WPM R8 vs Adelaide United | Sat 17th Dec | 3pm

That was an excellent half of football.

Have the lads been given a bit more of a free licence today? Certainly looking to take on the man a bit more than usual and lots of nice little touches and one-twos that are working a treat on a slick track.

YoungHe.\rt

That was an excellent half of football.

Have the lads been given a bit more of a free licence today? Certainly looking to take on the man a bit more than usual and lots of nice little touches and one-twos that are working a treat on a slick track.

Yeah I was thinking the attack was looking really free flowing and fluid if we can keep that up rest of the seasons we’ll be dangerous! Ball and Sasse stepped up massively that half

Anyone still doubting Sasse? Has had a great game. 

This team is finally starting to gell. And helped by starting the same 11.

Coyn

And with Kosta, Old, Waine to come. 

I think we've just spent the month off doing the hard work to get thte system/plan right.

just have to avoid switching off this half.

Down to 10 men time to go for the throat and pin them in their own half 

couldnt have happened to a nicer bloke! lol

now we need to stay focussed, dropping a man often wakes a team up!

Sutton must’ve done something real bad if he’s not injured and Marguis is keeping him out 

Happy for Sasse been so much better today hopefully that’ll give him a confidence boost 

I was wrong about sasse. He has been a force today.

to be fair Marguis may well have been out performing Sutts in training, he's done a great job this game.

Can't have been many games we've held an opponent to 0 corners and hit double figures ourselves.
Sasse is showing what he can do, lovely couple of touches, great runs and takes the shot which leads to the 3rd goal!

Sail makes a simple save look so difficult, only to be saved by the offside call.

Not impressed by Sail at all this season.

I said it before, Sail lost his mojo. Crazy shark.

Tight offside call there. 

Jeez, we need to keep Adelaide at arm's length here, given their penchant for a late goal against us...

nufc_nz

Not impressed by Sail at all this season.

agreed, I think he has gotten worse since taking the captains arm band.

That would have gone on if the offside player hadn't kicked it. Very very lucky for Sail.

theprof

to be fair Marguis may well have been out performing Sutts in training, he's done a great job this game.

Can't have been many games we've held an opponent to 0 corners and hit double figures ourselves.
Sasse is showing what he can do, lovely couple of touches, great runs and takes the shot which leads to the 3rd goal!

 
 Yeah defensively he’s been solid just on attack he always seems to go back or sideways or start to run forward then stop. 

Pen duties moving over to Zawanda now?

Thanks Yellow Fever for not walking out! Been a great game tbh.

Sasse has been excellent. Never doubted him.

rufer gets a chance to run for a bit, after 9 months away!

Ugarkovich has played exceptionally well today.

Gauci has been superb for Adelaide this afternoon. We could've easily been 5 or 6 to the good. He's certainly kept them in it.

Can't remember the last time we created so many excellent opportunities in front of goal. It's been a bloody good watch. 

Now to finish a goal for Rufer and him to bundle Goodwin into the hoardings. 
Goodwin seems to have impunity to say f- you to the ref.
We can see how other games might have been different if the refs didn’t allow us to be kicked out of attacks early. Good reffing does make a difference. 

what that Adelaide kid got a yellow for, Rufer would have got a red. 

A shame Waine isn't getting bought on earlier. If you value him at higher than 6 figures, play him.

Sooo, would have Sasse scored if he had a decent touch? or would have he scored more?

Nice game! 
We’ve seen Uffie’s top team. Perhaps the club wants to sell the young kiwis? 
Unnecessary yellows from Wooton and Lewis. 
Next please! 

Someone with better knowledge than me: Why wasn't the goal keeper handling the ball outside the box a red?

Great performance, happy. I give all credit to the new sports psychology guy, he fixed obviously the mentality.

Onwards and upwards for Sasse I reckon. Zawada is making a fine impact, great target man play. Well done team, making it a happy Nixmas

Bananas

Someone with better knowledge than me: Why wasn't the goal keeper handling the ball outside the box a red?

he didnt handle it, lifted his hands off the ball as he crossed the line, didnt touch it again with his hands, Ball kicks it, then the defender clears it.

was very clear on the replays.

Bananas

Someone with better knowledge than me: Why wasn't the goal keeper handling the ball outside the box a red?

 Replays showed he didn't handle it outside the box. He released before sliding over the line then didn't touch it again 

theprof

Bananas

Someone with better knowledge than me: Why wasn't the goal keeper handling the ball outside the box a red?

he didnt handle it, lifted his hands off the ball as he crossed the line, didnt touch it again with his hands, Ball kicks it, then the defender clears it.

was very clear on the replays.

 Ah thanks.  I didn't see it on the replays.

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expert analysis from the couch 

Mums know best

He didn't seem to be trying to impress today, just doing the simple things well and showing a few super touches and turns. Sasse could be Super Sasse.

Craig Goodwin is scoring against France for his country and 2 weeks later is in the pouring rain in the Cake Tin getting battered by the Nix 😭😭😭😭😭

— Six Hag 🔴🔰🍀🇭🇷 (@MANUTDSIGNSOME1) December 17, 2022

As much as I hate this game some times, at the end of the day I do love it! 😆 💛

Biggest takeaway for me was we looked in control the majority of the game.

Team seems to be clicking more and hopefully that continues.

Had to get 3 points today - Adelaide very poor defensively and down to 10 men were there for the absolute taking. In saying that the team started game better and looked to combine well at times but I also thought we gave up too many chances when it was 11 v 11. 

Moving forward I think Rufer being around will be disruptive on the pitch, not sure he fits into what we should be looking like. He's just not the right fit. Waine now 4/5 choice striker he needs to hand in transfer request if Plymouth or English sides are still interested....can't believe he didnt do that when those sides came knocking.

All in all 3 points and a decent performance. Time will tell if we can keep it up 

I'd be pretty happy if we were able to take on Mauragis on a proper contract. Think he looked really good today and would make a really good back-up for Sutts.

Plus, by the time Sam gets snapped up overseas he could be good enough to command the LB spot on his own merit