Is the Galaxy circus good for the Phoenix?

Is the Galaxy circus good for the Phoenix?

Now as clearly pointed out earlier in the week I am obviously no Phoenix aficionado so my concerns about this game may be misguided, but here�s how I see it�

 

Do we honestly think that having a double header in the middle of the season is a good idea?  I think it�s a fantastic opportunity to get an extra 10-15k Wellingtonians to see the Phoenix, but surely our league results should take priority.  If we are taking the league seriously then the side to face the Galaxy will be tremendously under strength and could potentially suffer a big defeat, if that happens then it�s not the best ad for football in Wellington and it would be interesting to see how many of the new fans return.

 

If we turn out a full strength side and try to compete, that can only be detrimental to our approach to the league.  There is no way we should (as supporters) expect our starting 11 to give 110% on the Friday and again on the Saturday, therefore to have a competitive side out against LA we either field an under strength side against Adelaide (or we field a full strength side an expect them to hold back for the LA game).

 

There is also the potential additional injury threat from playing two games in two days, if we lost one of our regular starting 11 for the rest of the season during the game would the true Phoenix fans still think it was worth it?  The extra 15k Beckham followers won't give a toss. 

 

I also can�t see any of the players being happy about not taking part in the LA game, for some it will be in front of the biggest crowds they�ve experienced, so if the management team do the right thing and ask them sit out, is that then going to cause friction in the team?

 

For the people of Wellington I can see why this is such a big draw, but I don�t see how (other than financially) this benefits the Phoenix at all.

 

I do know that there is the alternative scenario of course:  We stuff Adelaide 7-0 on the Friday then beat the Galaxy by 3 on the Saturday in front of 35,000 and as a result the average home gate goes up 10,000.  I won�t be putting any money on it though��.

I don't expect to see our normal starting 11 play 90 minutes in the second game - far from it.

yeah it'll be our 2nd XI plus some rogues pulled off the street Cosimo2007-10-26 09:50:54

Frankie, bring you boots for the half time show piece.

It's a friendly. We might even see rolling subs...

And if you don't think it's a good idea, then don't come. Simple.

Huh? Seemed like a calm enough response to me. Let's not turn what could be an interesting discussion in to another forcibly closed topic.

Fricken hell yomcat chill out.

The man has the balls to front up again on the forum after being lambasted left right and centre and makes some very good points.

If I buy a ticket and I probably wont because my interest would be how on how the top Nix team can match up with a creditable MLS outfit I dont want to pay good money to watch a tattooed guy go thru a contrived routine to please the promoter and contractural obligations. I'll wait for the WCW guys to come back for that.

If he was fully fit, focused and part of a top notch Galaxy team I would be there with bells on.

Are the Nix front office serious about the A League or not,

Think about it, I think there are some good points been made here.

It depends how the game is played. If it's something like a 4-4 goalfest with both teams playing attractive (but not very physical) football, it'll be fine. If Galaxy are there to seriously kick our arses, that wouldn't be quite so good. I think it'll be more appropriate to comment after the game. If it doesn't work out, we'll know not to do it again.

However, I think it's not going to be that big a deal. There is the thousands of extra people coming to a football game, which can only be good. Plus Costa, Draper and stuff will get a decent game. I expect we'll see the entire squad (barring injury, and maybe excluding a goalie or two) get some game time. Maybe even Sully or someone like that.

What WE think isn't always priority for the club - and fair enough I reckon.

i think it's hardly going to disrupt the Adelaide game, as that game is before the Galaxy one. And that's the only possible worry, the benefits of Beckham coming are pretty obvious methinks

I guess we'll just have to trust the coaching staff to give the players the right mindset.

[QUOTE=danielsleftball [/QUOTE]

the game against the Galaxy will be like a testimonial game - no tackles, no one cares about the result, etc.   The game on Friday night is the one that matters to the players, and they will play to their top level for that.  The Saturday night game is like a warm-down for those involved in both games. Frankie Mac2007-10-26 11:46:03

stop being pedantic

I think the Galaxy game was too good an opportunity for the newly formed Phoenix club to pass up. The date was set by Sydney FC so there was no negotiation.
At the stage the game was arranged I imagine the whole idea was to get the game of football in front of the Wellington general public.
By the look of the crowd size (and mainstream TV coverage) it is achieving what is required.
To put it in perspective, the exhibition match is a huge coup for a football club that is only about 6 months old.
Short term it may affect one A league match; long term it may mean ongoing bigger crowds at the RoF, better profile for football in NZ (which we need after the recent AW debacle) and the possibility of future visits by European clubs in their pre-season warm-up games.

think about this:

i agree Cantona Forever!! I HATE that...and anyway, you can't give 100%, even in an emergency...that would mean every single cell of your body would be straining at its maximum... Cosimo2007-10-26 12:26:37

we need the game to help raise the profile of the phoenix...we need a high profile to avoid ending up like knights

No we don't.

All we need to to not end up like the Knights is to not have a general populace who find excuses to avoid matches, and management that aren't petty and incompetent fools.

why did they not keep the game at 2nd december to give the players 1 day rest ? i think thats mental!!

It's being played at that time because the Galaxy are already over for the Sydney match and we've taken advantage of that. I don't know why Sydney arranged a mid-season friendly.

man u, chelsea etc would have to be barking to come here.

I'll be curious to see what the uptake of the 'double header' tickets is compared to those just buying tickets for the Galaxy game. Also what our crowd is at the home game after the Galaxy game. Auckland Jag2007-10-26 13:55:28

FFS. What????  You mean people would rather be at the Hutt Park/Bell Park/Newtown Park with three others and a dog in a freezing southerly rather than...

Fark me, I actually find myself agreeing with Frankie Mac on this one.

[QUOTE=Cantona forever [/QUOTE]

7-1, 7-1, 7-1, 7-1...

that's what i worry about too   i guess we can't think about that at the moment, although there is the big"i told you so" to look forward to if fingers crossed it did happen

 i have family coming (cuzzy bro's as feverish put it in an earlier post) and they are not too interested in the phoenix (no where near as much as me) they just want to see beckham score a curling free kick into the top corner of the goal and they'll be happy.i hope the phoenix play well enough that people will leave talking about them rather than beckham  and maybe even get them to buy a shirt or something

Maybe for me it's a case of green eggs and ham, hmmmm 9,000 tickets left you say?

I don't understand any of this angst (and believe me, I do angst big time).  At least 25,000 fans at a football match, an iconic player in Wellington, a weekend feast of football, live TV on primetime - how can people find so many negatives?  Enjoy it people.