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Wollongong Wolves/Wellington Phoenix vs City. 7:10 Monday 5 April


Shahanga
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1 minute ago, Shahanga said:

Got the chocolates.  if you defend poorly at key moments and miss a shit load of chances games will always be close.

Garuccio poor in their second. Back off old mate who was a known scorer from outside the box.

McLaren cooked and should have been subbed. Thank fuck paddy actually made some subs though, changed the game. Hopefully he’ll grasp the concept.

Curtis Good scores 1 and clears 1 of the line at the death, Metcalfe also had a great game.

Yeah Good had a great game as well.

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Geez, I'll take it.

It was so important to bounce back with three points and these sort of games have been where we've let ourselves down countless times in years gone by. Back up an unlucky loss with a frustrating/dominant draw, then a disappointing loss and all of a sudden we haven't won in a month.

If we can grind wins like that when the pressure's on to respond, we'll be hard to keep off top spot.

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Kisnorbo should trust his subs a bit more. Totally changed the dynamic of the match. We began to look leggy and Tilio and Colakovski were too much to handle. Defence solid, midfield decent. Front three need to be a little less selfish and square a few more passes. We won’t always have that many chances.

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2 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

These past two games Griffths passing has been awful, he is a good defender but his sloppy ball play is hurting us.

I reckon we need to get luna back into the line-up and drop either reis or griffths to the bench.

Luna doesn’t do much right in recent weeks either.

2 minutes ago, Harrison said:

Kisnorbo should trust his subs a bit more. Totally changed the dynamic of the match. We began to look leggy and Tilio and Colakovski were too much to handle. Defence solid, midfield decent. Front three need to be a little less selfish and square a few more passes. We won’t always have that many chances.

Man that 2 on 1 with Noone and JMAC, Jamie didn’t look at him for 10 minutes. This isn’t good for team building if you don’t lay these balls off to your main striker.

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2 minutes ago, Harrison said:

Kisnorbo should trust his subs a bit more. Totally changed the dynamic of the match. We began to look leggy and Tilio and Colakovski were too much to handle. Defence solid, midfield decent. Front three need to be a little less selfish and square a few more passes. We won’t always have that many chances.

I agree - that trust has not been there and now Kisnorbo has got quite a bit to think about. Those missing extra minutes for the subs that we've been pleading for will come back to bite us if we're not very careful. We've got a few of the starting 11 a little under par at the moment - I think mentally as well as physically - and we haven't easy matches ahead. Sydney and Macarthur aren't going to be pushovers and MV might be in the horrors but anything can happen in a derby. 

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12 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

These past two games Griffths passing has been awful, he is a good defender but his sloppy ball play is hurting us.

I reckon we need to get luna back into the line-up and drop either reis or griffths to the bench.

IMO can’t play Metcalfe florin and Luna in the same midfield don’t break up play enough 

but feel like they all deserve to start 

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1 hour ago, n i k o said:

Good news now is that we have 5 days recovery until Sydney then 7 days and another 7 days against victory and the bulls, respectively. Feel like we need it. 

We look like we need it indeed.

Jamieson fit again.

Atkinson will be out for some weeks I suspect, Nabbout will miss him most.

Edited by Mr MO
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1 hour ago, Mr MO said:

Luna doesn’t do much right in recent weeks either.

Man that 2 on 1 with Noone and JMAC, Jamie didn’t look at him for 10 minutes. This isn’t good for team building if you don’t lay these balls off to your main striker.

True, but luna hasn't had a lot of game time since coming back from injury. IMO he is better as a starter rather than an impact player off the bench.

In regards to jmac has anyone else noticed that he has not been quite right these past two games? Even in his interview after the game he was saying that his right foot was fucked. He's such an important player, we really should consider giving him a week off.

1 hour ago, Missing_Moy said:

IMO can’t play Metcalfe florin and Luna in the same midfield don’t break up play enough 

but feel like they all deserve to start 

Definitely it is a tough task kisnorbo has. I've just found that in these past two games Griffiths has been a bit loose on the ball. Whether that's because of a but of fatigue or a dip in form, we just can't have him continue to do that as he is in a very important part of the field where poor touches can lead to goals.

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34 minutes ago, Missing_Moy said:

Em I wrong in thinking that Griff hand balled it in the penalty box last night ? 
VAR didn’t look at much in the game thought Florin deserved a pen too

No way, no according to the rule book - arms down the body with the ball smashing on body and arm. 

I’m actually of the opinion that Florin went down a little too easy after realising he overplayed the ball slightly to the right.

Then again in this league I’ve seen them given with other refs.

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8 hours ago, kingofhearts said:

True, but luna hasn't had a lot of game time since coming back from injury. IMO he is better as a starter rather than an impact player off the bench.

In regards to jmac has anyone else noticed that he has not been quite right these past two games? Even in his interview after the game he was saying that his right foot was fucked. He's such an important player, we really should consider giving him a week off.

Definitely it is a tough task kisnorbo has. I've just found that in these past two games Griffiths has been a bit loose on the ball. Whether that's because of a but of fatigue or a dip in form, we just can't have him continue to do that as he is in a very important part of the field where poor touches can lead to goals.

I was expecting Griffiths to be subbed. Totally out of character game. 
That doesn’t necessarily mean he should be dropped though, everyone has poor games occasionally.

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6 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

No way, no according to the rule book - arms down the body with the ball smashing on body and arm. 

I’m actually of the opinion that Florin went down a little too easy after realising he overplayed the ball slightly to the right.

100% Florin dived.

In answer to the question Bozza asked 'why would you go down in the box once he had beaten his man?' Its because its his instinct to do so when he feels contact in the box.

Wasn't there a similar handball by Phoenix in the first half? IIRC the phoenix player had his arm away from the body albeit in a natural position. Would be harsh to give a penalty for one, but not the other.

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11 minutes ago, malloy said:

100% Florin dived.

In answer to the question Bozza asked 'why would you go down in the box once he had beaten his man?' Its because its his instinct to do so when he feels contact in the box.

Wasn't there a similar handball by Phoenix in the first half? IIRC the phoenix player had his arm away from the body albeit in a natural position. Would be harsh to give a penalty for one, but not the other.

Florin didn’t really appeal to be fair beyond asking the question when getting up, the replay did show contact studs downward on Florin so feel like VAR would have supported the infield decision regardless of what it was.

 

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4 minutes ago, Deluka said:

Florin didn’t really appeal to be fair beyond asking the question when getting up, the replay did show contact studs downward on Florin so feel like VAR would have supported the infield decision regardless of what it was.

 

Did the VAR actually look at it? Or was not clear and obvious enough for review. This referee doesn’t need a lot of help from the VAR anyway as frustrating he can be at times.

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10 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

Did the VAR actually look at it? Or was not clear and obvious enough for review. This referee doesn’t need a lot of help from the VAR anyway as frustrating he can be at times.

When you look at the calibre of refs we have in this league, Alireza Faghani is fantastic and by no means frustrating at all imo.

Last night he refereed as perfectly as he could have. Always in control, dismissed VAR when he was adamant his initial decision was certain and he made consistent calls at both ends - exactly what we all want at the end of the day.

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53 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

No way, no according to the rule book - arms down the body with the ball smashing on body and arm. 

I’m actually of the opinion that Florin went down a little too easy after realising he overplayed the ball slightly to the right.

Then again in this league I’ve seen them given with other refs.

Look like he spiked it volley ball style I was thinking fuck here we go 

 

the ref takes no bullshit I like him pretty consistent but feel some times he lets it go a little too much 

Edited by Missing_Moy
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11 hours ago, jw1739 said:

I agree - that trust has not been there and now Kisnorbo has got quite a bit to think about. Those missing extra minutes for the subs that we've been pleading for will come back to bite us if we're not very careful. We've got a few of the starting 11 a little under par at the moment - I think mentally as well as physically - and we haven't easy matches ahead. Sydney and Macarthur aren't going to be pushovers and MV might be in the horrors but anything can happen in a derby. 

Agree, it'll also come back to bite us when we lose half the starting team during the Finals and the current subs are expected to step up

Any updates on Atkinson?

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14 minutes ago, Nate said:

When you look at the calibre of refs we have in this league, Alireza Faghani is fantastic and by no means frustrating at all imo.

Last night he refereed as perfectly as he could have. Always in control, dismissed VAR when he was adamant his initial decision was certain and he made consistent calls at both ends - exactly what we all want at the end of the day.

Trust me, I’m a big fan as expressed in previous posts and games. By frustrating I mean that things don’t always fall our way with proper refereeing.

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Just had another look. We really are wasting gilt-edged chances. How on earth did Noone and Maclaren mess up the two-on-one with Sail? And Maclaren should have scored one-on-one with Sail shortly after Tilio's goal to make the game safe.

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43 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Just had another look. We really are wasting gilt-edged chances. How on earth did Noone and Maclaren mess up the two-on-one with Sail? And Maclaren should have scored one-on-one with Sail shortly after Tilio's goal to make the game safe.

Plus first half: Nabbout putting one over the crossbar when it was easier to score and Berenguer having his free shot saved from 10 yards out.

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NA's injury was avoidable under better player management.  He was cooked last couple of games towards the end ... clearly needed a spell and now he's out for weeks. We will miss him.  He has been a crucial cog in our play, and has been outstanding in our recent hot spell.  

We aren't as lethal in hotter conditions ... our attacking style is great, but I think it should be employed smarter when its hot ... although we fckdup most our counter attacking chances last night, we are making some stunningly lethal counter attacks.  Maybe they need to practice finishing off these types of chances better, because as a team, we seem clueless when it comes to the lethal moment. 

A bunch of our guys looked spent last night ... Griff, Jmac, Noone and Nabbout  in particular. 

And what a surprise that our young subs came on and won us the game.  Tilio's interview after the game was all about finally getting his chance, and how all the senior players have kept encouraging him and and the other bench warmers to stay positive.  This tells me that there is knowledge among the players that there should be better rotation of the squad on match day regarding subs.

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2 hours ago, n i k o said:

Florin went down too easily. In saying that by the letter of the law it could very well be a penalty. Good  to have a talking point without var intervening. Even better to discuss it after taking all three points :up:

Agree. Mind you we see these given every week. If it was given, it would stand.

Its better for the game that these aren’t awarded but I’d like to see all refs take the same approach.

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46 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

Just had another look. We really are wasting gilt-edged chances. How on earth did Noone and Maclaren mess up the two-on-one with Sail? And Maclaren should have scored one-on-one with Sail shortly after Tilio's goal to make the game safe.

I wonder how Noone manages just to shoot straight on the GK at arms height, nobody around him. It’s that type of composure you expect better from an ex PL player.

I’ve seen another one early in the game, which went unnoticed. JMAC 3 meters out of goal decides to shoot a scramble with 3 opponents in front of him....at the same time having a team mate next to him for open goal layoff. 

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I've been holding back for a while, but seriously we won against a good ball playing team, that took their limited chances clinically. 

We have never played so good. Even with a Rookie coach we are playing an attractive style and getting results, i get everyone wants us to get better, but really this is as good as you want, obviously minus the trophy but as complete team functioning we are at a good spot.

It wasn't too long ago, we were playing and aged right back as striker and had 5 centre defenders on a starting line up.

Yes we should give more minutes to the 4 or 5 quality youngsters. 

Yes we should predict based on minutes when a player needs a spell.

Yes we should finish when we are 2 v 1 with the keeper or 1 metre out under the crossbar,

I just think we should enjoy were we are so far and be optimistic for the next period, because it won't last and then we can be legitimately pissed off.

 

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I have concerns with Atkinson going down (I think we don't lose a lot with Garrucio replacing Jamo as they're very like for like), as I think Galloway doesn't offer as much going forward as Atkinson does. Hopefully if we'd given a month to make the position his own he flourishes in it.

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14 minutes ago, Tommykins said:

I have concerns with Atkinson going down (I think we don't lose a lot with Garrucio replacing Jamo as they're very like for like), as I think Galloway doesn't offer as much going forward as Atkinson does. Hopefully if we'd given a month to make the position his own he flourishes in it.

Jamieson can come back and Gooch can go right back perhaps?

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25 minutes ago, Jovan said:

I've been holding back for a while, but seriously we won against a good ball playing team, that took their limited chances clinically. 

We have never played so good. Even with a Rookie coach we are playing an attractive style and getting results, i get everyone wants us to get better, but really this is as good as you want, obviously minus the trophy but as complete team functioning we are at a good spot.

It wasn't too long ago, we were playing and aged right back as striker and had 5 centre defenders on a starting line up.

Yes we should give more minutes to the 4 or 5 quality youngsters. 

Yes we should predict based on minutes when a player needs a spell.

Yes we should finish when we are 2 v 1 with the keeper or 1 metre out under the crossbar,

I just think we should enjoy were we are so far and be optimistic for the next period, because it won't last and then we can be legitimately pissed off.

 

I tend to be more subscriptive to this view too. We're playing beautiful football and getting results. 
That's not to say we're legoman and everything is awesome, cos its not, we've definitely still got plenty we can improve on but i think a lot of people seem to lack perspective when they make criticism's too.

Last night, and Western for that matter were still two pretty damn good performances we generated 57 shots over two games. I'd suggest thats never been done before in the history of the A League. This is far and away our best form and results-window in our clubs history.
Our finishing is clearly a bit off at the minute and i think we can be a little bit guilty of trying to walk it into the net on occasion, our reactivity last night cost us goals and threatened more, but overall the performance is there.
Last night was less about physical fatigue in my view, as we were still covering the ground pretty damn well for the 90 minutes, but more about the mental side of things. Sloppy touches under no pressure and being a bit more automatically reactive rather than stepping ahead of the game were signs to me of players who are physically up to it, but perhaps a bit mentally drained after a block of games in a short period.

I was pretty hard on PK on the back of the three losses, but im actually prepared to defend his lack of using the bench a bit here; we have clearly been dominating general play and creating bulk chances so i totally understand why anyone would want to mess with a winning formula. I definitely don't agree with making changes for changes sake; there needs to be a reason to do it in the context of winning the match. In saying that, the young boys coming on last night was clearly invigorating for the team and we instantly reaped the rewards. Hopefully they do build their own confidence, and PK's confidence in them as well and kick on with it, subs that scare the opposition as much as starters are a rare privilege in this league.

18 minutes ago, Mr MO said:

Jamieson can come back and Gooch can go right back perhaps?

Agree this will be the likely result when Jamo is back. Garrucio is a solid A League player imo, but theres no doubt an attacking weapon like Natty is exceptionally hard to replace.

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1 hour ago, Jovan said:

I've been holding back for a while, but seriously we won against a good ball playing team, that took their limited chances clinically. 

We have never played so good. Even with a Rookie coach we are playing an attractive style and getting results, i get everyone wants us to get better, but really this is as good as you want, obviously minus the trophy but as complete team functioning we are at a good spot.

It wasn't too long ago, we were playing and aged right back as striker and had 5 centre defenders on a starting line up.

Yes we should give more minutes to the 4 or 5 quality youngsters. 

Yes we should predict based on minutes when a player needs a spell.

Yes we should finish when we are 2 v 1 with the keeper or 1 metre out under the crossbar,

I just think we should enjoy were we are so far and be optimistic for the next period, because it won't last and then we can be legitimately pissed off.

 

Yes, agree. What we need to improve on though is in being able to control the game better, being able to make opponents play the way we want them too and being able to shut down games rather than allowing opponents to have scoring shots in the last few minutes - that'll come back to bite us in the ACL against better teams

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38 minutes ago, bt50 said:

I tend to be more subscriptive to this view too. We're playing beautiful football and getting results. 
That's not to say we're legoman and everything is awesome, cos its not, we've definitely still got plenty we can improve on but i think a lot of people seem to lack perspective when they make criticism's too.

Last night, and Western for that matter were still two pretty damn good performances we generated 57 shots over two games. I'd suggest thats never been done before in the history of the A League. This is far and away our best form and results-window in our clubs history.
Our finishing is clearly a bit off at the minute and i think we can be a little bit guilty of trying to walk it into the net on occasion, our reactivity last night cost us goals and threatened more, but overall the performance is there.
Last night was less about physical fatigue in my view, as we were still covering the ground pretty damn well for the 90 minutes, but more about the mental side of things. Sloppy touches under no pressure and being a bit more automatically reactive rather than stepping ahead of the game were signs to me of players who are physically up to it, but perhaps a bit mentally drained after a block of games in a short period.

I was pretty hard on PK on the back of the three losses, but im actually prepared to defend his lack of using the bench a bit here; we have clearly been dominating general play and creating bulk chances so i totally understand why anyone would want to mess with a winning formula. I definitely don't agree with making changes for changes sake; there needs to be a reason to do it in the context of winning the match. In saying that, the young boys coming on last night was clearly invigorating for the team and we instantly reaped the rewards. Hopefully they do build their own confidence, and PK's confidence in them as well and kick on with it, subs that scare the opposition as much as starters are a rare privilege in this league.

Agree this will be the likely result when Jamo is back. Garrucio is a solid A League player imo, but theres no doubt an attacking weapon like Natty is exceptionally hard to replace.

Agree with a lot of that, particularly with reference to the mental side of things which I've alluded to a couple times already. I'm hoping PK is able to rest those that need resting, manages training sessions to keep everyone fresh and alert. I'm cautiously optimistic but I hope he has a good sense of balance when ensuring players stay at peak performance. 

Edited by n i k o
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