Analysis The mental ineptitude against so called "lesser" sides & general mediocrity of EFC (Since 2005)

[Tassieboy]

To be fair, footballers as a group aren’t the most intelligent people, but I genuinely think we are an extremely stupid team. This might seem a bit extreme but hear me out.

We hear from Worsfold that some aren’t getting their head around the new game plan or following instructions. When I think through the list I can only think of 3 players who I am confident have above average intelligence: McGrath, Daniher, and probably Fantasia. There may be one or two others, but not many. I certainly don’t think our senior players - Heppell, Bellchambers, Hooker, Hurley etc - are the smartest group in the competition. I’d be interested to see how many high level coaches this playing group produces. It won’t be many.

Compare this with Essendon’s 2000 side. Numerous players in that team were above average in intelligence: Hird, Heffernan, Hardwick, Caracalla, Lucas, Lloyd, Wellman, and Rama.

I’m also sceptical about our on-field leadership. From an outside perspective they seem like a very laid-back group of lads, lead by ‘she’ll be right’ Heppell. They also often play (like today) without fire and passion. Where is the leadership and accountability?

 

[windyhill]

Body conditioning. ****ing disgraceful.

 

[Mootsy]

Basically, it comes down to lack of on field leaders who set and demand that others adhere to standards of commitments. We lost those leaders somewhere back in the mid nough ties and have never recaptured it. There is no tradition of performance in top level, finals type environment. After all, we haven't won a final within the playing lifetime of anyone on our list. Don't mean to be captain negative, but there's your trouble. Wish I had the answer.

At the same time, we've heard from Jobe and even Hird that the up and coming leadership group, they have full confidence in. Essentially, Heppell gets a lot of praise and I hear he is great around the club. The leadership group are up and coming, and there is a vocal aspect at training seems to be a pretty good standard.

I'd say it's psychological and it's the coaches getting things like not playing the right players on game-day. Players out of position, away from their true strengths..

Do we even have a goal-kicking coach? Do the players get motivational training?

Are the coaching team getting things right??

It can't be that hard to know what is going wrong from week to week and then trying to solve it. That's what good coaches do.

 

[Bombermania]

We need a tipping point of leaders/toughness Just guessing at the ratio but surely if you have more than a third of the best 22 that have the right mentality then you are going to be a lot tougher mentally and win more.

Many of experienced players are soft. Bags is our hardest player - look at our defence in 2000 - nightmare of hardness for the opposition - Solly, Dimma, Johnson, Wallace. Add to that we had players who would crack in on every line - the Longs/Hirds/Lloyds - genuinely hard at the ball players.

I haven't seen a good Essendon unless they are on the margins with aggression.

I agree with the last line, we saw that on display when ZMerrett was knocked over against Adelaide, no Essendon player reacted, we also saw this lack of aggression when Mitchell did his jab jab, if he did that against the 2000 side, he would have been firmly sat on his arse.

The lack of aggression isn't just a matter of someone being willing to hurt someone but also when the side is under pressure we don't have someone who seems willing to do something.

Smith looks promising as does McGrath.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

We finished eighth last season, as we have multiple times over the past 15 years. We got squashed in our only final, as we have multiple times over the past 15 years. We have consistently been a middle-of-the-road type team for a long time and we haven't yet broken out of that. Unfortunately, middle-of-the-road teams tend to be inconsistent - often winning as many games as they lose. 'Poor' might be hyperbole but what we view as 'mental ineptitude' is really just the reality of being a side with middling talent. Quite frankly I'm not sure I'd characterise Essendon as any different to other teams who have fluctuated between 7th and 8th and the bottom of the ladder during this period.

Case in point:

Perhaps I’m imagining it, but I think Essendon has at many stages shown an ability to match it with the top sides. Yet - as is the topic of the thread - we consistently fall over in games we’re supposed to win. I don’t think it’s pure inconsistency... there’s something about this team that struggles in “normal” games of footy.

 

[Mootsy]

I think it's a coaching problem and team selection problem and players not playing in their best position.

That's how I see it.

None of us know though, because none of us are there with the team or club.

 

[Mootsy]

I agree with the last line, we saw that on display when ZMerrett was knocked over against Adelaide, no Essendon player reacted, we also saw this lack of aggression when Mitchell did his jab jab, if he did that against the 2000 side, he would have been firmly sat on his arse.

The lack of aggression isn't just a matter of someone being willing to hurt someone but also when the side is under pressure we don't have someone who seems willing to do something.

Smith looks promising as does McGrath.

So it could be the spirit of the club is hurting?? Perhaps the success factor has just been drained out of the club because it's been so long since we won a final and the saga hangover. The climate has also changed. Teams are more business orientated these days, a lot of players on various teams are mates outside the club, and hug each other post-game.

Different times, that's for sure.

 

[adsla69k]

The team is playing like Millennials and we need them to play like Gen X.

 

[Bombermania]

So it could be the spirit of the club is hurting?? Perhaps the success factor has just been drained out of the club because it's been so long since we won a final and the saga hangover. The climate has also changed. Teams are more business orientated these days, a lot of players on various teams are mates outside the club, and hug each other post-game.

Different times, that's for sure.

Your first part seems to be on the money.

When it comes to the players, I am pretty sure that players have pretty much always had mates at other clubs, after all they use to sometimes have a post match drink with the other side and guys use to train at different clubs at different times, Sam Newman for example trained at Hawthorn when he was at Geelong because it was closer to where he lived.

 

[Mootsy]

Your first part seems to be on the money.

When it comes to the players, I am pretty sure that players have pretty much always had mates at other clubs, after all they use to sometimes have a post match drink with the other side and guys use to train at different clubs at different times, Sam Newman for example trained at Hawthorn when he was at Geelong because it was closer to where he lived.

Yeah, and that's normal and fine, I'm just saying they even show a lot of post-game affection that has been more a recent thing, last decade or so, but every club does it, so it's not a problem at all. Just saying. Different to what they used to do in other decades on ground post-game.

 

[TheBrightSide]

I was also gonna start a similar thread, so Macca, you’re a genius.

Here’s the thing, which I have thought for years.
Lower teams turn it on against us, and often play their best game of the year.
Sure we clearly don’t play our best, but did you see the way the Dogs played today? They would have beaten anyone today, all while being the worst team in the comp in the first two weeks.
Teams who couldn’t hit a target to save their lives suddenly turn into the freakin Harlem Globe Trotters when they play us.

It’s easy to blame Essington mode, but I think the lower teams see us as a great chance for an upset win, and play accordingly.

 

[jmoo wan]

Leadership is a massive problem. We’ve got David “lol he’s got a crazy moustache” Myers as a walk up start in the 22 because of his senior leadership. Let that sink in for a minute

 

[Macca18]

For balance, I'd like to see the games that we probably weren't expected to win put up.

Fair enough. I have used the criteria of teams who have finished 6th or above at the end of the home & away season (all qualified for at least 1 home final) to do an analysis of our victories (23) against quality opponents during this same time period (2005 to now).

In 13 completed seasons (and an extra three rounds of 2018), we have achieved 23 victories against high quality opponents compared with 37 losses against poor performing teams. Despite a number of mediocre seasons during this time, pretty alarming statistics but probably not overly surprising for those who follow club results closely and generally have modest expectations when playing against so called "lesser" teams.

2005 (Finished 13th):
R13 vs St Kilda (ES) - 15 point win against eventual 4th placed St Kilda
R18 vs Geelong (ES) - 13 point win against eventual 6th placed Geelong

2006 (Finished 15th):
R1 vs Sydney (ES) - 27 point win against eventual 4th placed Sydney
R19 vs Collingwood (MCG) - 13 point win against eventual 5th placed Collingwood

2007 (Finished 12th):
R11 vs West Coast (ES) - 1 point win against eventual 3rd placed West Coast

2008 (Finished 12th):
No victories against a team that finished 6th or higher

2009 (Finished 8th):
R5 2009 vs Collingwood (MCG) – 5 point win against eventual 4th placed Collingwood
R20 2009 vs St Kilda (ES) – 2 point win against eventual 1st placed St Kilda

2010 (Finished 14th):
R8 2010 vs St Kilda (ES) – 12 point win against eventual 3rd placed St Kilda
R10 2010 vs Western Bulldogs (ES) – 9 point win against eventual 4th placed Western Bulldogs
R18 2010 vs St Kilda (ES) – 33 point win against eventual 3rd placed St Kilda

2011 (Finished 8th):
R3 2011 vs St Kilda (ES) – 52 point win against eventual 6th placed St Kilda
R6 2011 vs West Coast (ES) – 16 point win against eventual 4th placed West Coast
R15 2011 vs Geelong (ES) – 4 point win against eventual 2nd placed Geelong

2012 (Finished 11th):
R7 vs West Coast (ES) – 61 point win against eventual 5th placed West Coast

2013 (Finished 9th*):
R3 vs Fremantle (Subiaco) – 4 point win against eventual 3rd placed Fremantle
R5 vs Collingwood (MCG) – 46 point win against eventual 6th placed Collingwood
R9 vs Richmond (MCG) – 29 point win against eventual 5th placed Richmond

2014 (Finished 7th):
R1 vs North Melbourne (ES) – 39 point win against eventual 6th placed North Melbourne
R16 vs Port Adelaide (AO) – 2 point win against eventual 5th placed Port Adelaide

2015 (Finished 15th):
R2 vs Hawthorn (MCG) – 2 point win against eventual 3rd placed Hawthorn

2016 (Finished 18th):
All three (3) victories in this wooden spoon year were against bottom 9 teams.

2017 (Finished 7th):
R8 vs Geelong (MCG) – 17 point win against eventual 2nd placed Geelong
R12 vs Port Adelaide (ES) – 70 point win against eventual 5th placed Port Adelaide

2018 (Ongoing):
R1 vs Adelaide (ES) – 12 point win against current 3rd placed Adelaide

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I was also gonna start a similar thread, so Macca, you’re a genius.

Here’s the thing, which I have thought for years.
Lower teams turn it on against us, and often play their best game of the year.
Sure we clearly don’t play our best, but did you see the way the Dogs played today? They would have beaten anyone today, all while being the worst team in the comp in the first two weeks.
Teams who couldn’t hit a target to save their lives suddenly turn into the freakin Harlem Globe Trotters when they play us.

It’s easy to blame Essington mode, but I think the lower teams see us as a great chance for an upset win, and play accordingly.

Funnily enough I thought the Sogs were largely shit. We played like arseholes and without a Daniher brain fart would’ve been within a kick of them with 5 mins to go.

 

[Runk]

Am eagerly awaiting the media to throw fuel on this burning fire.....

 

[blitzer]

We have a tendency to turn up with 0 intensity when we start as favourites, then the opposition get a run on and suddenly they are feeling confident. This is even true of teams that have been belted from pillar to post. If we just turned up to those games with high intensity and won the first quarter comfortably most of these teams would just fold. Instead we convince them they have a chance.

Plus our midfield simply isn't consistent. Well it is.......just not consistently good. Its been a problem area for us for so many years that I don't think many of us even remember what a good Essendon midfield even looks like.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Am eagerly awaiting the media to throw fuel on this burning fire.....

Llyod to come out swinging

 

[hirdylloydy1]

The fact that dyson said we are not taking the game easy was a red light to me. Essendon dont deserve the right to think anyone is easy. There needs to be non conditional buy in on work rate, that doesnt change week to week. I dont care what your name is, if you dont commit 100 percent every single week, your in the twos.

 

[Mr_McBoogerBalls]

Pardon me for intruding but we have the exact same thing. Players can play champagne football that looks unstoppable, but the problem is the players know this and aren't fully switched on throughout the game. It is kinda like being Hawthorn or Geelong without the achievements and track record, they don't take average to poor teams seriously and expect they only have to play 2 quarters out of 4 to win the game. It almost makes it worse when they have the wins against the top sides because it just reinforces to them the whole 'if we can roll these top sides we don't have to give 100% when we play the shit ones'.

Essendon need a culture changing player and you might just have one in McGrath.

Makes a lot of sense. Every time our teams square off, the favorite always seems to lose.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

We have a tendency to turn up with 0 intensity when we start as favourites, then the opposition get a run on and suddenly they are feeling confident. This is even true of teams that have been belted from pillar to post. If we just turned up to those games with high intensity and won the first quarter comfortably most of these teams would just fold. Instead we convince them they have a chance.

Plus our midfield simply isn't consistent. Well it is.......just not consistently good. Its been a problem area for us for so many years that I don't think many of us even remember what a good Essendon midfield even looks like.

Hird,Jason Johnson,Smokin Joe

The good old days

 

[schmuttt]

Makes a lot of sense. Every time our teams square off, the favorite always seems to lose.

I see Worsfold has decided to start early this year and ensure we will be favourites

 

[Bombermania]

Hird,Jason Johnson,Smokin Joe

The good old days

When we use to go hard early then sit on teams, sure it was a different side but they sought to blow teams away early, I well remember going to the top of the ladder clash between Essendon and Hawthorn (think it was 2001) when both sides had won their first eight or something, yet we came out firing, blowing them away early and then just sat on them for the rest of the game.

 

[Rack Watts]

The easy going natures of Heppell and Worsfold are translating into games.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

When we use to go hard early then sit on teams, sure it was a different side but they sought to blow teams away early, I well remember going to the top of the ladder clash between Essendon and Hawthorn (think it was 2001) when both sides had won their first eight or something, yet we came out firing, blowing them away early and then just sat on them for the rest of the game.

We were feared.

 

[Lord Nicholson]

The easy going natures of Heppell and Worsfold are translating into games.

This predates their involvement and is more systematic of the culture of entitlement that is shot through the club.

One wonders at this stage the merits of a Paul Roos methodology: remain competitive at all costs, never bottom out, and jag a premiership when it's in the offing. You'll never dominate the competition, but Roos' Sydney rarely coughed up games to weaker opposition from memory (still don't), and I'm confident Melbourne will step forward into that light over the next 3 years.

We're effectively no better than Melbourne of a few years ago. Important to remember that the club has been deeply traumatised, and you want people to feel good about being at the football club, but there's no magical "they need to take this more seriously" ointment. The club (like most others) has now been seduced by the sequential Cinderella Premiers, where in fact the previous three years a probably more indicative of what it's about. Hard work, a damn good system, a high level of skill, and smart footballers. Our guys are so possession hungry that they'll call for it while stationary or while being tackled and their compatriots oblige. And yet you'll see nary a shepherd, or like today you have three big blokes going for the same I50. It's selfish bullshit built around individual stats. This club will pull itself out of the shit once it starts teaching the players that your stat sheet doesn't mean shit; it's the scoreboard, stupid.