Moreno Late Show Wins It For Auckland

[Smoggy]

19 minutes ago, William said:

Well said Zelinsky if we can get a full complement of players on the park we may be able to get a good run to the finals but I think we are building well for good shot at it next season 

Its always 'next season' with this club isn't it 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Smoggy

[MartinTyler]

15 minutes ago, WSWJACK said:

Just an odd question here forgive my indulgence, I like it better when we win the toss and play towards south stand first half, and obviously against the RBB in the second half, got a sneaking suspicion the players do too.

Reckon other coaches might lean to this thought too, bet Ratboy did yesterday, told his skipper which end to take.

it’s the little things in the superstitious mind of a football player, or I could be spouting bollox 🤷‍♂️

To be honest I don't think it matters which way we play first....

[Smoggy]

1 minute ago, MartinTyler said:

To be honest I don't think it matters which way we play first....

Yeah...we are shite all ways.

[StringerBellend]

2 hours ago, PedroPony said:

Auckland are one of those teams that are set up to win rather than entertain. They play a dull style of football but it is effective. Like WU a few seasons ago and Wellington last season. Actually, much like us in our first few seasons. I'm not convinced they had more fire in the belly than us, just that they are better set up with a style and game plan that is effective at this level. 

They are more defence oriented and a bit more direct. But that said I'm not sure they were dull. They had more shots at goal than we did and more of the ball. 

[StringerBellend]

10 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

Its always 'next season' with this club isn't it 

 

Exactly this is RudeBoy all over again 

[William]

8 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

Its always 'next season' with this club isn't it 

 

Mostly because we usually slot the coach and sack half the team and start all over , the 8 years has shown that.

If this bloke can continue to get the youth working and he stays on maybe we can break the cycle , meanwhile most here are calling for us to follow the cycle, sack the coach and half the players and then what !!!!!   

[StringerBellend]

1 hour ago, Zelinsky said:

Were people really expecting a win against a top of the table Auckland?

With Jeong, Scicluna, Borello, Gersbach and Cleur arguably five starting players were missing. The few remaining senior players were gassed towards the end. Add up the number of games and minutes Panta, Pelekanos, Bonetig, Hammond, Temelkovski have played. Simmons, Priestman and even Zapsford are at the beginning of their career. And they are supposed to play with the experience of a seasoned AL side?

They stood as tall as they could, left everything on the pitch, and that is very different from performances of senior (and junior!) players we have witnessed since season 5. Does anyone need reminding of the comical defending of Borda, Hamill, Llorente, McGowan, Jurman? Remember the lack lustre performances of Ibini, Petratos, Risdon, Baumjohann, Meier? The decision making of Sotirio? Magush? Give me this squad anytime.

I am taking my hat off to Mata. It has been a while that hes played 79 minutes, let alone in such heat. Brilliante did okay holding the line as makeshift CB. Looking forward for the Clisby show coming to an end. 

 

Yes I remember the days of comical defending and porous midfields..as while my memory isn't great,  the mariners game was only last week 

We were for the most part solid at the back but it's taken over half a season to get there 

 I agree we have a far better squad than we have had in the past. We have some really good young players.

Which makes it more frustrating that Stajic is unable to get th best out of it.

That was far from our worst performance of the year, first half we were good. 

Did I expect to beat Auckland? Don't know but expect to win more than 2 games at home.

 

Edited 20 hours ago by StringerBellend

[StringerBellend]

8 minutes ago, William said:

Mostly because we usually slot the coach and sack half the team and start all over , the 8 years has shown that.

If this bloke can continue to get the youth working and he stays on maybe we can break the cycle , meanwhile most here are calling for us to follow the cycle, sack the coach and half the players and then what !!!!!   

Nobody is calling for half the players to be sacked 

 

[Potkorok]

I can’t remember a game with more cheap turnovers than this one. And that is saying something. This utterly loony play out from the back at all costs is gonna bite you eventually. Far out hoof it long and clear it. We just don’t have the cattle to play that way. It’s also grossly unfair on Lawrence Thomas.

[Zelinsky]

1 minute ago, StringerBellend said:

Yes I remember the days of comical defending and porous midfields..as while my memory isn't great,  the mariners game was only last week 

In that game Sainbury made the difference. We’ve been playing with makeshift central defences all season, and it has been abundantly clear for weeks (months?) that we need a solid CB, it’s the missing ingredient.

5 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

We have some really good young players. Which makes it more frustrating that Stajic is unable to get th best out of it.

Next time we meet you have to tell me more about the parallel universe you seem to be living in.

[SBW]

1 hour ago, Zelinsky said:

The few remaining senior players were gassed towards the end. 

Gassed? We had a 9 day break and those coconuts played a mid week game in Adelaide and had to back up a few days later against us

And tbh I wasn't expecting a win, a draw would have sufficed against these guys

Edited 19 hours ago by SBW

[StringerBellend]

6 minutes ago, Zelinsky said:

In that game Sainbury made the difference. We’ve been playing with makeshift central defences all season, and it has been abundantly clear for weeks (months?) that we need a solid CB, it’s the missing ingredient.

Next time we meet you have to tell me more about the parallel universe you seem to be living in.

That and Staj left three of our better players on the bench 

Totally agree on a solid CB being the difference that we went into the season with 1 senior CB (who pre injury was terrible) is criminal and isn't bad luck it's **** management 

[Legionista]

The problem here is mentality.

There are always headwinds in whatever someone does in their life.

It's about a shift from, we failed because of x, y, z, to, we succeeded despite x, y, z.

It's always the former, maybe always is too much, but far, far too much.

Edited 19 hours ago by Legionista
uff.

[StringerBellend]

how can we possibly be expected to win at home against  a team that didn't exist last year? My expectations are clearly too high 

[EmMac]

1 hour ago, Zelinsky said:

Were people really expecting a win against a top of the table Auckland?

With Jeong, Scicluna, Borello, Gersbach and Cleur arguably five starting players were missing. The few remaining senior players were gassed towards the end. Add up the number of games and minutes Panta, Pelekanos, Bonetig, Hammond, Temelkovski have played. Simmons, Priestman and even Zapsford are at the beginning of their career. And they are supposed to play with the experience of a seasoned AL side?

They stood as tall as they could, left everything on the pitch, and that is very different from performances of senior (and junior!) players we have witnessed since season 5. Does anyone need reminding of the comical defending of Borda, Hamill, Llorente, McGowan, Jurman? Remember the lack lustre performances of Ibini, Petratos, Risdon, Baumjohann, Meier? The decision making of Sotirio? Magush? Give me this squad anytime.

I am taking my hat off to Mata. It has been a while that hes played 79 minutes, let alone in such heat. Brilliante did okay holding the line as makeshift CB. Looking forward for the Clisby show coming to an end. 

 

Agree

I was at the match yesterday.  I was prepared for us to lose to the 2nd positioned club, so the fact we were still nil all at the 95th minute was looking like a great result (let's face it we weren't going to turn into top tier premier league club overnight), so a draw was welcome. I thought they were lucky with their goal. Just like both teams were unlucky with several close shots not ending up in the back of the net.  

It all feels worse cause of where we are on the table. If we were 3rd or 4th, I don't think we'd have judged that performance quite so harshly,  especially going down to a ridiculously late goal (and in my opinion getting snub on a penalty call). It sucks, but I don't believe you can submit it as evidence for a beheading, milord 

[Smoggy]

13 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

how can we possibly be expected to win at home against  a team that didn't exist last year? My expectations are clearly too high 

People would have been saying g the same about us in 2012/13 I guess...

Auckland have the new club bounce..their harder days are ahead.

[Zelinsky]

31 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

That and Staj left three of our better players on the bench 

Totally agree on a solid CB being the difference that we went into the season with 1 senior CB (who pre injury was terrible) is criminal and isn't bad luck it's **** management 

Al- Taya, Carluccio, Hammond, Pelekanos, Simmons, Temelkovski - “better” as who? Is your expectation to start the game with the (on paper) best 11? Or do you keep someone good on the bench for the latter part of the game?

Do you recall that there was a palace revolution at the club in June last year? Rudan going, Lederer being toppled, Bosnar being forced out, Stajcic coming in very late when the player market was empty? The lack of transfer activity being a result of that upheaval at board level, Marcelo leaving late, and his anticipated replacement jumping ship? Jeong has a sack full of games in K1, there has to be a player in there somewhere, on paper he looked good enough.

The criminality, even negligence, in any of this escapes me. 

[EmMac]

42 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

Nobody is calling for half the players to be sacked 

 

There might have been a bit of hyperbole in William's statement but I think his point on the wash rinse and repeat cycle is valid. I think lots of the (albeit valid) fan dissatisfaction is due to no long term plan to pull the team out of the sack and rebuild cycle we have been going through since popa left.

If we had a three year plan and set realistic expectations on the achievements each year, it would be feel better. Doing what you say you are going to do is invaluable to building confidence. The club could say reliant on retaining talent, we will produce the following result:

Year 1 - 6th on the table

Year 2 - 4th/3rd on table

Year 3 - 1st on table/win final

The fans equally need to hold their nerve and support the team.

Look, I honestly don't know, I'm just an football loving chick, commenting on a football forum. But we cannot keep going the way we were,  both club and supporters are turning into basketcases

[PedroPony]

2 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

People would have been saying g the same about us in 2012/13 I guess...

Auckland have the new club bounce..their harder days are ahead.

In this league it is easier starting out as a new club. You get a higher salary cap and the manager is not stuck with any bad recruitment decisions made by the last manager. 

[102megan]

We held out the team coming first, until the 94th minute!

We're literally two wins outside the Top 6.  Two wins from being in 3rd place!!  (provided we win a match by 7+ goals, but I digress...)

 

I don't know how one can blame the coach, for cheap turnovers? 

We're absolutely missing the 'Maltese Maestro' Scicluna's creativity, enthusiasm, brilliance. 

[WSWJACK]

1 hour ago, MartinTyler said:

To be honest I don't think it matters which way we play first....

Righty ho then ,bollox it is 

[Edinburgh]

2 minutes ago, WSWJACK said:

Righty ho then ,bollox it is 

I do suspect the opposition don't think it's bollocks and deliberately choose to defend in front of the RBB when they win the toss.

[WSWJACK]

13 minutes ago, Edinburgh said:

I do suspect the opposition don't think it's bollocks and deliberately choose to defend in front of the RBB when they win the toss.

It was only my suspicion, but I completely agree with you jambo, it's just a mental feeling of extra pressure on the defenders when you're tiring in the second half, with the RBB pounding in your ears especially with corners, and a little bit more heaped on officials  if a penalty shout is raised, everything seems just a little more amplified, same at every ground it's the home advantage factor.

[Unlimited]

I believe in Jeong Hendry and Alen Stajcic

[MartinTyler]

1 hour ago, 102megan said:

We held out the team coming first, until the 94th minute!

We're literally two wins outside the Top 6.  Two wins from being in 3rd place!!  (provided we win a match by 7+ goals, but I digress...)

 

I don't know how one can blame the coach, for cheap turnovers? 

We're absolutely missing the 'Maltese Maestro' Scicluna's creativity, enthusiasm, brilliance. 

When Scicluna hit his straps for a few games before his injury we were playing our most cohesive football of the season. IMO the cheap turnovers can be attributed to 2 things: 1) lack of technique and 2) lack of cohesion due to coaching failures. 

[Upthehill]

38 minutes ago, MartinTyler said:

When Scicluna hit his straps for a few games before his injury we were playing our most cohesive football of the season. IMO the cheap turnovers can be attributed to 2 things: 1) lack of technique and 2) lack of cohesion due to coaching failures. 

Correct and correct. Was so frustrating seeing our strikers constantly receive the ball with backs to goal and never be able to hold it up. I think the Auckland back line stuffed basically every attempt we made to bounce the ball off the strikers. Have to wonder how long Staj is going to remain stubborn over the formation. Lets hope Staj and Ange dont share the same stubborn gene... bet they do though

[StringerBellend]

3 hours ago, Zelinsky said:

Al- Taya, Carluccio, Hammond, Pelekanos, Simmons, Temelkovski - “better” as who? Is your expectation to start the game with the (on paper) best 11? Or do you keep someone good on the bench for the latter part of the game?

Do you recall that there was a palace revolution at the club in June last year? Rudan going, Lederer being toppled, Bosnar being forced out, Stajcic coming in very late when the player market was empty? The lack of transfer activity being a result of that upheaval at board level, Marcelo leaving late, and his anticipated replacement jumping ship? Jeong has a sack full of games in K1, there has to be a player in there somewhere, on paper he looked good enough.

The criminality, even negligence, in any of this escapes me. 

I thought Staj started the strongest line up he had available today (no problem with that) although the formation was wrong. 

he has also took half a season to realise that Mata is our best player and still hasn't worked out a formation that works.

As for Jeong I've said given the level he once played at there must be something in their but he didn't show it prior to the injury he was Borda levels of shite. Besides that's 1 senior centre back not 2. That we went in with just him and a bunch of kids is a total cluster.

Stajic has so far won 2 wooden spoons on three seasons. last year Perth conceded 69 goals and finished dead last despite having a player who scored over 20. For which he blames everyone but himself. 

Yet we thing somehow he's the guy to turn it round. 

I want him to work, but I'm not seeing it 

[StringerBellend]

1 hour ago, MartinTyler said:

When Scicluna hit his straps for a few games before his injury we were playing our most cohesive football of the season. IMO the cheap turnovers can be attributed to 2 things: 1) lack of technique and 2) lack of cohesion due to coaching failures. 

We did although we still conceded 2 goals a game

[Zelinsky]

4 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

he has also took half a season to realise that Mata is our best player and still hasn't worked out a formation that works.

That’s quite a statement to make. So far Mata has been even less effective than Ninkovic last season. Obviously his pace (or lack of it) is age appropriate, but his lack of ball control at times was disappointing. I would have expected that a player of his experience and pedigree manages to pass the ball to a team player when under pressure. End product in standard situations is also lacking. At this point no comparison to Shinji. 

Jeong played his last few games in pain, with an undiagnosed fracture. That can’t have been performance enhancing. 

As for Stajcic: we’ll see. Here’s hoping that we are in the market for an import CB, someone who can marshall the back line, perhaps with Panta next to him. A match fit Gersbach will go a long way as well, as will Cleur. At the same time, the chances were there to put Auckland to the sword. Milanovic alone could (should?) have finished them off. 

 

[SBW]

40 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

I thought Staj started the strongest line up he had available today (no problem with that) although the formation was wrong. 

he has also took half a season to realise that Mata is our best player and still hasn't worked out a formation that works.

As for Jeong I've said given the level he once played at there must be something in their but he didn't show it prior to the injury he was Borda levels of shite. Besides that's 1 senior centre back not 2. That we went in with just him and a bunch of kids is a total cluster.

Stajic has so far won 2 wooden spoons on three seasons. last year Perth conceded 69 goals and finished dead last despite having a player who scored over 20. For which he blames everyone but himself. 

Yet we thing somehow he's the guy to turn it round. 

I want him to work, but I'm not seeing it 

Staj is insisting on playing long balls and hoping for the best, there's no structure in our attack, it is high transition but when we turn the ball over, our midfield gets over run and our defence gets exposed. 

I don't think Staj is capable of turning this club around, he thinks he can because he did it at the Mariners and with the Philippines women's team but we're neither of them.