WPM R1 vs Western United | Sun 20th Oct | 4:00pm | RoF / Sky Sport 3 | March 3pm

nixnation

I can't believe I spelt stressing wrong omg

I was pretty stresst to be fair.

At times our short passing game was great to watch... at other times were too pedantic.

I thought our makeshift back 3 did very well. 

Personally I expected more from out imports including the goalie who I can't remember claiming a single ball in the air all game.

MetalLegNZ

At times our short passing game was great to watch... at other times were too pedantic.

I thought our makeshift back 3 did very well. 

Personally I expected more from out imports including the goalie who I can't remember claiming a single ball in the air all game.

 
On the plus side, I’m more convinced than ever about how much the real deal Paulsen is! If Kepa was 100 mill, what’s that make Alex??

I think a lot of you are blowing our performance way out of proportion. We’re not the finished product, we had very little time as a full squad in pre-season, we were playing without a left back, and Rojas, Sutton, LKH, Retre, Colakovski etc are still to come in.

Once we’re full strength and up to speed we’ll be firing, and in the meantime we’ve got more than enough of a squad to grind out good results.

Found it. https://t.co/NRvp6EQVXK pic.twitter.com/fJlnyWAPeE

— Yellow Fever Ngā Wana Kōwhai (@YellowFever_NZ) October 20, 2024

Unfortunately it wasn't shown on the broadcast I'm pretty sure - Could see the Fever getting ready to unfurl it and then it cut to something else

well played pic.twitter.com/QbT4VFpfXz

— ALM (@TheRealALM) October 20, 2024

Here's a tweet showing it - maybe it did make the broadcast in the background?

Edit: Nope not from the broadcast, a picture taken by Phillip Rollo

The @YellowFever_NZ finally found the ‘to’ they left off their banner last season 😂

📸 @ByPhillipRollo pic.twitter.com/gSmEPm08Nt

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) October 20, 2024

Wow some of you really have short memories. Paulson didnt just magically start playing the short passing game from game one last season. Seem to recall there were some very nervous people after the first couple of games saying its just amatter of time before it goes belly up. Guess what it didnt, how about cutting this years team some slack not as if they have had a great pre season to get used to each others play. Have some patience and less of the moaning.
To be honest im friggen excited when you think who has still to get a start. 

Idk why people are slagging Oluwayemi off tbh, show me where he messed up the short passing. How many shots did we concede from a poor short pass?

He looks solid and able to play Chief’s game.

Friar Tuck

I think a lot of you are blowing our performance way out of proportion. We’re not the finished product, we had very little time as a full squad in pre-season, we were playing without a left back, and Rojas, Sutton, LKH, Retre, Colakovski etc are still to come in.

Once we’re full strength and up to speed we’ll be firing, and in the meantime we’ve got more than enough of a squad to grind out good results.

Yep, four of those at least are nailed on starters. Then the likes of Conchie, Walker, Sheridan are all subs. 

I think we got found out in the second half with them pressing more and closing down the easy passing options we found in midfield between the lines in the first half.  Plus it was pretty clear that a lot of the young guys and some others were very leg weary towards the end. Kosta ran his butt off but noticeably had run out of pep at the end. 

Plenty more to come from these guys.

I liked the look of the young guys we had to play. I'd say they all had decent games and have some serious potential. But they aren't A League  experienced and ready yet. And not match hardened.

It would have been good to hold the three points, especially with the Perth trip to come. And the guys nearly did.  But with Sutton, Retre, Rojas and Cola starting we are a totally better team.

Just watching the post-match interview and Walker said he knew he was starting just hours before the game because Sutton was ill - not naturally a full/wingback, though I thought he did well. Wonder how his emergence bodes for Supyk & OVH. 

With the return of our injured players I think we'll go well, hopefully Cola can be on the bench next week at least, surely better value than some of the academy boys. Japanese boys look class too. 

I think with Payne starting higher he's less effective than when he can overlap and be an extra man. 

And on Ball, there was a moment early when he had just come on and got outpaced by Donachie when we had a good chance on the break. Looked a bit unfit?

ballane

Wow some of you really have short memories. Paulson didnt just magically start playing the short passing game from game last season. Seem to recall there were some very nervous people after the first couple of games saying its just amatter of time before it goes belly up. Guess what it didnt, how about cutting this years team some slack not as if they have had a great pre season to get used to each others play. Have some patience and less of the moaning.
To be honest im friggen excited when you think who has still to get a start. 

Yeah I agree with this.

The first game against WSW last season I was getting super stressed out by Paulsen's short passing game, but he proved he had the skill to do it. Today I found myself stressing again with Oluwayemi, but I think it's just that it's my first time watching him - in a few matches once I'm used to watching him do it I expect my stress levels will go down significantly (just like last season) 

InsulinMachine

Half a Pint

Chiefy said on the post match broadcast that he expects it'll take about 4-6 weeks before we start to see the team hit their stride

I never understand that. We have the worlds longest off season. What have they been doing? The time to learn to gel is in pre season but whatever

Not sure what you dont understand about what Chief said. We have had multiple players away on rep duty,some players are fairly recent additions to the squad, plus there have been some injuries. Might be the longest off season but they certainly havnt been together for all of it and they certainly havnt had that many training sessions together.
Any wonder Rufer and some of the Kiwi lads ran out of gas think about what they have done in the last 7 days 2 games and heaps of travel  

Friar Tuck

Idk why people are slagging Oluwayemi off tbh, show me where he messed up the short passing. How many shots did we concede from a poor short pass?

He looks solid and able to play Chief’s game.

Western United was pressing him pretty hard which made his passing look a lot more unnerving than would be normal in my opinion.

It's rare to see a goalie run at that aggressively and that constantly.

On the 4-6 weeks thing, we got 14/18 in our first 6 last season so I wouldn't read into that too much, maybe it coincides with injured players' return or just because of a big turnover. Remember we always started slow under Uffy.

I missed the shout for the Kosta pen as I was taking a leak.  Just watched it and a minute later Oluwayemi did an epic save to avoid a real egg on the face own goal.

I'll take that. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the least amount of games we played in a preseason so the team is severely undercooked add the injuries and I wasn't expecting much.

2 weeks with a full squad in like 5 months is diabolical.

nufc_nz

2 weeks with a full squad in like 5 months is diabolical.

 
It’s annoying yeah, but a lot of it is totally out of the club’s control - age-grade comps and international stuff - all our imports were signed pretty early (compared to many seasons). 

nufc_nz

2 weeks with a full squad in like 5 months is diabolical.

Would you rather the team refuse international call ups? Get players to fake injuries?

I enjoyed the game. There was some great football played, but ultimately we didnt create much and werent positive enough to win it, or even deserve to win it.

Wooton was great, Barbarouses was great, Payne put in a good shift. Rufer was immense.
I dont think Ball was the sub we needed if we wanted to win, unsure why Van Hattum didnt come on.

Haven't had a chance to read the thread today. Can someone tell me why VAR reviewed our goal but not when the GK cluttered into Barba?? There was also an incident on Walker (LB) I think, which I wouldn't have given but have seen given plenty of times. Disappointing as we were by far the best team today. We are playing quite predictable football, and with Barba alone up top we lack options, but hopefully Rojas and Retre come back soon and the new guys start to gel.
Was impressed by Ishige, not so much by the new GK. Glued to his line, slow to come out and whilst he made a good save (off his own clearance, I thought he could have done much better on the goal)

Monto

Pretty crap performance tbh, I expected more of an evolution like what we were promised. Looked slow and lacking.

The big difference this season is we no longer have a superstar keeper and a surprisingly amazing CB duo.

A bit harsh I think. Cant say Im particularly concerned about the keeper after today. And our CBs were fine. I think our issues today were elsewhere...

We weren't perfect but is the first game of the season, definitely not as terrible as some are making out. A lot of quality still to come back in and I like what the Japanese pair showed today.
 At least we weren't Perth, Oli Sail had more issues than Josh 

Stadium was quiet in that second half. Surprised at the low crowd size too 

Kosta was my pick for man of the match, impressed with Rufer, Hughes, Wootton and Payne too. So many starting debuts, over all we did well, though of course disappointing not to hold on for the win. 

newzealandpower

Haven't had a chance to read the thread today. Can someone tell me why VAR reviewed our goal but not when the GK cluttered into Barba?? There was also an incident on Walker (LB) I think, which I wouldn't have given but have seen given plenty of times. Disappointing as we were by far the best team today. We are playing quite predictable football, and with Barba alone up top we lack options, but hopefully Rojas and Retre come back soon and the new guys start to gel.
Was impressed by Ishige, not so much by the new GK. Glued to his line, slow to come out and whilst he made a good save (off his own clearance, I thought he could have done much better on the goal)

Yeh- did think that would be a foul anywhere else on the pitch. He cleaned Kosta out and certainly didn’t get the ball. On the other hand, Kosta wasn’t ever going to get the ball so it didn’t prevent a goal being scored. It would have been considered quite a soft pen, but I also looked in askance! 

Am I crazy? I know that both Kosta & Rufer had their moments, and you can see their quality and how important they are to our team, but they were both very rusty and wasteful. Did nobody else notice this?

And Kosta wasn't that far away from getting a touch on the ball before the keeper clattered into him, and if he had it'd have been a stonewall pen. But he didn't so it was just a coming together.

imanixsupporter

Am I crazy? I know that both Kosta & Rufer had their moments, and you can see their quality and how important they are to our team, but they were both very rusty and wasteful. Did nobody else notice this?

And Kosta wasn't that far away from getting a touch on the ball before the keeper clattered into him, and if he had it'd have been a stonewall pen. But he didn't so it was just a coming together.

Yes, you're crazy. Rufer was probably the best player on the pitch. He was the only reason we progressed the ball at all, and Kosta was playing by himself up front at times.

Expected more out of Nagasawa and Ishige tried hard but quality was lacking.

I thought Olawayemi was horrendous. He barely looked like a pro keeper, didn't claim one ball, stayed on his line, punched everything, didn't even get close to saving the shot and was too scared to play out from the back half the game. Really shows how good Paulsen was, and imo will be the biggest reason we don't do as well this season.

Other than that, a lot of positives with the young kids - Walker was outstanding, and I thought Hughes, Sheridan and Conchie did a decent job too. Conchie has a bit of something about him on the ball, but not quite good enough off it yet.

I think with the team we put out, we played some good stuff and I'm not that worried. We pretty much always start slow and never win our first game, so this is nothing new.

newzealandpower

Haven't had a chance to read the thread today. Can someone tell me why VAR reviewed our goal but not when the GK cluttered into Barba?? There was also an incident on Walker (LB) I think, which I wouldn't have given but have seen given plenty of times. Disappointing as we were by far the best team today. We are playing quite predictable football, and with Barba alone up top we lack options, but hopefully Rojas and Retre come back soon and the new guys start to gel.
Was impressed by Ishige, not so much by the new GK. Glued to his line, slow to come out and whilst he made a good save (off his own clearance, I thought he could have done much better on the goal)

VAR reviewed our goal because they are required to review all goals. 
They also reviewed their goal. 
They also reviewed Kosta and Keeper clash, and Walker going down in the box and some other things.
That’s what they do.

Feverish

Stadium was quiet in that second half. Surprised at the low crowd size too 

Not a lot to cheer second half.
A goal up, Phoenix reverted to type.
45 minutes of dull.

2 points thrown away by poor decisions, naivety and lack of ambition.

InsulinMachine

Half a Pint

Chiefy said on the post match broadcast that he expects it'll take about 4-6 weeks before we start to see the team hit their stride

I never understand that. We have the worlds longest off season. What have they been doing? The time to learn to gel is in pre season but whatever

A very very interrupted pre season. OFC Nations Cup, Olympics, AWs away at Sept & October windows, same Al-Taay with Iraq. 

He would have had at most 2-3 training sessions this week with the full squad.

Then Rojas a major out - with Chiefy saying when Marco was signed they planned to build the team around him. 

Sutton, Retre & LK-H also out. Cola not yet match fit.

That's likely 4 of your starters out, and if you go back 3/5 like today, LK-H starts.

I’ve got the same worry I had when Old and Zawada left, which is where the goals were going to come from. 

I don’t think any keeper was able to replace Paulsen. I think the new lad will settle. He had a disrupted back line and he should be okay. 

I look at the way we know instinctively where our players are, the way we can sling around one passing and the way we surge forward and I’m not hugely worried about the team. 

We need someone to be decisive up front. We couldn’t quite find the pass or the ball, or deal with a two on one out wide. Surging forward and then retreating was annoying. We should have put the game away. 
That said, it feels like last season we missed a very good chance to win the league. Other teams are strong again and we are perhaps going to take a while to find the sharp winning edge we had.

martinb

I’ve got the same worry I had when Old and Zawada left, which is where the goals were going to come from. 

I don’t think any keeper was able to replace Paulsen. I think the new lad will settle. He had a disrupted back line and he should be okay. 

I look at the way we know instinctively where our players are, the way we can sling around one passing and the way we surge forward and I’m not hugely worried about the team. 

We need someone to be decisive up front. We couldn’t quite find the pass or the ball, or deal with a two on one out wide. Surging forward and then retreating was annoying. We should have put the game away. 
That said, it feels like last season we missed a very good chance to win the league. Other teams are strong again and we are perhaps going to take a while to find the sharp winning edge we had.

Last season was defs a missed opportunity, but if we can make the play offs this season, then it’s all the play for. We won’t be premiers though.

Despite my overall despondency yesterday, you could see what we were trying to do for most of the game, but the combinations just weren’t coming off. With a likely 3-5 players coming in, it should make a helluva difference so I will judge in good time. The last 30 was horrendous though and there’s no sugar coating that. It should never have come to that. 

InsulinMachine

Half a Pint

Chiefy said on the post match broadcast that he expects it'll take about 4-6 weeks before we start to see the team hit their stride

I never understand that. We have the worlds longest off season. What have they been doing? The time to learn to gel is in pre season but whatever

We may have the longest off season, but some of the signings arrived late, pre-season games are only played a month before season starts. Phoenix have traditionally always started slow. 4-6 weeks and everyone is back fit and we have gelled this team will be flying.

imanixsupporter

Am I crazy? I know that both Kosta & Rufer had their moments, and you can see their quality and how important they are to our team, but they were both very rusty and wasteful. Did nobody else notice this?

And Kosta wasn't that far away from getting a touch on the ball before the keeper clattered into him, and if he had it'd have been a stonewall pen. But he didn't so it was just a coming together.

You do remember the last week the 2 of them had surely. Heaps of travel staying in hotels then a couple of games thrown in. Probably didnt get home till Tuesday then back to Nix training Wednesday. Not the ideal preparation for all those in the All Whites. Think in the circumstances they did okay 

Good time in the fever yesterday.
However, I wish everyone would loosen up on the chants more, its just for a laugh. Fever getting a bit too pc all of a sudden

Perth next week...
Should be interesting. 

ClubOranje

newzealandpower

Haven't had a chance to read the thread today. Can someone tell me why VAR reviewed our goal but not when the GK cluttered into Barba?? There was also an incident on Walker (LB) I think, which I wouldn't have given but have seen given plenty of times. Disappointing as we were by far the best team today. We are playing quite predictable football, and with Barba alone up top we lack options, but hopefully Rojas and Retre come back soon and the new guys start to gel.
Was impressed by Ishige, not so much by the new GK. Glued to his line, slow to come out and whilst he made a good save (off his own clearance, I thought he could have done much better on the goal)

VAR reviewed our goal because they are required to review all goals. 
They also reviewed their goal. 
They also reviewed Kosta and Keeper clash, and Walker going down in the box and some other things.
That’s what they do.

Did they though? When I say review I mean stop the game and see if there was anything untoward, and I don't recall that happening when Kosta was clattered into by the keeper in the box 

theaucklandphoenixfan

Good time in the fever yesterday.
However, I wish everyone would loosen up on the chants more, its just for a laugh. Fever getting a bit too pc all of a sudden

The Zone should be fun for everyone, not at the expense of some