WPM R14 vs Sydney | Wed 15th Jan | 7:00pm | RoF / Sky Sports 3

Happy to eat my words over choice of the keeper. Alby looked composed and competent.  And despite all the comments on Hughes in the match thread, I thought our defence really earned its wages today.  Alby actually did not have that much to do. 

Agree (again) on Nagasawa, but not on overall dissing of Japanese players. There are some excellent ones that have played or are playing in the A-League.  But both Ishige and Nagasawa are of slight build, and for a slight player to succeed in ALM requires much better ball control under physical pressure, and this is a skill where both of them would require individual tuition from Rojas.

Thoughts...
Alby Kelly Heald looked solid - makes the signing of an import goalkeeper seem a little odd, but it is only 1 game.

Lucas Kelly Heald - liked him playing a little further up, enough skill and strength to beat a man and hold them off. Passing was progressive but wayward.

Piper - great energy and does make things happen, but also wastes a lot of ball. Has a really bad touch for a professional footballer.

Japanese signings - too soft on the ball, and to many flicks. They are not bringing our midfield together but putting it under pressure.

Hughes - get him some sprigs. Looks his best when he looks to carry the ball forward and be positive.

Retre - his best game so far this season. Was more positive on the ball and seemed to be far more involved.

Much better than the past few weeks - we just need to build on it.

There’s some unfair criticism on Nagasawa too. He’s not Rufer. 

He made several good interceptions down the stretch. 

And again listen to Ifill - he saw Nagasawa looking for a variety of runs not being made by inexperienced wide players. If we don’t have a settled team, for whatever reason, it’s harder to get that cohesion. Once we get a settled team that’ll take time. 

The reason the defense looks miles better is they’ve all played together at ressies and last year. The midfield and forward line are currently getting introduced before each game. 

And Nagasawa was far from the only one hitting passes to offside players or players that didn’t make the run. 

Why is Rufer and Kosta such a good combination? 3 years playing together. Familiarity. 

And if Nagasawa were bossing this game and 5 years younger he’d never sign a contract for the Phoenix. He’d be in Europe or J1. We’re lucky to have Rufer.

What I can’t understand is why Al-Taay hasn’t played more minutes for us. 

I think most of you are blinded by a clear dislike of Nagasawa. Watched him quite a bit and in the second half especially, he battled, won, and tried to set up some good plays that the youngens had no idea. They were like headless chickens. That was the problem, not him, even Kosta got frustrated by it. Is he doing enough? No, but flicks aside, I thought he did better than he has done. That free kick at the end, someone should have put that away. But agree Ishige didn’t step up, seemed to be muscled off the ball all the time. Was also pleased with retres performance too, easily his best game. I actually noticed him. 

But MotM has to be Alby, take a bow. That was a great and composed performance. A couple of hairy moments but overall, was in control of his box and knew when to come out and command. 

Final shout has to go out to the Fever, loved the banner and the sing song. Bally was clearly touched by it all as well. 

My negative of the night? Piper. Some of the easiest moments were completely wasted on him. Further forward might work for him, but he’s not ready yet. I like his passion but some of the stuff he did badly today really was basic stuff. 

So to summarise what we need is the machine from The Fly and make two perfect players: 

Pipige and Ishiger

filled with both amazing football technique and centaur-like battle instincts! 

nufc_nz

Ninja

I don't want to be that guy, but is Nagasawa offering much? I hardly see him touch the ball, or have any real influence on any match I've watched. 

In fact, I have no idea what his play style is like because I never see him on the ball, or challenging defenders, etc, etc.

He’s offered absolutely nothing since joining us. Waste of an import spot that Chiefy has to be responsible for. No idea what he saw in him while in Japan.

I think he was a part of a BOGOF offer.

Albie did great.  He wasn't forced to do much work but when he had to he nailed it.

I was most impressed when he was out of his box and a Sydney player was racing for the ball.  Less confident keepers have found themselves stuck in the middle, not making a decision and get caught out.  He committed and got the ball out of there. 

 Takes balls of steel to nail that moment.

Alby well done, congrats! I‘m pretty sure he would saved the penalty, to bad VAR was not rigged this time.
We can be happy for the point. Sydney better Team but our defense was solid.
Nagasawa is fine, Piper is still not A-League quality. We played som nuce combination forward. We create no real chances, I can’t remember any shots on goal. I’m not sure how we could win games. Sad to see Sutton injured hope it’s not to bad.
The Ball sending off was nice.

Another big step forward from the boys, after one vs Adelaide on the weekend.

This run of injuries and adversity is building good depth, add Rufes, Payne and an import and suddenly we look deep.

Retre's best game for us by a country mile, LKH is looking better with minutes and Sutton was great until he got hurt. Nagasawa the best he's been too after the rest on the weekend. Hughes was simultaneously shocking on the ball, but dominant off it. There's a very, very good CB in there.

Supyk needs to work harder when he comes on, and we were guilty of overplaying but that was a much better watch. Piper is solid but frustrating to watch, he looks like he knows what to do and his legs just won't co-operate. Hopefully something that comes with time at the level, his versatility and physicality should ensure that happens.

Alby, take a bow son. That was outstanding.

Now to actually get some shots off.

I enjoyed the game and the night.
It was a great and intense battle, and interesting for all of that.
All things considered with the team we put out, it was much better than I expected.
Stats say we had 6 attempts on goal, but they must be counting offsides cos I wasnt sure we had any legitimate ones! P.S. Kosta had one early on I remember now!

Chiefy said in the presser that Piper is a work in progress and he knows he still has a lot to work on with his technical ability. 
Sounds like he will be keeping josh around and giving him time to earn his spot back, said he didn't feel like they rushed into a longer deal.
 Uffie is meeting with Ball tomorrow for coffee and said he is wondering what he wants to chat to him about 😂.

I was only able to catch the highlights but a draw and a clean sheet are a good step forward and more than I expected.

Does anyone know: Was Josh dropped because of poor form? Alby looked solid. Might have found our new #1

shift ended early so I got to stand with the fever for longer! even if it was only 25min~ it was a lot of fun.

So what's the deal with Josh? Little injury or is has Chief decided he isn't up to scratch? AKH sure lived up tho, certainly not a bad debut.

Chief said in the press conference that josh lost confidence in playing out and he needs to work on it in training, he said the club will invest in his development.

Did the Smurf keeper have to make any saves?? I don't recall if he did. While todays outing was an improvement, and we paused the rot for the moment, we are not an exciting team to watch. 

Poor Kosta, might be stuck on 99 A-league goals for a while since we don't look like scoring.  This area is of most concern.  

On a positive note, well done Alby! Is this the first time the Nix have had twin brothers or brothers in the starting XI?

Good to see Bally in the fever zone.   

Procrastinixing

Did the Smurf keeper have to make any saves?? I don't recall if he did. While todays outing was an improvement, and we paused the rot for the moment, we are not an exciting team to watch. 

Poor Kosta, might be stuck on 99 A-league goals for a while since we don't look like scoring.  This area is of most concern.  

On a positive note, well done Alby! Is this the first time the Nix have had twin brothers or brothers in the starting XI?

Good to see Bally in the fever zone.   

a couple of easy shots. Best one was a lob that Kosta tried to do under pressure.

The keeper was so far forward at the start of the game, he spent the first fifteen on the half way line or in the Phoenix's half, I half expected Kosta to try another long range effort

It’s almost as if we didn’t need to sign an import keeper??
But even more strange he was extended so early into the season 

Ryan

Chief said in the press conference that josh lost confidence in playing out and he needs to work on it in training, he said the club will invest in his development.

That's rough. Doesn't help that it's probably been amplified by the error v Adelaide and the general poor run of results from the team either. There is definitely a keeper in there. But like a lot of the younger lads coming through, there is also a lot of rough edges too.

What Alby did well though (aside from the clean sheets and the saves!) was that when the ball was at the back it wasn't just constantly going side to side with minimal progression of the ball. He was more than happy to make passes up the middle to available midfield players dropping back, and it just felt like it broke the shackles somewhat, rather than getting hemmed in like what we've seen over the past month or so.

Just like the 2nd half last week, a lot of heart without much quality.

We have the manager to take us where we need to go, we just need the players. Some more atrocious luck with Sutton and Sheridan getting injured.

Retre, for the first time, showed personality on the pitch and looked like he gave a shark. Quality not always there, but that was BY FAR his best game in a Nix shirt. He needs to show that level of commitment every week.

Also, Piper, I've been hard on him but I see what he is now - he's a young Payne. Not technically good but throws his body around and runs all game.

Also, Sutton and LKH down the left look like a good duo and actually had combinations. LKH is _not_ a LB, and gets absolute roasted there, but slightly further forward I thought he worked really well.

If Ishige and Nagasawa were at the level we expected, I think we win this game honestly.

Ryan

Procrastinixing

Did the Smurf keeper have to make any saves?? I don't recall if he did. While todays outing was an improvement, and we paused the rot for the moment, we are not an exciting team to watch. 

Poor Kosta, might be stuck on 99 A-league goals for a while since we don't look like scoring.  This area is of most concern.  

On a positive note, well done Alby! Is this the first time the Nix have had twin brothers or brothers in the starting XI?

Good to see Bally in the fever zone.   

a couple of easy shots. Best one was a lob that Kosta tried to do under pressure.

The keeper was so far forward at the start of the game, he spent the first fifteen on the half way line or in the Phoenix's half, I half expected Kosta to try another long range effort

We would have to have the ball to take a long range effort 😭

Pleased for the young defenders. Not so much for Walker and Supyk. Staying onside is a basic. What's with midfielders doing blind flicks?? Kosta must be so frustrated that we can't create chances.

Kind of funny that our lack of squad depth is so dire that most people here now rate Piper. I love the kid and he is the best we've got for the position. You can also see he leaves everything out there. But, he isn't ALeague level yet - and we've got him starting right now.

Would be awesome if he develops a brilliant first touch but keeps that enthusiasm. Definitely no where near the level we need though.

Our imports are shark.

That is all.

anaveragestem

Kind of funny that our lack of squad depth is so dire that most people here now rate Piper. I love the kid and he is the best we've got for the position. You can also see he leaves everything out there. But, he isn't ALeague level yet - and we've got him starting right now.

Would be awesome if he develops a brilliant first touch but keeps that enthusiasm. Definitely no where near the level we need though.

Our imports are shark.

That is all.

You're 100% right, but it's nice to see someone who actually puts his body on the line and..*tries*

Bananas

Albie did great.  He wasn't forced to do much work but when he had to he nailed it.

I was most impressed when he was out of his box and a Sydney player was racing for the ball.  Less confident keepers have found themselves stuck in the middle, not making a decision and get caught out.  He committed and got the ball out of there. 

 Takes balls of steel to nail that moment.

Also had a moment where he should've dived and smothered the ball/took the guy out but kicked it and almost ended up in the back of our net..

But for his debut, he did well. I don't think he was much better than Josh, but he played balls through the lines a little better

Has Spelling Ref commented on the Tifo? or did the apostrophe fall off?

Happy to get a point tonight. Our performance was much improved compared to recent games.

AKH looked very confident in playing out from the back (something we've been missing this season) and had a great game overall - although at one point he should've dived on the ball instead of kicking it into an oncoming attacker as that could've easily deflected into the back of the net! - All good learning experiences though

valeo

Bananas

Albie did great.  He wasn't forced to do much work but when he had to he nailed it.

I was most impressed when he was out of his box and a Sydney player was racing for the ball.  Less confident keepers have found themselves stuck in the middle, not making a decision and get caught out.  He committed and got the ball out of there. 

 Takes balls of steel to nail that moment.

Also had a moment where he should've dived and smothered the ball/took the guy out but kicked it and almost ended up in the back of our net..

But for his debut, he did well. I don't think he was much better than Josh, but he played balls through the lines a little better

Ha, very fair.

0-0 - most of us would have taken that on Tuesday.
Thought we played better than we have for most of the season, for big parts we actually looked like we knew what we were trying to do. We are too easy to defend though, opposition's know Kosta is our only real goal threat.
Great to see Alby get his chance, h did well and managed his goal well, no calamatous errors. If he gets another chance Josh will need to start worrying about his #1 status.
Piper had another solid performance at wing, when he dropped back to RB he looked less effective but still caused problems. Somehting aboout nhis size clearly puts defenders off engnaging with him too often.

Ref did ok, 1st half he kept everyone honest. @nd half got a little bit hairy but Syndey players were all over him. Please to finally see a yellow card for simulation - Hughes would have had his heart in his mouth waiting on VAR to add to his error count - we all could see Sydney #9 had taken a dive.

Finally, it was great to see Bally given a stupendous send off by the fever! Great effort which he clearly appreciated, class act coming to join in the fun during the game! I actually think he is genuine when he says we are his fave fan group.

Onward we press to Chch for CCM who we are equal on points with.

valeo

Just like the 2nd half last week, a lot of heart without much quality.

We have the manager to take us where we need to go, we just need the players. Some more atrocious luck with Sutton and Sheridan getting injured.

Retre, for the first time, showed personality on the pitch and looked like he gave a shark. Quality not always there, but that was BY FAR his best game in a Nix shirt. He needs to show that level of commitment every week.

Also, Piper, I've been hard on him but I see what he is now - he's a young Payne. Not technically good but throws his body around and runs all game.

Also, Sutton and LKH down the left look like a good duo and actually had combinations. LKH is _not_ a LB, and gets absolute roasted there, but slightly further forward I thought he worked really well.

If Ishige and Nagasawa were at the level we expected, I think we win this game honestly.

Ageed about Retre, was great to finally see some of the quality that he must have showed at Sydney to win a couple of championships.

For a tall guy LKH has some silky footwork. Piper is as raw as hell, but without Rufer we really don't have any 'muscle' on the pitch and someone who puts their body around. I like that.

Also re Ishige and Nagasawa, I think they are are at the level where they are technically very good players (more than good enough for the league) but are struggling very hard with the level of physicality. Are either of them on 2 year deals? A off season of strength training should help a lot with their effectiveness. 

Well Alby has answered the old question, that’s for sure.

If Piper could keep the ball within 5m on his first touch he'll be lethal.  Sort of. Kept Sydney honest with his physicality - I think there were at least a couple of pay back tackles from him and that kept Sydney in check and maybe helped out our Japanese imports a bit. And he was an aerial outlet for AKH. Strong under the ball with a good jump and fairly well directed header. And he is definitely one of the guyscwho is naturally fearless and trying to get forward.

Al Taay buzzes about more defensively than creatively. But keeps up a work rate.

Sheridan still playing fairly tentatively.  But disciplined and sound enough. Once he gets past you guys booing him and rebuilds some confidence he'll hopefully get better again and progress from there.

AKH - agree with other comments. Let's see a few games from him before we're sure.

Sutton. Really adds some drive.  Strikes me as maybe our next Rufer. The guy who never leaves but keeps getting better.  Touch wood with the injury. And hopefully Payne is close too. 

LKH worries me with his seeming lack of pace and a tendency to get himself into trouble, but he gets out of most of it and his link play can be sweet when it comes off.

Retre, especially, Ishige and Nagasawa have all stepped up the last two and a half games. They aren't world beaters but they are now playing more like they give a damn and the japanese are adjusting to the A League physicality. I agree that at least to some extent, Nagasawa isn't getting the movement he is wanting to make the passes he's seeing, but others aren't. Hopefully that starts clicking.

Kosta never stops running.  Always a nuisance and a threat when he can be.

Hughes hasn't yet stopped making a scary moment every game but is looking strong. And good to see him being a nuisance in the other box.  Wooten calm and solid with him. Hughes and Piper between them giving us the no stepping back Siggie touch to our game.

We were a lot more fun to watch. Still struggled to create a huge amount but we're a threat. And back to being very hard to break down with no blunders at last.  Though a couple of near things.

Gorgeous send off for Ball. Terrific to see him grinning in there with the Fever guys and gals.  Would have made up for a lot, for him, and he deserved it.  

We're back. Still a bit rough around the edges. Not where we'd like to be on the table. But heads up, effort and intensity, organized and not stepping back. Solid effort with a squad missing Rojas, Rufer, Payne, Cola and a half of Sutton.  And more positive, mostly, when we had a chance to get forward.  We're limited, but that was an entertaining game in which we gave ourselves a chance. Happy to see the fight. We've got a lot of young guys playing who aren't quite there yet but show some potential and ticker. Missing players, and imports that aren't exactly setting us up for great things but at least look now like it means something to them and the combos are improving without players that would have been there.

Just thoughts. I was happy and entertained. Good to see some progress and a potentially dire year turned around to more like a tough one with some signs of life and character. 

Rufer is outstanding at this level and has been especially since his ACL. Could play at a much higher level. His absence has more than amply demonstrated his worth. The ‘Rufer out’ brigade who were extremely vocal esp on FB look now as ill-informed as they always were.

All the best Alex if you read this stuff.

martinb

There’s some unfair criticism on Nagasawa too. He’s not Rufer. 

He made several good interceptions down the stretch. 

And again listen to Ifill - he saw Nagasawa looking for a variety of runs not being made by inexperienced wide players. If we don’t have a settled team, for whatever reason, it’s harder to get that cohesion. Once we get a settled team that’ll take time. 

The reason the defense looks miles better is they’ve all played together at ressies and last year. The midfield and forward line are currently getting introduced before each game. 

And Nagasawa was far from the only one hitting passes to offside players or players that didn’t make the run. 

Why is Rufer and Kosta such a good combination? 3 years playing together. Familiarity. 

And if Nagasawa were bossing this game and 5 years younger he’d never sign a contract for the Phoenix. He’d be in Europe or J1. We’re lucky to have Rufer.

What I can’t understand is why Al-Taay hasn’t played more minutes for us. 

Good to see us getting our head up to look downfield!

lineup (83).png 139.16 KB

Don't think we'll see this lineup till towards the end of the season and maybe never given Rojas injury record. But it's interesting to look at what this squad could field as the strongest lineup and how that'd affect some of the players.
Especially the Japanese imports with the return of Rufer, hopefully a decent import 10, and Rojas there'd be a lot more creativity and experience in the side so then maybe you'd see a lot better output from them.

Rufer could be out for the rest of the season depending on how the glandular fever goes. I wouldnt expect to see Rojas any time soon - especially not starting, he is at best a bench option when he returns in 13 weeks. If we do get the import #10 to replace Ball, they'll take at least 2-3 weeks to get up to speed and even then we'll be relying on Piper, Walker or LBS at RW.

This was Jake Hollman's experience with glandular fever for context: 
canberratimes.com.au/story/8089768/hollman-weathers-setbacks-to-thrive-for-macarthur/
macarthurfc.com.au/videos/id/lost-7kgs-while-bedridden-for-months-jake-hollman/6321015227112/

From what I can see he was out for five weeks.

Does anyone know why when the pen was overturned the Sydney player didn't get a yellow for simulation?  He was rolling around on the ground like he had taken studs to the spine.

Bananas

Does anyone know why when the pen was overturned the Sydney player didn't get a yellow for simulation?  He was rolling around on the ground like he had taken studs to the spine.

At least that Sena guy was booked when he tried to achieve the same outcome a little later.

Feverish

Good to see us getting our head up to look downfield!

Yep but still not often enough missed a 2/3 of really good chances to promote it forward but instead the sideways/backwards option was taken.

Bananas

Does anyone know why when the pen was overturned the Sydney player didn't get a yellow for simulation?  He was rolling around on the ground like he had taken studs to the spine.

 Simulation is when then isn't any contact. There was contact, but Hughes made a tackle in the process.