VAR Steals 3 Points For Adelaide

[mack]

The Western Sydney Wanderers fell to their 5th loss on the trot after an awful VAR decision handed Adelaide United an undeserved 2-1 win.

With a host of players out of action due to injury or suspension, Markus Babbel elected to play a 5 at the back formation, bringing Mathieu Cordier, Rashid Mahazi & Jausua Sotirio into the starting lineup.

8 minutes into the game Adelaide opened the scoring. A long ball over the top found Craig Goodwin, after he brought the ball back onto his right foot, he laid it into the path of Vince Lia, and he blasted a rocket through Nick Suman's hands.

Not long after the half-time interval, Roly Bonevacia scored a superb equaliser. The Wanderers won a foul on the edge of the penalty area, and Bonevacia was going to do nothing but shoot on goal. He fired a perfect free kick up and over the wall with just enough power & direction that it dipped under the cross bar for 1-1.

With an hour gone it looked like both sides could have taken all three points, but it ended up being Adelaide United with an assist from a blind linesman and a VAR booth that was as useless as a Maccas VAR frappe machine on a hot day. Michael Marrone attacked down the right flank, he drew Cordier before feeding the ball to Nikola Mileusnic, he launched the ball across the penalty area, finding Goodwin who managed to fly the ball through the eye of a needle, going between Tate Russel's legs, avoiding Tarek Elrich and leaving Suman no chance at all.

The VAR had vanished off the face of the planet. As Wanderers fans well know whenever their team has scored a goal the VAR will spend long minutes scrutinising every frame for potential infringements to take the goal away from the Red & Black, but tonight it was the opposite. There was no apparent checking done at all. The linesman, and the VAR, had missed a simple and clear offside by Mileusnic when he received the ball from Marrone. Late in the game the referee & VAR also ignored a clear penalty to the Wanderers.

For a system that spent 5 minutes coming up with a reason to chalk off Roly Bonevacia's goal in the Round 2 Sydney Derby, it was a baffling omission, an inexplicable failure to correct a blatantly obvious error. This week the FFA came out in the press, unable to figure out just why people were tuning out of the A-League this summer. It is clear and obvious that part of the reason is the incredibly poor standard of the officials. The are continually making major errors, the referees and VAR since it's introduction have favoured the two A-League teams that play in Sky Blue, and and they hold grudges against coaches & players who speak out against the low standard.

It's time for the new FFA Chairman to take action, and fire Ben Wilson the incompetent head of A-League Referees, and ensure that Kris Griffths Jones is never put on another Wanderers game again. When the VAR didn't exist the referees had the fallback that they are only human and that mistakes are inevitable. Now with the VAR, there are too many mistakes being made and they are being backed up by too many excuses from the FFA. It's not even the first time Adelaide have benefited from the VAR not bothering to overturn a clear offside.

Watching a team fail of their own volition is hard enough to take but that's what football fans sign up for. The systemic failures that exist in a protocol intended to correct such mistakes is a truly galling experience, and one that saps one of the will to bother watching our home league. It can't go on like this.

The Wanderers play Melbourne City next Tuesday in Melbourne at 7:50PM EDT.

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[Hughesy]

We are so unlucky at the moment, we could fall into a barrel of boobs and come out sucking our thumbs...

First Adelaide goal, ball gets cut back to the edge of the box and old mate smacks it first time. 9/10 times in the HAL that ball would’ve been sent over the bar to Newington but no, perfect connection and a convenient deflection. 

Have a first penalty shout for obstruction/contact off the ball denied and not even looked at, despite Sotirio being pinged for the exact same offence in derby 1 of the season. The same foul then gets given to Adelaide 3 times in 5 mins... 

Genuinely legitimate penalty shout not given despite that kind of foul being awarded regularly anywhere else on the pitch in any game. 

We definitely deserved a draw in that game. We’re getting zero from the officials at the moment 

[mack]

[lloydy136]

Solid rant mack - agree with every word.

I truly detest the VAR and never wanted it but if we are going to have it, how can it possibly not be used to overturn that goal!!!!!! It just baffles me and it's just such a hollow feeling to lose a game in that fashion.

[SBW]

I am not going to be bother talking the VAR and the constanct Anti-WSW bias from the refs. As Babbel said in the last game, they're ******* blind!

As for the game itself, if the club thinks that only manufacturing youth players into the first team is the way forward, then they have another thing coming, we'll pretty much be like the Mariners, and speaking of the Mariners, if they win against Hollandia this weekend, not only will the Mariners leap them on the table but they will only be 1pt behind us! Football eh? 

[scarcev]

2 minutes ago, mack said:

VAR aside, the AR has no reason to be where he is, his ONLY job in that circumstance is to be in line with the last defender, nothing else.  The fact the VAR didnt check should barely surprise us at this Club.

[Unlimited]

Can’t wait for the next instalment of the Whistle where they say that the offside was clearly 100% correct

[mack]

3 minutes ago, SBW said:

I am not going to be bother talking the VAR and the constanct Anti-WSW bias from the refs. As Babbel said in the last game, they're ******* blind!

As for the game itself, if the club thinks that only manufacturing youth players into the first team is the way forward, then they have another thing coming, we'll pretty much be like the Mariners, and speaking of the Mariners, if they win against Hollandia this weekend, not only will the Mariners leap them on the table but they will only be 1pt behind us! Football eh? 

If the objective is to find a good first team level player every year or two, that's fine, with a secondary objective of also providing sub and squaddie level players at ages 18-21 which mean we aren't paying overs for journeyman players who are outside the first 11.

[tardotz]

TBF we have so many injured players +a suspension.....he had to pick the youths

[BBB]

We have only missed 3 home games since the first ever home game, and I know that the boys need all the support they can get at the moment, but the complete bias of all of the match officials has gone too far now. I will not be attending any more matches this season. Congratulations Ben Wilson and Kris Griffiths Jones, you have turned away another Wanderers supporter from the game.

[Jimspade]

Expertly written Mack. I feel that if FFA was forced to read your articles they would be forced into action.

On the other hand... FML

[Neverbloom]

2 hours ago, hughsey said:

We are so unlucky at the moment, we could fall into a barrel of boobs and come out sucking our thumbs...

First Adelaide goal, ball gets cut back to the edge of the box and old mate smacks it first time. 9/10 times in the HAL that ball would’ve been sent over the bar to Newington but no, perfect connection and a convenient deflection. 

Have a first penalty shout for obstruction/contact off the ball denied and not even looked at, despite Sotirio being pinged for the exact same offence in derby 1 of the season. The same foul then gets given to Adelaide 3 times in 5 mins... 

Genuinely legitimate penalty shout not given despite that kind of foul being awarded regularly anywhere else on the pitch in any game. 

We definitely deserved a draw in that game. We’re getting zero from the officials at the moment 

i wouldnt say thumb but good point

 

KJG is a knob.........just saying

[Neverbloom]

at least with babbel we are getting a tonne of club records

[beatsurrender]

I see Mack has borrowed Maurizio Sarri's laptop 

I don't think they checked the goal for some reason. There were no VAR light's at the game. Had they checked it would have been disallowed. 

 

[Paul01]

7 minutes ago, beatsurrender said:

I see Mack has borrowed Maurizio Sarri's laptop 

I don't think they checked the goal for some reason. There were no VAR light's at the game. Had they checked it would have been disallowed. 

 

Kris Griffiths-Jones failing again

[EmMac]

Very well said Mack. Not much to add, other than I wouldnt blame babbel or the lads to throw the frickin towel in, in acknowledgement  of the ridiculous bias against us. I know bad calls are part of football but its hard to accept there is no bias when we are on the recieving end (in far greater numbers than the rest of the aleague) of blatant errors not called to the var for review, when blantant errors are outright missed, when we get hacked down on the field with no fouls being called, but our lads tap an opposition player and get carded. And on and on and on......

What is the point attending matches when you know your not going to get the same benefit of doubt, a fair reading of play? 

Are the club outraged, because they should. Do they have Babbels back? The players back? Are they fired up to go in to bat for them with the FFA and referrees association? I flippin hope so.

Maybe its all just bruised feelings because we are struggling, but its looking a bit more than incompetence tbh

[beatsurrender]

Yes we have got the wrong end of the pineapple regarding officiating decisions lately but there's no bias. Does anyone think there is a conspiracy to see us fail? Really? Why? For what purpose? 

And how? Is David Gallop going round whispering in ears. "Youve got the Wanderers tomorrow mate, make sure you stuff it up for them".

Our squad simply isn't good enough. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by beatsurrender

[Bellby]

18 minutes ago, beatsurrender said:

Yes we have got the wrong end of the pineapple regarding officiating decisions lately but there's no bias. Does anyone think there is a conspiracy to see us fail? Really? Why? For what purpose? 

Our squad simply isn't good enough. 

Surely people aren’t being serious about the whole conspiracy thing? The FFA would want WSW to succeed, especially with SWS coming in. 

The squad isn’t great but at the same time, I’m not sure MB/JP is getting the best out of them nor picking the best side. IMO Fitz (especially) & Majok had to start last night & didn’t. Sotorio & Mahazi have shown little & walked straight back into the side.  

Politics.

[sonar]

20 minutes ago, Bellby said:

................ IMO Fitz (especially) & Majok had to start last night & didn’t. Sotorio & Mahazi have shown little & walked straight back into the side.  

Politics.

Bad tactical errors by the manager in the first half which he basically admitted to post game. Took Mahazi off, changed the formation and our play was better organised. Officiating errors compounded a crappy night for us. Injuries are not helping and the short turnaround in games as well.

Seasons over really. Best option is to rotate the young guys in and out to get game time and experience though our injuries are not helping. Baccus and J O'D and possibly Riera are back next game which should add a little stability.

 

I would add we are not as bad as our position on the ladder suggests.

Edited January 18, 2019 by sonar

[lloydy136]

The 343 or whatever it was, was a huge mistake.

Players were so confused as to who was meant to mark who - especially out wide. The formation forced the wingbacks too high and they pushed their wingers into the space behind. It meant that every time we lost the ball goodwin had a 15 metre head start on russell - led to first goal and a couple of other chances. Also had a big gap between defence and mid with no holder in front. This isn't europe and MB needs to realise that our players aren't equipped to handle changes like this.

I thought the kids did pretty well - cordier and tass especially. Russell would have learnt plenty from playing against someone as good as goodwin. Can't fault roly's work either - he gave it away a bit but worked his arse off all game in tough conditions.

Hamill is driving me nuts - he is so careless with his passing. I know we don't have many options but it's hard when your captain is making so many errors himself - how can he hold others accountable?

Overall another promising but ultimately frustrating night.

[Zelinsky]

This is S3 stuff, when bodies were falling apart, and we signed injury replacements for injury replacements. Yesterday we saw Mahazi as AM, the return of Sotirio, and even Raul in central midfield. Big sigh. That is bottom of the barrel territory.

But in S3 we did not have youth players to fall back on. Cordier had a good debut, Suman does ok, Tass is a good CB, majok a versatile forward, and tate plays like risdon should have been playing for the last 18 months. 

Another injury, hope yeboah will be back sooner rather than later. Again only one import on the pitch, and sloppy Roly had a really convincing game in the middle. 

The Reds were made to work hard for the points by this very makeshift wsw lineup. But same story as last week. The big calls go against us, almost without fail. Had this been a smurf game the decisions would have been different. I am expecting this kind of stuff to happen against the smurfs in the East, but it doesn't seem to matter any longer where the venue is, and who we play. Parramatta Mk2 can't come soon enough.

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by FCB

[Neverbloom]

4 minutes ago, FCB said:

This is S3 stuff, when bodies were falling apart, and we signed injury replacements for injury replacements. Yesterday we saw Mahazi as AM, the return of Sotirio, and even Raul in central midfield. Big sigh. That is bottom of the barrel territory.

But in S3 we did not have youth players to fall back on. Cordier had a good debut, Suman does ok, Tass is a good CB, majok a versatile forward, and tate plays like risdon should have been playing for the last 18 months. 

Another injury, hope yeboah will be back sooner rather than later. Again only one import on the pitch, and sloppy Roly had a really convincing game in the middle. 

The Reds were made to work hard for the points by this very makeshift wsw lineup. But same story as last week. The big calls go against us, almost without fail. Had this been a smurf game the decisions would have been different. I am expecting this kind of stuff to happen against the smurfs in the East, but it doesn't seem to matter any longer where the venue is, and who we play. Parramatta Mk2 can't come soon enough.

 

season 3 we got an ACL, how many trophies have we won this season?

[DamnedUnited]

Babbel was again stylishly dressed and both team jerseys complemented each other handsomely. The kids are alright. The larger the crisis the more likely the fat cats response. Three years on it ain't gunner be okay just cause the new house is ready.  

[Erebus]

We won the ACL when it was like Rd3 of S3. The rest of the season we suffered with a ridiculous schedule and injuries.

 

Same thing next week. Tues away in Melbourne and Friday away in Brisbane. Wtf makes these draws.

There might not be a conspiracy and our players are definitely not good enough most of the time. But crucial decisions that can change a game are going against us which have a compounded effect because those moments are so important for us to get a result.

It's beyond a joke now.

 

[GD07]

Elrich bitched it on the first goal. (After Tate and Tas showed their inexperience)

[sonar]

1 minute ago, Erebus said:

We won the ACL when it was like Rd3 of S3. The rest of the season we suffered with a ridiculous schedule and injuries.

 

Same thing next week. Tues away in Melbourne and Friday away in Brisbane. Wtf makes these draws.

There might not be a conspiracy and our players are definitely not good enough most of the time. But crucial decisions that can change a game are going against us which have a compounded effect because those moments are so important for us to get a result.

It's beyond a joke now.

 

The crap decisions must have a residual effect on player morale and confidence when it repeatedly happens. We have had passages of brilliant play followed by U/8 defensive errors.We are right in a game with a chance to win and are finding ways to throw it away or have it taken away. So frustrating to watch. 

[Zelinsky]

The match report on the HAL web site shows just how out of touch us WSW supporters are.

There was not off side, there was not penalty call. There was no picture perfect free kick of Roly. There was no WSW side without Treejack, Riera, Ziegler, Baccus, JoD, Risdon, Bridge, and Yeboah coming off injured. There was no Jacobsen killing a WSW attack by embarrassing himself, playing dying swan, and being booed off the pitch. There was no Lia deliberately stomping into his opponents' ankle with this studs (it brought back memories of Saba being sent off for hitting the ball).

No, ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbours. According to John Greco's write up it was all about Goodwin who "shone brightly". See? Who would have thought? What do we know? Next time when it's match day I might just watch a re-run of the Muppet Show. That way I won't get confused as to what is real, what isn't, and keep my sanity.

https://www.a-league.com.au/news/western-sydney-wanderers-adelaide-united-analysis-reaction-a-league-anz-stadium-top-six-finals

 

[scarcev]

He is giving the kids a go not really because he wants to but because we really have no other choice, ABJ, Riera, Bridge injured, Risdon away, Bacchus suspended, Llorente, Janjetovic out of form and making costly errors as well as poor discipline.  This has forced guys like Hammill, Roly, Elrich to play 5 games back to back in a short period of time, Ziegler is playing not 100% fit, neither is Yeboah but he has to play them there's your senior team right there.. Might not be all rosy now but playing these kids will reap massive rewards for us either at the back end of the season (which is pointless with our current position anyway) or future seasons if we can keep them.

[Sithslayer1991]

nothing more to add to be honest. Positives youth having a shot and Babbels fashion sense

[HillsPanther]

31 minutes ago, sonar said:

The crap decisions must have a residual effect on player morale and confidence when it repeatedly happens. We have had passages of brilliant play followed by U/8 defensive errors.We are right in a game with a chance to win and are finding ways to throw it away or have it taken away. So frustrating to watch. 

Its hard to keep motivated when it is clear who the refs want to win.