Piscopo still out it seems.
Match 4 vs CCM | Sun 31st Jan | 6:05pm | SS7
ffs , thought they said he was back training last week? Really hoping we don’t see sotirio starting this week
Happy with the earlier than usual KO time!
AVOID THE SPOON!
expecting the Mariners to play similarly to the Jets last week, defend deep and look to counter. Having said that, pace isn’t their strength with M Simon and Bouman not the fastest front 2. Defensively they have improved from previous years. I think 2-1 nix
A win, but narrower than recent efforts at Gosford. Maybe only 7-2
CCM to burry us with the spoon and Matt Simon with a brace, CCM 4 -1 Nixs.
Not sure how we can beat CCM if we are not clinical in front of goal, and struggle in transitional moments. Will be interesting which tactics Uffie will deploy. AND I do hope Sotirio does not start!
Not sure how we can beat CCM if we are not clinical in front of goal, and struggle in transitional moments. Will be interesting which tactics Uffie will deploy. AND I do hope Sotirio does not start!
However if we do move forward with more men up front CCM will just counter and score goals at will. Is this the game we actually park the bus and try counter the counter?
Piscopo still out it seems.
Not sure how we can beat CCM if we are not clinical in front of goal, and struggle in transitional moments. Will be interesting which tactics Uffie will deploy. AND I do hope Sotirio does not start!
However if we do move forward with more men up front CCM will just counter and score goals at will. Is this the game we actually park the bus and try counter the counter?
Why does Sotirio remind me so much of Appiah??
Not sure how we can beat CCM if we are not clinical in front of goal, and struggle in transitional moments. Will be interesting which tactics Uffie will deploy. AND I do hope Sotirio does not start!
However if we do move forward with more men up front CCM will just counter and score goals at will. Is this the game we actually park the bus and try counter the counter?
Why does Sotirio remind me so much of Appiah??
yep, that's it. And great ball control skills.
Enhanced Phoenix and A-League coverage on Prime TV now, for those without Sky Sport:
Message to me from Prime TV replying to my recent enquiries about better coverage:
"We will screen a 30 minute highlight show after all Wellington Phoenix matches, generally at 6 pm the day after the game. Next broadcast: Monday 1st February 6 pm: Highlights Wellington Phoenix vs. Central Coast Mariners.
We have also decided to start showing the one hour highlights show of all A-League matches on Prime TV.
We are screening two different episodes this week to bring people up to date.
Screening Thursday this week at 10.40 pm: "A-League Highlights Show" (rounds 3 & 4)
Saturday 12 pm mid day: "A-League Highlights Show" (round 5)
We will screen future episodes as they become available.
Due to the reduced number of fixtures some weeks in the A-League, there is not always a show every week.
(Sometimes there is a two week gap and a show will combine two rounds in one episode)
We have no show available to broadcast Thursday next week for example.
But it will usually screen Thursday evenings or Saturday mid day.
Our "ISPS Handa Premiership Highlights Show" of NZ national league matches continues throughout the season at 6 pm Thursdays on Prime."
Sotirio is the better player for me and has improved under Uffie. Both he and Appiah lack consistency and goal scoring ability but I've always had a soft spot for them as they give 100% every time they are on the park. Which is more than can be said for some highly regarded, highly paid ex-Nix players.
I want Sotorio to find the form he had at the start of last season but he seems to be making the wrong choices this year. I appreciate Ufuk trying to play him through a bad spell but....
Sotirio will be the key to beating CCM, as Ball will be marked out of the game by CCM defense.
Appiah has played 84 games at a-league level with 4 goals. Sotirio is 108 games with 15 goals. There is a massive gulf in quality between those two players. I'm not saying Sotirio is perfect but the comparison is unfair.
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
Disagree, Sotirio is 3 times more effective than Appiah, a goal every seven games cf a goal every 21 games.
Any Christchurch based fans - get on down to Robbie's Riccarton to watch the game
All Welcome!
Hopefully see some of you there!
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
Disagree, Sotirio is 3 times more effective than Appiah, a goal every seven games cf a goal every 21 games.
Agree with Barrie, the average per game is in favour of Sotirio (0.14 goals per game for Sotirio vs 0.05 goals per game for Appiah).
It would be great to see a distribution table or graph as to when the goals where scored (years ago, or recently), if there were peaks or troughs. If one of them scored mostly in a debut year while the other in their most recent season that would be also more predictive if they are rising or waning.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/12...
"The Phoenix have been boosted by the return from suspension of key midfielder Alex Rufer, and Talay confirmed further changes will be made in an attempt to shore up the defence and unlock the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford."
Lewis for Sotiro. Maybe Fenton for Payne.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/12...
"The Phoenix have been boosted by the return from suspension of key midfielder Alex Rufer, and Talay confirmed further changes will be made in an attempt to shore up the defence and unlock the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford."
Lewis for Sotiro. Maybe Fenton for Payne.
Hudson-Wihongi?
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
Disagree, Sotirio is 3 times more effective than Appiah, a goal every seven games cf a goal every 21 games.
Agree with Barrie, the average per game is in favour of Sotirio (0.14 goals per game for Sotirio vs 0.05 goals per game for Appiah).
It would be great to see a distribution table or graph as to when the goals where scored (years ago, or recently), if there were peaks or troughs. If one of them scored mostly in a debut year while the other in their most recent season that would be also more predictive if they are rising or waning.
| Season | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
| Sotirio | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Appiah | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Sotirio has been very consistent in terms of goal scoring a season, though his playing minutes fluctuates significantly. In 17/18 those three goals were scored in only 409 minutes, his 4 goals for the Nix in 19/20 he played 1344 minutes. That probably shows he's most effective and actually a pretty good option, coming on late off the bench against tired defenses. The issue that Ufuk appears to be grappling with is that the Nix are basically devoid of pace apart from Sotorio, so if he wants to play a little deeper against counter-attacking teams and have someone run into the additional space in the attacking third there aren't any other options. Without pace (which every other team seems to have plenty of) the Nix seem a little one-dimensional.
Appiah did get a move to Korea :-|
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
Disagree, Sotirio is 3 times more effective than Appiah, a goal every seven games cf a goal every 21 games.
Agree with Barrie, the average per game is in favour of Sotirio (0.14 goals per game for Sotirio vs 0.05 goals per game for Appiah).
It would be great to see a distribution table or graph as to when the goals where scored (years ago, or recently), if there were peaks or troughs. If one of them scored mostly in a debut year while the other in their most recent season that would be also more predictive if they are rising or waning.
| Season | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
| Sotirio | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Appiah | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Sotirio has been very consistent in terms of goal scoring a season, though his playing minutes fluctuates significantly. In 17/18 those three goals were scored in only 409 minutes, his 4 goals for the Nix in 19/20 he played 1344 minutes. That probably shows he's most effective and actually a pretty good option, coming on late off the bench against tired defenses. The issue that Ufuk appears to be grappling with is that the Nix are basically devoid of pace apart from Sotorio, so if he wants to play a little deeper against counter-attacking teams and have someone run into the additional space in the attacking third there aren't any other options. Without pace (which every other team seems to have plenty of) the Nix seem a little one-dimensional.
So bringing Ben Waine on late in the piece plus Sotirio would actually make sense.
Mind you I did not see Newcastle defence make many errors late in the game (no more than early on in the game); we were full of running but they managed to flood the box with bodies.
24 more games for 9 more goals isn't massive, it says, they both suck.
Disagree, Sotirio is 3 times more effective than Appiah, a goal every seven games cf a goal every 21 games.
Agree with Barrie, the average per game is in favour of Sotirio (0.14 goals per game for Sotirio vs 0.05 goals per game for Appiah).
It would be great to see a distribution table or graph as to when the goals where scored (years ago, or recently), if there were peaks or troughs. If one of them scored mostly in a debut year while the other in their most recent season that would be also more predictive if they are rising or waning.
| Season | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
| Sotirio | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Appiah | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Sotirio has been very consistent in terms of goal scoring a season, though his playing minutes fluctuates significantly. In 17/18 those three goals were scored in only 409 minutes, his 4 goals for the Nix in 19/20 he played 1344 minutes. That probably shows he's most effective and actually a pretty good option, coming on late off the bench against tired defenses. The issue that Ufuk appears to be grappling with is that the Nix are basically devoid of pace apart from Sotorio, so if he wants to play a little deeper against counter-attacking teams and have someone run into the additional space in the attacking third there aren't any other options. Without pace (which every other team seems to have plenty of) the Nix seem a little one-dimensional.
If you throw in Sotirio's assists and his ability to hare up and down the wing to cover he's a perfectly fine A league squad player. He does play bad passes and make bad calls, but that's why he's an a-league player.
For us he's been involved in 6 goals. For comparison Ball has been part of 11 and Davila 18. Which seems about right.
Will be interested to see how the Lewis McGarry combination goes. Lewis was highly promising in his first game, a very handy creative force , but didn't have much impact as a sub.
Mind you I did not see Newcastle defence make many errors late in the game (no more than early on in the game); we were full of running but they managed to flood the box with bodies.
Topar-Stanely was immense for Newcastle last week. He seemed to be everywhere making blocks. Him and Boogard are a pretty good CB pairing. On paper CCM back line is not as strong, but they have only conceded 1 goal so far. Tongyik has been playing out of his skin. But I'm hoping Hemed will be able to boss him about a bit more. And I think we will get joy down our left with McGarry up against Nigro.
Bozanic has been the difference for CCM this year, him and Stensness have be doing great. Midfield is going to be a real battle, and probably where the game will be won or lost.
Nisbet is out for CCM, he has been very good for them in midfield.
Daniel Elder has the whistle, Nix are P8 W2 D3 L3 under him.
Mind you I did not see Newcastle defence make many errors late in the game (no more than early on in the game); we were full of running but they managed to flood the box with bodies.
Topar-Stanely was immense for Newcastle last week. He seemed to be everywhere making blocks. Him and Boogard are a pretty good CB pairing. On paper CCM back line is not as strong, but they have only conceded 1 goal so far. Tongyik has been playing out of his skin. But I'm hoping Hemed will be able to boss him about a bit more. And I think we will get joy down our left with McGarry up against Nigro.
Bozanic has been the difference for CCM this year, him and Stensness have be doing great. Midfield is going to be a real battle, and probably where the game will be won or lost.
We just have to be patient too, and play our strikers into form. There are players we'd like more from, but no need to panic.
I'm worried about Hemed, he hasn't scored a goal since 2018. He might be an nice guy and all but maybe we got ourselves drift wood.
I'm worried about Hemed, he hasn't scored a goal since 2018. He might be an nice guy and all but maybe we got ourselves drift wood.
April 2019 in fact.
https://us.soccerway.com/players/tomer-hemed/55980...
Pretty similar to Hooper who came to the Nix off 1 goal in about 1.5 years, before arriving in Wellington. There's a reason why experienced strikers with pedigree like them become available to sign downunder.
Once he gels with his team mates, he'll score a few.
Would love nothing more than to be proven wrong but really just don't think Ben Waine is a-league quality
I'm worried about Hemed, he hasn't scored a goal since 2018. He might be an nice guy and all but maybe we got ourselves drift wood.
The verdict is still out, but I think he looks pretty good. He just needs some good service and I anticipate he will do well for us. Early days still, let's see how he's doing in 5 games time or so.
Same starting XI as against macarthur please.
I'm worried about Hemed, he hasn't scored a goal since 2018. He might be an nice guy and all but maybe we got ourselves drift wood.
The verdict is still out, but I think he looks pretty good. He just needs some good service and I anticipate he will do well for us. Early days still, let's see how he's doing in 5 games time or so.
Exactly Ninja, give Hemed some decent service.
Would love nothing more than to be proven wrong but really just don't think Ben Waine is a-league quality
https://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/news/ben-waine-l...
Didn't make much of an impression when subbed on against the Jets. Muratovic more noticeable.
But yes lets all hope, he does make the leap up. Still only 19.
And from India.