Moresche from the Mariners has now also commented on Yan's post so is looking more likely
image.png12.74 KB Moresches comment, Pretty much A League confirmed, Nix are still the only club hes following so looks like it is us. The flight time from Brazil - East Coast Aus is 50 hours, so hopefully announcement on Friday or Saturday.
Maaaaaaatt
Ufuks the man
Moresche from the Mariners has now also commented on Yan's post so is looking more likely
image.png12.74 KB Moresches comment, Pretty much A League confirmed, Nix are still the only club hes following so looks like it is us. The flight time from Brazil - East Coast Aus is 50 hours, so hopefully announcement on Friday or Saturday.
I don't want to be a pest but isn't 50 hours a bit high of a flight time? I thought it would be under 24 for sure... I mean I think you can fly from NZ to England within 30
Very long indeed! But at the moment flights are not easy to come by. I can find one that does it in 35 hours in the next couple of weeks; that's the quickest so 50 hours counting flight changes, is not out of the question. Hope he's going business class.
Just flown Lima-Santiago-Auckland-Sydney with LATAM in 26 hours.
Lots of Argies, Brazilians on the flight who got themselves to Santiago. Plane was full, not an empty seat. My favourite pre Covid Bueno Aires-Auckland route with Air NZ/Aerolinas Argentina is still closed.
New NZ visa applications from non visa waiver countries (I think that includes all of Sth America) have only just reopened August 1st. Mr La Sasse likely would be fast tracked with NZ Immigration, but I'm guessing with his wife and child there will be no queue jumping.
Yan's family and friends are now following the club so it's definitely all on now
Yeah there's a bunch with the same family name as him (Madeiros). Honestly so excited to see him and Kraev, their pedigree is fantastic and both have only just turned 25. High likelihood they'll be pretty damn good, and there's every chance they turn out to be some of our best ever. People might say I'm being rather hyperbolic, but they both look fudgeing class. Definitely spinning my wheels more than when we were announcing imports like Kaludjerovic and Ljujic
Yan's family and friends are now following the club so it's definitely all on now
Yeah there's a bunch with the same family name as him (Madeiros). Honestly so excited to see him and Kraev, their pedigree is fantastic and both have only just turned 25. High likelihood they'll be pretty damn good, and there's every chance they turn out to be some of our best ever. People might say I'm being rather hyperbolic, but they both look fudgeing class. Definitely spinning my wheels more than when we were announcing imports like Kaludjerovic and Ljujic
With an import striker to come, Sasse, Kraev, Ball, Barbarouses and Waine is a pretty decent strike force up front. Lewis and Ugarkovic in the middle is exciting too as they are also capable of scoring
Yan Sasse to Wellington Phoenix is CONFIRMED. Sasse landed in Wellington yesterday and will be completing his medical tomorrow. Announcement expected to be next week
Yan Sasse to Wellington Phoenix is CONFIRMED. Sasse landed in Wellington yesterday and will be completing his medical tomorrow. Announcement expected to be next week
99% sure that account’s completely unreliable, but yeah it’s good as confirmed now. Instagram rumours are great, huh! So stoked for this signing
Yan Sasse to Wellington Phoenix is CONFIRMED. Sasse landed in Wellington yesterday and will be completing his medical tomorrow. Announcement expected to be next week
99% sure that account’s completely unreliable, but yeah it’s good as confirmed now. Instagram rumours are great, huh! So stoked for this signing
He is the one that claimed Krishna had a handshake deal etc. Don't take him as gospel.
Yan Sasse to Wellington Phoenix is CONFIRMED. Sasse landed in Wellington yesterday and will be completing his medical tomorrow. Announcement expected to be next week
99% sure that account’s completely unreliable, but yeah it’s good as confirmed now. Instagram rumours are great, huh! So stoked for this signing
He is the one that claimed Krishna had a handshake deal etc. Don't take him as gospel.
He also didn't land in Wellington yesterday but it's still definitely a done deal now
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
Exactly how I feel with an import striker coming I think we have one of the stronger sides in the league tbh. I'd say Victory and City are the teams to beat atm maybe Sydney depending on their remaining import signings.
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
Consistency across the season with minimized form dips and we can do it. Maybe budget it the way Hadlee budgeted the double: how many points do we need at any given point? Who do we intend to get them from? I’m sure they have their targets anyway. Not sure about the psychology/efficacy of doing that with a team as opposed to an individual. Whatever they’ve been doing in various seasons has worked reasonably well.
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
Ouff there is a LOT of exaggeration here 😂😂
Sail granted.
The defence could make a case for best in the league despite having no new signings from a team that conceded the most in the league last season?? That's utter nonsense. Even if you add Reid.
Lewis is a decent level A-League player, Stevie Ugarkovic similar but has been poor for a year or two now. Got potential to be a great pairing but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Kraev and Sasse a lot of unpredictable factors but definitely have the quality to be at a really high level.
Waine and Ball alone will be a weak forward line - Ball is not prolific himself and despite his workrate is a pretty average visa player in the league, as for Waine he's yet to hit the next level he's been promising for a few years and got dropped last season on multiple occasions, also needs to work on wider aspects of his game. MAYBE if we sign a quality nr 9 and the signing works, we'll get good goalscoring numbers.
Right now I think we're set to make the top six again and challenge for top four, but I wouldn't be getting carried away and touting ourselves as title candidates until we beef up the team with a bit more quality, particularly in the backline.
I love your optimism and positive outlook but you’re having a laugh. We’ve conceded the most goals last year and had to thank Sail it wasn’t more.. Lewis is decent but hardly sets the world on fire and Urkagovic can be inconsistent. It’s a solid squad, but it’s nowhere near title contending quality yet Friar Tuck
martinb
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
I love your optimism and positive outlook but you’re having a laugh. We’ve conceded the most goals last year and had to thank Sail it wasn’t more.. Lewis is decent but hardly sets the world on fire and Urkagovic can be inconsistent. It’s a solid squad, but it’s nowhere near title contending quality yet Friar Tuck
martinb
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
We had the cup run by getting the results we needed to get. Western United just did it a bit better than us in the post season or league knockout ‘cup’ if you like. To win the league we need to budget the results we need to get and stay ahead of the game.
I love this expression I heard in an Alan Garner radio play when I was a kid ‘There’s nowt use saying pigs can’t fly, when you see ‘em catching swallows.’
I think this is our best chance and I think we can do it. But the proof of my faith is yet to come I guess!
Last year we wanted to start the season better and we did which allowed us a buffer getting into the 6. We improved on the previous year. If we can continue that focus we can get the results we need.
I think a lot will hinge on our final import signing.... who will that #9 be?
Could be a signing which makes or breaks the season.. if we get a clinical striker to finish off the chances created by the rest we might be on to something
On the other hand, if we miss with this signing, then it won't matter who is behind the top two, I don't think Waine/Ball have the ability to get the number of goals we need by themselves. Unless one or two of Sasse/Kraev/Barbarouses end up having fairly prolific seasons, as Uli did for us.
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
Ouff there is a LOT of exaggeration here 😂😂
Sail granted.
The defence could make a case for best in the league despite having no new signings from a team that conceded the most in the league last season?? That's utter nonsense. Even if you add Reid.
Lewis is a decent level A-League player, Stevie Ugarkovic similar but has been poor for a year or two now. Got potential to be a great pairing but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Kraev and Sasse a lot of unpredictable factors but definitely have the quality to be at a really high level.
Waine and Ball alone will be a weak forward line - Ball is not prolific himself and despite his workrate is a pretty average visa player in the league, as for Waine he's yet to hit the next level he's been promising for a few years and got dropped last season on multiple occasions, also needs to work on wider aspects of his game. MAYBE if we sign a quality nr 9 and the signing works, we'll get good goalscoring numbers.
Right now I think we're set to make the top six again and challenge for top four, but I wouldn't be getting carried away and touting ourselves as title candidates until we beef up the team with a bit more quality, particularly in the backline.
How often did we have the opportunity to use a full strength backline last season? At times we had Fenton playing LB, Waine and Sotirio RB, 18 year old Surman playing big chunks.
Sutton is super promising and looked a top prospect at the end of last season. Wootton completely reinvigorated our defence, Payne is one of the best RBs in the competition on his day. I’ll grant that Laws and Elliot aren’t at that same level, but if we could snag Reid and put him in the middle that would be a quality back four.
Lewis has been improving in leaps and bounds and has looked one of the best players for both the Phoenix and the All Whites since returning from his injury. Ugarkovic has been poor for WSW but was consistently one of if not the best player for Newcastle in his last couple of seasons there. Brillante, O’Neill, Brattan and Isais (when fit) are probably the only dedicated central midfielders that you could definitively say are better, maybe Nisbet and Thurgate on their day, but only O’Neill and Thurgate play in a partnership together out of those players.
Kraev and Sasse is an optimistic pick from me and I can only make my assumptions based on highlights, stats, pedigree and Uffie and Gill’s track record. On paper they’re two of the best attacking imports we’ve ever had, how good they perform obviously remains to be seen.
I agree that a front two of Waine and Ball would be weak, that’s why I didn’t make any claims about our strike force. I totally disagree about Ball being average though. Just because he wears the number 9 people assume he’s supposed to be scoring and assisting all the time, and since he doesn’t he must be a bad player. He brings an energy and dictates play in a way that no one else on the team can. He makes incredibly important passes and touches that go unnoticed but lead to goals. Plus he has 30 goal contributions in 5981 A-League minutes, 0.45G+A/90.
We absolutely need a striker that can score 12+ goals this season, otherwise all the good work the rest of the team does will go unconverted. But if we can recruit a high quality import 9, bolster the backline with (hopeful) Reid, or (realistic) a quality local backup, and Kraev and Sasse live up to their potential, I firmly believe we’ll be a real force.
Not saying we’ll win the league, but I think we’ll have as good a chance as we’ve ever had.
Yeah anyone that doesn't rate Lewis only has to looks at how much we struggled when he was out, and how much he improved us when he came back even short of match fitness
I think a lot will hinge on our final import signing.... who will that #9 be?
Could be a signing which makes or breaks the season.. if we get a clinical striker to finish off the chances created by the rest we might be on to something
On the other hand, if we miss with this signing, then it won't matter who is behind the top two, I don't think Waine/Ball have the ability to get the number of goals we need by themselves. Unless one or two of Sasse/Kraev/Barbarouses end up having fairly prolific seasons, as Uli did for us.
We’ve missed Old off that list. And form and comfort is unpredictable. Tomer took a long time to get going, but then was unstoppable. I don’t think most would have predicted Sotirio’s amazing season. Or Sutton’s exhaustion in the knockout final, despite being one of our best all season.
There’ll be peaks and troughs, but the important thing is getting the results- wether that means improved defense if we’re not that high scoring or goals coming from across the attacking line, the midfield or defenders at a set piece or even the subs bench from someone like Van Hattum or Bidois.
I mean a team with an on form Tomer or Uli makes life more comfortable and exciting, so hopefully we’ll see that! But even if the last signing is different again in qualities, it’s getting the results when we need to that matters. Holding possession for the last 5 minutes or defending. Finding the equalizer or winner to pinch points when we’re a little flat. A volley from Pennington. A bundle in from Surman. Getting the results when we need them.
It’s possible Ball may play a reduced role compared to previous seasons if his toe injury is ongoing.
I feel if we do it’ll be an over perform on expectations by the team and many individuals, but I’m okay with that!
To put it simply I’m very excited for this season. More so than for a long time!
I also subscribe to the more optimistic view. At this point I would be surprised if we didn't make top 4 for several reasons. I think we can all agree that last season we could win against any team in the league depending on the players who were fit and how tired the boys were - we ended up 6th quite easily. This season we have increased the strength and depth of our team considerably, some of our homegrown talent is reaching peak performance, we still have the same fantastic coach, and we will be playing real home games on a consistent basis. These things combined have to mean we finish at least 2 places higher provided no major slip ups happen.
I love your optimism and positive outlook but you’re having a laugh. We’ve conceded the most goals last year and had to thank Sail it wasn’t more.. Lewis is decent but hardly sets the world on fire and Urkagovic can be inconsistent. It’s a solid squad, but it’s nowhere near title contending quality yet Friar Tuck
martinb
We’ve got a great coach, a creative midfield, a good keeper, sorry 2 good keepers, and now if we can add some early goals to go with discipline when we score first, I think we can win the league. I know game, by game. But I think last season showed us that with Uffie’s coaching we can beat any team in the league. If we can add a bit more talent and authority so we aren’t playing so much desperation football, and we have some depth, though I think we should be aiming to win the league and by a margin.
Maybe it won’t happen. There is strong opposition in the league. But I think it can and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
We’re going to win the league! Come on the mighty Phoenix!
- Sail: potentially best keeper in the league
- Sutton, Laws, Wootton, Payne or Sutton, Payne, Wootton, Elliot or (hopeful) Sutton, Reid, Wootton, Payne: at full strength could make a case for best defence in the league
- Ugarkovic, Lewis: potentially best midfield partnership in the league
- Kraev, Sasse: potentially best attacking midfield partnership in the league
- Waine, Ball or Import, Ball: remains to be seen, high quality import goal scorer a must
Tbf our goals conceded last year doesn't really reflect our strongest backline this season. Sutton Laws Wootton Payne only played 6 times together conceding 6 goals and that was with a Rufer, Lewis midfield which I'm sure most people will say Ugarkovic will be an upgrade on Rufer. I don't think we'll have the best defense in the league this season but it should be more than enough to win games.
image.png21.77 KB Reid??? What did I miss while I was too busy to look in here? If it is a speculative one, then I would say "probably not". Sure he is a great Kiwi icon, but would not be an affordable option after a lot of time earning overseas grade wages. He seems to have only little playing time under his belt lately, and I look forward to a comment on his run of injuries. The fact he is not a visa player would help, but not his likely price despite his past class.
We have already seen in previous seasons that our team takes a good while to gel together at the start of the season. We have enough new people on the park to make this a potential issue this season (Ugarkovic, Kraev, apparently Sasse). We need some familiarity in the backline without adding another new factor, no matter how good on paper, unless there is a dire need to get a better CB. I am not seeing that need, but look forward to others' view on this.
Despite us leaking goals last season, I still think Surman has an enormous potential and is learning heaps next to Wootton. If he is found wanting, Laws or Payne should be in CB next to Wootton, with Elliot at RB if Payne is at CB.
My personal favourite transfermarkt free agent striker at the moment is probably still Mark Koszta. He’s not insanely prolific on paper with 65G + 26A in 204 appearances but when you compare his goal contributions to minutes played he averages a very good 0.6G+A per 90, plus he’s only 25 years old.
Pronounced as "Kosta" in Hungarian. Could be a backup to Kosta, and save money on kit tops....
image.png21.77 KB Reid??? What did I miss while I was too busy to look in here? If it is a speculative one, then I would say "probably not". Sure he is a great Kiwi icon, but would not be an affordable option after a lot of time earning overseas grade wages. He seems to have only little playing time under his belt lately, and I look forward to a comment on his run of injuries. The fact he is not a visa player would help, but not his likely price despite his past class.
We have already seen in previous seasons that our team takes a good while to gel together at the start of the season. We have enough new people on the park to make this a potential issue this season (Ugarkovic, Kraev, apparently Sasse). We need some familiarity in the backline without adding another new factor, no matter how good on paper, unless there is a dire need to get a better CB. I am not seeing that need, but look forward to others' view on this.
Despite us leaking goals last season, I still think Surman has an enormous potential and is learning heaps next to Wootton. If he is found wanting, Laws or Payne should be in CB next to Wootton, with Elliot at RB if Payne is at CB.
hopefully we hit the ground running this year with a settled squad. Last couple of seasons we've relied on January reinforcement for a late run, this year we should be full strength from the start.
