Two loads of washing done, grocery run completed, showered and shaved.

Throw in another hour of torture for the Kiwis in a game playing on a one-way street, and I can't push this column any further down my to do list can I? (Hmmm, the red carpet at the Golden Globes is looking good ) .

I'm not sure what I can tell you this week that we haven't covered in recent times.

No complaints about effort from the Jets, but the little engine that could, actually couldn't, in an open, end-to-end contest.

Not for the first time in recent fixtures.

Melbourne Victory played pretty well in their 4-0 defeat of Newcastle, but they were hardly an irresistible force. Robbie Kruse looked like a player returning from a league two classes higher, and found space in behind the Newcastle defence, and in the pockets in front.

It's hard as a direct opponent to deny good players space on both sides if you are holding a high line and too far away from your midfield protection.

The other harsh reality is that, as good as Kruse was on Sunday, Victory's best player Ola Toivonen missed the game through suspension (and/or injury), and they are still someway from their potential peak as a team.

I won't earn university honours by telling you if you concede four goals per game, as the Jets have done far too frequently of late, you give yourself virtually no chance of getting a result.

A quick look at upcoming fixtures - Sydney at home on Friday, and then Melbourne City and Wellington away - suggests an urgent change of focus might be required.

I will once again court blasphemy, and suggest that the game in general in this country is way too highbrow, embracing style and philosophy, and false bravado.

Everyone is looking to dominate, control games, follow the gospel.

To suggest any other approach sees you branded old-school, lacking ambition, a dinosaur, or uneducated.

You certainly won't interview too well if, like Markus Babbel, you answer the "what's your philosophy?" question with a basic "to win matches". That, it seems, is too simple and unappealing.

Sometimes, whether it's budget, or injuries, or form, or whatever, there is a disparity between the talent of opponents, and in such cases the team of lesser quality usually has to plan to shape the game back to more favourable terms. It is football 101.

In recent years we have introduced "style points" to junior tournaments, stopped keeping score in games , encouraged people to follow a philosophy dogmatically, even when its not working, or the basic skills are not honed to the required level to implement said philosophy.

I am certainly all for improving our young players, broadening their outlook, but not at the expense of reality, and a winning mentality.

Everyone doesn't get a ribbon in football, except perhaps in the A-League. Europe is totally dog eat dog, and results-focused. Have they got it wrong? Please.

The tactical choice of sitting in, defending for your life, with shape and structure and discipline, is somewhat derided here.

But it's a fact of life for the vast majority of professional footballers in Europe where often only two teams, four at an absolute maximum, can genuinely win titles.

To play the same way away at Anfield or the Etihad, as you do at home against Aston Villa or Brighton would be suicidal, and would incur much scrutiny, and criticism.

Most teams' first priority is survival in their respective divisions. Does that make them realistic or lacking in ambition? A point here or there can be absolute gold.

And while I'm on a roll, can we please excuse every national team player from toeing the party line of "looking to dominate" every game we play, regardless of opponents, and playing "the Australian way"? It's beyond embarrassing.

If they gave two hoots about what we do in Argentina or Brazil, or Spain and Italy, they would be in hysterics laughing. Honestly, who do we think we are sometimes?

I hope that doesn't make me sound unpatriotic, because I'm just as proud as the next guy of what the national team has achieved on the international stage.

But I'm also aware of the yawning chasm between the worlds best and us. #realitycheck. (Bloody hell, I'm hip with that hashtag).

Having said all that, in a general sense, I'd like to bring it back to the Jets, and their clash with the best team in the country, Sydney FC, on Friday night.

In an almost perverse way, I'll offer Jets fans a glimmer of hope .

Some of the club's finest moments have been as underdogs at home against Sydney.

The Jets have won their two games this season with less than 50 per cent of the ball, and Sydney will dominate possession on Friday if they want to.

If it's an open, end-to-end game, Sydney will win. If the Jets are compact, committed and cautious with their ambition, they have some chance. That's the nature of football.

FOOTNOTE: This column was written before news broke about Ernie Merrick's departure, a topic I shall address next week.