The WaiBOP United Thread

I found Braithwaite's quotes very funny - I can't remember them stringing more than 10 passes together really, they were really quite poor and often just hoofed it forward to the wings. In the first 30 minutes, WaiBOP were just as much to blame, but after that they really starting playing some nice football, so Keith is being a bit one-eyed there.

Of course, since Tony Smith couldn't be at the game, he has to report on what Braithwaite said, so he's in a tough position in that regard. 

I felt WaiBOP deserved the victory, Canterbury didn't even have a shot on target in the second half from memory, while WaiBOP looked good. The impact of no Clapham, and Marquez for that matter, was telling.

Shaydon Young playing for WaiBOP? Did not know that. Good player but didn't realise he was playing in the ASB.

Did McNab get on at all N-Bomb? He's a good bloke and sure knows how to finish a chance, hope he can get some game time this season.

Yeah McNab came off the bench for about five/ten minutes, I don't think he'll ever start a game but as you say, if the ball falls to him in the right place then watch out.

I was a bit surprised to see Young get the nod to start, he is a good player, solid but not spectacular yesterday, he gives you good workrate and passing though and that's a key part of WaiBOP's gameplan. Got himself in good areas and had a chance which he hit over, he certainly could contribute this year.

Up 1-0 over ACFC atm.

1-1 at HT

Penalty ACFC, 2-1.

Waibop  looked well organised today.. They had a fair share of the ball and were guilty of not punishing auckland city for defensive errors. Where  all the injury time canme from is anyones guess.  Wasnt even a stoppage in the first hal which would warrant any injury time. 

The penalty was soft , Browne still managed to run 5more yards and get a cross in.. Then went down.

Auckland s big fella at the. Back looked average when pressed and the asian left back goes backward s every pass. 

Aucklands pace will cause alot of problems with krishna , white and de vires.. Far more direct  now than they have been in other years.

Refing was poor  both team.. Must have been getting assessed  causig the whistle happy display we saw.

So that's the second game on the trot that the score line has blown out in the last 10 mins to flatter ACFC? I would not have picked that.

This ref costed Waikato FC twice last year. He gave Waitakere a soft pen to win 1-0 in round 2 and then failed to give Waikato FC a penalty against Wellington where they lost 1-0

Not up tp ASB level, waikato did put in a complaint last year against him but it fell on deaf ears

Good showing by Waibop, they will miss Maxsim when he heads oversees after round 4

Auckland have got pace to burn. I rate White very highly. Canterbury will miss him sorely

Thought WaiBop played very well against ACFC today and if it weren't for a few dubious calls they would have come away with at least a point. The penalty wasn't really a penalty and a ridiculous amount of stoppage time was played. 3-1 flatters Auckland City big time.

Pretty much agree with all that has been said already.

I thought WaiBOP defended superbly, all over the park, they denied Auckland space in the midfield, and then managed to employ a very effective zone defence to quell the speculative balls chucked forward from the back, perfectly content to let players run parallel runs in front of the back four. The centre back pairing of Yokota and Lissette were outstanding, led by Aaron Scott.

The penalty was very controversial, the fact that it took us five minutes to figure out what exactly it was for tells it all really - and then Browne capped it off with a peach of a goal (Manko's was rather good too), Browne really is the new Marco in terms of coming off the bench and providing an impact every single time.

While City had more chances, it was some really good defending by WaiBOP, and they can feel slightly aggrieved to not grab a point. Regardless, a really promising display, now they have to take care of business against the likes of Hawke's Bay next week to truly prove their potential playoff credentials.

Why is david browne still playing for auck city? Need him to stick round to become illegible for NZ tho i guess

Far better prodpect than boyd

*prospect

Unless he is or isnt already

Here's my take on the game for anyone interested...

http://in-the-back-of-the.net/2013/11/17/no-justice-among-men/

Browne beat his man then got clipped. Simple as that.

Penalty was weak, but had to be given. No chance the peno would have been given the other way. Ref seemed almost scared to pick Auckland up for anything.

He gave Auckland an indirect freekick in the box after 17mins for Andy Mcneil apparently holding on to the ball longer than "6secs"..  Never seen this given before other than in the last 10mins of a game. 

While I don't agree with some of his decisions, I do think that it is very unfair to question the integrity and neutrality of the referee. The more likely scenario is that he just made a few poor decision, and WaiBOP were on the receiving end of the biggest ones. It's not like the Auckland crowd was intimidating in any sense of the word.

Fair point N-Bomb - Just saying how I saw it. Will be surprised if anyone picks up a point in Auckland though.

Waibop were to blame for not putting away there own opportunities.

I thought it was because he had hold of the ball when he stepped outside his area.

That would not be an indirect FK then.

Ah. Cheers.

Agreed Boganville.

And yeah, that's what we eventually figured out what it was for, handling outside the box would be a yellow as well wouldn't it? And the definitely had to take it indirectly. A weird ruling but I guess it technically was correct.

in the second half he was over the line about 2 or 3 times when punting as well (although the lino didn't pick it up), also as a neutral i thought it was a pen - always a bit of a giveaway when the tackler dosn't even get up let alone look at the referee when the pen call was made.

I thought WaiBop looked much better than in the past - and while i thought they struggled at the back and in the middle at times they seemed to scramble pretty well.

Auckland were pretty poor in parts i thought and there would be a few players that wouldn't have done their CWC chances much good.

Thought John Irvine was pretty good by the way N-bomb - hard to know weather A-league is a step too far but def deserves a look.

Did the Phoenix sign the wrong ACFC player?

Yeah I thought Irv was solid as always, not his greatest game but certainly he showed off his defensive abilities this time, WaiBOP couldn't get anything going down the right hand side, and his technique is so superb that he could volley everything away with ease. I do think he'll be a great addition for Auckland if they let him play RB consistently, he's a good CB too but it's on the wing where he can really use his pace, crossing and technique to best effect - and I assume he'll get a run there every game (if he can beat out Pritchett) when Ivan comes back

Considering the fourth official was the one who signaled the three minutes both time, you can't blame the ref for that. There were some injuries in the game but I can't remember in what half, definitely there should have been 3 added mins in the second stanza.

It could be a yellow. Doesn't have to be dependant on the circumstances.

If it was an IDFK then there is no way it could be for handling outside the area,

The 4th Off gets a signal from the referee of how many minutes to add. He only shows the number the referee tells him to show.

True. I stand by my second point though - there were enough subs and injuries to make three added minutes a legitimate option.

Oh sure. There is rarely a game where there won't be less than 3 minutes per half. 

No problem, will get you a free ticket and a pair of glasses...

Just to add... You guys record every game, so hopefully highlights will be available on AFAC website. If got this wrong, more than happy to apologise and get a pair of glasses myself. 

Slefandorfas may be back for the HBU game, his hamstring is coming on fine but he now has the flu, he'll be a reasonable asset to how the team want to play when he gets fully fit. 

oh, so it was hamstring and not attitude.  that's good to hear.  i really rated this guy when he played for canterbury