Western Sydney Wanderers vs Wellington Phoenix 21/04/2023 7:45PM

A point guarantees a home semi, but a win, and we are right back in the race for second place again.

2nd place is still in play with Mariners and Adelaide to face each other in the last game. We want to win here and the Nix will probably be feeling the pressure with the chasing pack now well and truly breathing down their necks. The run in is perfect as the intensity will be close to what finals will be like.

Goal difference is going to matter in this game if we want second. It can be done without it but its unlikely Adelaide are going to get beaten twice in the next 2 weeks

Ideal results would be Adelaide to lose away to Perth, CCM to lose away to the Jets, then CCM to beat Adelaide by less than they lost to the Jets. That way they're both on 41 points with a worse goal difference than they have now. Then we could beat the Nix and still finish second on goal difference even with a slim loss away to City on the last day.

Anything other than the above combination of results and we'd need to beat the Nix then get something from the City game.

Too much math. Lets beat the Nix and see how the chips fall at the end of the round.

Let’s hope Thomas does better than his effort that handed the ball on a platter to Victory

2 hours ago, Keithie said:

Let’s hope Thomas does better than his effort that handed the ball on a platter to Victory

Thomas leads the league in clean sheets.

1 hour ago, sonar said:

Thomas leads the league in clean sheets.

His average is the best of all the keepers for lowest average goals/game (except Freke who played 2 games)

Izzo is next best followed by Glover

Oh sh1t

We have Alex King as the centre referee

Shaun Evans as the VAR

Well I may be a wee bit harsh but he did gift Victory an easy goal

2 minutes ago, Keithie said:

Well I may be a wee bit harsh but he did gift Victory an easy goal

It was a poor play, agreed, but I'll take one bad play in a season ahead of the one clanger every 10 minutes we got from Margush. Leaving aside that play, Thomas has been very good this season.

2 hours ago, Paul01 said:

Oh sh1t

We have Alex King as the centre referee

Shaun Evans as the VAR

Would rather Alex King than Shaun Evans or Beath but would have preferred Fagani 

8 minutes ago, Keithie said:

Would rather Alex King than Shaun Evans or Beath but would have preferred Fagani 

Believe or not, they have Faghani doing Melbourne Victory v Macarthur Bullsh1tters 

23 minutes ago, Keithie said:

Well I may be a wee bit harsh but he did gift Victory an easy goal

Maybe. Ideally when you're palming a ball, you're aiming it at a corner flag. A punch is up and out. If you cant do both, you punch out rather than up. Watching the cross a few times it looks like he was first reaching to collect it and then realised it was floating way too much and so tried to just slap it out. He should have probably read it better but he did at least half of what he was supposed to do while trying to recover.

I lay more blame on Simmons missed tackle then hoff not getting a block in. 

Either way, its far from the softest goal we've conceded this season and we are still be best defensive team in the league by a 15% margin. 

Our goal scoring woes are well into the past with Borello being shift and Layouni arriving. Keep knocking balls in the net and Thomas is allowed the odd brain fart

25 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

Our goal scoring woes are well into the past with Borello being shift and Layouni arriving. 

As long as Borello gets in the box earlier than he did last week and Layouni starts ahead of Yengi.

1 hour ago, WHACKO said:

As long as Borello gets in the box earlier than he did last week and Layouni starts ahead of Yengi.

He will start ahead of Yengi for the finals no doubt. I would imagine our optimal front line is Amalfitano, Borello, Layouni.

Yengi and Yeni can fill drink bottles

What's everyone impression so far for Yeni. We didn't have him early in the season but post World cup break he was driving us for a little while there doing just enough to keep his place and allowing us to keep pace win the top 4 putting in a few goals but not doing anything incredible and then the end of January came when Layouni came in and Yeni received that red card against the Smurfs and I feel like it was a turning point. Since then Yeni has been under the microscope and its almost like were not getting enough for him but he technically hasn't had a bad season, but he has been in and out of the starting line up. Its been a good season but for a Visa player it doesn't feel like its been enough, or more the current system and personnel kinda make him a surplus to our needs.

Am I being harsh or does everyone feel like we should be getting more from Yeni?

3 minutes ago, Sithslayer1991 said:

What's everyone impression so far for Yeni. We didn't have him early in the season but post World cup break he was driving us for a little while there doing just enough to keep his place and allowing us to keep pace win the top 4 putting in a few goals but not doing anything incredible and then the end of January came when Layouni came in and Yeni received that red card against the Smurfs and I feel like it was a turning point. Since then Yeni has been under the microscope and its almost like were not getting enough for him but he technically hasn't had a bad season, but he has been in and out of the starting line up. Its been a good season but for a Visa player it doesn't feel like its been enough, or more the current system and personnel kinda make him a surplus to our needs.

Am I being harsh or does everyone feel like we should be getting more from Yeni?

Thought his drop in form came after the Perth away, he was quite good in that game then got pulled, you could see his chin drop, wouldn't have thought it would have affected him that much as a pro footballer.

Agree he's not terrible but his consistency is so up and down, Bulls away overhitting free kicks by a mile then putting the perfect ball on the head of Borrello in the extra time, if I have to put it in one word............... consistency.

10 minutes ago, Sithslayer1991 said:

What's everyone impression so far for Yeni. We didn't have him early in the season but post World cup break he was driving us for a little while there doing just enough to keep his place and allowing us to keep pace win the top 4 putting in a few goals but not doing anything incredible and then the end of January came when Layouni came in and Yeni received that red card against the Smurfs and I feel like it was a turning point. Since then Yeni has been under the microscope and its almost like were not getting enough for him but he technically hasn't had a bad season, but he has been in and out of the starting line up. Its been a good season but for a Visa player it doesn't feel like its been enough, or more the current system and personnel kinda make him a surplus to our needs.

Am I being harsh or does everyone feel like we should be getting more from Yeni?

I was expecting more goals from him. Hasn't impressed me much unfortunately. Someone like Rob Mak would have been great.

Raising the question because I find it difficult on how I start him in my 11 atm. He ends up on the bench for me. I got Borello, Layouni and Amalfitano as optimal front 3. Milanovic raised my eyebrows during the Macarthur game, and it comes into a debate of Yengi vs Yeni. Yengi gets ahead because he is domestic and the contribution has been about the same. I don't envy being the gaffer having to pick that front 3.

I thought Yeni was going better when he was able to get more central. That was in the period between Krpic and Borello as striker. Yeni was selected at striker a couple of times, and Rudan had the front 3 rotating then too. Borello just covers so much ground in the middle of the park now and demands the ball. I think this has led to Yeni not getting into the game as much.

I rate Yeni ahead of Yengi. Yengi's touch is below par which sometimes hinders the speed of the attack. Having said that, I like the varied skill set of our wingers which gives Rudan great flexibility in the design of our game plan to exploit weaknesses in our opponents. Yengi has gotten the better of a few fullbacks this season who struggle with his size and pace.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't want to lose any of Yeni, Yengi, Amalfitano or Layouni.

6 hours ago, Sithslayer1991 said:

Am I being harsh or does everyone feel like we should be getting more from Yeni?

Put Yeni in any of our teams from the last 5 years and outside of Duke he’s probably the best attacking weapon we have…. But finally the bar was lifted and with the French Alf, Borello and Layouni then he’s behind them for sure. 
For mine he’s a good option off the bench and can make an impact… 

Not sure of his contract status but I think unless he’s earning more he can’t get elsewhere he’s either not renewed or destined for mutual termination.

If either Thomas or Hoff get a sniff of OS interest we will likely need an import to fill those positions also. 

I would give him another season, he has shown enough that he can turn it on when needed and score those important goals, he also linked up well with Cleur when he was playing on the right side. He is one of our younger visa players and still has something to prove to this team I believe..

I want to build that chemistry up a little more within the team, as sometimes it can take a season to get your groove in this league (see Ninko's first season here). It surprises a lot of imports that come here

For the remaining regular season games, I would like to see Milanović get a run in the starting 11. He looks more likely to create something or score than both Kusini and N'Gbakoto combined. 

Yengi, is our madatory "Kwabena Kubi Appiah" signing. Great pace, excellent physicality... but has the first touch of a Usain Bolt. 

As for Yeni, I thought he'd have an impact like what Layouni has brought into the squad, but other than a few glimpses of brilliance, he has been disappointing, considering he is taking up a VISA spot. 

Most of his set pieces are poor, and he looks lathargic. No end product and he is hiding behind players, like Borello and Nieuwenhof, who put in a massive shift week in week out. 

Watch him the next time he is fouled... he has the exact same facial reaction, curls up in the foetal position, then rubs his "injury" profusely. 

Frustrates me 🤨

For the finals, I agree that our strongest front four are Amor, Borello, Ninković and Amalfitano. 

The question really comes down to can the team be improved by a replacement, and can we find one (it's not like you have to wait until 4 weeks before next season, you can sign people already) who we think will improve it.

Unbelievable 

Ins: 6.Marcelo (returns from suspension), 29.Terry ANTONIS (promoted)

Maybe they put in the wrong Antonis.

5 minutes ago, mack said:

Maybe they put in the wrong Antonis.

NPL playing at the same time as the Nix game.

41 minutes ago, Paul01 said:

Unbelievable 

Ins: 6.Marcelo (returns from suspension), 29.Terry ANTONIS (promoted)

Get him on for 10 mins, hopefully a week later Robbo will be on the phone from Washington, "how do you fancy the MLS Terry?"