Week 17: Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne - 29 Jan - 4:30NZDT / 2:30pm AEDT

[MTP]

fuck you adrian madaschi, giving us false hope that we could actually challenge for the title this year.

did Eli even play today? not sure why with his big body he refuses to go up for the headers off boltons goal kicks.

mate was quiet, behich put in his worst shift of his career with us.

must lift for the derby (that should just happen anyway).

at this rate will struggle big time for finals, the chasing pack are coming.

[MTP]

AND FFS JVS, STOP PLAYING TWO TEENAGERS AT CB.

the game is half lost as we walk onto the pitch.

[Bannon]

AND FFS JVS, STOP PLAYING TWO TEENAGERS AT CB.

was so pissed when i saw him bringing on colosimo after we copped the 2nd just start him ffs!

[Herman Cain]

No Fred, No Heart.

This.

Fred starting

W 6

D 1

L 2

Fred injured/subbed off early

W 1 - he played the first half hour and set up the first goal

D 4

L 5

[toogood18]

Look today was a weak performance.

I am not a big fan and never will be but I reckon Colosimo has to start in the derby, we got caught out against two experienced strikers today and maybe a calm, older head is needed at the back.

If Fred is out we must play Shroj, if he is available IMO, he adds grunt and seems to have a presence around him in the middle of the park.

Thompson getting injured doesn't help either

Dugandzic has been really quiet in the last month, went missing again today.

Also Babalj must be benched and brought on as an impact player. The Newcastle game is a good example of how damaging he can be when he is used as a pinch player.

[Buddy Farah]

This.

Fred starting

W 6

D 1

L 2

Fred injured/subbed off early

W 1 - he played the first half hour and set up the first goal

D 4

L 5

Your stats are wrong.

w/ Fred: 7 W, 2 D, 3 L

w/o Fred: 0 W, 3 D, 4 L

Edited January 29, 2012 by Buddy Farah

[JVR04]

I think that was probably the worst performance we have pulled this season IMO.

[Herman Cain]

Your stats are wrong.

w/ Fred: 7 W, 1 D, 4 L

w/o Fred: 0 W, 3 D, 4 L

So are yours.

[cadete]

What happened is JVS failed to sign the central defender when we needed one in the off season.

Instead he signed a number of attacking players such as the spud that is Williams.

The closet he got to signing a defender was a Defensive Mid in Hermano.

When we got lucky with Madaschi we got a guy who gave experience to defense and enabled Thompson to settle as the Mid he is...

The results showed as such - as they do now in reverse.

But heaven forbide we critise the attacking flare of a coach from Ajax - just because of results.

[KSK_47]

A win for Perth now could see us bumped down to 5th.

Uh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

[WilsonMHFC]

Does anyone know how serious Matty Thompsons injury was? Turned it off in rage after the 3rd.....

[Nietzsche]

I don't understand why we continue to play down the wings.

1. It traps the player into a tight area.

2. No player can actually cross (Besides Sarkies and Duga occasionally)

3. We have no one to get on the other end of a cross (Baby Bosnian has been average in that department)

We are much better playing the ball on the ground and either cutting in, through balls or building up play.

[tomby]

Behich wasn't up to scratch today, don't get me wrong though, he has played an amazing season.

Also imo need to do something with Bolton he has been doing terrible lately.

[cadete]

Behich cost us two goals and two points...

And that is a fact.

[jw1739]

Behich wasn't up to scratch today, don't get me wrong though, he has played an amazing season.

Also imo need to do something with Bolton he has been doing terrible lately.

We're all bloody disappointed with today's result, and in fact the whole of 2012 so far - just two points. All is not lost, we can still come good. Aziz has been a stand-out in so many games, he was never going to keep it at that level every time.

IMO we should wait until the end of the season before going into a detailed analysis. That said, I think we all know that we went into this season with a lop-sided squad - not enough depth in defence and some signings that didn't make any sense at all at the time (and have proved to be failures). Since our inception the goalkeeping department has been a shambles, with no effective alternative to CB. We have players in the squad who are not pressing for a first-team place. Long-term injuries have not helped, now we have to contentd with international call-ups. All these things need to be looked at for next season, whatever the outcome of this season.

Edited January 29, 2012 by jw1739

[mario]

Eli Babalj was absolute crap. Its like playing one man down. Like watching Adelaide play with Dijite, he was shit at the Gold Coast so lets shift him back to Adelaide and guess what hes still shit. How desperate can a league get, they recycle shit and end up stinking.

[Murfy1]

Eli Babalj was absolute crap. Its like playing one man down. Like watching Adelaide play with Dijite, he was shit at the Gold Coast so lets shift him back to Adelaide and guess what hes still shit. How desperate can a league get, they recycle shit and end up stinking.

Alright, so we had a bad loss, that's no reason go to fking insane.

It was a poor game from most of the players, with our regulars standouts, Behich and Dugandzic, not providing their quality.

Defending was poor for the whole match. We were slow and ineffective at closing down players with the ball (I don't think we won the ball back quickly after losing it once) and we sucked at defending crosses (poor effort to let crosses comfortably come in and poor effort to deal with them in the air).

Babal only got service for 2 shots, one from distance and a toe-poke. Its not Eli's fault that the rest of the team couldn't get the ball to the final third. Our chance creation overall was pathetic, with only 2 corners and a bad shot from Dugandzic in the first 20-30 minutes. Besides Babalj, Terra only got the service for the goal and that terrible miss near the end of the match.

We've used the Derby to re-energise our season more than once, lets hope we do it again next week.

[heart_fan10]

as soon as thompson got injured we were finished. We lossed the only experienced player in the midfield, was having a good game, and the young players didn't know how to cope.

JVS seriously needs to start colosimo in defense. We haven't kept a clean sheet playing the 2 young CB's together, and we must have an experienced player next to them to help them out.

Sarkies was shit all game, didn't win any balls in the midfield, which highlights the importance of Shroj in that he's one of the tallest players in the team, will win most of those 50/50 challenges in the midfield and will win most of the headers which we missed a lot today.

Don't know what people expect of babalj exactly? Plays his best when the ball is at his feet, and was getting shit service all game from the midfield.

Edited January 29, 2012 by heart_fan10

[dRoy]

Behich cost us two goals and two points...

And that is a fact.

Don't forget the Glory game earlier this year. Gifted Smeltz.

Your stats are wrong.

w/ Fred: 7 W, 2 D, 3 L

w/o Fred: 0 W, 3 D, 4 L

What's the Madaschi stats then?

[Che]

Don't know what people expect of babalj exactly? Plays his best when the ball is at his feet, and was getting shit service all game from the midfield.

Yeah, i'd reckon anyone else in the squad in that position would have probably had the same minimal impact. Same problem as the first few rounds of the year really.

[True Until I die]

Todat was like a boys v men situation, except in only one part if the pitch. Madaschi was a big loss for the heart but we need to start with Simon as when he is there good and Hamill seem to be a lot more comfortable and play better. The pair are getting better as a team but against one of the oldest and strongest strike forces in the league, you should start the only experienced centre back you have. yes behich made mistakes and cost us goals, it was not his day, but after the 3rd goal for the phoenix, The heart were the dominant side but the wellington defence were too strong.

Player reviews:

Bolton- not sure what was happening with those goals, a bit of a lack of communication. However the faith is still with him.

Marrone- Was good on a dull day, did not make obvious errors and played a lot of balls into the midfield.

Behich- Not his greatest day, he worked his ass off though at the end and it almost payed off.

Hamill, good- the pair are learning but today was not a good day, and will be one that they need to forget about.

Colosimo- the game was practically lost when he came on but showed good and Hamill how it’s done, if not for him, we could be in deep S*** going into the business end

Germano- Was very good on the ball and delivered the ball from defence to mid time and time again

Sarkies Was my man of the match today, worked incredibly for the 90 minutes, deserves a spot in the side, efficient passing, setting up attacks, a warhorse.

Thomson- did the same great things as srakies and it was a shame that he was injured

Worm-- not really sure his exact position but did not look bad, and New Zealand commentators its worm not Vorm ffs he plays for Swansea.

Williams- the results were not evident but I thought he actually worked hard on his time on the pitch one mistake that I saw.

Babalj, Terra- Being a striker is hard, when the ball is not coming your way it’s even harder, credit to Alex for taking the chance and for Eli for doing things in other parts of the pitch.

Notes-

Jvs used his subs quickly after we fell behind, I thought t/his was good as it allowed players to actually make an impact.

Our dead ball situations across the pitch were shocking and weird today. Bolton did not roll the ball or do small passes from goal kicks and receiving the ball, a very small percentage of his long kicks saw us with the ball, why the change, it was fine the way it was. In the corners, we tried to huddle the keeper but that doesn’t help when the ball is not near there or we don’t try to jump and header the ball.

Fred and shroj are big losses in the midfield but I thought our one today was fine,

Our youthful strike force can be brilliant but dugangic and co can have bad games

however it is the youth back four that when the make mistakes will cost us points.

In conclusion we came up against strong experienced opponents who are doing very well, This is also evident with Perth as not into the business end as youthful teams tire and pick up injury’s, the results will fall their way. the heart will not be a top two side but because of their effort and hard work we could see us in 3rd or 4th spot, now we just have to win some games,,,,

Say dont worry, about a thing

cause every little thing

is gonna be alright

Edited January 29, 2012 by True Until I die

[Luke]

fuuuark

[Ando]

It was interesting to see JvS change us up to a 3-4-3 once we went behind. As Art noted in the pub after the game, this would've been fine had Thompson still been in the pitch. He wasn't, however, and that left us with a massive hole in our midfield - are midfield was almost as useless as MV's once he was subbed off.

Babalj is a player that needs to receive balls at his feet. Just because he's tall doesn't mean he's good in the air and with our inadequate crossing yesterday that really showed.

[dRoy]

I was told that Worm is pronounced Verm.

[jw1739]

Eli Babalj was absolute crap. Its like playing one man down.

Easy there Mario. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and one loss doesn't make the season. Look at the bigger picture. Eli headed one goal-bound Wellington shot off our line, so he did his share. We're in a bad patch, but we're not done yet. This when the team needs us most.

Edited January 29, 2012 by jw1739

[marteaux]

Todat was like a boys v men situation, except in only one part if the pitch. Madaschi was a big loss for the heart but we need to start with Simon as when he is there good and Hamill seem to be a lot more comfortable and play better. The pair are getting better as a team but against one of the oldest and strongest strike forces in the league, you should start the only experienced centre back you have. yes behich made mistakes and cost us goals, it was not his day, but after the 3rd goal for the phoenix, The heart were the dominant side but the wellington defence were too strong.

Player reviews:

Bolton- not sure what was happening with those goals, a bit of a lack of communication. However the faith is still with him.

Marrone- Was good on a dull day, did not make obvious errors and played a lot of balls into the midfield.

Behich- Not his greatest day, he worked his ass off though at the end and it almost payed off.

Hamill, good- the pair are learning but today was not a good day, and will be one that they need to forget about.

Colosimo- the game was practically lost when he came on but showed good and Hamill how it’s done, if not for him, we could be in deep S*** going into the business end

Germano- Was very good on the ball and delivered the ball from defence to mid time and time again

Sarkies Was my man of the match today, worked incredibly for the 90 minutes, deserves a spot in the side, efficient passing, setting up attacks, a warhorse.

Thomson- did the same great things as srakies and it was a shame that he was injured

Worm-- not really sure his exact position but did not look bad, and New Zealand commentators its worm not Vorm ffs he plays for Swansea.

Williams- the results were not evident but I thought he actually worked hard on his time on the pitch one mistake that I saw.

Babalj, Terra- Being a striker is hard, when the ball is not coming your way it’s even harder, credit to Alex for taking the chance and for Eli for doing things in other parts of the pitch.

Notes-

Jvs used his subs quickly after we fell behind, I thought t/his was good as it allowed players to actually make an impact.

Our dead ball situations across the pitch were shocking and weird today. Bolton did not roll the ball or do small passes from goal kicks and receiving the ball, a very small percentage of his long kicks saw us with the ball, why the change, it was fine the way it was. In the corners, we tried to huddle the keeper but that doesn’t help when the ball is not near there or we don’t try to jump and header the ball.

Fred and shroj are big losses in the midfield but I thought our one today was fine,

Our youthful strike force can be brilliant but dugangic and co can have bad games

however it is the youth back four that when the make mistakes will cost us points.

In conclusion we came up against strong experienced opponents who are doing very well, This is also evident with Perth as not into the business end as youthful teams tire and pick up injury’s, the results will fall their way. the heart will not be a top two side but because of their effort and hard work we could see us in 3rd or 4th spot, now we just have to win some games,,,,

Say dont worry, about a thing

cause every little thing

is gonna be alright

This displeases me.

[theresonlyonebzamora]

it does summarise the game quite well though

[Mentor]

Just really get the feeling, we are a quality defender short, this is obvious. When Madashi played we look straighter. Hopefully Colosimo gets his go again and can take control down back. when we have the ball we generally look good, and can create, when we lose the ball near the center, we continually got broke open, quickly. The 2 second half goals are not clint bolton like though, he normally reads that type of play well imo

[danepak]

Phoenix play negative shit boring football like Glory

Are you being serious???

With all due respect, we play some of the most entertaining football in the league.

I don't just say that, because I'm a Phoenix supporter.

This is what you hear from the pundits too.

[Luke]

Are you being serious???

With all due respect, we play some of the most entertaining football in the league.

I don't just say that, because I'm a Phoenix supporter.

This is what you hear from the pundits too.

Recently you've done well thanks mainly to Ifill (he is class) but you stlll are for the most part a bunch of journeyman with no youth focus whatsoever, if i was a phoenix/Nz fan i would be angry that they have no youth coming through

[danepak]

Recently you've done well thanks mainly to Ifill (he is class) but you stlll are for the most part a bunch of journeyman with no youth focus whatsoever, if i was a phoenix/Nz fan i would be angry that they have no youth coming through

You might have a point there (reg. the youth).

Imagine what we felt like, when Rojas left us after ONE season.

But I've always felt that we've played (or tried to play) entertaining football (which is why I added a reply to the thread - we don't play boring football).

Oh yes, Ifill, he's superb. However, look at someone like Manny Muscat. He's been very very good recently too.

Yes, we've not got any superstars in our team. However, the players work their arse off for each other.

[mario]

Easy there Mario. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and one loss doesn't make the season. Look at the bigger picture. Eli headed one goal-bound Wellington shot off our line, so he did his share. We're in a bad patch, but we're not done yet. This when the team needs us most.

We can continue to make excuses and lose money, I have heard ones like its hard to be a striker,an off patch,made one pass so they have done there job,BUT in reality I'm sure that if they are learning to play they shouldnt be paid and there should be 10 other strikers that could fill the boots with out the excuses. Excuses come cheap, but this league will fail with excuses.So to support a club it has to come at the expense of the player which is not doing his job NOT at the expense of the club. One year contracts and then they have had their chance.Notice that Finn at Sydney had one year and you could see he was crap, so he got the one year and he got a chance and that is the only wayt this league will survive and prosper to be able to sell players overseas.Guys tht are being set up overseas like Matt McKay got a chance, was talked up and its not a pretty picture over there so we have basically set up a failure.Not a great result for numerous.