No team should have the amount of chances we had and be as dominant as we were and still not come away with the win. It just cannot happen at this level and if you want to be taken seriously in this competition, you just have to beat the lesser teams at home and we have failed to do that during this first-half of the season.
For all the chances we did miss, at least supporters and people watching our matches can sit there and say that we are at least creating them. At the other end of the park it is a totally different story and where our real problems lie this season.
Defensively we have been very very poor. We have one of the worst defensive records in the League this season.
And to compound that fact, at the half-way point of the season (11 rounds) we only have 1 clean sheet in those 11 matches, dreadful reading.
To put this further into numbers, at the half-way point last season we were:
22 goals for and had only 8 goals against in 2018.
At the same point in 2019, we also have scored 22 goals, but we have conceded a whopping 18 goals against.
At the half-way point last season, we were sitting on 9 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. This season we have 4 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses.
Being realistic, to replicate our first-half of the season performance from 2018, was going to be very difficult to achieve, but the drop off and difference has been huge, and it is not as if we have had a massive turnover of players.
For our defensive efforts to be this bad compared to last year is incomprehensible.
Furthermore, our home record this season so far has also been abysmal. Only 1 win from our first 6 home matches, that is also not good enough, and you can’t expect to be challenging if you do not win most of your home games.
Not sure what can be done to turn this around, the inconsistency is killing our season.
Most supporters would acknowledge that our squad is not as good and not as deep as some other sides in the competition and some even might say, that we just do not have the quality this season.
There is still another 11 matches to go this season, so we will see what is dished up.
For the Club Championship, the U18s drew 2-2 and in the U20s we lost 2-1. A shocking run of results which sees us creep ever closer into a relegation battle that nobody wants.
Some people are scoffing at this possibility, be aware that relegation is calculated not on First Grade standings but via the Club Championship, and if we continue on the road we are on, do not be surprised to see Sydney Olympic in NPL 2 in 2020. Ask Marconi, Melita, Bankstown, St. George, Bonnyrigg, Spartans, Canterbury how fun that experience is.
Our next match is a Round 6 FFA Cup Qualifier against Nepean FC, Tuesday Night May 21, at Cook Park in St. Mary’s. Kick-Off is at 7.30pm.
Our next match in the League is next Saturday Night May 25, against the Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw Park in Miranda, Kick-Off is set for 6.30pm. Hopefully the players are up for it this time and can reverse the embarrassment of the first encounter this season.
The club doesn't have the balls to do it and who can blame them after all that he's done for us, but Hendo is finished as a competent first choice goalkeeper.
ReplyDeleteHe is why we have conceded more goals this season.