Jump to content

Milanovic Hat-trick Downs The Jets

mack

By mack
in Western Sydney Wanderers

Recommended Posts

nmh94

nmh94

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, HillsPanther said:

Does anyone know what the attendance was last night? I couldn't see an official number, but the stadium looked quite empty. Maybe the club has stopped counting.

It looked about the same as last week. Unsurprisingly that it was poor given we had 6 consecutive home losses before last night, and Friday night has never been a great crowd drawer for us. The good weather was the only thing going for it last night.

Unlimited

Unlimited

Posted
Posted

Watched the game on replay as I got my days mixed up - I thought Wanderers were Saturday and Coldplay was Sunday…

Anyway, that’s being on holiday I guess. That was a good performance but the Jets were terribly bad.

But that’s a good thing because they had Wilmering, Natta, and Grozos starting and it’s never a good sign if you have players like that who move clubs and then win against us :( 

MartinTyler

MartinTyler

Posted
Posted

A few random thoughts.....whilst not brilliant it was a performance that easily saw off a poor Newcastle side. Actually reckon the line-up and intensity would probably have beaten Western and at least grabbed a draw against Adelaide. Nice to see Milanovic get his hat-trick as he has been below par so far this season so hopefully he kicks on. I felt that Holmes has more of a presence in goal which contributed greatly to the performance. Jeong had an improved game but the jury's still out for mine. I still think that Brillante has an important role to play and at the moment I'd take him and Scicluna over Priestman, although Scicluna did get worryingly caught in possession a few times. Pantazopoulos put in a decent shift at left back but I'm not sure he's the permanent answer there. Kraev put the hard yards in as did Borello but Brandon still takes too many wrong options IMHO. Sapsford was a livewire but still has to have more of a presence to command a regular place.

On to our ex players in the opposition; Grozos is decent but had little influence on the game. Wilmering, Aquilina and particularly Natta were woeful and would get nowhere near our starting eleven on that form.

102megan

102megan

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, HillsPanther said:

Does anyone know what the attendance was last night? I couldn't see an official number, but the stadium looked quite empty. Maybe the club has stopped counting.

6,220. 
 

Towards the end of last season we did have a couple of 5k home crowds. 

Upthehill

Upthehill

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, mack said:

Natta pulled out one of the worst performances an A-League defender has ever had. The only thing missing was getting sent off.

Yeah he was beyond hopeless. 3 goals directly attributed to him. Foul tackle that gave away the FK for Mila. He then tried to give Sapsford a shove instead of defending. Then gave away the pen. 

Arguably it was all four. Mila's shot from outside the box was the worst attempt at blocking a shot I think Ive ever seen. 

Could be nice and say he conceded three but it's really four if you set the standard to an actual AL level

StringerBellend

StringerBellend

Posted
Posted (edited)

Natta's game was worse than Jeongs derby effort which is really saying something. 

To be fair to Jeong he had a decent game against the Jets (penalty aside).

Edited by StringerBellend
Upthehill

Upthehill

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, StringerBellend said:

Natta's game was worse than Jeongs derby effort which is really saying something. 

To be fair to Jeong he had a decent game against the Jets (penalty aside).

Im not even worried about the pen. It was pretty soft (but still a pen) and we would have torn shreds off him if he didnt stick a leg out and just let the defender go. The attacker earned that more than we gave it up.

nmh94

nmh94

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, 102megan said:

6,220. 
 

Towards the end of last season we did have a couple of 5k home crowds. 

The lowest crowd so far this season for any team except Macarthur and WU. The fan base has really dropped off.

Unlimited

Unlimited

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, nmh94 said:

The lowest crowd so far this season for any team except Macarthur and WU. The fan base has really dropped off.

Would've been 6,221 if I got my dates correct!

Coldplay last night was great btw

Unlimited

Unlimited

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, StringerBellend said:

 

 

Will your opinion improve if I told you that a big reason I took the ticket was because a girl I liked was going too and I was hoping she and I would meet up before/after? (We, of course, did not)

Anyway, I actually only know their stuff from hearing it around the place. They asked the audience to singalong last night and this issue became very evident, I was belting out: AND LIGHTS WILL GUIIIIIDE YOU HOME ??? (mumble mumble mumble) ??? ??? ??? ??? AND I WILL TRYYYYY TO FIX YOU!

Good times :ninja:

StringerBellend

StringerBellend

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, Unlimited said:

Will your opinion improve if I told you that a big reason I took the ticket was because a girl I liked was going too and I was hoping she and I would meet up before/after? (We, of course, did not)

Anyway, I actually only know their stuff from hearing it around the place. They asked the audience to singalong last night and this issue became very evident, I was belting out: AND LIGHTS WILL GUIIIIIDE YOU HOME ??? (mumble mumble mumble) ??? ??? ??? ??? AND I WILL TRYYYYY TO FIX YOU!

Good times :ninja:

It would have if she'd have met up with you dude.

Your sing-along makes me thing of rugby league players doing the national anthem.

Grunt grunt something about sea.. grunt ..

HillsPanther

HillsPanther

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, 102megan said:

6,220. 
 

Towards the end of last season we did have a couple of 5k home crowds. 

That is more than I thought. I have been living interstate for a few years, so this was my first home game for a while. Aside from the RBB, the atmosphere from the rest of the ground was a lot different from a few years ago. I guess it is to be expected with so many empty seats. At least the RBB was still rocking.

StringerBellend

StringerBellend

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, HillsPanther said:

That is more than I thought. I have been living interstate for a few years, so this was my first home game for a while. Aside from the RBB, the atmosphere from the rest of the ground was a lot different from a few years ago. I guess it is to be expected with so many empty seats. At least the RBB was still rocking.

It felt like less than 6000 for sure. 

SBW

SBW

Posted
Posted

It was a good win, better performance than last week.

Scicluna was boss in midfield, Kraev is a beast of a player, glad to have him in our team, Milanovic had a great game and but I think Sapsford was the better player at night, that goal he scored was just class. Panta was immense at LB and I hope he gets a start in the derby over Clisby who once again has shown how useless he is when he came on.

Holmes I think made a huge difference to our defensive backline, his communication to Bonnetig and Jeong by directing them from the back and they both looked far more settled, and I think this was missing in the first 3 games of the season. One thing Holmes needs improvement on is his distribution, especially if we are playing out from the back, his distribution has it times caught out our players from Newcastle's press.

One other thing is that while the 4-1 scoreline was great, I think we should have scored more goals as we were being wasteful at every other opportunity we get when we attack, there have been instances when Milanovic and Hammond tried to go for the goal themselves only to waste those chances instead of trying to set up the goal for other players, I have seen the frustration from Kraev, Mata and Borello having a go at them for wasting the chances.

BoyFromTheWest

BoyFromTheWest

Posted
Posted

Totally agree with that last point. Mila, for me, runs with his head down and goes for glory too often or gets himself in a situation where he can't do anything because he's held on too long. Other younger players need to be able to test the game as they get the ball and when they run - earlier release sometimes would set up a much better option.

BohemianDublin

BohemianDublin

Posted
Posted

We were much better.
Albeit the Jets were poorer than either Sydney or Adelaide.

The good things are, we got the ball forward quickly.
When you have good pace & acceleration in your front four, give them the ball, early.
["give him the ball and a yard of grass"].
Mila, Kraev, Borrello, Sapsford and Hammond can all run at opposing players.

Scicluna is good, just play him.
Priestman is better than Brilliante, play him.
[I can handle the occasional 'visit from the stuff-up fairy', due to inexperience]

Pantaz... wears black boots.
AND tucks his shirt in.
Old School, no nonsense, so I love him already.
[Clisby seems like a good bloke, but sometimes ya have to give a good guy a hug and...]

The not so good thing is that, we're still mucking about at the back.
The kick-out thing, all the time, has got to stop.
We shouldn't be putting ourselves under pressure from a kick-out.

Finally, The RBB are great.
We'd be lost without them.
They seem like nice guys.
If they want to involve the rest of the crowd (and I love when they do).
[the wdwsf and w-e-s-t are iconic in their own little ways].
Can they stop shouting with such expletives the whole time?
As an old bloke, it's not a good situation.
Some of the songs could have been a little better...
... if the idea is to involve more people/get more people to sing.
[esp the song about a wonderful football victory in Asia]

The players at the end, want to join in,
but they can't sing about telling a rival to go forth and multiple.
[even if they want to]

Make the RBB inclusive.
Make them the truly great supporter group that they are!
[couple minor lyric changes and we're home and hosed]

JustWandering

JustWandering

Posted
Posted

I am so used to us getting outmuscled over the years that it felt like a new dawn to see us physically dominant from the outset.  It was interesting to see Mata come on as a holding midfielder. Staj said after the game that Mata has been training in that position and is doing well. All of a sudden our central midfield does not feel weak, especially with the promising performances of Sciclina and Brilliante.

mack

mack

Posted
  • Author
Posted

He’s won World Cups and Champions Leagues. But he can’t get a start in the A-League

The player agent who brought Juan Mata to the Western Sydney Wanderers has taken aim at coach Alen Stajcic for failing to build his team around the former Premier League star, saying it was “insane” and “disrespectful” to leave the marquee man languishing on the bench.

Mata, 36, arrived at the Wanderers amid great fanfare this season despite fears over his record since leaving Manchester United two years ago, having played just 19 games for his two previous clubs – Turkey’s Galatasaray and Japan’s Vissel Kobe – at an average of just 27 minutes per appearance.

The veteran midfielder, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, dismissed any concerns about his fitness and physicality upon his arrival - as did Stajcic, who described Mata as a “wonderful addition” to his squad, and said his capacity to show his quality on the pitch was a “given”.

But just four rounds into the new A-League Men season, there are hints of tension between Mata and the club – at least if the words of his Australian representative, the outspoken ex-Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar star Fahid Ben Khalfallah, are anything to go by.

Mata was brought on as a substitute in the 84th minute of the Wanderers’ 4-1 win over the Newcastle Jets on Friday night, touching the ball seven times and completing five of his six attempted passes as a defensive midfielder. Stajcic said the decision to not start him was made in the best interests of the “balance of the team”, and that he was still assessing which players fitted in which positions, praising Mata for his display once he came on.

Last week, after bringing Mata off at half-time of the Wanderers’ 4-3 defeat to Adelaide United, Stajcic had suggested the “intensity” of the A-League may have caught him by surprise, as it has done for many foreigners.

Speaking on the A-League Off Air podcast, Khalfallah said he believed Mata would be easily the best player in the competition if Stajcic made him the focal point of the Wanderers’ system – and that he was “really, really upset” that he hadn’t.

“I think it’s just insane … I don’t understand,” he said. “When you bring someone like him, you have to play him in a system that suits him. I couldn’t believe he only came on for eight minutes or whatever. I think it’s disrespectful. I hate it. I really, really hate it because it makes no sense to me.

“And I’m so sick, so sick of those coaches saying, ‘Oh yeah, but the intensity.’ OK, we will talk about someone who won the World Cup, won the Euro, Champions League, played in England for 10 years – he’s always been one of the most intelligent and most technical players of his generation. He wasn’t quick, he wasn’t the strongest. So despite that, he was one of the best players in the world.

“And we’re talking about A-League intensity. You must be kidding. Put horses on the pitch, they will be running – but they can’t kick a ball, and they can’t play. They can’t pass the ball. Seriously, I’m disgusted to hear that kind of stuff.”

Khalfallah said the A-League’s capacity to sign big-name players in future could be damaged if Mata was to leave Western Sydney after a negative experience, and that coaches and other players around the competition had expressed their bewilderment about the situation to him.

“Coaches, they do whatever they want. But I’m very disappointed,” he said. “Juan, we speak every day. Obviously what we say, it stays between us. He’s the most professional player. He goes there, he works.

“When you see him on the bench, he’s celebrating with everyone. He’s happy. He would never say anything because that’s the way he is. It is insane, his kindness. He’s so humble. And when I see the way we do things toward him ... no, I don’t like it. But it’s me talking, not him.
 
“They have to find a way to make it work with him. And then if it didn’t work, OK, we can say things.

“Maybe with him, you would have won six or 7-1 [against Newcastle]. If you’re telling me that wasn’t the kind of game where he could have been amazing with the space …

“If we brought Messi, maybe we can say, ‘Oh, Messi, there’s no intensity. He doesn’t run any more.’ So now maybe we’re not interested by Messi.”

Stajcic declined to respond to Khalfallah’s comments.

The Wanderers return to action next Saturday night at Allianz Stadium against Sydney FC, the centrepiece match of the A-Leagues’ Unite Round in Sydney.

pseudonym

pseudonym

Posted
Posted

I don't understand why Ben is so annoyed. His client has received a lot of money to do little work. Even if WSW were to win the grand final, Mata would only spend one season here.

I'm sure Mata will get time to enjoy the beach here - which a lot of international players seem to like about the A league.

:unknw:

Smoggy

Smoggy

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, pseudonym said:

I don't understand why Ben is so annoyed. His client has received a lot of money to do little work. Even if WSW were to win the grand final, Mata would only spend one season here.

I'm sure Mata will get time to enjoy the beach here - which a lot of international players seem to like about the A league.

:unknw:

 

‘But it’s me talking, not him’………ok..hmm

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...