R1 vs Western United | Sun 13th Oct | 6:00pm | RoF

Yeah i'm afraid thats what Talay will do but hopefully McCowatt does start and we use Sotirio as an impact player with his pace.

Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee 1: Lance Greenshields
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ilievski
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
VAR: Nick Waldron

Wellington Phoenix squad: 1. Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 2. Liam MCGING, 3. Luke DEVERE, 4.Te Atawhai HUDSON-WIHONGI, 5. Matti STEINMANN, 6.Tim PAYNE, 7. Reno PISCOPO, 8. Cameron DEVLIN, 9. David BALL, 10. Ulises DAVILA, 11. Jaushua SOTIRIO, 13. Liberato CACACE, 14. Alex RUFER, 16. Louis FENTON, 17. Callan ELLIOT, 20.Oliver SAIL (gk), 21.Callum MCCOWATT, 23. Walter SCOTT, 27. Steven TAYLOR (c), 31. Ben WAINE **2-4 to be omitted**

Unavailable: Nil

Western United FC squad: 1.Filip KURTO (gk), 2.Aaron CALVER, 4.Andrew DURANTE, 5.Dylan PIERIAS, 6.Connor CHAPMAN, 8.Panagiotis KONE, 9.Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS, 10.Scott MCDONALD, 11.Connor PAIN, 12.Dario JERTEC, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 14.Max BURGESS, 15.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 17.Joshua CAVALLO, 18.Besart BERISHA, 19.Joshua RISDON, 20.James DELIANOV (gk), 22.Ersan GULUM, 23.Alessandro DIAMANTI (c), 24.Thiel IRADUKUNDA **2-4 to be omitted**

Unavailable: 25.Luke DUZEL (International Duty)

Not much you can take from the squads anymore with the whole squad named because of the possibility of the benches being extended to 7.

that'll be great if they extend the subs to 7

Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro has confirmed at the club’s business lunch that A-League benches will be increased to seven players,
two of which must be Australian players under the age of 23

[@gomvfc]

— A-League Hub (@AleagueHub) October 10, 2019

Banner for the game ? "Sack Ticketec". 

? GOR: In a normal 11+5 bench, if you have one of those as an under-23, you’re eligible to extend the bench. If you’re going to extend the bench, you have to extend it with under-23s. So if it goes to six, you need a minimum of two under-23 players. #ALeague pic.twitter.com/tYixOFomCa

— Daily Football Show (@DFS_AUS) October 10, 2019

To me that reads like a 6 man bench if you pick two u23 players? 5 man if you pick none.

With all this Rudan & Durante chat, almost forgot that Berisha will be there too! 

Dont worry, he's  not forgotten.

What about a bit of "ssssssssssss" every time WU touch the ball?

Hi guys, does anyone have any hints on parking this year at or around the stadium?

Just heard on Radio Sport an interview with Ball and Piscopo.  Sounded very positive.

Sorry, no link, was in the car at the time and didn't know it was coming up.   

If anyone has flights down from Auckland and can no longer go, I'll happily take them off your hands!

Near parliment is free from 6 if im not mistaken 

Part One (starts 11:45 in)

Part Two

Any PAX updates?

Confirmed: Hyundai @ALeague clubs have the option to extend their substitute bench to 7️⃣ players.#WhereHeroesAreMade #ALeagueBegins #ALeaguehttps://t.co/Sqz4mCt50O

— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) October 11, 2019

Bought tickets last night, pax count number is 8779

Are the people that had the sheet saying “thank you Rudan” bringing a “Rudan is a snake” or do we need to arrange that amongst ourselves?

was thinking, I'd be keen to see a tifo or two

We'll struggle not to extend the bench with the age of our players

Oh when the snakes, come slithering in

Oh when the snakes come slithering in

I wanna be ...________... (something idk yet. Something about snake catchers?)

Oh when the snakes come slithering in

Why don't we just chant "he left for family reasons"? And can we please distract Filip when he's at our end (Flilip give us a wave)

asking for a wave seems a bit too nice. 

So there will be a 7 man bench now, I have no idea on who makes it and why.

That's our whole squad isn't it?!

Fudgeing hate that Berisha is back; he always seemed to play well against us.

I feel as if we are ignoring the fact that Steven Taylor is going to be on Besarts case for a full 90 or 15 (if you know what I mean, a gentle tap of ankle)

Not sure Berisha will actually start - McDonald is a lock, and probably Yuel

Have we got any confirmed chants that we are doing on Sunday?

Phoenix clap clap clap

On the game, I think 3-5-2 that Rudan will likely use unfortunately lines up well against our 4-2-2-2 on paper. With 5 in midifeld, they should be able to just play triangles around Rufer and Steinmann. They'll likely look to target in behind Fenton and Cacace too, as they're going to have to do a sharkload of work all game.

Whoever are playing the 2 in behind (assume Davila and Piscopo) will need to have very good games.

I think you'll see us playing largely defensively, with more focus on the defensive structure rather than what we saw at times last year. There'll be 2 dedicated DM's who will sit pretty deep. It's going to be a very different team to watch, and probably a more 'boring' one because of the lack of pace we possess on the counter without Krishna and Williams. We'll rely on Ball dropping deep to receive the ball, with likely Davila/Piscopo shifting wide to receive. I'd really like to see McCowatt start ahead of Sotirio, as I think whoever is playing in that role will likely get the best chances to score.

They slither where they want!

They slither where they wa-a-ant!

Western Snakes!

They slither where they want!

I miss my family

I miss my family

So off to Mel.............................bourne I go

Given Kurto's reasons for leaving, I'd suggest a bit of: "Geelong United! Geelong United!" whenever he's holding the ball.

Could even go

Shark stefan marinovic

You’re just a shark stefan marinovic

Repeat. 

Nah, Despite him leaving, Kurto was a good goalkeeper for us. I also rate Oli too. I feel quite comfortable when he is playing. Gives everything to the Nix and has not let us down. Surprised he wasn't promoted to number 1 starter.

Just quietly, WU's got a really decent squad..

?

VAR VAR VAR ;)

Rudan the snake packed his family

and ran off to the Bitumens

Off he went with three of our players

Poach! Poach! Poach!                   (or Snake! Snake! Snake!)

Or do an intro...

To Wellington a traveling man came, we bought an

Aussie coach and Rudan was his name
One dark night he slipped onto a plane
And off he ran to Bitumen
And was never seen again
Oh

Rudan the snake packed his family

and ran off to the Bitumens

Off he went with three of our players

Poach! Poach! Poach! 

Rudan the snake packed his family

and ran off to the Bitumens

Off he went with three of our players

Snake! Snake! Snake!