still, the presence of mind for Caseras to see that is world class because that movement is so quick that... Any other player may have tried to play, yeah, any other player may have tried to play Klaumala feet, but Kacera's held it up long enough, looks up and plays a pass. Bring a goal, so that front line is as good as Sydney have ever had, but it's going, it's every time the Wanderers get the ball, it's every time any team against them get the ball, where I'm sitting there, and my ass is literally tight because I'm thinking we're gonna compete a goal here, you know? And that's not a good feeling to have. You can. and not the feeling you get of a genuine championship contender. the only thing keeping Sydney, I think, as probably the favourites is that, is the fact that they have so much quality. But can they win three games, four games in a row at that level to become champions? I can't see it at the moment. I think that back line for me is just a little bit all over the place, which doesn't help, but I think it starts from the front. I think... they don't press correctly. And what's happened, last year everyone's talking about this amazing press, this German press that they're doing. I don't know if Drilla was there helping, but still, it was there, everyone could see how suffocating they were. They wouldn't let teams out, they win possession straight back and bang, go again. And you'd imagine employing those tactics with the quality they now have going forward, they should be 10 points clear. So I think there's something wrong there with the way they defend collectively as a team, starting from the front to then the back line. I don't think Rhino is the centre half and playing alongside a young kid. I love Rhino and I think he should be playing in his position. I think as a centre half, I'd even get Wilco's boots back on and throw him out there because the leadership that you need to have as a centre half, when players are getting pulled out of position, you need players here, that organisation... a good centre half needs to have is what they're missing at the moment. Rino needs to be in his position where he plays. Courtney Perkins potentially playing in centre half, I'd like to see that. I don't know, I just think it's a little bit all over the place at the back at the moment. great What about then? No, just and perhaps I shouldn't single out this moment, but I thought at the start of the season, Maka picked Anas Wai'im to be player of the year. I thought I officially picked Leckie, Matt Leckie just to not be, but in terms of Sydney FC players, another player who I thought was going to be outstanding was Leo Senna. And he has to fucking stop diving. And I mean, he got done the other day. He got a yellow card for, was that against Phoenix? I think, maybe, I can't remember. For diving in the box. Or was it against Brisbane? Anyway, he got a yellow card for diving. And here, he's just fucking trying to referee the game half the time by himself, falling to ground, asking for free. And referees, we've spoken about this, referees are not giving as many, they want the game to be a little bit more flow and everything. But fuck, he's been here for six months now. Stop it, stay on your feet man and show your class. You're fucking, were about to sign for Fiorentina for 10 million euros four years ago. You should be killing this league. And this goes back to my initial question about the frustration. Leo Senna should be, he could play with one arm tied behind his back smoking a cigar and still fucking boss games. And he's not, he's being outmuscled. He looks like, what's going on there? Yeah, he's... We see moments of what he's capable of and times and then we see that shit just stopping. Two guys tussling for the ball and he just stops and it's like, mate, I'd be very, very surprised if Oofy doesn't or hasn't sat him down and put a rocket up his arse saying, fuck, cut that shit out. I remember a couple of years ago, I remember... An Adelaide player, who was it, rolling and rolling and rolling at Newcastle and you just heard Carl Viet on the sideline through the effects mic go, cut that shit out! And it was, it was like just like a dad saying, that's enough! And that's what needs to be said to him, it's like, that's enough! You're not gonna get those free kicks, you've fucking done it time and time again and it plays off and you stand there going, When are you gonna learn that exactly, that's what I mean, exactly. Sydney. But I also wonder if with their press, and I think they've tempered it a little bit, they were all out at the start, and I think they're a little bit, in recent weeks, have gone a little less all out and a little bit more, okay, let's hit the block. I'm not sure if the players, you know. Clamala's a great nine, but is he one to work his ass off to press all the time? Is Senna just in behind there? I don't know, is he fit enough to get around the pitch and cover all the bases that need to be covered? I just see too many holes in those pressing positions and teams getting through too quickly. Western Sydney, they could have been 4-5-1 up and it would have been dead, but it was just some real desperation. There was a shout for a penalty off Rino when he went down and then you pull out, what happened? The Clisby a few weeks back, whenever it was, it was almost exactly the same thing and that was a penalty. So you go to the consistency there and Western Sydney would have a bit of an argument to go, well, fuck and hell, things didn't go our way. Sapsford was fucked. the Clisby one in New Zealand? Because that would explain it. You I can't remember where it was now. But yeah, look, we're talking about... You are on Zach Sepsfit. yeah, we're talking about Sydney, but I'm gonna go on to West Sydney a little bit and say, know, Sapsford has been, fucking hell, I don't know what it is in these derbies, he has his extra Weetabix those mornings. But him and Milanovic, they've got this really good understanding, this energy. Borello was great again, them going forward is fantastic. What I was a bit... shocked at at one stage and I don't know if I saw them go off, I must have been going off to get another beer and I sat down and they cut to the bench and there was Borello and Brillante sitting next to each other and I got a couple of messages from some people saying two senior players been taken off to put younger players on, that's a mistake. And I got a couple of people who have coached in the A.L.E. or won in the A.L.E. just message me, it said the same thing and a few other people who have played the game going, that's a mistake right there. And I think it told in the end, like when... You take experience out there who can battle you through those moments and lead the way. I wouldn't have been taking them off, that's my opinion. I would have kept them on there until they fucking ran themselves into the ground at 96 minutes and they wouldn't have been coming off. Those two in particular. Which is what we saw with Milanovic, watching the game I could see him, that he was cramping up after about 75 minutes and Staduis was yelling at him, mate, come on, just keep going, we need you. That's what you'd be doing with Brilante and Borrello. Brilante could play three games back to back, so there's no issue with his fitness. You need his presence in midfield, running, harassing, winning fields, clearing the ball, and Borrello as well. He's a... He's a pain in the arse, especially when you're up 3-1 in just harassing players and winning silly fouls, getting under the skin of... and potentially getting a Leo Senna booked or sent off, you know, and frustrated. So that was a surprise. I got exactly the same. A lot of texts, a lot of people commenting on that. it almost, I don't know, about the message it sort of sends out. Is it one of, right, we're 3-1 up, let's just shut up shop here, where... But then you feel the tension. You could feel it. in the crowd, you know, could feel like, right, if we can just get one, they're gonna crumble, their asses are gonna go and they're gonna crumble. And that's exactly what happened. If another four or five minutes, I reckon Sydney win that game. without a doubt. Don't Sydney score something like nearly 30 % of their goals in last 15 minutes or something or 10 minutes. It's something like off the charts most of their goals come in that last 15 minutes. They put it up on the thing and you're like it's gonna happen you could just see it's gonna happen. know, Segecic, he just keeps doing it doesn't he? I think he's a quality player. Yeah. This year has been fantastic and a tough year to do it. Because Sydney, with all the foreign players they've got going forward, it is hard for him to get minutes. But every minute he's had, he's made count this year. think he's been great. Kaczaski is another one. mean, the poor kid, I don't know what he needs to do to get more game time because he's getting five minutes at the end of a game to come on and do something. I think... I think potentially Ulfie needs to be a bit braver there. Lolly had an off game, which can happen. And I know you might want him out there right up until the death to win you a game because he can. Yeah, but when he looks gassed, these kids have come on and produced this year. In recent years, I haven't felt that. I haven't really felt that with Patty Ward, with a couple other boys coming off the bench. They've never really quite had that spark that you need to. As a young kid coming through in Sydney, you need to have immediate impact or it's going to be tough and these kids are doing it. Segichy's been great, Kachaski's been great. Give them more minutes, you know. 23 goals in the last half hour of matches. More than 60 % of their goals. And that's a lot more than your next best Auckland, who have 13, I think, and Western United who have 12. They've got fucking 23. So they're scoring, yeah. so you're keeping your senior players on. Mate, we need you today. the opposite of Melbourne victory, which they should be. They should be polar opposites, these two sides. All right, one more game. Is there anything else to add? who the fuck am I? Fuck. You see, I'm just losing my head. Okay. on prizes for this coming soon. Hopefully we'll start to get some prizes for the, who the fuck am I? Hopefully. We're both so fucking busy we don't ever follow up any of our emails. They're just all left in limbo. did get we did get messages as well. Fuck. So thank you once again to everyone who's written in. That'll do. We do read them. Yeah, there was a great one. Great one about Carl saying that Carl has to go from a fellow bloke from Wai'ala saying that Carl is the most Wai'ala person on earth. Yep. See, so we do read them. We just never fucking respond because they just get left in there. That's it. Sydney, who was fucking spewing about Western Sydney. This was before the game. So I can only imagine. I you're still with us, mate. And I hope everything's OK. And everyone else, we had some other comments as well. Look, we are thinking about doing the Patreon thing and getting some bonus. little podcasts out there, but as Macca just said, we're two lazy cunts, so it may never happen. Hang on, whoa whoa, we're too busy cunts. I wouldn't say we're lazy. It's just fucking trying to find the time to get it all. Yeah, if you're too- me about coming on today. I said, what time? He goes, mate, I'm free all day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you let me know. no fucking chance. We've delayed an hour for you because you have to get your fucking beauty sleep. Obviously me and Robbie don't get much of that. Yeah, I know. We're not putting this one out on YouTube. I look like some... I look like some fucking surrealist painting. Right, who the fuck am I? who the fuck am I? Last week's answer, which few people got right, was I am Tensai Shinji Ono. Well done. I am the man who's won the Asian Champions League and the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord back in the day. I played with Robin van Persie, Ilkay Gunduyan, Alex Brosk and Freddie Ljungberg. There you go. Brosky, while I find my notes, how was that experience with Shinji Ono? Playing with Shinji, it was unreal. Even driving to training with him a couple of times. Yeah, you're sitting alongside a legend, you know. was awesome to see, especially there, especially in Japan, just how big he is. know, because Japanese, they love their sport, football in particular, and their fanatics. You know, they'd come to every single training session with old Shinji Ono cards and be there waiting for him. And he'd make them wait. well he'd get all his treatment done and they'd be there lining up at the end and he'd come and sign everything. having someone like him there was, I mean and you mentioned Freddie Jumberg, he was in the same squad so was a pretty good good changer in the beam. Eddie Bosner as well. just a small fish, right? Fucking hell. Can't say that very often. Have a big pause. All right, who the fuck am I? Soon to be accompanied by a prize, perhaps. in your answers, you can answer on for the moment because there's still no prize. You can answer on however you fucking want or not. Who the fuck am I? Born in the former Yugoslavia. It was in Italy where I finished my youth training. And in my first season as a pro, I won the Serie A, the Coppa d'Italia and the Champions League. Heights, I was to spend the rest of my career trying to rescale. 12 years and three clubs in six clubs in three countries later, I succeeded when I won the toilet seat. The A league in my first season. in Australia. I promptly retired from professional football at 32 years of age, having achieved everything that was possible to achieve in the game. And I share my name with a famous Surrealist painter. Who the fuck am I? So there you go. no idea until that last clue and then I got it straight away. I can't, I mean it's not easy to think of Surrealist painters. had to go through, I did my Surrealist painting history yesterday obviously. So there were a few, but Salvador Dali is obviously the obvious one. There were no Salvador's or Dali's in the A-League ever. Yeah, close, Franz Dali. All right, last game. We are nearly done. MacArthur, two. Western United too, as Macca was saying at the top of the program, if this had been played in front of 30,000, well this would have been another fucking game of the season. Botich, five goals in four now for him. With a great headed goal as well. Valère Germain was doing his best Leo Senna impersonation in the middle of the pitch and felt he should have had a free kick. I went back and looked at it a few times. I don't think there was enough in it to pull that one back. So, Bottich opens the scoring. Jake Holman with a fucking classic Jake Holman goal now. How many times per game are we seeing this cut back to the edge of the box and Holman running through to finish first time or miss first time or see it save first time because it happens that often. He should have fucking 15 goals this season. Abel Wallaty just before halftime. with a quality goal. That was real Abel quality. And then Marin Jakulic. This was, well, it was what it was. I'm sure we're gonna discuss it. Tate Russell with a cross-field ball from under pressure in his own corner to the edge of the box to Marin Jakulic. If he had his time over, I'm pretty sure. you setting me up for a rant here, are you? I fucking, set off on my rant, right, well I set off on my rant about defenders just fucking defended and someone, I can't remember who was on Twitter said that we need to do a bingo card and at one stage I wrote on our sheet of paper calling the Jets game I wrote defenders just fucking defend and showed you we were all commentating and you just ticked the bingo card in the air My other rant is overplaying from out the back Fuck me dead Tate Russell what the fuck were you doing? Honestly what is he? If you did that in our day, you would have been fucking hooked straight away. I know the game's changed, but that was just fucking suicidal. That was ridiculous. Like, you're under pressure, you look up, so you're try and hit a 70 metre diag or 60 metre diag right across your six yard to the far full back. It's fucking stupid. and they paid for it. And it was a fucking really good game to be fair. I really enjoyed watching this game. was, there could have been more goals. The goalkeepers, all of a sudden we talked about Philip Kerte not being great. All of a sudden, Philip Kerte's pulling fucking saves out of his ass, Les Brighton-Sanuck. Yeah, someone tweeted us saying that as well. So yeah, they're out there. They're on our side. But what about the excitement in it? Like it was all... Western United at the start, then MacArthur come back, then it was gold, then at the end it was like fucking hell, both teams were just going for gold and they were hitting the post and they can save here and it was an exciting game and like I said, if that was played in front of a huge crowd, everyone would be talking about what a fucking game that was and what an exciting game but it wasn't and it still was a good game. Broski, Broski, what did you make of this one, the final match of the round? You were still recovering. an entertaining one. Look, two good sides, think that have, especially this year, Western United more recently as well, have looked good. They've started to click, they've started to look, in recent months I mean, know, Danzaki's been good, Iwasuki has been good as that sort goal scorer. Bottic as well, and going forward, I like the look of Wallaty as well. He looks... a real good player in that sort of position as well, drifting in, in behind. Great to watch. And then on the other side, MacArthur have been entertaining as well. know, Jarkali, good pick up, Iconomedes coming back. I've always liked Iconomedes and feel like the last couple of years, I don't know what sort of happened. I know injuries have played a part, but seeing him at his best, he's a great pick up for MacArthur and someone who can... really hurt people and then Jermain there who can score. So entertaining game, it definitely was. Both sides had enough chances to win it as well. Yeah, Ibasuki should have made it 3-1, that cross right on. And the fast stick he just couldn't get enough to and that's game over. And then the Bulls had a couple of chances later on as well. So, yeah. let's talk then, if we're shooting people. Danny De Silva. Fuckin', you can't be offside for that. He was fuckin' a metre and a half offside, and then he was going, I wasn't offside, no way, no way was that offside. He's looking across the line completely unmarked, and he scored, but fuck, he would have scored if he was three metres back as well. And then, hit the post, he should have fuckin' scored there as well. Shouldn't he? was a tight angle but he should have scored but it's a tight angle. he should have scored. I'll go with you on that. Let's go back to the Holman goal and I think it was last week that I did the tactician on Germain and we talked about his movement and like you talked about Clamala's movement earlier for that goal. I brought my son in and rewound it and said there watch that watch Clamala move away and go back. But this is what Valère Germain does so well that a lot of people I don't think pay attention to is that not only does he drop in the box and come and pick up the ball and move it on it when that space gets cleared he can still he makes those runs in behind and then does the simple thing of giving it back to Yacoulis who's now facing forward because he's he's back to play doesn't try to do anything over the top knows that he can't play it be to play a 1v1 he's not gonna have the pace does his job holds the play up waits for Yacoulis to come plays it there who just rolls that ball across the Holman fucking good football I loved it it was brilliant Speaking about Marin Yankalish, is he not fucking easy to fucking hate? Fuck he's a moaning fucker. He moans and fucking bitches about every fucking thing on the pitch mate. Not everything is a fucking foul. Not everything has fucking gone against you. Yeah some things do. Complain about the things that do. Not about someone running next to you or fucking. Fuck me, he does not stop. Falleas, man's not bad in that area either. But he fucking moans about everything. And to be fair, you know, he did get a whack with the elbow in the face. That one he can complain about. I thought that was worth looking at, But fucking moans about everything. But don't you love that though? I think the league doesn't have enough players that we hate, you know? this is what I was gonna get to and say that, cause I never did that, all right? I never ever did that. man, I fucking moaned and pissed and. off. I'll get up and won't complain about it. I complained, I still complained a lot. know, I'd be into the player, into the ref, into the player. So look, I'm probably a bit of a hypocrite there, but fuck, he just, I don't know, he just stands out as someone. Every time the camera's on him, he's whinging about something. But on the other hand, fuck, can play. He can cross a ball, can put balls into dangerous areas, he can score goals. Some wonderful, between him and Wollatee, the movement of the ball to get the shot away, great stuff. And I got in my notes here, 94th minute, De Silva hits post, 94th minute, Uzkuk, Uzkuk block, 97th minute, Sutton save from Jokolis. Both teams could have won this in the last minute. was... a great save. That was a fucking great save from Sutton. Yeah. that Ousko Block was, I was like, oh, goal, a goal. And he just, it was fantastic. It was a really good game, two teams who play attractive football. Western United, I picked them to come last, speaking of what we predicted at the start. They are making me eat my words because they are good team, they work well, they've got a good balance of experience. I like them. They've got young players coming through and Johnny Aluisi isn't afraid to play them consistently. and I've said it time and time again that he's doing a fucking really good job this year. Yep, absolutely. All right. Is there anything more to add to that? Western United, they had 19 shots, an XG of 3.8. They probably, I think JA said after the game, maybe we should have won that, you know, 6-2 or something. Philip Kerto was very impressed. And it's good to see Kerto back to that. I just can't get over the idea of we don't have enough players we love to hate. Did we consider this last year coming up with like a, you know, at cunts first 11 or you know, who's the biggest, who's the biggest asshole? should be a designated cunt and you have to be a cunt every match. If you haven't done a cunt worthy act within 30 minutes you get booked. Well what happens when you're like at the, I remember at the Mariners and we had Hutch, Simmo, me, we're all putting our hand up for the cunt card. They can only have one designated cunt per team. Brilliant, brilliant. all our listeners out there, they can come up with a CUN 11. Tell us what you got. But you can only get, you can only have one in the 11, we only want a starting 11, and you can have two subs, and then you can only have one from each team. It doesn't have to be positional and a coach, yeah, a coach. is. teams. So do one on every current team and then an A-League legends of cunts. about that? See if you get a mention there, Macca. 20 year. I think Matti Simon would be in Sydney's. of that one. Well, I think there probably is something to be said for it because, you know, the Argentine national team is basically a team of cunts and they won the World Cup. You know, so there you go. I remember seeing it. There's a documentary about them winning, I think. Anyway, there's thousands of documentaries out there, but they talk about the midfielders going one by one to foul the person that fouled Messi. Take him turns. to take out Messi and then they just go and you just have him going De Paul says, yeah, so then I hit him and then Paredes goes, and then it was my turn and then the next guy and then I was And they just said, you know, and if you didn't get a yellow card the first time you get to come around again 11 fouls later when the other cunts have all finished Brilliant Absolutely. Brilliant. All right. Well, that'll do on that note Are we done? Yep. not forget, don't subscribe, don't tell your friends, don't do all of that shit, we don't care. Just keep listening, you fucking legends. And we'll see you again in a week's time when we'll be back for the A-League. There's a massive storm coming in here. I'm getting thunder and lightning. You out in South Australia, Broski, you must already have it, yeah? Yes, it's been smashing outside. No, right. Can't see through those expensive shutters. Righto, is that us? Cheers, Broski, love it. listening in and we'll see you again in a week's time.