The Tackle: KeepUp finally ShutUp; has an era ended for Melbourne City after Roar hammering?

SHUTUP

Football fans should feel insulted by the self-indulgent farewell message left by the APL’s digital arm KeepUp.

Having finally confirmed what everybody already knew – that it would cease to exist following the APL’s review of operations – KeepUp had the chance to go out with at least some dignity by apologising for wasting $40 million of the game’s money, or by not posting any type of farewell.

Instead, the organisation decided to pat itself on the back for all the so-called good it had done for football in Australia.

Spare us, please. What a joke.

Very few outside the hardest of hardcore football fans knew the website existed.

If KeepUp did as much good as the farewell letter suggests, why is it shutting down and why is it a contributor to the APL’s financial worries?

While it’s sad that some good people lost their jobs because of KeepUp’s failure, the gravy train has finally come to a halt and not before time.

The amount of money wasted on KeepUp has done irreparable damage to our national competition and our code.

Nobody should be patting themselves on the back for that.

CITY NOT SO SLICK

Are we seeing the end of Melbourne City as an A-League force?

Something’s not right and hasn’t been since last season’s embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Central Coast Mariners in the grand final.

Rado Vidosic was made the scapegoat for that result but judging by recent results and the performances of some of the team’s higher-profile players, there was more to the club’s problems than just its former coach.

Perhaps this is being a bit hard on City because a club can only stay at or near the top for so long, particularly in a salary-cap league.

Maybe cashed-up City is in a rebuilding stage but if so it’s a rebuild that includes a host of stars.

The side’s performance on Saturday in a 5-1 loss to Brisbane Roar, which had lost seven of its previous nine matches, was unacceptable and embarrassing.

The defeat was even more humiliating because City thrashed the Roar 8-1 less than seven weeks ago.

City perhaps read too much into its own headlines after that win because it has lost four from six since.

In those six matches, their skipper and star striker Jamie Maclaren hasn’t scored.

Not since 2015 had Maclaren gone six A-League games without scoring.

It’s not just Maclaren’s fault that City has gone off the rails but as the club’s captain and chief goalscorer, he needs to lift.

Another club identity whose performance needs to be analysed is director of football Michael Petrillo, who has seemingly not been held to account for City’s fall from grace, which started with last season’s grand final debacle.

VICS SICK

City isn’t the only Melbourne club searching for answers.

Western United’s woeful season has continued and the Victory suffered it first loss of the campaign on Saturday.

It’s hard to see any light at the end of a dark tunnel for United on or off the field.

Victory’s problems are much easier to fix but losing to Macarthur FC hurts even more because of nine draws the side had in its 15-game unbeaten run.

All of a sudden, the City-Victory derby at AAMI Park on Saturday has taken on more significance.

Despite having lost just once this season, the Victory is now six points behind league leader Wellington, while City has fallen out of the top six.

HOW COULD THEY MISS?

There were two contenders for miss of the season on the weekend when Sydney FC striker Pat Wood and Brisbane Roar playmaker Keegan Jelacic were the culprits.

Luckily their misses didn’t cost their team wins but both should be having nightmares about blowing golden chances.

Wood’s was particularly outrageous.

With Central Coast Mariners goalkeeper Danny Vukovic already beaten, all Wood had to do was tap the ball home with his left foot or outside of his right boot.

Instead, he ran around the ball, hit it with the inside of his right foot and pulled his shot wide of the post.

Hopefully, Wood has learnt a valuable lesson because such a miss could cost his side a win.

KIT CHAOS

The kit fiasco in Wellington on Saturday was another embarrassment for the A-League.

Western United travelled to New Zealand with only one kit – the club’s regular black and green strip – in the belief the Phoenix would play in its usual yellow colours.

The Phoenix instead opted to again wear its predominantly black strip, which would have clashed with United’s kit.

The start of the match was delayed for 15 minutes to allow the Phoenix’s yellow kit to be picked up and brought to the ground.

After all that, the Phoenix still couldn’t find Bozhidar Kraev his proper No.11 yellow jersey so he was given No.49 but still had No.11 on his shorts.

How amateur is the competition for that to happen?

In the future, why don’t away teams take both kits and home teams wear their home strip.

That should avoid a repeat of the farce on Saturday.

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PHOENIX SET STANDARD

Despite the kit fiasco, the Phoenix continues to get the job done on the park.

While it’s not always entertaining football, the grit and determination being shown by Wellington has been good enough for the side to have a nice buffer at the top of the table.

A lot of this has been done recently without the services of the side’s best striker, the injured Oskar Zawada.

Credit must go to Giancarlo Italiano in his first season as an A-League head coach.

His team has set the standard and now it’s up to the rest of the competition to catch it.