Same Old Wanderers Fall To Macarthur Debut Defeat

14 minutes ago, MartinTyler said:

I noticed that, particularly in the second half....there was one instance when they were too busy showing Muller's new hair style/colour. Fox's coverage is going to be that much more painfu l this season without Simon Hill.

Like the 10 minutes they spent on the Rose interview instead of showing what was happening on the field.

42 minutes ago, sonar said:

Georgeivski last season bought his hands to his chest as protection and got penalized............last night the Macarthur player wasn't. Inconsistency in rule interpretation. 

They definitely got it wrong with DG last season, they even admitted it during the week. 
i honestly can’t say that was a pen last night. His hands were by his side and the ball pretty much smashed him in the gut.

Our frustration should be directed towards things like Cox getting an intercept, being 1v1 with the keeper then deciding to wait for support rather than driving at the goal. Or Yeboah spooning a header into the fourth row.

These are things we (the players) can control. We can’t control refs and we can’t control VAR. I want to see DG getting fired up about mistakes and being a leader, not throwing tanties cause he gets a horrible decision. 

Two things from the post-match interview:

A) Nice to have an articulate coach.

B) How bad is Australian football journalism at the moment - even by its already poor standards. Stupid questions but also a couple of these flogs struggled to string a coherent sentence together to the point where Robbo is asking them what they meant (which I am sure they did not know).

What I hope we do not have is another season where the curse of the gold star haunts us again. Meaning that we have no luck, yes good sides make their own luck but at the moment we are not a good side.

That for me was the difference last night, luck. They were lucky to score and we were not.

In Robinson's post match interview he said some decisions didn't go our way and some players are not up to speed yet. I hope he's not going down the path of our previous manager's that have used these as excuses. 

The other concern for me is this 3/5 at the back. I wonder how long Robinson will continue with it.

Lots of input here and generally valid points, the keepers, Cox, the spaniards, etc

the one thing i took away last night, in my humble opinion Troisi is going to be a force for us this season, don't think he was at his best last night but still was moving and blocking and passing with adroitness, he is a class football player and will come to the fore, looking forward to see some linking play with Muller in future, believe these two are on another level from the rest.

1 hour ago, MartinTyler said:

I'm not going to join the doom and gloom merchants just yet (and there are far more on FB than here!!) as there were certainly encouraging signs even though the Bulls were marginally better on the night. We had some decent passages of play at times, something not really seen last season even when we were winning at the start.

Must admit I didn't expect Dorrans or Ibini to start as they have not had the best of pre-season build ups but maybe the boss decided to take that risk. Both were disappointing but I'm fairly confident that we will see better from them as the season progresses. Baccus didn't start that well but grew as the game went on as it appeared that he had more work to do as Dorrans wasn't really effective. Tate Russell was probably our best and I did read that he had a minor injury when he was subbed. Biggest worry for me was Cox; I really want him to do well and he certainly looks fitter but he still appears to lumber around for most of the game. No other real shockers but our formation did lead to the Bulls having too much space at times.

Ibini looked well under cooked..showing every bit of a disrupted pre season. Barely had 45mins in him...needs more game time..expect him not to complete a full game for a little while.

9 hours ago, StringerBellend said:

I think I watched a different game, we didn’t give him that much to do.

OK...not that much but a bit...so they didn't completely dominate us all game, and we weren't hopeless.

4 hours ago, Smoggy said:

Cox drilled one straight at him that looked spectacular, but you expect it to be saved. Yes the Baccus one was good.

2 hours ago, FCB said:

Magush was forced to make one save throughout the game, Federici a few more, and he made a difference.

2 hours ago, sonar said:

I don't think it's a doom and gloom squad but more that folks are extremely frustrated with how we have been playing over the past three seasons at least. 

Sure...but we need more patience than to write off the possibility of improvement only 94 minutes into the season (not saying you've said THAT, but some here are far too pessimistic at this early in the season.)

2 hours ago, Upthehill said:

Even if we say only 1 was a real stunner, we forced 4 saves out of Feds. Margush was bested by Milligan’s arse. Other than that there was no threat on goal, though mostly because Najjar couldn’t head a ball to save his life

1 hour ago, HillsPanther said:

Like the 10 minutes they spent on the Rose interview instead of showing what was happening on the field.

That was ridiculous...unbelievable!

I can't ever remember seeing that before!

21 minutes ago, lloydy136 said:

Good to have football back.

And good to see you back Lloydy! 

2 hours ago, HillsPanther said:

Like the 10 minutes they spent on the Rose interview instead of showing what was happening on the field.

Oh I miss Simon Hill.....

^^^

PS Isn't it interesting how details of  that first season remain so vivid in the memory!

9 minutes ago, Potkorok said:

Oh I miss Simon Hill.....

Absolutely.

1 minute ago, FCB said:

I was thinking back to S1 where had that kind of luck. Eight years on we seem to have all forgotten just how lucky were were at times.

The first 10 rounds were hit and miss, lots of effort and hard work, but no convincing performances. We could easily have lost all four games against the Roar, but won them all. The 2-1 against the VIC on NYD when Finkler did his knee in early in the game, that win set the tone for 2013. Rd18 against Heart when Polenz was red carded, Ante saved the penalty, and Dino milked a penalty late in the game. We should never have won that that game. We should never have won the game in the rain up in Gosford which opened the door to the premiership.

Also, I vividly recall S1 Rd1, it was an eye soar, really. Very very ordinary. Yesterday was a different story. We created enough chances to win the game. We looked okay. Not great, but okay.

But importantly, we looked fit, and maintained structure even when the subs were made. There are young players on the bench, some of them will develop into good enough HAL players. Dorrans, Troisi, Ibini will be in different in weeks to come. There will be 2, maybe 3 more players coming next month.

We don't need hope. We just need more of the good stuff we saw yesterday. Luck, the football and the results will then sort themselves out. Maybe like in S1.

A fully firing Ibini, Dorrans, Muller (from the start) and the continued improvement of Russell is all cause for optimism. I think someone in the thread earlier mentioned they were surprised that Dorrans and Ibini both started, I am also as both are clearly well off the pace at the moment. Much better to come from them.

As such perhaps not a bad time for the Bull to catch us. They were fired up and read for their first game, we looked a few weeks away from our best.

36 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

we looked a few weeks away from our best.

And Robinson has always said that we won't start the season at our best, for obvious reasons that have already been discussed. He's a realist and it is refreshing to hear.

Now that everyone mentioned how crap was Fox coverage of the game and the last A-league games as well. It was unbeleivably annoying. Idk if itsthe finance cuts, that they don't  care, that I have been watching alot of Optus sports or if this stuff was always around with Foxsports but the likes of Simon Hill was making it watchable. 

What annoyed me most is the dropkicks advertising other sports while in play of the game. The sooner A-league drops Fox the better.

3 hours ago, WSWJACK said:

Lots of input here and generally valid points, the keepers, Cox, the spaniards, etc

the one thing i took away last night, in my humble opinion Troisi is going to be a force for us this season, don't think he was at his best last night but still was moving and blocking and passing with adroitness, he is a class football player and will come to the fore, looking forward to see some linking play with Muller in future, believe these two are on another level from the rest.

Agree re Troisi. Adelaide Utd fans tried to convince us all he wouldn't work at all. He was one of the most hard working players on the pitch, seemed organised and statistically, created the most chances in the team. He will only improve from here I would think. Hoping for the same for Dorrans. 

2 hours ago, lloydy136 said:

cox is not a hold up the ball type guy

One thing I noticed is that Ibini, while certainly unfit, used his body really well and used his structural build to his advantage. Looks to be a player who has good hold up play. Hoping to see the best of him in the coming weeks.

50 minutes ago, Wanderboy said:

And Robinson has always said that we won't start the season at our best, for obvious reasons that have already been discussed. He's a realist and it is refreshing to hear.

Agree, while it was disappointing to start the season like this, I think we could come good during the season. I think we have definitely improved on last season and there were some brilliant passages of play last night with unfortunately no end product. Mind you, we still want to sign players, so I can only see this team getting stronger. For me, as long as we make the 6 thats all that matters, because its what you do in the finals that matters in the A-League. No one really cares about the Premiers, its all about the Champions. Should we continue to strengthen the team and improve performances and results throughout the season, a finals run could be on the cards.

3 hours ago, FCB said:

I was thinking back to S1 where had that kind of luck. Eight years on we seem to have all forgotten just how lucky were were at times.

The first 10 rounds were hit and miss, lots of effort and hard work, but no convincing performances. We could easily have lost all four games against the Roar, but won them all. The 2-1 against the VIC on NYD when Finkler did his knee in early in the game, that win set the tone for 2013. Rd18 against Heart when Polenz was red carded, Ante saved the penalty, and Dino milked a penalty late in the game. We should never have won that that game. We should never have won the game in the rain up in Gosford which opened the door to the premiership.

Also, I vividly recall S1 Rd1, it was an eye soar, really. Very very ordinary. Yesterday was a different story. We created enough chances to win the game. We looked okay. Not great, but okay.

But importantly, we looked fit, and maintained structure even when the subs were made. There are young players on the bench, some of them will develop into good enough HAL players. Dorrans, Troisi, Ibini will be in different in weeks to come. There will be 2, maybe 3 more players coming next month.

We don't need hope. We just need more of the good stuff we saw yesterday. Luck, the football and the results will then sort themselves out. Maybe like in S1.

The thing with luck in footy is to a degree you make your own luck. Pissing about at the back and constantly turning the ball over in our own half led to the goal. 

drives me mad

Positives.
Ziggy, very solid. The no nonsense, ToporStan is his prime, defender, we've been missing.
Baccus, give the kid more of the ball.
Russell, ditto.
Margush, good start, adequate replacement for Lopar.
Tass, I've always liked him, his pace and ball playing make up for his statue (but alongside man-mountain, Ziggy, he'll be ok).
Cockatoo Muller, he's lively, tries stuff and moves the ball quickly and forward. Simple and effective.

Need to see a bit more.
Troisi & Dorrans.
I'm not sure they know what formation we're playing?
If Troisi is playing at #10, he spends a lot of time out wide. If he isn't, who is?
Ibini, he just looked like that new random kid, who doesn't know anybody and comes down for a trial.

Definite early worrys.
Georgievski. Look, seems like a great bloke and the player your Supporters Club would love at the end of season function.
But a career in media, even reading the weather report beckons... the sooner the better.
Cox. Perhaps not the biggest lump of lard we've had up front, and God knows we've had a few,
but Jaysus Simon, were you down sinking pints with the backpackers on Bronte over the Chrimbo?

And the real concern...
We don't look like a team. No cohesion.
It's as if we've never played together before? [Northbridge MacArthur looked like a team who'd been around for a decade]
And then there's the formation. 3-5-2 is bollox on the evidence of last night.
If it's 3 at the back, then there's way too much space in behind the full backs.
If it's 5, then we concede too much in midfield, have nothing going forward and burn-out the 'wing-backs'.

Where the **** is the culture, the spirit, the have a go/we represent something gone?

Ah yes, great to have the football season back.

Babbel won the first 3 matches of the season

#Babbelin

Have to say that was largely pleased with our effort last night - better than I thought we'd do and improvement in many aspects of last season. We've had a coach for 2.5 months, 4 new seniors players for about 2 weeks and the rest have been worked hard to get fit. Macs have had a lot of early time to build a team and Milicic has taken a long time to build the team. They're a good outfit and ready to play.

We caused Federici more problems than they caused Margush. He was very good - everyone has commented on this and he saved their butt. 

Our back 3 worked differently to last year.  Ziggy or Tass often helped bring the ball out rather than 3 sitting back. The midfield was definitely stronger than last season - with more room for improvement. I thought DG and JT worked well together and this will get better. We played out 90 minutes! Tate has grown and did very well, as did Baccus - he seemed to have more freedom last night. The passing through the back happened but was faster and less repetitive than previously. We moved out from the back quicker and more deliberately more often - still a work in progress. And, Robbo wasn't afraid to change it up, try something else and use subs.

The long balls through to Cox and crosses into him gave him no chance against 2 monsters who were head and shoulders over him and shoving him around.  He got nothing from the ref - except an undeserved yellow.

VAR needs to be quicker and more straightforward. If the ref has to watch 5 minutes of slow replays with someone in his ear convincing him he was wrong, something ain't right.

Milligan was okay but more reputation than product last night - especially when his most significant contribution was an unintended bum shot. Rose is largely blond hair and flare. The Spaniards will be a force when they get going.

A draw would have been fair, even though we drew more difficult saves.

Lol we have our very own AFTV (Arsenal Fan TV) now, check out what they had to say regarding the match: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxlZGFnVVeeFJtoRuZCwXWQ

Man.....I apologise for all my beer induced rants last night, but can someone please explain to me how someone like Cox didn't put the ball in the back of the net from that Russell run into the box? Jesus H, that should be automatic/in the flow and bread and butter for someone with his experience.

Also I don't get the whole "we're a few weeks away" business. The comp doesn't start in a few weeks - it started last night. How are we so undercooked? 

I don't know if anyone noticed but we changed formation (4-3-3) with the Tass substitution at 80 minutes. 

As someone above said, Aquilina should have come on for Georgievski. 

Ibini should have come on as a sub as he was gassed at 40 minutes.

Kurt Ams did not use his whistle when should of with Susjar and Jovanavic using the elbows on Cox and Ibini.

And, I agree with Robinson, the free kick that resulted in the goal we not a free kick. Ams should have kept his whistle in pocket for that one.

24 minutes ago, ZachMercer said:

Man.....I apologise for all my beer induced rants last night, but can someone please explain to me how someone like Cox didn't put the ball in the back of the net from that Russell run into the box? Jesus H, that should be automatic/in the flow and bread and butter for someone with his experience.

Also I don't get the whole "we're a few weeks away" business. The comp doesn't start in a few weeks - it started last night. How are we so undercooked? 

The manager decided to play the youth in pre-season trials.....hence the lack of combination from senior players. They are not match fit at present.

 Ibini was not training with the squad while he was still in Newcastle.......Troisi only came on board a week or so ago....Dorrans has just got out of quarantine. They are not match fit at present.

We are stuck with Cox as we let go Mo Adam.

 Muller should of started with Troisi up front.  

Lots of good points of view in here.

overall a close game decided by a bit of luck nothing too much to worry about yet the squad has come together quite late so yes will take some time signings over last few weeks have at least given us chance to hopefully fight for top 6 berth 

didn’t look possible a few weeks ago at all 

as others have said glad to see football back 

macarthur are going to be a good side the fact their Spanish guys come off the bench and Oar not even in squad indicates they can also get better 

7 hours ago, THEWANDERERSPOST said:

Lol we have our very own AFTV (Arsenal Fan TV) now, check out what they had to say regarding the match: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxlZGFnVVeeFJtoRuZCwXWQ

Going to go out in a limb here, but this stuff does nothing to improve the Wanderers. Makes us a laughing stock to the league.
 

I mean I like it when Arsenal loses just to see Arsenal Tv after.

‘Give it time’ is loser mentality - the start of the season is clear to all so you make sure you’re ready to go. We have the worlds longest off/pre-season and even with the uncertainty around covid etc there was still more than enough time to prepare once the start dates were set.

This concept that teams have some sort of grace period at the start of a new season is one of the greatest bits of BS in sport. I go back to work on Monday and am expected to be firing on all cylinders, why should athletes be any different?

I think we have a great team on paper but unless we start winning it means nothing. One loss quickly becomes 3 or 4 if this mentality maintains. Excuses are toxic.

17 minutes ago, hughsey said:

‘Give it time’ is loser mentality - the start of the season is clear to all so you make sure you’re ready to go. We have the worlds longest off/pre-season and even with the uncertainty around covid etc there was still more than enough time to prepare once the start dates were set.

This concept that teams have some sort of grace period at the start of a new season is one of the greatest bits of BS in sport. I go back to work on Monday and am expected to be firing on all cylinders, why should athletes be any different?

I think we have a great team on paper but unless we start winning it means nothing. One loss quickly becomes 3 or 4 if this mentality maintains. Excuses are toxic.

It's like this club (and apparently the new manager) think that points at the end of the season are worth double for us.

We're already three points behind the Mariners, Macarthur & Melbourne City.

In 2015/16 we got 1 point from our first 3 games and lost the Premiership at the end of the league by 1 point, to Adelaide, because neither us or the Roar accumulated enough points at the start of the season to make up for bad form at the end. You can never lose the points you've won, but you can always fail to win more points which is why points matter across the entire season.

When SFC finished 7th in one transfer window they became a team that won their first 6 games, and didn't lose a game until Round 19 and ended the season with that being their only loss. We've had 8 transfer windows now and kept sliding backward.

Throwing away the first 8 weeks of a season that only has 26 rounds in it is madness in an open league with obviously exploitable transfer rules.

6 hours ago, mack said:

 

In 2015/16 we got 1 point from our first 3 games and lost the Premiership at the end of the league by 1 point, to Adelaide, because neither us or the Roar accumulated enough points at the start of the season to make up for bad form at the end. You can never lose the points you've won, but you can always fail to win more points which is why points matter across the entire season.

 

If my memory serves me correctly I believe that Adelaide's start was just as bad !!