Refs Take Centre Stage In Newy Draw

 

 

We Interrupt this program to advise you that JayZko will be taking some much needed time away from the forum.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

May the posts continue!

but reading hiz posts halps me improve ma inglish.

He taught us all how not to string sentences together.

 

We should all be very greatful.

 

He had some kind of PTSD over using full-stops, commas, and well, sentences. He's getting some therapy and hopefully he'll be back with a full arsenal of punctuation. But kids, never ever over use the exclamation mark. That is sacred!!!

Whatever we are doing wrong relates to what is happening in training. Technical skills, adaptable formations and movement off the ball all compliment each other. It just seems like we aren't doing enough ball skill work at training. Come the game time we panic when we get pressed and surrender possession. Then the formation doesn't really matter when you struggle to hold the ball. You just immediately go in a defensive and counter position, which is what we have been doing. I see Popa has someone who is bigger on the mental part of the game, than the technical. However there is no point getting the players mentally geared when after 5 mins of the game we can all see we are struggling to hold the ball, and go defensive. This is now becoming mentally challenging when we have very little of the ball, and therefore struggle to score more than one goal a game.

I also think there is this tendency to favour players when they are not performing, or past it. Bridge, Haliti and Cole are not first team starters (not the way they have been playing the last 6 months). Bridge and Haliti are a large part of our problem as they are lethargic and simply don't press or pressure. Same with Juric when it comes to pressing. This is why other teams get into our third so easy without any problems at all. I don't know how Popa doesn't see this. Yet he keeps favouring the same players when they are underperforming, so they get a free ride every week. But they listen to him and don't make too much of a fuss, so they get to stay in the team. Seems to be no urgency at all. Seems to be some politics which goes into player selection, and we end up being worse off for it.

I know you cant compare epl to aleague and the class of players however these teams know how to pass their way out of trouble by creating space on the pitch. Take Palace vs Liverpool this morning....Palace were defending quite well and Liverpool were having to retain posession for

up to 40 passes in a row at one stage....the ball went from the Palace goal right back to Mingolet and back up to the Palace goal. My point is that there were lots of quick sharp touches and passes being knocked around with players moving into space or creating space. All the movement was sharp, quick and composed. At times there was always a 2nd or 3rd player on the spot ready to take on the ball with the other positioning for a quick release forward. I know we are not a world class team however its the mechanics of this style of play that we should adopt into our game. We look farked when on the ball. We always seem to be a few paces behind and panic into airball when the defence press us. Surely popa can see this is happening?? I know we can't expect to be Barcelona, but a few of the aleague sides are starting to play a passing style game. It is us who have fallen behind being unable to match it with them or better it this season.

If we won yesterday - it would've rewarded mediocrity

Just reading the comments on here. People on here know their football.

No wonder Western Sydney is football heartland!

What annoys me is that when you watch us play  it seems that all game long, we are taking our time, being very defensive and just trying to keep possession. Then when we score with a few minutes to go we lose all composure , we just kick the ball up and hurry the game up....it just doesn't make sense.

As an example the free kick we had in injury time (which I think should have been a red card) instead of keeping possession we lose it and donate possession back to them from there they attack and get the penalty

Arriving at Hunter Stadium is always one of the highlights of the season for me. Looking forward to the day when we have reason to exit the ground in similar fashion.

 

Thanks FCB. Just gave me goosebumps watching that. WIn or lose, baby, win or lose. Farking love this club

 

 

Some Jets fans chanting at the away support on our way out of the stadium:

You're more cr@p than us,

You're more cr@p than us,

La la la la la la la laaa,

You're more cr@p than us!

Somehow I could not disagree ...

Did they win or something ?

Everyone knows the spoon is theirs, it's just a matter of when.

RBB sounded great today, turned it into a home match for us.

Wait til you have a bad run they said, well here it is and we're still turning up so that last question has been answered emphatically.

Still, if anyone has a problem with the team then vote with your feet, I have friends waiting for memberships.

So we shouldn't have an opinion and if we do just give our memberships to your friends so they can jump on he bandwagon? Have I got that right?

Lol @ bandwagon.

deleted post

 

 

 

Some Jets fans chanting at the away support on our way out of the stadium:

You're more cr@p than us,

You're more cr@p than us,

La la la la la la la laaa,

You're more cr@p than us!

Somehow I could not disagree ...

Did they win or something ?

Everyone knows the spoon is theirs, it's just a matter of when.

RBB sounded great today, turned it into a home match for us.

Wait til you have a bad run they said, well here it is and we're still turning up so that last question has been answered emphatically.

Still, if anyone has a problem with the team then vote with your feet, I have friends waiting for memberships.

So we shouldn't have an opinion and if we do just give our memberships to your friends so they can jump on he bandwagon? Have I got that right?

You've got it completely wrong but thanks for trying.

 

Lol @ bandwagon.

Sorry mate, I read "if anyone has a problem with the team then vote with your feet" as If you have a problem with the team, hand in your membership so your friends can have it. My bad, sorry for reading it wrong. How was it meant to read?

The people talking about the lack of movement are absolutely spot on, our forwards spent most of the game standing still expecting the ball. No wonder all our attacks end in us passing out to the fullbacks, there's never a forward option. I'll probably get slaughtered for this but that's where Bridge could have been handy. At the very least he'll move off the ball, even if he's not in a position to receive the ball he'll open up space for someone else

One thing that I haven't seen raised is how naive we were. We go a goal up that late, we should have 11 players behind the ball at all times. How they got a free shot to lead to the penalty I will never know, he should have had three guys on top of him. Also the free kick that Kalmar decided to shoot from a completely ridiculous position, why the hell didn't he run the ball to the corner or pass it around? It's like we've forgotten what to do to win a game of football

I disagree with the person above who said Poljak's a destroyer, for me he should be the box to box midfielder. I get the sense he just wants to bomb on forward but he's forced to restrain himself. A midfield three of La Rocca/Spira-Poljak-Takahagi could be effective in my opinion. I think Poljak's energy would complement Takahagi as the two advanced mids. He would do a lot of the defensive work and provide a passing option, but he'd also draw midfielders and create space for Yojiro to create. Similar to what Matt Mckay has done at Brisbane I guess

 I think some of the posts on here have been absolutely top notch and constructively criticizing the team. I think everyone needs to get their frustrations out after a game like that. I think its no coincidence we are playing bad football. We have been playing crap football every since Ante Milicic left us for the socceroos. Now this is not an indictment on Ian Crook who I think in the long term will be great for us, especially in terms on youth development. It is more a case of how well the working relationship was between Popovic and Milicic. Now before I hear the chorus of Ian Crook out , you have to remember that ultimately it is Tony Popovic who sets the tactics, picks the team etc. The thing that has got me wondering was how much of our success was down to Popovic and how much of it was down to Milicic. I think its fair to say we were lucky to have Milicic as our assistant coach because he should have been a head coach for an A-league side by now and in hindsight should have been the head coach of heart/city all those years ago. I think Milicic is someone who is able to influence Popovic to a certain degree and can get into Popovic's head a little bit more than Ian Crook can. Its not a criticism of Ian Cook either, its just that Popovic and Milicic probably have an almost telepathic relationship and that they compliment each other so well.

 

What is disappointing is this negative mindset we get into when we play "inferior" opposition. We all know that Newcastle have been having problems on and off the field, we know they are not a high scoring team, we know that have trouble creating chances and getting a shot on goal. With this in mind what are the thought processes in going to Newcastle with a 4-2-3-1 formation. We should be crushing a team like Newcastle and going for the jugular. For f*cks sake they had 60% possession on us in the first half after the first 25-30 minutes.

 

I think a lot of people under estimate playing positive attacking football. There is a positive mindsight when you go out there and look to score goals.  I am not saying Popovic is wrong either in playing more defensive either. The beauty of football is there is more than way of playing it and becoming successful. I just think when you play a more attacking style of football it creates a more positive environment in terms of team harmony, positive thinking (ie always thinking you can score anytime), creativity. There is nothing more demoralizing when you play a defensive style of football and you are chasing shadows all day, especially against teams you feel you should dominate.

 

There are a number of problems though and this is symptomatic of a lot of coaches. The philosophy or style of football we are playing is directly related to the style of football Popa believes in. It goes to the heart of how Popa believes football should be played. This continual belief in playing 4-3-2-1 constantly is doing everyones head in. Like I said before there is no right or wrong way to play football which is the great thing about this game, but as a coach you also need to be flexible in your approach and change things up when they are not working. In Popovics case he needs to recognise that playing 4-3-2-1 is not the only way to play football, in my view its certainly not the best way especially against a team like Newcastle.

 

Having said all that I think its important to recognise that Popa is still a young coach, he is still learning. He needs to take his ego out of the equation a little bit and become more adaptable, especially when we are chasing games. He has had success probably come a little bit too early in his career which has probably set him in his ways a little bit too much.  I want to see more positive play especially when we have good attacking weapons to absolute destroy teams, especially weaker ones like Newcastle.

 

Personally I would be benching someone like Topor because Hamill has been absolutely stellar for us as a CB. I would be putting Spira back in as a CB because like everyone else has noticed he plays like a CB in midfield, he does hold possession well but there is no go forward with him in midfield. I would be playing one holding midfielder  if any and that would be Poljak. He wins a ridiculous amount of ball in the midfield. You need to recognise he plays a bit like a poor mans Mile Jedinak. He is a midfield destroyer, he reads the play well, he tackles well, is ok in the air, but he doesn't distribute the ball all that well and lacks the sort of creativity that someone like Kalmar has. I would play Ruka on the left and tell him not to cut inside, play him as an out and out winger. Instead of playing long diagonal balls to him, which worked a few times, we ended up constantly trying the same tactic throughout the game. For goodness sake we had Mullins marking him and we all know how slow Mullins is. Just sit Ruka on the half way line, play the ball up the line and make him chase after it and leave Mullin in his dust.

 

We should have won that game and won it comfortably because Newcastle is a team we should not be fearing. Watching that was very frustrating. COYW.

Jukes, last week I replied to a comment you made about Spira being too negative to play as a DM.  In my opinion Spira is one of only a few players who can hold their head up high after yesterdays performance. I still believe he is our best defensive midfielder by some way and will only improve the more games he plays there.

However, this really is the only point I strongly disagree with you about in this last post. It's an extremely well thought out and constructed post.

We've all noticed and commented that things need to change.  Changing personnel doesn't count as changing tactics and the sooner Popa realises this the better.  Like you, I too would like to see us play with one defensive midfielder (but Spira in that role )  and two attacking centre midfielders.  You'd find Spira would play forward more as that's where his options would be.  When we have the ball, opposition DM's would need to play as man markers and this way we could create a lot of space through the centre if our two attacking CM's are very mobile. Rotating the midfield triangle would be a very simple change to make, yet we'd be changing the way we attack to short, sharp passes through the guts and if this doesn't bring joy THEN knock the ball out wide.

You mentioned earlier that we need less Bridge and more Kalmar.  I couldn't agree more. Kalmar is killing it.

With respect Steve I hate when teams take the ball to the corner flag. That to me is just negative football, teams settling on a result because they are more worried about the opposition than their own ability. The same goes with pointless substitutions in the last minutes of a game. I understand why teams do it, but it drives me crazy. You are correct Poljak is a box to box midfielder but going forward should be a rare occurence ie if an opportunity presents, if we have enough cover etc. I trust Poljak winning the ball, I dont trust him so much with the ball. He has a limited passing range.

Maybe we just have differing opinions on how we like our football played which is cool. Each to their own.

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

What annoys me is that when you watch us play it seems that all game long, we are taking our time, being very defensive and just trying to keep possession. Then when we score with a few minutes to go we lose all composure , we just kick the ball up and hurry the game up....it just doesn't make sense.

As an example the free kick we had in injury time (which I think should have been a red card) instead of keeping possession we lose it and donate possession back to them from there they attack and get the penalty

I know i am clutching at straws here with this but as funny as the goal celebration was...do we think that the added time of 4mins was factored in from that celebration as well?? Did we lose our composure and fail to see it out after that moment. The Jets players looked very farked off about the celebration and were focused on the kickoff....while i thought it was one of the best celebrations ive seen 😂 onya Santa! I was hoping it wouldnt come back to haunt us concentration wise.

 

 

Arriving at Hunter Stadium is always one of the highlights of the season for me. Looking forward to the day when we have reason to exit the ground in similar fashion.

 

Thanks FCB. Just gave me goosebumps watching that. WIn or lose, baby, win or lose. Farking love this club

Epic scenes that no other club replicates when on the road. We carry the league in travelling attendances.

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. Train the boys to be comfortable on the ball and there's no need to run down to the corner. Unfortunately we don't have that comfort in possession. Our youth squads should be playing this type of football through so it filters through over the years.

Can any one tell me what Ian Crook has done at youth level that holds him in such high regards in youth development?

Well just go back, last WSW fan back in town, probably lol

Some observations, most important first

The fish n chips at scotties near Fort Scratchley remain the damned finest in Australia in my opinion 

The Grain Store had some very nice ales on tap, as per usual

The crowne plaza has a pretty **** fine hotel breakfast range

The game, scanned over the thread pretty quick but can see my opinions already well documented. Thank god for the RBB or it would have been totally dead atmosphere wise.

Two really poor teams just about sums it up lol I certainly don't think either side deserved to win, that first half is probably the worst 45 mins of football I have seen for a long time. Passing completion rate from both sides must have been really poor, movement looked poor, no energy and looking for space. How many times was the ball needlessly given away time after time by both sides. 

It was a game between the bottom two and it certainly looked like it. Trying to forget the game was part of an otherwise very enjoyable weekend. 

If we won yesterday - it would've rewarded mediocrity

True that however 3 points are 3 vital points but it would be nice to see us play to our full potential with a entertaining brand of football. We look light years behind the likes of Adelaide and Victory who seem to be able to pass and move the ball around without it being hoofed into the air.

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then

 

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then

So winning the ACL was dependant on taking the ball to the corner flags. Sorry but I have to disagree with you. If you think we won because of this tactic then all power to you. Like I have said there is no right or wrong way to play football including if you wish to take the ball to the corner flags. My preference is not to do it. I think its a negative way of playing football.

 

 

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then

So winning the ACL was dependant on taking the ball to the corner flags. Sorry but I have to disagree with you. If you think we won because of this tactic then all power to you. Like I have said there is no right or wrong way to play football including if you wish to take the ball to the corner flags. My preference is not to do it. I think its a negative way of playing football.

Jukes I do agree with you. I hate when players take the ball to the corner, especially when it's only like the 85th minute. But we a desperate for a win, kick the ball out of the stadium for all I care lol

 

 

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then (If we played possession based football against those Asian giants we would of got f-ucked)

>>So winning the ACL was dependant on taking the ball to the corner flags. <<(Not what I implied at all) Sorry but I have to disagree with you. If you think we won because of this tactic then all power to you. Like I have said there is no right or wrong way to play football including if you wish to take the ball to the corner flags. My preference is not to do it. I think its a negative way of playing football. 

 

Unsure how we arrived here. My point is this: If we dribbled the ball into the corner and shut down the game we probably would of won.

You got what you wanted we didn't dribble the ball into the corner flag and we invited Newcastle back.

 

 

 

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then

So winning the ACL was dependant on taking the ball to the corner flags. Sorry but I have to disagree with you. If you think we won because of this tactic then all power to you. Like I have said there is no right or wrong way to play football including if you wish to take the ball to the corner flags. My preference is not to do it. I think its a negative way of playing football.

If we did take the ball to the corner, used up some remaining minutes with possession and ended up winning 1-0 would this discussion be taking place? We needed the win. If it meant playing 'negatively' I'm pretty sure 99% of our fan base (always going to be the people who complain no matter what!) wouldn't care because we would have bagged 3 points!

Jukes I do agree with you. I hate when players take the ball to the corner, especially when it's only like the 85th minute. But we a desperate for a win, kick the ball out of the stadium for all I care lol

Too many ifs. If we took the ball to the corner we still might have at some stage gifted Newcastle possession and they still might have scored. Who is to say.

Negative football is still negative football.

 

 

 

 

@Jukes

If we took the ball to the corner, instead of taking that bat **** effort of a shot we would of got the result.

We can agree to disagree. My philosophy on football is to be able to hold possession and not resort to going to the corner flags. I will always play to win a match rather than to lose a match. If that makes sense.

We would never have won the ACL then (If we played possession based football against those Asian giants we would of got f-ucked)

>>So winning the ACL was dependant on taking the ball to the corner flags. <<(Not what I implied at all) Sorry but I have to disagree with you. If you think we won because of this tactic then all power to you. Like I have said there is no right or wrong way to play football including if you wish to take the ball to the corner flags. My preference is not to do it. I think its a negative way of playing football. 

 

 

Unsure how we arrived here. My point is this: If we dribbled the ball into the corner and shut down the game we probably would of won.

 

You got what you wanted we didn't dribble the ball into the corner flag and we invited Newcastle back.

 

Exactly. They did it beautifully in the ACL (especially Saba) where all that mattered was the result. Yesterday was not about playing exciting football, but about being successful and winning. They got the first part right, but not the second part.

Had it been nil all after 94 minutes then it would have been a sequel of "the good, the bad, and the ugly" (minus "the good"). But it wasn't nil all, we were leading, and then we sent them an invitation to come forward, and they made the most of it. Totally unacceptable.

If we play like this in the ACL we'll be gone after the first three matches.

Two things:

1. You play within the rules of the game

2. It might not tell the truth, but the table doesn't lie

You say negative football? That's great. You want to support the team that can win in an "accepted" fashion.

But can we afford to play that way?

When we can confidently pass triangles around teams then by all means do it. Until then take it to the corner.

I was yelling at kalmar last week to take it to the corner right up until santa tapped it in!