Pre-Season Cup Final

Siggy Welcomes Evan Berger to Wellington:

Indeed...

That point has been made.

Probably already mentioned, but there's no way I'm going through 20 pages of this thread.

I thought we played better and deserved to win.  Adam Kwasnik played brilliantly, and I think it'd be great to have both him and Smeltz on as strikers during the season proper (or maybe him slightly behind in attacking midfield).  Speaking of Smeltz, what on earth was he thinking with that penalty?  Simply dreadful it was, but oh well, he had a good game and that header was mighty close.  I was saying throughout the whole penalty shoot-out to my brother-in-law that Dodd should not take any penalties, and look what happens when he did.  I just suspected he'd do a Jaap Stam (Euro 2000) because he's a similar size, but at least it was on target.

Good crowd as well.

was disappointed with sigmund, but very impressed with hearfield and muscat( 100%  deserves a contract, whether we have lochead or not ), mckain was solid, daniel definitely added something when he came on but his work ethic was in doubt IMO, Moss dealt with what he had to with ease, bertos mucked around with it a bit much for me and sometimes took on two or three players which was just silly. Overall good, solid performance but i think we still miss that final pass( like last season )

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Muscat played brilliantly.  Good, solid player alright.

And, I didn't notice it as much last night, but when he played in Christchurch Daniel was plain lazy and needs to sort that out.

Thought McKain, Ferrante and Johnson were superb last night. Impressed with Muscat too.

I was really disappointed with the match lastnite.

Agree with much of that. I can't see us being genuine top-4 contenders without another decent striker.

Preseason is about experimentation.

He was. I'm more concerned with what's gonna be happening in front of him.

 Kwasnik was class, we lost a high workrate when he left the pitch. With Shane "over the top" Smeltzzz always offside it was great to have a striker in the game. Coveney would be a better bet than Smeltz but he cant last all the game so we need another striker.
 Seen enough though......roll on next weekend.

i think the nix can play much better - siggy started off both halfs very shaky but improved 100% both times. Mckain was excellent, kwasi and smeltz played quite well imo. every else either playe average or above average.

have to agree about Dodd

enjoyed the player by player review ktbw

Bloody hell tigers you making up for not drinking last nite.Just had to run and find the glasses as i mis read your pens bit. I had an "i" in it thank fully just a mark on the screen
ballane2008-08-07 21:02:53

true Ballane, i got a bit carried away with the delight of the new seaon and yep i completely munted the spelling and little things like spaces  between words

a lot of nix's fans are looking for a striker to play along side smeltz maybe you already have one in hearfield as a junior and in rep football he was a striker and scoring goals was second nature to him and came natural to him played in 15's and 16's national titles in australia and scored two hat tricks in the 15's over 5 games one hat trick being against the strong NSW metro side went to the australian institute of sport for 3 years who turned him into an attacking mid fielder owing to his techical ability and also his mobility of being able to get around the park reasons I know this as I used to coach against him in rep football and found it very hard to contain him

let's hope ricki's reading this Count tigers2008-08-07 22:25:23

My player ratings, for what they're worth:

Moss 7
Siggy 6 A bit cumbersome looking but solid enough
Dodd 6 Good tackles
McCain 8 So classy, confident on the ball
Muscat 7 Just did things right
Leo 6 Good to see him taking ppl on, set a high score for step overs
Ferrante 5 was it just me or did he chase all night and hardly ever get to deliver a pass?
Johnno 8 Great volley
Gao 6 He doesn't need to dive
Smeltz 7 Header well saved
Kwassy 6

 

I've missed those ratings of yours  so far in the pre-season (probably a bit hard for you to give them on the basis of the coverage )

hah, not sure yet Tigers, I'll warn you!! Even my wife was asking me when I'm going to Welly!

good that she's got you figured out

Gah, I've done this twice now, here's my ratings with a rant about Daniel as well.

Moss 6.5
Was excellent during normal time but loses marks for his efforts during the shootout. He looked nervous at times and didn't really strike fear into the Victory players who were far too comfortable.

Siggy 5.5
Solid enough on defense but looked clumsy at times going forward

Dodd 7
Strong and solid, partnered McKain nicely, shame about the penalty but frankly that's not what he's in the team for and shouldn't affect his grade.

McCain 8
MoTM. So composed and showed some nice ball skills as well

Muscat 7
A very good effort, to be honest I think he looks a better prospect at FB than Lia did

Leo 6.5
Saw a lot of ball and wasn't always effective, however he did put in the cross to Smeltz that almost gave us a goal.

Ferrante 6
Hustled all night and won the ball regularly. Passing wasn't up to his usual standard though and will be disappointed with that.

Johnno 7
Got outran a couple of times but generally tackled well and scores extra marks for that fantastic volley, it deserved to go in!

Gao 6
A frustrating performance, at times he looked like he was going to be the man who would create something, and one run that culminated in a blocked shot (we didn't get a corner for it, frustratingly) demonstrated his danger. I think moving him to a more central position could yield some good results

Smeltz 6.5
In and out of the game at times, I don't think he had much by way of shots on the goal, and although that is partly the fault of the midfield and also the tight defending I still think he should have done better, demanding some more incisive play from his support in the process. Good header though, shame it didn't go in. Also would lose .5 of a point for that dreadful, dreadful penalty.

Kwasnik 6
On the basis of tonights performance he isn't good enough to force the change from 4231 to 442. Should be a solid squad player though and will be decent cover for Smeltz. I'd start Daniel in our first XI in his place

Bench:

Hearfield 7
Really shone, making positive runs down the left and just generally looked sharp. Classy penalty deserved a mention though, I think this kid could be going places and who knows, by the end of the season may even command a place in our starting XI.

Coveny 5
Woeful effort from Coveny in my opinion. Did next to nothing despite getting a decent amount of ball. He looks to have lost his sharpness and his first touch seems to be going as well. Should drop out of our matchday squad for Kwasnik (who should be on the bench).

Daniel 7
Why wasn't he introduced earlier? His appearance gave us the momenetum that almost won us the match. We desperately needed his inventiveness on the night, as well as his willingness to get into the box. He is quite excellent in the air, and has a good positional sense that helps him get on the end of crosses (that goal against CCM was a good example, as was his effort against Melbourne last year).

Daniel must start from now on, and although I had previously thought he would be best in the center, I believe playing him out on the wing is the best spot for him. He has the skill (although not the pace) to beat his man, generally crosses well, combines nicely with the fullbacks (how many times did he create space for Lochy last season?) and can drift inside, either to create shooting opportunities, play one twos or to get on the end of crosses from the opposite flank.

Finally, I believe he has become our talisman, his skillful play has captured the imagination of the Wellington public and it is no coincidence that he (along with Smeltzy) gets the biggest shout when his name pops up on the screen as the teamsheet is read out over the PA before the match. In a sense, he has become part of the Phoenix 'product,' he is one of those players people are specifically paying to watch play.


KTBW2008-08-07 23:32:19

what i like about Nix vII is the ball retention/composure - lots of short passing and possession play, not as many long balls to no-one like last year. Oh and a ton of increased pace. The goals win come i think, as players get more confident.

I agree about Hearfield, i think he is a bit wasted at the back, he seems a natural in front of goal. I realise he last a last resort at RB against the tards.

DANIEL"Finally, I believe he has become our talisman, his skillful play has captured the imagination of the Wellington public and it is no coincidence that he (along with Smeltzy) gets the biggest shout when his name pops up on the screen as the teamsheet is read out over the PA before the match. In a sense, he has become part of the Phoenix 'product,' he is one of those players people are specifically paying to watch play."

He is undoubtedly skillful and indeed popular ,i think the problem with Daniel is his ability to last 90 mins ,he seems to drift in and out of a game which suggests  his fitness or/and perhaps his concentration is an issue !
Kiwi Jambo2008-08-08 08:48:34

I must say I didnt appreciate Gao's kicking of advertising hoardings twice before he was rightly subbed for a brain fade....not a good advert for youngsters or others from an "anger/frustration" management context..or for the sponsors or advertisers.  Didnt some EPL player get fined for doing it last year?

My wife and I were two of the few people who stayed behind to clap off the Nix and also clap Melbourne when they received the trophy, It says alot about a clubs supporters when they can be gracious losers,we were very disappointed and I felt ashamed.
To make matters worse as we walked along the concourse afterwards we saw an absolute Buffhead steal one of the flags from the side of the concourse surrounded by about a dozen or so very immature P---ks,this was watched by a female security guard(and I use the term "security guard" lightly)who never made any attempt to intervene or get help to stop this. Do these idiots not realize that they are stealing from their club.
And before anyone jumps in and asks why we did nothing to stop it I was not prepared to put myself or my wife at risk.

whats all this talk about the nix lacking a decent striker - not only is that a joke in itself but arent about 5 other clubs missing "out and out goalscorers".