WPM R5 v Sydney FC | Sun 19th Dec | 8:45pm | SS7

We’re still in this. 
Definitely. 
Lewis has had a couple of nice touches and we’ve had some nice periods of possession. 
Just need a couple of guys to stand up- maybe Waine, Piscopo, Lewis, Old?
Sotirio still got his confidence up and has had a sighter. 
 Come On Phoenix!

Well, I'm  amazed it's  only 1-0. It feels like we are just going through the motions. Once again we are losing the ball in midfield.

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

Centre of defence is a mess, and both Fenton and Sutton are being caught out time and again. I'll be surprised if we keep Sydney under four

Oi, Oi Oi!
I hope they prove you wrong in the second. 😳
COYN!

We have been pants.

Poor passing and nothing in the middle of the park defensively. How can Sydney have so much space and time in our half with all our players parked in there?

Two weeks in a row where we have looked like amateurs! 

Fault for the goal might mainly lie on Lewis. Barely made an effort tracking back, leaving Payne to guard two otherwise open players at once

No one in our 11 looking the good, Payne lucky not to cost us with some sloppy touches, Sutton afraid to hit a forward pass... Ball and Waine missing in action. 

Piscopo non existant.

Can't find a positive anywhere!

We're only down by 1,this thing is definitely winnable.  

Ufuk must be giving them a right serve... he said we'd never see them play like they did last week again.

Umm, you watching Ufuk?!

Happy with Paulson. He is a bit on the short side but did well with shots that were aimed directly at him.
Judging by his epic hair style, I fully expect him to perform a scorpion kick anytime soon.

It's that sort of mess that Sotirio just made of possession that's costing us. Pull finger boys.

siac

Rufer doesn't have the energy/presence a captain needs. Not trying to scapegoat, as most of them have been rubbish... but how can you make this guy captain. He's a serviceable squad member, but not a leader/captain.

Perhaps one of the bigger mistakes UT has made as manager. Now we have to live with it. Not that this team would function any better if someone else was captain 

MetalLegNZ

No one in our 11 looking the good, Payne lucky not to cost us with some sloppy touches, Sutton afraid to hit a forward pass... Ball and Waine missing in action. 

Piscopo non existant.

Can't find a positive anywhere!

Actually Sutton does pass the ball forward OK and seems to have realised by now that unless he plays at Piscopo's feet he won't chase it. Sutton's passes to David Ball were received and controlled.

Outpost

It's that sort of mess that Sotirio just made of possession that's costing us. Pull finger boys.

That’s just Sotirio right? The simple errors and some sublime athleticism and skill.

3 weeks likely for Sail, who is our number 3 keeper?

piss poor Sutton

Do we have a central defence? 

InsulinMachine

siac

Rufer doesn't have the energy/presence a captain needs. Not trying to scapegoat, as most of them have been rubbish... but how can you make this guy captain. He's a serviceable squad member, but not a leader/captain.

Perhaps one of the bigger mistakes UT has made as manager. Now we have to live with it. Not that this team would function any better if someone else was captain 

I would agree, we simply do not have enough experience in the central defence and midfield to control the games, and that is where a captain should be. While the Mexican on loan may help a bit with our attack, I still think that the loss of Taylor and Davila (less so Hemed) is the reason for the dispirited passivity that we are seeing on the pitch, tonight and last weekend.  
Consider that the Jets were bossing us last weekend, but lost today against a very determined Macarthur who played with 10 men most of the game.  It is the "bossing" bit that we are missing by the simple fact that apart from Ball, all our older players are relatively inexperienced at a high level (high as in higher than A League).

Complete lack of understanding between the two defenders to leave that free wide man.

Sutton should have done better than that! 

I didn't think we would good one goal, but we defo won't be getting to. Oh well at least I won't be tired tomorrow going to bed now. 

Basic defending is all we expect. We can’t even do that. 

Can we play a drinking game where every time Rufer has a 'heavy touch' we drink? I feel like getting drunk.

Rufer is dogsh!t. Shouldn’t be in the starting 11 let alone captain.

nufc_nz

Basic defending is all we expect. We can’t even do that. 

 That was Old/Christie/O'Dor levels of defending

aitkenmike

nufc_nz

Basic defending is all we expect. We can’t even do that. 

 That was Old/Christie/O'Dor levels of defending

Ah memories!

Rufer off. Thank fudge.

Uggh. I've been trying to keep positive through the first few games of this season so far, but already I am really struggling. 

Leaking goals like a sieve and offering nothing up top. It's really a grind of a watch. Time to change up the 4-2-2-2 and get a bit more inventive with the tactics and the setup perhaps? Teams seem to have worked us out, and when the quality isn't there in terms of the personnel, we're always going to be pushing shark up hill...

Time for Pennington to show his mettle. 25 minutes to do it.

We're the sort of team that could play another 2 hours and not score. That basically tells you everything you need to know. Weak defense, midfield and attack. It'll take much more than one new signing to turn things around.

I would struggle to name a single player in the last 2 matches (excluding the FFA cup) who has had a good game... that's depressing stuff.

We bring on a couple of youngsters, they bring on Ninkovic, Bobo and Grant! Bit of a gulf in quality there.

I’m trying to think which of the kiwi Phoenix players would make any of the other A league starting XI, I don’t think any would. Payne, Lewis and Rufer might make the wider squad.

We look like a national league side with a couple of foreign pros.

But I do like our new keeper!.

Common, one goal at least

Another season where we struggle to bloody finish opportunities

Alex Wilkenson, capt material - never shuts up leads their team. When does Rufer ever say or do anything that looks like leadership - when we come onto the field?

So Rufer, the captain, is awful; vice captain (Sail) is injured for a few weeks... I'd drop Rufer for Pennington and make Ball or Payne captain. Payne has been shark this season too, but at least he will yell at some guys not pulling their weight and show some passion.

Remember us having some possession with Rufer out there. Seem to have had 8 minutes of Sydney since he went off.