You can already feel the intensity rising ahead of Friday night's semi-final at Etihad Stadium, particularly since City coach John van't Schip didn't bother waiting to light the fuse. He put a match to it straight after City's 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in an elimination final.
"The pressure is on them (Victory)," JvC declared. "It’s not because I want to put the pressure on them, that’s the truth. They are the champions, they have had a great season and have had good growth in their performance.
"But this is a single game, it’s a final and we’ve shown in the past we can get into those games in a very good way. We can approach them in a very good way."
"Even though it’s a short turnaround (five days) I think in this case it’s not a disadvantage, because we’re in the rhythm of playing and I think that can only be an advantage.
"The energy is good, we’re going to be up for it on Friday and it’s going to be a great game."
No, he isn't trying to put pressure on Victory at all!
More mind games
Adelaide United coach Josep Gombau was also bullish about playing Sydney FC in Saturday night's semi-final. Gombau reckoned Adelaide, which beat Brisbane Roar 2-1 in an elimination final, had the advantage because - unlike Sydney - it hadn't been dormant.
"If I am honest, it's better to play than to stay a week off without playing, because you keep the speed of the game, you keep this feeling," Gombau said. "I think we have a little bit of an advantage in this - that they stopped and they don't play the game.
"If we played on Wednesday, I would say no. But we play on Saturday. We have eight days, we can recover perfect, and we have the game of hard competition one week before that they don't have.
"For me, it's better. As a coach, I prefer to play every week and don't have this break."
Adelaide has beaten Sydney in all three games at Allianz Stadium this season, including an FFA Cup quarter-final. Gombau wasn't getting carried away with that record, but he certainly wasn't afraid of his team having to go to Sydney again to play the Sky Blues.
"I think that while we are playing away, it will be a good environment in Sydney," he said.
In recognition of the coaches in charge of the underdog teams being prepared to try to land a few mental blows on the opposition, False 9 brings you the late, great John Lennon to tell you what all these mind games actually mean.
Even more mind games
No-one among A-League coaches loves a good mind game more than Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold. He is bound to come up with a well-considered response to Gombau's comments.
It will be interesting to see what Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat comes up with, as well, when he is asked to respond to what Van't Schip had to say.
How did that feel?
The most admirable players in any team sport are those who are prepared to take responsibility, ignore the risk of failure and try to be "the one". Craig Goodwin is one of those.
The Adelaide attacker only joined the club this season. There are some well-performed older players there and Goodwin is only 23, but he has pushed to play a meaningful role and that includes taking many of the free kicks.
Goodwin delivered big-time with an awesome goal from a free-kick against Brisbane Roar.
False 9 noticed on the replay how Goodwin looked intently down the field at the defensive wall and Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young behind it and asked him about the process he goes through and how the goal rated among his best.
"After every training session I practice free-kicks," Goodwin said. "When I line it up in a game I try to go through the same routine as I do in training.
"I saw where the wall and 'keeper were positioned and I decided which side I was going to hit it. It's definitely the best dead-ball goal I've ever scored and to do it in such a big game was amazing!"
Man of the hour (and a half)
Melbourne City central defender Patrick Kisnorbo's physical presence, judgement and timing were all excellent against Wellington Phoenix.
The captain took it upon himself to limit the influence of the opposition's most dangerous attacker, Nathan Burns, and he succeeded admirably.
Towards the end of the game, Burns switched from the right side of the field to the left, presumably to get away from Kisnorbo and try to find another way through, but by then it was too late.
Tweet, tweet #1
There are some people out there who appreciate what False 9 tries to do for them.
In last week's edition False 9 reminded Wellington midfielder Roly Bonevacia, who had missed a penalty in the critical, last-round game against Sydney FC, that it happens to the best of them - sometimes repeatedly - and produced the video evidence to prove it in the case of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bonevacia appreciated it. Bad luck about Phoenix on the weekend, Roly, but congratulations on what was a fine season from yourself.
Tweet, tweet #2
False 9, using his supreme investigative reporting skills, is able to provide Sydney FC's marquee striker with the answer to his question.
, another of Mayweather's entertainment industry friends, explains that the boxer first became associated with Bieber at the urging of his star-struck daughter, Iyanna, and that their friendship built from there.
Tweet, Tweet #3
Phoenix captain Andrew Durante, who turned 33 on Sunday, will need some time to get over the crushing disappointment of the loss to Melbourne City, but there is nothing like the love from your family to ease the pain a bit.
Can't wait for ...
Friday night and the Melbourne derby.
Victory claimed the Premiers' Plate with 53 points after 27 regualr season rounds - 18 points ahead of fifth-placed City. Victory scored 56 goals - 20 more than City. Victory conceded 31 goals - 10 less than City.
However, the beauty of finals football is that none of these statistics matter if you don't turn up to play on the day, or you make a massive error that has a huge bearing on the result.
Both of these teams are going to want it bad. It promises to be a fascinating clash.
