WPM R19 vs Newcastle Jets | Fri 18th March | 9:45pm | SS7

That's nine goals in three games we've shipped against the Jets now. So far!

oh good lord, just what we need, Payne injured?

What was the whistle for? Elliot? Looked like a great challenge from Payne.

Pathetic.

Wait they had Yuel and Babalj on the bench? Geez.

The Jets have had a huge impact on our goal difference woes on the ladder this season. 

nufc_nz

Pathetic.

well it is our subs against their best team. 
with 8 players out you had to have been prepared for a result like this.

Ughh. Given up the ghost this half. 

theprof

nufc_nz

Pathetic.

well it is our subs against their best team. 
with 8 players out you had to have been prepared for a result like this.

I was expecting maybe 3-1. This is a second half massacre that may very well scuttle our playoff chances.

Thought it would be a game where Hoops and Sandoval would stand up and show their class.

Just shows how important that kiwi foundation of te team is.

Bananas

Thought it would be a game where Hoops and Sandoval would stand up and show their class.

Just shows how important that kiwi foundation of te team is.

Been especially disappointed with Sandoval tonight. Have lost count of the number of poor passes and failure to simply trap, control and protect the football. Sure you can't be 100% every time but you expect much better from your imports.

Re-group and go again.

Horror show, which emphasizes why those players weren’t starting. On the flipside, it’s easy for one player to come into a settled team, but hard to judge a team that is basically all changed and players like Payne and Sotirio aren’t at their sharpest. 

Oh well we had it coming! Jets smashed us off the park and we looked like headless chickens most of the game.
Don't be surprised if we are wooden spooners come next month

I fail to understand why Uffie continues to play McGarry at FB.  He is clearly a winger.  We would have been a lot better before the colapse had we had played him on the wing and Suts at LB.

I mean Babalj who scored their 4th is a sometime Socceroo with a fair amount of experience overseas. We finished with half of last year’s second team on the park and with 3-4 exceptions had a team 22 or under. 

Marto

I fail to understand why Uffie continues to play McGarry at FB.  He is clearly a winger.  We would have been a lot better before the colapse had we had played him on the wing and Suts at LB.

Think he was thinking Suts was more likely to win us the game further forward and that was definitely arguable at the start of the second half.

martinb

Re-group and go again.

Horror show, which emphasizes why those players weren’t starting. On the flipside, it’s easy for one player to come into a settled team, but hard to judge a team that is basically all changed and players like Payne and Sotirio aren’t at their sharpest. 

Agreed. It's not just the number and lower quality of replacements but the impossibility of effectively reorganising a whole formation. During that hot run we had a starting lineup that operated like clockwork and the fact is we are probably not going to see that again this season.

While Pennington came in for personal criticism from Uffie tonight, I think the only other player I recall getting that is Rufer, so take it in that context. I’ve heard a number of times that you should be worried when the gaffer never talks about what you are doing, not when he is critical of an aspect of your play.

I think it's clear Uffie doesn't trust Pennington as a player and I can see why. I don't really know what he's supposed to bring. He's below average in almost every department.

Tough loss today but onto the next game.

One thing that has really been annoying is Hooper walking in the pitch most of the time. I mean yeah the dude is/was a goal scoring machine, but at least press onto those second balls. With Sotirio out, I really hope Uffie goes for Ball/Waine up front.

Glad I didn't stay up for  that. Watched the highlights on YT instead. Can't blame the team too much with so many players out. When are the others back? Can't be soon enough. But hell we have no depth whatsoever. And without depth you don't win titles so that's got to change hopefully next season 

InsulinMachine

Glad I didn't stay up for  that. Watched the highlights on YT instead. Can't blame the team too much with so many players out. When are the others back? Can't be soon enough. But hell we have no depth whatsoever. And without depth you don't win titles so that's got to change hopefully next season 

Old, Waine, Lewis, Sail & Ball all back for next game verus Glory (who will be without Fornaroli). Piscopo maybe back from injury.

But then lose Payne to AWs & likely Sotiro with his hammy.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/128069505/depleted-wellington-phoenix-made-to-pay-by-newcastle-jets-in-aleague-men
The big picture
Getting anything out of this match would have been a bonus for the Phoenix, in the circumstances. They’ll be hoping Jaushua Sotirio’s hamstring injury isn’t serious and their All Whites quartet make it back from Qatar in one piece. This Rufer in their first-choice midfield. match didn’t provide a resounding answer to the question of who will replace

Disappointed with Laws / Pennington combo, sure in fairness to them they didn't have enough time to gel, but they failed to screen the back 4 for a few goals conceded last night, may be 3 of them.  Their attackers can turn and shoot at will without any pressure from our DMs was frustrating to watch.

Went to bed thinking we might knick a draw as the first half, whilst we were a bit under Josh, we did create a few chances. Wasn’t overly impressed with Sandoval or hooper last night (from what I saw).  You could tell we were very light. Didn’t expect a 4-0 drubbing but again, they have more squad depth and we were doing a lot of running. Hopefully the team regroup and some of those others return unharmed. Hope this doesn’t dent our play off chances too much

InsulinMachine

Glad I didn't stay up for  that. Watched the highlights on YT instead. Can't blame the team too much with so many players out. When are the others back? Can't be soon enough. But hell we have no depth whatsoever. And without depth you don't win titles so that's got to change hopefully next season 

 
It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario really. A lot of the guys haven’t been playing so they weren’t match sharp, but they’re not as match sharp because they’re not playing at all. Some of that is unavoidable due to injury with Hooper and McGarry, but others just aren’t playing so it’s a lot more difficult to slot in.

For example:
- Fenton’s first start since January 21st
- McGarry’s first minutes since January 5th
- Pennington’s first start since January 29th
- Paulsen’s first since minutes January 29th
- Ott’s first minutes since January 5th
- Elliot’s first minutes since January 5th
-Manuel’s first minutes at all

These guys are coming off two to two-and-a-half month breaks without gametime, that’s basically an entire off-season in Europe. Its no surprise things ran away if the guys out there were basically in pre-season again. It’s the flip side of running a squad as a 13/14/15 man thing, you sacrifice depth for continuity.

Previously they’d be able to play national league to stay fit, but now at best they’ve got intra-squad friendlies, so the young guys aren’t developing as much as they would’ve normally, and those outside the first 11 aren’t seeing meaningful minutes.

carlind

InsulinMachine

Glad I didn't stay up for  that. Watched the highlights on YT instead. Can't blame the team too much with so many players out. When are the others back? Can't be soon enough. But hell we have no depth whatsoever. And without depth you don't win titles so that's got to change hopefully next season 

 
It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario really. A lot of the guys haven’t been playing so they weren’t match sharp, but they’re not as match sharp because they’re not playing at all. Some of that is unavoidable due to injury with Hooper and McGarry, but others just aren’t playing so it’s a lot more difficult to slot in.

For example:
- Fenton’s first start since January 21st
- McGarry’s first minutes since January 5th
- Pennington’s first start since January 29th
- Paulsen’s first since minutes January 29th
- Ott’s first minutes since January 5th
- Elliot’s first minutes since January 5th
-Manuel’s first minutes at all

These guys are coming off two to two-and-a-half month breaks without gametime, that’s basically an entire off-season in Europe. Its no surprise things ran away if the guys out there were basically in pre-season again. It’s the flip side of running a squad as a 13/14/15 man thing, you sacrifice depth for continuity.

Previously they’d be able to play national league to stay fit, but now at best they’ve got intra-squad friendlies, so the young guys aren’t developing as much as they would’ve normally, and those outside the first 11 aren’t seeing meaningful minutes.

The players you mentions, there is no excuse for a poor performance. There professionals and train with the first team day in day out. They either step up or step out. Unfortunately when it came to the 2nd half they stepped out.
Not good enough in my book. 

Poco

carlind

InsulinMachine

Glad I didn't stay up for  that. Watched the highlights on YT instead. Can't blame the team too much with so many players out. When are the others back? Can't be soon enough. But hell we have no depth whatsoever. And without depth you don't win titles so that's got to change hopefully next season 

 
It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario really. A lot of the guys haven’t been playing so they weren’t match sharp, but they’re not as match sharp because they’re not playing at all. Some of that is unavoidable due to injury with Hooper and McGarry, but others just aren’t playing so it’s a lot more difficult to slot in.

For example:
- Fenton’s first start since January 21st
- McGarry’s first minutes since January 5th
- Pennington’s first start since January 29th
- Paulsen’s first since minutes January 29th
- Ott’s first minutes since January 5th
- Elliot’s first minutes since January 5th
-Manuel’s first minutes at all

These guys are coming off two to two-and-a-half month breaks without gametime, that’s basically an entire off-season in Europe. Its no surprise things ran away if the guys out there were basically in pre-season again. It’s the flip side of running a squad as a 13/14/15 man thing, you sacrifice depth for continuity.

Previously they’d be able to play national league to stay fit, but now at best they’ve got intra-squad friendlies, so the young guys aren’t developing as much as they would’ve normally, and those outside the first 11 aren’t seeing meaningful minutes.

The players you mentions, there is no excuse for a poor performance. There professionals and train with the first team day in day out. They either step up or step out. Unfortunately when it came to the 2nd half they stepped out.
Not good enough in my book. 

You’ve written a book?

I hope I'm wrong, but Sandoval seems to have been on a downhill slide for several games now. His passing and general play have been ineffective or even poor. Someone like Sam Sutton is leaving him in the dust.

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

I hope I'm wrong, but Sandoval seems to have been on a downhill slide for several games now. His passing and general play have been ineffective or even poor. Someone like Sam Sutton is leaving him in the dust.

Once Piscopo is back, he'll be back in form

Magnificentman

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

I hope I'm wrong, but Sandoval seems to have been on a downhill slide for several games now. His passing and general play have been ineffective or even poor. Someone like Sam Sutton is leaving him in the dust.

Once Piscopo is back, he'll be back in form

I hope so. Currently I would be perfectly fine if we don't re-sign him. He's had some class moments but they've been far outweighed by average (and at times downright poor) performances. 

Jazzy Jeff

Magnificentman

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

I hope I'm wrong, but Sandoval seems to have been on a downhill slide for several games now. His passing and general play have been ineffective or even poor. Someone like Sam Sutton is leaving him in the dust.

Once Piscopo is back, he'll be back in form

I hope so. Currently I would be perfectly fine if we don't re-sign him. He's had some class moments but they've been far outweighed by average (and at times downright poor) performances. 

Edit: Misread the quoted comments as being about Piscopo. So first 3 sentences below are about Piscopo…

He’s been good with a full settled team around him. Our best at setting a tempo to the game? He’s not Davila, lacking a bit with shooting boots in comparison, but I certainly appreciated him more this year. 
If we could start the season next year with Ball, Sandoval and Piscopo we’ll have more continuity than we’ve had in our creative players from season to season under Uffie. 
If we can replace them, maybe okay, but I’d love a season with a much lengthier run of results and a stronger, more settled squad. We keep Davila, Taylor and Hemed we’d be top 4 and chasing a premiership this season. Perhaps even if we’d had Sandoval and Wootton from the start of the year. 

Wasn't happy with his last game because I felt he needed to really step up but didn't. Then again the formation was a mess and I think we all secretly knew we were riding for a hiding.  3 goals and 2 assists in 9 games is a more than decent return and translates to quite a few points accrued that we wouldn't otherwise have had. 

He's contributed way more than many imports in the league I can think of and it's probably unrealistic to expect he is going to be as crash-hot as the likes of Berenguer/Penha/Davilla (although his form has actually been quite patchy). 

I like that he's not lazy, not a show pony, plays positively and seems to have pride in his shirt. Might not be the leading light I want him to be but as others point out we will see the best of him when he's got the right combination of players to work with.