WPM R17 @ Western Sydney Wanderers | Fri 13th Feb | 9:35pm | Sky Sport Select

LT01

Fact of the day is that this is our 10th consecutive match where we got a different result than the previous match!

Forget back-to-back wins, we can't string together back-to-back draws or back-to-back losses either lol.

We are so inconsistent that inconsistency is the only consistency in our form.

Anyway this now means we won't draw against Auckland, gonna be a win or a loss. Take a guess....

I'll take a win please 🙏 

I would have liked to see us drop another player into mid field to try to control the game. Almost from kick off it was clear our set up wasn’t working, which put a lot of pressure on defence and meant almost nothing created on attack. 

Maybe we didn't create much but around the period before AKH's blunder I thought we were going okay. Just a real rusty, lack lustre feel. One moment late first half where Singh couldn't find I think Nagasawa who was open in the box, screaming out as a classic 'we haven't played together before' piece.

The HT stats, possession, passes, shots etc etc were pretty similar. AKH's giveaway for the 2nd goal, made it all seem worse.

Fair play to Chiefy dragging off Payne & Kartum at HT. Unless Timmy P has a niggle that's a slap in face for him, with Sheridan staying on. 

Apart from that impressive goal on debut against the Jets, Kartum hasn't done much. Singh also struggled. There is aerobic fitness and there is match fitness/sharpness.

But credit to the side how they fought back in that 2nd half. 
Najjarine was an improvement on Sander K, and Piper added some real attitude. Occasion was sort of made for him to come on and chase everything. 
The team with the most set piece goals this season (Nix) against the side the worst at defending dead ball situations.

Sorry, i have tried being positive all season but that first 65 mins was some of the worse football I have ever seen on my life. We were abjectly poor. It was like picking 11 strangers and putting them on the field. 
Ok we bring on Piper and we huff and puff for 15mins, bundle in a couple of set piece goals and then revert to nothingness for the rest of the game.
WSW are terrible....bottom of the table for a reason but we made them look like Barcelona.
Our setup was wrong, our tactics were wrong, our selection was w

Our tactics were wrong, our setup was wrong and our selections were wrong. Plus lots of our players look confused/unmotivated/unfit.
We are rapidly heading towards the same season ending as last year...
Im sick of this shiite.
 Most clubs in the world would have sacked the coach and tried for an end of season bounce. Be very afraid for next weekend

Yep, Payne’s deserved that as much as James did. 

He had a great 20 minutes back from injury. But he’s since been quite listless otherwise and not leading like you’d expect from one of the senior local players. Has he been injured? 

I’m still waiting for us to go at teams the way we did earlier in the season. 
We did for 15 minutes. But with some VAR work etc lost that roll. But it’s up to us to get it going again and roll the f- over the top of these teams. 

It’s probably a bad thing we got a point in the end as it papers over the cracks. If you’re in a 5/10 job or relationship it’s worse than being in a 1/10 job/relationship as it’s not quite bad enough to motivate you for change. It’s much the same with the phoenix nowadays. We’re bad but not completely terrible which makes me think we’ll continue in mediocrity with no major changes.

That said, when Auckland pummel us next week a few more people should take notice. 

Looking at how poorly we played last night we don't belong in the top 6. The draw flattered us, we produced literally nothing all game. It would require a massive change in form now but this late into the season I can't see it happening. Unless Singh starts firing quickly and a couple others start improving but we've been saying/living in hope all season. For me it comes down to Chiefs style, whatever his philosophy is it ain't working out.

Surprised he played Singh for that long. Pressured by NZF perhaps? 

You do realise that the Jets have now won more games in a row than in their entire history right?

If the Nix go on a seven game winning run I think we will say it is extraordinary

martinb

Still…

Are You Not Entertained? 

Unbelievably we could still be just 3 points behind the 6 depending on other results at the end of the round. And with the topsy turvy nature of the league if we can string together some consistent wins, well it didn’t take the Jets much to shoot up. 

Good to see Bill on the scoresheet and Eze to onto 8 goals. The lad has a very impressive highlight package from this season. Find ‘im, son! Piper too played some good stuff.

Attedance 4400

Jets 7 wins in a row is an A League record. They are on fire so to speak. They don't f--k around with it at the back across the field and back to the keeper. They even pass to each other, not to the opposition that we were so very guilty of last night. Those are things out of Chiefy's control. When player's don't get the basics correct.

I just dont get how in recent games the PLAYERS can play as if they only just meet and cant make passes are slow and just play like shark.
Then at some stage in most recent games its like someone flicks a switch and they play faster with a shark load more intent and actually look okay then they fall back into that hole again. 
As a Phoenix tragic if it wasnt for the woman i think i would be done just dont see why we fans continue to show passion when the coach and the team play at times like they dont give a shark. Congratulations guys on killing 18 years of optimism.

I thought we were pretty rubbish. Except we drew.  We're throwing away games we look like winning. Snatch draws in games in which we have looked abjectly unfamiliar with each other.

Chief chops and changes. The players must barely know who they are supposed to be, let alone what planet their team mates are from, or what structure they are playing in.

Some of that is due to the early injuries. Some of that is serially reintroducing injured players. And integrating new signings late in the season. 

We can hope it all comes right, given we still score goals and would be up the table with just a few less obvious blunders. You'd think there is more to come if we find the right combos and start to gel and the dumb stuff reduces.

But the biggest issue is midfield. We've not been able to settle on a combination there. Sander and Singh are not nuggety workhorses, Retre and Mileusnic more so, but we're chopping and changing them and not finding what works. Chemistry and confidence isn't there. Nagasawa has his physicality limitations and Rufer is solid but not great retreating against quick transitioning sides. But mostly we've struggled to get a consistent starting side.

We're a mass of mixture.  Nothing is quite falling into place.  There is more in this team but we're not consistently getting it on the park nor familiar enough with each other.  Ridiculous to say this late in the season. But a lot is due to the injuries and Chief having to make do. Now it's all the new and returning players. 

Touch wood they find it soon. A surprise vs AFC or Sydney and we are back in the hunt. But they'll need to be better and find some confidence and cohesion.

LG

Jets 7 wins in a row is an A League record. They are on fire so to speak. They don't f--k around with it at the back across the field and back to the keeper. They even pass to each other, not to the opposition that we were so very guilty of last night. Those are things out of Chiefy's control. When player's don't get the basics correct.

10 is the AL record by wsw in their first season 

LG

Jets 7 wins in a row is an A League record. They are on fire so to speak. They don't f--k around with it at the back across the field and back to the keeper. They even pass to each other, not to the opposition that we were so very guilty of last night. Those are things out of Chiefy's control. When player's don't get the basics correct.

Yet somehow according to some those things are still Chiefs fault. No im not defending him that ship has sailed just saying way past time the players got some of the shark thats being dished out.

Our lack of a midfield last night was the biggest issue. No intent defensively for 60 mins meant WSW had it too easy.

Almost as bad was how stagnant our team was in possession. The amount of times Tuiloma literally stopped with the ball at his feet because no one was offering anything was shocking.

I don't like Chief... but they players need to at least work hard for the fans if not the coach. 

Payne has been dreadful since back. His lack of effort in tracking back a stand out example of someone who is not there for the team.

Have we reached bottom with AL referees? Because Kersey was about as bad as it gets.
I just knew he wouldnt give us a that penalty. Then the yellow for Eze for limping too slowly was just stupid beyond belief.
Can the Nix appeal a yellow card?

the season's nearly over and we literally have no attacking shape and no clear plan.

it's difficult for players to perform in a non-functional team. it's difficult for new players, particularly those who play in front of the ball, to settle.

however, the players at some point have to take some responsibility and simply make things work. 

rua_taniwha

I would have liked to see us drop another player into mid field to try to control the game. Almost from kick off it was clear our set up wasn’t working, which put a lot of pressure on defence and meant almost nothing created on attack. 

That was my thought as well. Rufer was winning the ball well, as usual, but then being forced to make a 50/50 pass which most of the time was intercepted. Nagasawa was often too far away but was attempting to cover all the ground between Rufer and the front three. Singh or Kartum should have been dropped back very close to Rufer to get that second ball and deal with the distribution rather than leaving it up to our ball winner. I don't know why Singh and Kartum were so high and wide when we have attacking wing backs - I guess becuase Chiefy (rightly, fairly) sees them both as able to utilise space effectively but only if the get the damn ball which they didn't. It was an odd night. 

Yep Kersey was shockingly bad last night.
but so were we for the first 45! Slow, appeared really unmotivated. I guess thats why Payne was removed at half time and replace with James.
Sander was unusually quiet, but I thought WSW defence looked after him well, Naijarine was the right call.
Overall it was great for us to come back and level it up, we should have won!
Their first goal was a peach, but their wing (Fraser) was left wide open by Payne all half, and when he'd been beaten he just jogged back to position, like last week!
Second goal was an epic fail by AKH, hopefully he learns rfo that but we need Josh back asap!!
Our comeback goals were brilliant and we deserved both, great set pieces and chalenging the whole way, I was worried VAR woud screw us for the second but Eze was clerly onside.
leading the stats for set piece goals, and golden boot leader.
The non-pen for mine was a massive call and we responded well, but how a trailing leg cannot be called a foul is beyond me, sure Sheridan wasnt in full control of the ball but the defender impeded his chance to even try!! just horrible to not call it onfield and then when VAR has spent ages looking at it to then stick to your guns! Kersey shouldbe stood down.

Concerns is how we start games at the moment, and now Singh's potential knee injury (ACL/MCL). 100% believe it was the wrong call to start him and play him against fresh defenses. He hasnt played since december, hasnt played on firm hard grounds like those in Aus for 6 years. If he manages to front next week we will be lucky.

The draw helped us more than WSW, ignoring AKH's error we win 2-1, but he's a young keeper and moistakes happen.
9 games to go, we need to get some wins on the board.

i love eze, but i think he is antagonising. 

let's not pretend he was simply stretcing out an injury, he chose his walk off path, directly in front of a player waiting to throw in, and lingered for a stupidly long period of time. he opened up the possibility of a booking, and was booked. he can have no complaints.

you look at reasons why players don't really make it, and i think this is one of his. 

Because it's the Coach's job to motivate them.  If he is unable to motivate them he is not a coach.  He should also be aware who is not pulling it.  This is what he should be assessing during training sessions and in dressing room.

number8

Not a great watch. But I'm proud of myself, I suffered through this without beer.
Was this a must win? I think this was a must win.

It was a must win.  I am of the opinion that EVERY game is a must win.  I said earlier in the season that we would be contesting for the wooden spoon.  I rest my case

Boomstick

Because it's the Coach's job to motivate them.  If he is unable to motivate them he is not a coach.  He should also be aware who is not pulling it.  This is what he should be assessing during training sessions and in dressing room.

Agree to a point but at some stage the players MUST take pride in the way they are playing. Way to easy to just put it all on the coach its not him who isnt hitting a team mate with a pass or tracking back and making a tackle or just passing aimlessly sideways backwards and to the opposition. 

Just a coach who's out of his depth. A good bunch of players who've had the confidence sucked out of them, and no way should this squad be bottom of the table. That's where they'll be after next week. We'll get hammered.    

I don't necessarily think Chiefy has done a great job but was this squad really that great prior to the 3 January additions? 

Unless we cannot afford a better coach, not sure how one can argue for Italiano staying on.  Nobody would expect that one very good season followed by a spectacularly bad season, followed by a disappointingly poor season, is a great argument for coach retention.

reg22

i love eze, but i think he is antagonising. 

let's not pretend he was simply stretcing out an injury, he chose his walk off path, directly in front of a player waiting to throw in, and lingered for a stupidly long period of time. he opened up the possibility of a booking, and was booked. he can have no complaints.

you look at reasons why players don't really make it, and i think this is one of his. 

I mean he had a defender hanging off his arm all night, and Kersey being an a grade mean girl, ignoring fouling in the box to boot. 

I don’t think he’s had to put up with that kind of crap anywhere in his career. 

martinb

reg22

i love eze, but i think he is antagonising. 

let's not pretend he was simply stretcing out an injury, he chose his walk off path, directly in front of a player waiting to throw in, and lingered for a stupidly long period of time. he opened up the possibility of a booking, and was booked. he can have no complaints.

you look at reasons why players don't really make it, and i think this is one of his. 

I mean he had a defender hanging off his arm all night, and Kersey being an a grade mean girl, ignoring fouling in the box to boot. 

I don’t think he’s had to put up with that kind of crap anywhere in his career. 

Well sure. So he's got some excuse to be stupid and ask for a card. But he was stupid and asked for a card. That's putting it a bit harshly. And I agree with your point. But there is reality to deal with. He got a card.

It's not just Kersey. The league is physical and top players have always lived with heavy marking by defenders who get away with everything they can and arguably more than they should.  Zawada had a few things to say about that. So it is nothing new. 

We tend to select smaller players and younger less physically developed players and then complain that the refs let us be physically dominated. Zawada learned to deal with it and was pretty good at saying what he could post match to put pressure on the refs going forward. And he was pretty good at dishing it as well to deter defenders from thinking they could get away with murder. 

Eze falling over and complaining isn't the Aussie way. And for better or worse it's an Aussie league. 

Didn't watch the game thanks to Youtube not showing the link and then when it did finally pop up I decided sleep would be a better choice instead.

Reading through this thread I summaise that Singh isn't going to save our season. We need a better keeper. Payne and Rufer shouldn't be going to the World Cup. Perhaps Bazeley needs to tell them they are in danger of missing out unless he sees improvements.  There are maybe a handful of players who actually give a crap and fight for the shirt - Hughes, Corban, Eze and not sure who else.  

We aren't getting any further from the spoon. 

We can string back to back losses, two of them in fact.

DRAW Away v Perth 2-2
WIN Home v Brisbane 2-1
DRAW Away v CCM 1-1
LOSS Home v Auckland 1-2
LOSS Home v Macarthur 0-1
WIN Home v Adelaide 2-1
LOSS Away v Auckland 3-1
LOSS Home v Jets 1-3
WIN Home v CCM 3-1
LOSS Away v Victory 5-1
WIN Away v Brisbane 0-3
DRAW Home v Adelaide 2-2
WIN Away v Sydney 0-2
LOSS Away v Jets 4-1
DRAW Home v Melbourne City 2-2
LOSS Home v Melbourne Victory 2-3
DRAW Away v WSW 2-2

LT01

Fact of the day is that this is our 10th consecutive match where we got a different result than the previous match!

Forget back-to-back wins, we can't string together back-to-back draws or back-to-back losses either lol.

We are so inconsistent that inconsistency is the only consistency in our form.

Anyway this now means we won't draw against Auckland, gonna be a win or a loss. Take a guess....

Mainland FC

Unless we cannot afford a better coach, not sure how one can argue for Italiano staying on.  Nobody would expect that one very good season followed by a spectacularly bad season, followed by a disappointingly poor season, is a great argument for coach retention.

Dont think i have seen anyone recently argue he should stay on.

Procrastinixing

Didn't watch the game thanks to Youtube not showing the link and then when it did finally pop up I decided sleep would be a better choice instead.

Reading through this thread I summaise that Singh isn't going to save our season. We need a better keeper. Payne and Rufer shouldn't be going to the World Cup. Perhaps Bazeley needs to tell them they are in danger of missing out unless he sees improvements.  There are maybe a handful of players who actually give a crap and fight for the shirt - Hughes, Corban, Eze and not sure who else.  

We aren't getting any further from the spoon. 

Fair summary 

rua_taniwha

I would have liked to see us drop another player into mid field to try to control the game. Almost from kick off it was clear our set up wasn’t working, which put a lot of pressure on defence and meant almost nothing created on attack. 

Agree this 352 is not working- payne is leaving huge holes not been covered and hes not offering enough forward. 

Ramall next week will lobe that space. 

Need to move to 4 at the back and allow Armiento to donwjat he does best further forward. 

Id drop Payne- if you looked at the game tonight and someone said we had 4 players off to a WC in our starting 11 youd tjink they were bat shark crazy. 

Rufer was voted runner up MOM, Payne was dragged at half time.

Ironically despite been by far the worst of the two Payne is the most likely to be picked.

That been said both will go. Yes they have limitations, but they are better than the alternatives.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/02/14/phoenix-coach-giancarlo-italiano-questions-crucial-decision-that-denied-penalty/

Head coach Giancarlo Italiano has questioned the decision that denied his Wellington Phoenix side a penalty in their 2-2 draw against Western Sydney Wanderers.

Matthew Sheridan went down in the Wanderers area after an attempted tackle by Jacob Farrell.

Referee Adam Kersey initially waved the Phoenix’s penalty claims away but the VAR then intervened and advised him to take another look.

After watching countless replays, Kersey deemed that Sheridan was not fouled.

“The fourth [official] said there was no contact, so then they’re reviewing the process so there is contact, but then they said there wasn’t a foul or intention,” Italiano told media after the men’s A-League match.

“I’m not really sure what was seen or said, and that’s the frustrating part.

“If there’s no contact, then obviously VAR doesn’t review, but they must have seen contact. And then for me, if there’s contact, then it’s a foul.

“Matthew doesn’t play the referee or look for fouls. He’s the most honest player that you can coach, so the fact that he went down, I know there must have been some sort of contact.”

Despite the controversial call by Kersey, the Phoenix came down from a two-goal deficit to share the points at CommBank Stadium in Sydney, thanks to a maiden A-League goal from All Whites defender Bill Tuiloma and an eighth of the season from Golden Boot co-leader Ifeanyi Eze.

Italiano was happy with the team’s “bounce back” in the second half.

“I’m not sure how many teams are coming back from 2-nil down away from home and they’re (Wanderers) are playing for their season.

“We made some changes at halftime…and I thought the players that came on gave us the difference.

Rufer gve rhe ball away 6 times inside the first half. Twice inside the first 9 minutes. Square balls acorss the park. Not a dig at him but as a senior player he amd Payne (3 times inside first 10) need to be better

Much better  second  half but that first half was a shocker in terms of ball retention, ball speed and none of of front 3 received the ball facing forward.

Eze had another  blinder- how we wins possesion and retains it in those situations is beyond me. Legemd

MetalLegNZ

Rufer was voted runner up MOM, Payne was dragged at half time.

Ironically despite been by far the worst of the two Payne is the most likely to be picked.

That been said both will go. Yes they have limitations, but they are better than the alternatives.

And the way he presses causes defenders to crap themselves chasing a ball behind or simply having the ball…

austin111

Have we reached bottom with AL referees? Because Kersey was about as bad as it gets.
I just knew he wouldnt give us a that penalty. Then the yellow for Eze for limping too slowly was just stupid beyond belief.
Can the Nix appeal a yellow card?

I hate hating on referees because it's a tough gig but yeah, he's an unusual one