Wellington Phoenix Men

WPM R4 vs Auckland FC | Sat 8th Nov | 7:00pm | RoF / SS1

766 replies · 28,284 views
4 months ago
Well the high line hasn’t decided this. 

Gutting.

Proud, but gutted.


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4 months ago
absolutely woeful. chiefy should walk after this. up by two people for 20 mins and you do nothing, absolutely nothing. any other football game in the world and any league and the coach with the numerical advantage would change something.
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4 months ago
The nix deserve to be boo'd and also sack the fudgeing coach. The high line goals are really really tiresome. We are doing what we did last season, playing a strategy we don't have the players for and I'm sick to death of watching us conceed joke goals my Sunday league side conceeds against teams younger than us.
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4 months ago
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
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4 months ago
Can't blame the team for not trying. Unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot with the high line... Is Italiano to blame for this loss?

4 straight defeats, haven't even managed a draw. Just not good enough
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4 months ago
InsulinMachine
Can't blame the team for not trying. Unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot with the high line... Is Italiano to blame for this loss?

4 straight defeats, haven't even managed a draw. Just not good enough
 he is. AFC down to 9 people and he doesn't even go three at the back. Videos of him giving out free tickets because he cares. if he actually cared he would walk.
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4 months ago
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 


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4 months ago
It's easy to post negativity losing against 10/9 men but there's clearly a number of those commentators who've only played u9 park football. Playing against 10 can be difficult, 9 even more so.. Unfortunately we just couldn't knick one which would have led to another. But again, that's a big part of playing against 9 parking the bus.. I dont think it's all doom and gloom despite losing a derby in those circumstances 
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4 months ago
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.
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4 months ago
I'm disappointed we couldn't even get a draw. Sad that the football universe decided that we were able to win the game with 9 men a few seasons ago but tonight just didn't go our way really. Oh well. I'm ready to look onto next week
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4 months ago
Are you not entertained? 

Give the boys some slack. That’s the top of the table and a strong defense, with Howieson, Gallegos and Pijnaker coming on fresh playing a low block. Add possibly the best defense mid Verstraete in there too. 

We came back at them strong twice. I’m proud of them and I really think we should sing sing Kyle’s Mom song loud and long at Corica. Two freaking clear red cards and your players stay on and you mouth off. Biggest b@))ch in the whole wide world. 

That’s our best derby performance right? 

Loved seeing LKH martial Cosgrove. The high line breaks were unfortunate. The first mm imo. But f me that’s a game.


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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History
Have A-FC ever lost a goal when defending? I think they have goals against from counterattack. It was a good textbook defence. Bringing on Pijnaker for Cosgrove was a logical move for Corica after Hall was dismissed, and loss of Rogerson was unimportant to their defence.

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

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4 months ago
Rather 3 points, at the very least 1 then being entertained.. especially against 9 players 
martinb
Are you not entertained? 

Give the boys some slack. That’s the top of the table and a strong defense, with Howieson, Gallegos and Pijnaker coming on fresh playing a low block. Add possibly the best defense mid Verstraete in there too. 

We came back at them strong twice. I’m proud of them and I really think we should sing sing Kyle’s Mom song loud and long at Corica. Two freaking clear red cards and your players stay on and you mouth off. Biggest b@))ch in the whole wide world. 

That’s our best derby performance right? 

Loved seeing LKH martial Cosgrove. The high line breaks were unfortunate. The first mm imo. But f me that’s a game.
 
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4 months ago
 Auckland have got the win, but it’s come at a cost — two reds and a few bruised egos. That’ll sting next week

 
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4 months ago
observerfromuh
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.

Yep. Just trying to find their mindset. 

Yep on the deck,  ball movement. Remember that from Richard Johnson (remembered his name then thought- that can’t be right!!) early in the Nix life as a club going that very thing. Eh.


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4 months ago
I agree with what you wrote here!
martinb
Are you not entertained? 

Give the boys some slack. That’s the top of the table and a strong defense, with Howieson, Gallegos and Pijnaker coming on fresh playing a low block. Add possibly the best defense mid Verstraete in there too. 

We came back at them strong twice. I’m proud of them and I really think we should sing sing Kyle’s Mom song loud and long at Corica. Two freaking clear red cards and your players stay on and you mouth off. Biggest b@))ch in the whole wide world. 

That’s our best derby performance right? 

Loved seeing LKH martial Cosgrove. The high line breaks were unfortunate. The first mm imo. But f me that’s a game.
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4 months ago
Hutcho137
 Auckland have got the win, but it’s come at a cost — two reds and a few bruised egos. That’ll sting next week

 

Holding onto a one goal lead away against Auckland's national rivals.

Bruised egos? They'll be stoked.
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4 months ago
From the broadcast you would think this had been an AFC home match.
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4 months ago
why are people genuinely happy with this as they were entertained. this mindset is why we don't win trophies.

The reds won't really sting if Sakai is back for Hall (which may still get rescinded).

Club should be focusing on winning games especially derbies.
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4 months ago
20 Legend
Hutcho137
 Auckland have got the win, but it’s come at a cost — two reds and a few bruised egos. That’ll sting next week

 

Holding onto a one goal lead away against Auckland's national rivals.

Bruised egos? They'll be stoked.
 they are actually happier they had a leg essentially cut off and still managed to hobble to victory. The nix are literally that bad. But tonight was a total tactical failure, and I wonder how many more games we are going to suffer through this experiment.
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4 months ago
martinb
observerfromuh
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.

Yep. Just trying to find their mindset. 

Yep on the deck,  ball movement. Remember that from Richard Johnson (remembered his name then thought- that can’t be right!!) early in the Nix life as a club going that very thing. Eh.
 its tactics, you pass the ball around on the deck enough to free up the free man for a open shot.
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4 months ago
Incredibly frustrating to watch how we played when Auckland went down to 10 and then 9 players! We had three centre backs and Rufer all sitting back, slow ball movement and continued to launch long balls from deep into the box. Surely it's football 101 that you use the width, up the tempo and keep the passes short? Could not believe what I was watching!
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4 months ago
Gutted, just gutted. No other way to put it. A very hollow, very stinging week of soul searching ahead.
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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History
That was a great game to watch.

Think should give the team some slack but it was obvious that Chief should have taken a defender off and put on LBS as soon as that first red card was handed out. That is coaching 101 I’m afraid when you are down by a goal.

Have to give a lot of praise for Randall, Elliot and in particular the Australian defender with the hyphenated name - he really was the reason they didn’t concede in that second half.

What was the crowd size?

Auckland will rise once more

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4 months ago
Hutcho137
 Auckland have got the win, but it’s come at a cost — two reds and a few bruised egos. That’ll sting next week

 

The reds are a cost, but winning with 9 men will be the opposite of bruised egos.
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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History
martinb
observerfromuh
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.

Yep. Just trying to find their mindset. 

Yep on the deck,  ball movement. Remember that from Richard Johnson (remembered his name then thought- that can’t be right!!) early in the Nix life as a club going that very thing. Eh.
That would work against a lesser team, but I did not see anyone from A-FC being "drawn in" for us to make a pass to a free man. They've  packed the box and the rest was our own inability to score in the crowded goalmouth. Timewasting from Woud did not help. To win here, I would rather sit back and hit them on a counter where the numerical advantage would have helped. We did not do that, when attacking we slowed down and resorted to an icehockey-style passing around a crowded box.

Actually, getting outplayed quite a bit these days

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4 months ago
observerfromuh
martinb
observerfromuh
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.

Yep. Just trying to find their mindset. 

Yep on the deck,  ball movement. Remember that from Richard Johnson (remembered his name then thought- that can’t be right!!) early in the Nix life as a club going that very thing. Eh.
 its tactics, you pass the ball around on the deck enough to free up the free man for a open shot.
 
Yep what I said in agreement and as a sometime DM. Though mostly in my case it was because I couldn’t hit a long pass to save my life and it was what I would have done anyway…


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4 months ago
That game literally had everything except for justice at the end.

A lot to like from a team that’s very thin on the ground atm
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4 months ago
Mainland FC
martinb
observerfromuh
martinb
20 Legend
Not sure why Phoenix spent the majority of time against 9-men launching long balls in.

If you're Auckland you're stoked to be defending crosses instead of chasing the ball.
 
On the deck move it around. I think the theory was Piper and Eze in the air were our strengths. 

Armiento should have been off those corners and shooting from the top of the box. 
 Always move it around and draw players in to make that pass into the free man around the box. Long ball = defender heads it back to outside the box = player shoots and misses = goal kick to AFC. repeat and repeat.

Yep. Just trying to find their mindset. 

Yep on the deck,  ball movement. Remember that from Richard Johnson (remembered his name then thought- that can’t be right!!) early in the Nix life as a club going that very thing. Eh.
That would work against a lesser team, but I did not see anyone from A-FC being "drawn in" for us to make a pass to a free man. They've  packed the box and the rest was our own inability to score in the crowded goalmouth. Timewasting from Woud did not help.

They just sat deep. 

That said, the players we should have got shooting chances should have been Armiento and Eze at the edge of the box. Not LKH and Rufer. GSR was a good option, but a tough ask. He’s got a goal from deep in his locker for sure. 


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4 months ago
observerfromuh
why are people genuinely happy with this as they were entertained. this mindset is why we don't win trophies.

The reds won't really sting if Sakai is back for Hall (which may still get rescinded).

Club should be focusing on winning games especially derbies.

Sakai is out for a few weeks. They are focusing on wins, what club isn't and we have multiple injuries at the moment. 
I saw enough to think if we can improve a few things that we can be very dangerous with a few players back. We will get AFC in the next game.
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4 months ago
Not good enough. No excuses.
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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History
Thought Cosgrove had his best game for AFC

Can’t believe he however has been awarded the second goal, was sure that had crossed the line.

Auckland will rise once more

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4 months ago
We needed a player like Chico there who could play a final pass or beat a player. Definitely need to bring in someone to replace Ishige. Payne and James probably would’ve helped. Especially James from all the corners we had
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4 months ago
observerfromuh
why are people genuinely happy with this as they were entertained. this mindset is why we don't win trophies.

The reds won't really sting if Sakai is back for Hall (which may still get rescinded).

Club should be focusing on winning games especially derbies.

Why would it rescinded? They’re gonna have Hall, Rogerson, Sakai and Brimmer out next game so will be interesting to see how they cope with their depth being tested for once
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4 months ago
wilbaker
observerfromuh
why are people genuinely happy with this as they were entertained. this mindset is why we don't win trophies.

The reds won't really sting if Sakai is back for Hall (which may still get rescinded).

Club should be focusing on winning games especially derbies.

Why would it rescinded? They’re gonna have Hall, Rogerson, Sakai and Brimmer out next game so will be interesting to see how they cope with their depth being tested for once
 Because the head of referees confirmed there was a handball in the lead up to the red card so hall will be rescinded.
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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History
I think the commentators said it was a hand ball by Piper before the incident and Spoonley said the head of refs admitted it was a mistake

Would have been interesting to see how the game would have panned out if the initial red wasn’t given 

Auckland will rise once more

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4 months ago
AucklandPhoenix
I think the commentators said it was a hand ball by Piper before the incident and Spoonley said the head of refs admitted it was a mistake

Would have been interesting to see how the game would have panned out if the initial red wasn’t given 
 would have been 3-1 or 4-1 unfortunately.
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4 months ago
Don’t worry about them.. they’re playing Brisbane at home next, you can have 1 defender and the roar attack which is a poor one
wilbaker
observerfromuh
why are people genuinely happy with this as they were entertained. this mindset is why we don't win trophies.

The reds won't really sting if Sakai is back for Hall (which may still get rescinded).

Club should be focusing on winning games especially derbies.

Why would it rescinded? They’re gonna have Hall, Rogerson, Sakai and Brimmer out next game so will be interesting to see how they cope with their depth being tested for once
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4 months ago · edited 4 months ago · History

They may look for the Ishige role from Najjarine. But he'd have been on limited minutes so we've not seen if he might have made a difference at the end.

Big guys defending corners. Packed D, four fresh players, very disciplined. 

We lost to these guys 6-1 last time with a not dissimilar number of starter injuries.

I want another crack at these b'stards with James and Payne back.  But we're still a bit boys vs men and lacking a proven playmaker. Rufer is not a bad DM but it was excruciating watching him try to be the guy to unlock AFC's 5-3 wall at the end.  
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4 months ago
Thrilling game for the neutrals. Really disappointing if you are a Nix fan. As i thought the injuries really cost us. James a big miss and Isighe and his creativity would have been useful....especially at 11 vs 9.
AFC are by far the best defensive side in the comp and they were able to bring off the bench Gallegos, Pinacker and Howieson. It would be hard for anyside to break them down when they park the bus. 
We bought on Piper and a couple of promising kids. All of them are more effective running into space.....and there was none 
Even though im gutted i dont think the season is lost. We can play well and have a great team spirit and some excellent players. Its not like last year. Go you Nix!
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