Pre-Season 2018/19 - vs Victory

Rudan makes the first change for the start of the seconf half. Kopa makes way for Alex Rufer

?

fake yellow then?

Guess we were allowed to just 'sub' him off at halftime.

Tratt off injured, needed help to get off the pitch. Hopefully it's not too serious.

Waine playing? 

No. Fenton came on for Tratt.

Tratt goes down and is replaced by Louis Fenton

Both sides going at it at the start of this second half. it has been a better start for Napier

5-0 Krishna pen.

5-0, penalty to Krishna

Kurto saves Napier pen.

5-0 Full time

Is it too late to cancel the Kopa loan? He didn't look anywhere near what you would expect with his pedigree. The difference between someone like Riera and Kopa is light years apart. At this stage Rufer is the far better option at DM.

That's concerning. He'll be on a high wage too....

After seeing his outing v Bentleigh, not surprised. He was the worst player on the pitch.

After watching today's game:

1) Kopy is a worry. Gave the ball away too easily at the start, grew into the game, and was certainly physical but two silly yellows (one for holding a player back when there was defensive cover, and the other for a studs up stamp tackle (according to the ref) saw him sent off. (Rufer was allowed on for the second half I presume because it was a friendly). Has moments of class but at other times looks completely out of his depth. Paracki certainly at this stage looks like he was much the better player and I was no fan of Paracki at A League level.

2) The Korean is just not that good. Worked hard, had some nice touches, but just didn't ooze the class we need. The Napier number 9 actually looked a much better striker, despite being a drama queen at times.

3) Burns might be washed.

4) Doyle looked real good at DM. Looks like he has even lost a bit of weight and gained a bit of speed.

5) Korta, Taylor and Singh are all class. Plus, I've never seen Krishna so angry as he was today. Headbut a Napier player near the end of the game.

Napier 9. Martin BUENO,, Uruguayan second tier. Lots of goals for NCR this year. Featured in game tweets. 

KOPZCYNSKI wasn’t a standout but neither did he have a bad game. Riera was an excellent player for the Nix - comparing Kopa with him is fair but it’s still early days yet so hard to tell. I’m reserving judgement until I have seen him play more.

In comparison to the FFA game the Nix looked far more fluent up front but the opposition probably wasn’t as strong. Hard to assess the Korean chap but he did have some nice lay-off type touches at times. Again he wasn’t a great stand out. It was a good all round performance from everyone against a spirited but weaker opposition. Quite enjoyable to watch but without any tension that you would get from a competition game

Thanks Bunter. Was one of the best players on the park, and stood Cacace up a few times beautifully. Not suggesting we do (didn't like some of the antics, but they make sense now I know he is South American) but he would certainly be much more worthy of the import spot than Soo (the Korean) based on todays performance.

Some of my thoughts on the game:

Played a back 3 of Taylor, Dura, and Cacace. I was surprised that Libby was there, and he was very poor in that role, especially in the first half. Couldn't complete a pass, got caught and lost possession a number of times, got skinned one on one more than once, and was asleep and played the Napier forward onside when they had a shout for penalty in the first half. Certainly wouldn't want to find out in a hurry how he goes in that position in the A-league. Dura and Taylor were assured, but weren't exactly asked too many questions.

Kurto in goal was assured, did everything right, and saved a penalty, which admittedly wasn't a great one but it still needed saving.

Kop. I can see why other posters are not happy with him. He gave the ball away cheaply a couple of times early on, but won everything in the air (as he should have, seeing as he was a head taller than anyone in Napier's midfield). The problem I have with him is that he doesn't quickly and instinctively drop in front of the back three to receive the ball and move us forward. Couple of times he got called to do that by Dura and Taylor, and of course leaving that late meant that he brought a marker with him and ended up going back or wide anyway. It was painful to watch, and made us very one dimensional. It wasn't a problem in this game because our front and wide players were here so much better than the opposition, but it would not work in  the A-league. Long story short, nothing I've seen of him tells me that he can do the screening job in front of the back three on his own in the A-league.

Doyle had lots of fun as a wing-back. Scored a good goal, and had fun with some outrageous touches in the second half. May lack a yard of pace in that position, and would need to do a lot more defending in an A-league game.

Tratt went off injured, and needed help to get off the pitch. Hope it's nothing serious, because if it is, there's another big gap we have to fill.

The Korean. I'll be kind, and say that he is not very impressive. Turning circle of the Titanic, all the pace of an asthmatic ant, and was generally lost for about 90% of the game. I'm frankly amazed he's still around, expect him to be gone soon. 

Burnsey. Got the first goal which should help his confidence. Dropped deep a lot to receive the ball, but not sure if that was part of the plan, or because we couldn't transition through Kop. Subbed off early in the second half.

Williams. Came on for Burns, and at a time when the game got quite rugged and unstructured with all the subs, so difficult to assess. Still seems to have a decent turn of pace.

Krishna. Two goals, looked very amped and hungry. His class and drive one of the reasons why the game ended up quite comfortable for the Nix.

Singh. Best player on the pitch. Great on the ball, intelligent off the ball, sees things others don't, and picks the right option at the right time. If there's one reason to get excited about this season, it's him.

So you saying Bueno....was good ?

Oh dear..

That was clearly Cacace, not Kopa.

Photo finish.

Nope, Cacace was very poor but still did a few good things in the first half. Got worse as the game went on.

Plus, once is an 18 year old kiwi and the other is an established professional import player who should be one of our best; at his worst, he should be at least mediocre. 

Wasn't there, but muy bueno seemingly. Central league golden boot. Will be interesting to see how he goes in the Handa, if he plays.Career has gone nowhere, but as a poster here said, you can find talent anywhere. Selection errors aren't unknown.

If nothing else, a good yardstick for the Korean triallist, who Rudan seems to be considering still.

"Rudan said while both Tratt and Yoo were "going OK", he was in no rush to make a decision on whether either player will be signed.

"We've got time with these guys, I've spoken to the pair of them, and I've got to be sure on both of them," he said. "If they continue to go the way we expect them to go then it could be different news next week.""

So did anyone leave Palmy with itchy private parts?

Personally, I like the way Rudan is taking his time and not being pushed into quick signings just to fill up the squad. Do any other HAL teams have full squads yet? 

Victory have 19 players, including a ton of uncapped youth players, so we're definitely not the only ones looking to bring in more players. Including Waine and Tratt we have 20 so yep no rush

Cacace was often beaten at full back in the A league last year, in Hong Kong and in India, but looked dangerous on attack., running at defences, and linking well with the likes of Singh. 

No surprise then that on moving to centre back the defensive weaknesses were more obvious, and his attacking ability less so. 

I'd like to see him tried at left wing, in a friendly. That seems like the best place for a player who is dangerous on attack and risky on defence. 

Wingback at maximum. You don't see Marcelo playing left wing for Real Madrid, yeah he's good at attacking for a defender but it'd be wasting his defensive capabilities and the years he's spent training there, not to mention that attacking-wise almost any attacking player from the Nix and Weenix would be better considering Cacace has never played in a forward role in his life

My memories of Cacace's performances last season are of some good low crosses, a willingness to get forward but his best work was at the back. He mightve got done on the overlap a few times, but he was solid in the tackle and stood up quite a few very good players, covered mistakes from more experienced guys like Dura and Doyle too. To say that he is best in attacking positions is crazy

I didn't see the match.  However, Phoenix score 4 with Kopy playing DM.  He goes off at half time and Phoenix score one goal in the second half. On the evidence presented I would say give him a chance to get up to speed and demonstrate he can play at A league level.

Thanks for the awesome updates and analysis guys, much appreciated!

Rufer....

Was speaking to Bill (rovers) before pre match warmup and he was saying a few of the lads hadnt quite recovered fully from the CL celebrations!

How did Rufer and Fenton go?