I think that Ishige does a god job. Nagasawa wouldn't be in my starting 11. Defensive positioning as a DM is the most important thing, he doesn't deliver on it at all. His recovery running is without urgency or pace as well. He got an assist which ups his rating for today but I don't particularly rate him. Maybe he's been better in games that I've not been able to watch.
19 -7 on fouls and no yellows. Whose job was talking to the match officials?
Hmm.
It was entertaining, but we were at least one adult short.
Last year under Chief we controlled the ball and the game. This season we lack control, though we have a lot of quality and excitement. Unfortunately we also lack a second well known goal scorer. Ishige is replacing Old or Kraev’s goals.
But we need another goal scorer who can score from muscle memory.
Worst result under Chief and now three losses in a row. Almost at rock bottom.
Weirdly didn’t feel like the worst performance, but it was Ricki ball today. No control, no composure for large chunks of the game. Though Ricki ball had plenty of strikers!
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
"Entertaining" is definitely not how I'd describe this match. So flat and uninspiring. Didn't look like anybody wanted to be there. The babies in the second half added some energy but understandably didn't have what it would have taken to turn it around at that point.
One of the commentators mentioned at the beginning that Rufer had been kind of ill. I sort of hope they were all kind of ill cause it would at least serve as an excuse as to why we were so garbage.
I think that Ishige does a god job. Nagasawa wouldn't be in my starting 11. Defensive positioning as a DM is the most important thing, he doesn't deliver on it at all. His recovery running is without urgency or pace as well. He got an assist which ups his rating for today but I don't particularly rate him. Maybe he's been better in games that I've not been able to watch.
Say it…say it… (actually did in the transfer speculation)
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Some rare positives out of a shark result but we don't seem like a well oiled machine yet, defense seems to have taken a huge step back. Walker and Piper need some polish but that will come in time and experience. Hughes I think is good but he's had some rotten luck with the wrong bounce of the ball - just not sure if he's got a high enough ceiling to make up for it. Not sure about Nagasawa..
We're only 4 points off 4th so nothing is lost yet. The question is can this team improve over the coming weeks? I don't have the answer to that. I think it'll be a case of we'll win some and lose some.
We're only 4 points off 4th so nothing is lost yet. The question is can this team improve over the coming weeks? I don't have the answer to that. I think it'll be a case of we'll win some and lose some.
I feel like we need to decide 4 or 3 and get our defense settled. Oluwayemi isn’t anything special and isn’t as of yet in the top half of keepers in the league.
We need to recreate the base of our play and regain our control of a game.
I’m hearing some comments about Nagasawa. I can’t judge it well. He seems to hit switches and make tackles fine.
I enjoyed watching the kids have a go, but I felt we were definitely in it at 2-1. It did feel like that changed after the subs.
I think Brooke-Smith runs funny, but presses and tackles well.
I don’t want the rest of the season to be like that last 15 or the first 5. I want to draw a few and win a f- load more.
Over to you, Chief and Phoenix HQ! Some cavalry would be nice.
Just got back from Four Kings, gotta say that was a very disappointing result for my first pub game. Only highlights for me was Ishige's goal and the guys who invited me to sit with them, those guys are cool.
But yeah that had to have been our worst result under Chiefy, just constantly turning the ball over in our own half and not really creating any opportunities. It's also frustrating how no one seems capable of taking on their man. Whenever we did it almost always resulted in a turnover.
Anyway, we got the Jets at home next Saturday so hopefully we can turn things around with them.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
You know Fight or Flight but there's that third response which is Freeze? That's what it seems like we did today. Freeze. We sensed danger and we just froze. We were just so slow right from the outset. No one had the initiative to lead a press. We sat back and let WSW dictate proceedings when they had the ball. And then when we did have sustained periods of possessions nobody tried to hustle anything. There was no urgency with the passing. It was all just aimless cruising and waiting for someone else off the ball to make the dream move or create the magical space which was never gonna happen when there's 11 guys in the side all with the same "someone else will sort it out" mindset. It was like watching us play "test match" football, where WSW had put on a second innings lead we didn't believe we could chase and we were just hanging on trying to survive through the fifth day instead of taking charge and trying to make something happen.
I've been very disappointed with Retre. I expected him to make a real contribution every week, but I struggle to notice much in the way of controlling midfield, linking with strikers etc. Sadly when Al Taay has subbed on he has done nothing to indicate anything better. Rufer needs help in that midfield.
Just got back from Four Kings, gotta say that was a very disappointing result for my first pub game. Only highlights for me was Ishige's goal and the guys who invited me to sit with them, those guys are cool.
But yeah that had to have been our worst result under Chiefy, just constantly turning the ball over in our own half and not really creating any opportunities. It's also frustrating how no one seems capable of taking on their man. Whenever we did it almost always resulted in a turnover.
Anyway, we got the Jets at home next Saturday so hopefully we can turn things around with them.
Honestly I just hope that Chiefy doesn't go down the same path of his Mentor, Talay. And keep trying the same 11 over and over again and hoping for a different result. I'm firmly in the camp of changing things, using form players and fresh players. Even if the changes are only temporary.
Agree Hughes has been unlucky. Lots of players have been slipping over (why?) Unfortunate that this time it led to a goal. No sure who the second centre back should be if not Hughes. Piper looks promising, but made a few errors too today, and IMO was at least partly at fault for one goal. Payne is an option. Or a transfer window signing.valeo
Nommag
Is it bad luck if he does it every week? At what point do we say it's not bad luck.
Look at the actual mistakes. It's nothing to do with his actual defending. Anyone could slip over, anyone could have a ball bounce onto the arm, anyone can score an own goal when desperately trying to stop one. Unfortunately even though it's mostly bad luck, it affects his confidence and will result in more errors
Why would we not give Al-Taay a start now? It certainly won't be worse than Retre or Nagasawa.
Nagasawa I feel has been passable, if a little anonymous at times. I am disappointed with what Retre has brought for us so far this season though, so Al-Taay isn't a bad shout.
Been thinking this too. Shirt-grabbing is another needless blight on the game, which would disappear overnight if FIFA made it a yellow card offence. /OT newzealandpower
Absolutely off topic. I think FIFA has brought in some nice changes in recent times in order to let the game flow (linesmen don't need to call for offside immediately and can rely on VAR to give the attacking team the advantage, goal kicks being able to be played inside the box and more). I think the new improvement needs to be that players touching the ball after the whistle has gone get an instant yellow. It really annoys me how teams stop the opposition from taking advantage from a quick restart all the time. Everyone does it of course, but so did people use to pass back to the GK before the rule was changed in the 90s... I think a change in this direction would make games a lot more fun.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
So much for the Aotearoa(A)-League.
Prior to this the Nix had got 3 wins in Aussie this season. Perth (2-0), CCM (3-0), and VUC (1-0) in the Unite Round.
All 3 wins were based off a watertight defence, and mostly playing on the counter like last season. Starting with a back 3/5 in Perth and against the VUC. Back 4 in Gosford. Of those 3 matches, Rojas only played the VUC game when yeah he beautifully set up Barba's winner.
It's clear Chief, was hoping to do the same again (sans Rojas) against the Wanderers. But Hughes makes his mistake in the opening 60 secs and those 'rope a dope' tactics go into the shredder.
But who comes in if Hughes is dropped? If Rojas is fit, it's likely a back 4 at home against the Jets. Does LK-H (who's barely all season) come in for Hughes at LCB? Or Wootton move across to the left with Piper at RCB?
I think you are almost better to persist with Hughes, his errors have contained a large dollop of bad luck.
And agree with other posters, that when you sell your 3 best young players, and just have a high squad turnover in general in the off season, your next season could be a disappointment. That's if your visa player recruitment is a bit off and your new Academy youngsters coming in take time to adapt. I mean look at CCM this season - in many ways the ALM club that often mirrors the Nix.
Also yes the current visa player mix this season is far from ideal. With a spot taken on a GK, and Ball persona non grata. Hopefully is some good news in the Jan transfer window, on the recruitment front. Great club man, but ideally Ball agrees to mutual termination, or he's now a Kiwi. The best clubs each ALM season consisently have 3-5 of their visas firing. The bottom 3 clubs this season - Jets, Roar and Glory between them basically now have no overseas players.
The Phoenix experienced a nightmare before Christmas at CommBank Stadium on Sunday night after conceding 47 seconds into the match to lose 4-1 to Western Sydney Wanderers.
Giancarlo Italiano’s team never recovered after a slip from Hughes allowed Western Sydney to get in behind and break the early deadlock.
“It was a sucker punch to concede after a minute. It was really a nothing moment. A player slips but we still could have managed the moment, which is the disappointing part,” Italiano rued.
“They scored and all of a sudden the game changes. The most important thing is to stay in games for long periods but when you’re 1-0 down after a minute it just makes the task difficult.
I kind of thought we would struggle a bit this season tbh. We sold our best and with the new austerity accross the League we are now one of the low cost clubs. I dont have a problem with playing the kids from the academy. We just have to expect a roller coaster season......keep the faith.....and dont dump on the coach. Hes trying to play.with the cards that have been dealt to him.
Just got back from Four Kings, gotta say that was a very disappointing result for my first pub game. Only highlights for me was Ishige's goal and the guys who invited me to sit with them, those guys are cool.
But yeah that had to have been our worst result under Chiefy, just constantly turning the ball over in our own half and not really creating any opportunities. It's also frustrating how no one seems capable of taking on their man. Whenever we did it almost always resulted in a turnover.
Anyway, we got the Jets at home next Saturday so hopefully we can turn things around with them.
Have you forgotten last years result
Depends, I didn't have a way to watch away games until like 7 or so rounds into last season. Only game that comes to mind from last year was Sydney which I do believe we performed better overall in that game than this one.
Sure get the first goal after 49 seconds is not good, but there is still 89min to turn things around. We saw the Nix forced equalizers in the last minutes, yesterday was lackluster. I think we do not progress as a team. 5 minutes spells of decent play is not good enough. The obsession with youth players is also weird. Why do we need to play a 16 old kid in a game like this? He’s not turning it around with some youthful dribblings. I swear a slower doubled aged Ball would have had more impact on the team. I don’t like to blame the young players, they do mistakes but that’s why you have senior players to step up and they did not. I hope they do some soul searching this week and fix this shark.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
It's funny, the 16 year old was arguably the most impactful sub we made - he pressed like a demon and looked confident on the ball. Would like to see a lot more of LBS now, that ball to Kosta for the cross to Walker when he almost scored was so well executed.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Im not as down as many about the game.
First 2 goals were direct results of mistakes by individuals and the fourth was an incredibly lucky wonder strike where the scorer loses the ball in that situation 99/100. Hughes should buy a lotto ticket as he's due some good luck, Piper is solid but still adjusting to the speed of play, I think he'll be a very good, flexible piece for us from here on out.
There's concerns about our fluidity going forward, but we've also generated a number of very good chances we just haven't scored that would go a long way to alleviating those. We've had a number of injuries to key players and have yet to actually get our best XI a run of games - speaking of, I don't like the bandaging on Kostas leg and I don't think he's 100%. Hoping Marco isn't out long.
I'm still seeing enough that I think we're going to click in the next part of the season and things will come together, it really doesn't feel far away at all to me and we'll make the finals in what is very much a rebuilding year as well bring through a next crop of young players.
It sounds weird but the fact that we're not playing well, are giving plenty of minutes to future prospects and yet we're still only just outside of a finals place gives me a lot of hope for how good the rest of the season could be if/when we start executing consistently.
I said before this game it was must win to have a realistic chance this year.
I think we will be struggling to hang onto the top 6 unless our form improves dramatically. Also think we are missing a quality defender and a proven striker...
Could we get Salas back again - what's he up to? He'd bring some real energy to the team.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Nelfoos
Im not as down as many about the game.
First 2 goals were direct results of mistakes by individuals and the fourth was an incredibly lucky wonder strike where the scorer loses the ball in that situation 99/100. Hughes should buy a lotto ticket as he's due some good luck, Piper is solid but still adjusting to the speed of play, I think he'll be a very good, flexible piece for us from here on out.
There's concerns about our fluidity going forward, but we've also generated a number of very good chances we just haven't scored that would go a long way to alleviating those. We've had a number of injuries to key players and have yet to actually get our best XI a run of games - speaking of, I don't like the bandaging on Kostas leg and I don't think he's 100%. Hoping Marco isn't out long.
I'm still seeing enough that I think we're going to click in the next part of the season and things will come together, it really doesn't feel far away at all to me and we'll make the finals in what is very much a rebuilding year as well bring through a next crop of young players.
It sounds weird but the fact that we're not playing well, are giving plenty of minutes to future prospects and yet we're still only just outside of a finals place gives me a lot of hope for how good the rest of the season could be if/when we start executing consistently.
I hope that you're right. But for me it's kind of yes and no with your comments. On the positive side we're still quite good at keeping possession. We're still organised well defensively (generally). On the negative side, I don't see any real creativity in open play, the odd ball from Rufer direct to Kosta seems like the best we can really do. I don't understand what Chiefy has asked of Retre and Nagasawa from a defensive point of view but for me they're not busting a gut to do anything and a couple of times I just thought "where in the heck are you positioning yourself for this attack (especially second half Nagasawa)". When Hughes slipped, you'd expect the midfielders to really bust a gut to get back to help, Rufer was the only one to try and cover and even he was slow (it was like Rabbit in the headlights stufff).
It's the lack of attack and penertation which is the issue for me... I just don't see a winning game plan in this sense currently.
What we are doing now is too easy to defend against - drop deep, let the NIX pass it backwards and sideways, knowing that if we keep their wingbacks pinned, nothing threatening is coming our way. We have no attack through the middle of the park.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Fair points KP, I'd definitely be getting Al-Taay in there given the energy and quality he had last night. Agree that Nagasawa and Retre aren't doing enough at the moment and would be something I'd look to change. A midfield 3 of Rufer/Mo/Piper would be a big change from technical ability to physicality and effort levels, and we do have limited options for creative players but I think it's fair to look for improvement from that area of the pitch. Was one of Rufers more forgettable recent performances as well, gave the ball away much more than normal.
Obviously not an excuse for the first couple of goals, but it is worth touching on how difficult it is to be explosive on a consistent basis for 90 minutes in that weather (couldnt believe there was no official drinks break). Our usual away game plan of absorbing the heat and hitting back in short, sharp spurts had to be tossed immediately in favour of one where we drain ourselves by having to be more aggressive in pursuit of possession.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
MetalLegNZ
It's the lack of attack and penertation which is the issue for me... I just don't see a winning game plan in this sense currently.
What we are doing now is too easy to defend against - drop deep, let the NIX pass it backwards and sideways, knowing that if we keep their wingbacks pinned, nothing threatening is coming our way. We have no attack through the middle of the park.
Low blocks being difficult to penetrate is hardly an issue unique to the Phoenix. Hell, it's part of why we were so good defensively last season ourselves.
Our key creative midfielder has started one game, I find it very hard to write us off in that context.
We're creating very good chances getting in behind, whether that's Kosta, Payne or someone else, but you're right it isnt frequent enough. If we had finished the high % chances we made (i count 4 literal tap-ins saved/missed over the 2x AFC and Macarthur games). Score those and we aren't having this chat. Same is true for lightning striking Hughes 3 weeks in a row - those freak accidents don't happen and we're maybe top 4 and a whole lot less angst.
We're not playing well, but we're a little bit of bad luck away from looking a lot better while we work on improving the things we can control. It's football, it'll bounce our way again soon.
