I disagree N bomb that WaiBop dominated the chances. How many clear cut chances did they create. They had one cleared of the line but apart from that I can't recall too many chances. They style of play is one dimensional, route one football. Too many times they knocked the ball long and tried to feed of the scraps. No wonder the kid Up front from three kings was getting pissed off , you can see his reaction when we got subbed
They will struggle to beat the top sides playing that style. The best player on the pitch was Tyler Lissette
In my view WaiBop was the slightly better team. It was a game where whoever scores the first goal is the winner. WaiBop had several half chances in the first half (Japanese centre back had a couple from corner kicks but missed target completely, Manko had a shot from 18 yard box missed the goal completely etc.)
Ref was pretty average not giving fouls for obvious deliberate pushing, studs up, even failed to give the second yellow to Sean Lovemore for obvious kicking while on the ground. Aaron Scott was on the receiving end, he hardly ever complains about ref decisions but was pretty pissed off with this decision.
Tyler Lissette wasn't bad but made mistake when the first goal was conceded (Aaron Scot pushed forward), and dived in a couple of times with no one behind to back him up, so can't really see him as MoM.
The best players in WaiBoP for me were Japanese midfielder Masaki Namoto and Milos Nikolic.
Very average were both wide players Mark Jones and Shaydon Young.
Three Kings kid Mikhail Bredeveldt's frustration is understandable. Kicking long ball to him and expecting him to win in the air against tall defenders is too optimistic. This style of playing doesn't suit him nor few other WaiBoP players . In saying that, he could improve his movement of the ball and runs into space rather than waiting way too often for the ball to his feet.
I agree with you that 4:4:2 formation with knocking the long ball all the time is old fashion style of football. This team has the players who can play modern and attractive football, pass the ball around, create chances and score goals. It is up to the coach to recognise that WaiBop was outnumbered in the middle of the field by playing this formation as well as that this style of football won't get WaiBoP to the play-offs.