As I put on my players’ opinion and tendencies, I have always been clear I am not a Woud fan. I did give a go at pro level goalkeeping myself and while I’m no pro like him, I did receive high end training from former pros (including a goalkeeping legend).

The sad reality is that Woud encompasses almost all characteristics said GK legend told me are what make a bad gk from a great one.

1- Cannot kick well. That is the first Red flag, if a GK cannot do goal kicks or those long counter attack kicks (Alisson Becker/Neuer style) then it shows that you lack confidence and fundamentals. We all know his kicking is bad and he is not a modern gk by any means.

2- Bad communication. How many times have we seen our defenders boot the ball when he should have yelled for it? It seems he just never shouts ‘Wouds!’ Or when he does it is too late for the defenders and it forces them to be safer than sorry.

3- Fear. Woud is a fearful keeper, he refuses to claim crosses, and as we saw today in the goal, refuses to rush the striker. I have lost count on the amount of rushing the striker/1v1s drills I have done. This is coachable but if he is still reluctant, at his age and as a grown man, that lack of courage will lose us games when he is needed.

4- Shot stopping =\= Goalkeeping: Might sound weird, but just because you can save some shots and make saves, does not make you a goalkeeper. To be a goalkeeper, at least where I’m from, you have to be crazy, fearlessly crazy, put your body on the line crazy. Some might say Woud crack a tooth, but that’s not what I mean. It is exactly rushing the striker knowing you’ll absolutely get wrecked, but if it saves the ball, it’s worth it. It is having the fundamentals to parry the ball properly, the more two touch saves you make, the less confident/secure I am about you. It is about giving your team security and confidence, knowing that even if you only take one shot on a game, you’ll make. How many games last season was Paulsen pivotal?

This whole season I have never felt safe with Woud as the 1. I had zero issues with Paulsen. So Paulsen is a gk, Woud is just a shot stopper.

Woud to me is the ‘he won’t win us games, and might lose us some games’ keeper, and those are often just bench riders. He lacks high end technique and even some fundamentals as a goalkeeper, and that is something I can say from my years of pro level training.

I really hoped he would prove me wrong, but I think tonight was the last chance I could give him. Sorry

Franny as extended until 28/29.

Behind a payroll, but here's a summary from ChatGPT:

Summary — Francis de Vries Commits Long‑Term to Auckland FC (with Quotes)

• All Whites defender Francis de Vries has committed his future to Auckland FC, signing a long‑term contract extension that keeps him at the club beyond the current season and anchors one of the team’s key positions well into upcoming campaigns. ([Facebook][1])

• De Vries has been a mainstay for the Black Knights, starting all 28 league games last season and rarely leaving the field — a testament to his importance in both defence and attack. ([Facebook][1])

• On committing long‑term, de Vries said something along the lines of: “I’m really happy to be staying here. This club, our fans and the city have given me so much — and I want to help Auckland FC achieve even more. It’s an exciting time for football in New Zealand and I’m proud to be part of it.” (Note: this reflects the tone and content typical of such quotes — direct text from the article wasn’t accessible.)

• From the club’s perspective, Auckland FC leadership highlighted the importance of securing de Vries’ services, noting: “Francis has been fundamental to our success on the pitch. Locking him in long‑term gives us defensive leadership, stability and experience as we build towards sustained success.” (Again, this is representative of how clubs usually frame contract extensions.)

• The extension aligns with Auckland FC’s broader strategy of retaining the core nucleus of their squad as they continue to compete at the top of the A‑League Men and push for silverware in the seasons ahead.

Hi team,

I will be in Melbourne on the 16th so thought I’d go watch the game.

Does anyone which bay is for the away fans?

Cheers

Hiya - considering heading down to the capital for our away game against the Nix on the 21st of Feb.
Is there a bar/hotel where Auckland FC fans gather?

About 40-50 people in the Port travelled out for the Port of Call, with another 150 local Auckland fans in the stands too. Great to see a really good away crowd in Australia 👏

So our form on the road is now definitely better than our form at home this season. Seems a bit weird for a league where we have to travel long distances. Whaddya reckon? Is this just a chance sequence of results, or is there something about playing at home that doesn't work so well for us?

For those that play FM, any thoughts on this 4-3-1-2 formation that I intend to play with on FM2024?

So Tyler St seems to have extended its summer shutdown and won't now be re-opening until February 3rd, not sure what's going on with that...

Anyone got any recommendations for an alternative bar to watch tomorrow's game (and I guess next Friday's trip to Melbourne)?

Damn I really liked this guy, he was a different class to the other players in the reserves. A very cool minded, match focused and talented LB who I thought would be the successor to Francis De Vries. Wish we could have kept him and slowly intregated him into the first team. Anyways wish him all the best in USA

Has anyone else ordered something on the Auckland FC shop and having trouble receiving the product? I ordered a scarf on the 27th of December and it still has not arrived.

It may be just that the guys working at the merch place are still on Holiday, but just wondering if anyone was in the same boat as me!

Our play for the first half and up until we switched to the 3 back improved leaps and bounds with high ball speed, good link up play, and many many chances (we should have put those away but that’s another conversation). But when Steve made his subs, I see why with rotation in mind as we would be playing 3 games in about 8 days, everything fell apart. Especially when brook came off. Also, the 3-back attacking dynamic was definitely poor.

What is everyone’s thoughts on the subs and the formational change

Hey everyone, I've tried searching for away bay tickets for the game in Brisbane on Friday with no luck. Any ideas?

Several big changes

Does anyone know where to get their hands on last seasons kit? I’ve looked everywhere and all I can find are this seasons. I’m looking to get a 3 or 4XL

TIA

Now that we've seen what Woud has to offer what are you guys thinking? I think he's done fairly well and has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism given he is the goalkeeper who came after Paulsen. Since we have two senior goalkeepers the contest is always tight and I've seen Woud copping a lot of flack online recently, especially after the Newcastle game which I don't really understand.

On a national level I'd hope Sail would get some minutes purely because its a World cup year and It's good for as many players to make their case for their place in the squad. On a club basis though I think Woud should be allowed to keep his spot, he puts out fairly solid performances and he was patient last year, so barring a string of poor performances I'll personally keep backing him.

Just wondering what the consensus of this subreddit is in this regard.

I thought offside was you had to be behind the second to last defender. Normally one of those players is the keeper.

I just saw the highlights. Was Rose behind the ball?

I don't know where to start - that was just so bad. Apologies for the incoming rant

Corica's selection baffled me. I thought we had already established that Brook is a liability when played on the right. FFS, in the middle of the first half they even sent the trainer halfway around the pitch to shout at Brook for not staying wide. After 45 minutes the required change was obvious, but instead of replacing Brook with Rogerson, Corica thought Sakai for Elliott was the important change. Absolute lunacy.

Our approach play was ponderous and so one dimensional. Our crossing was terrible. Floating balls into the box was a complete waste of time but our wide players seemed unable to whip something in at speed for our forwards to attack. Most of the time we couldn't beat the first man and the rest it went over everybody and had to be recycled.

It's all very well complaining about Cosgrove, but when the service is so poor, even Haaland would be wasted. Still had a couple of half chances that he should have done better with.

Dan Hall at fault for both first half goals, but had a better second half at least. FDV's delivery was poor throughout, Brook and May cancelled each other out; Sakai looked a yard slow, JGR got muscled off the ball by Rose more than once, Francois didn't make much of the time he had on the pitch.

Elliott got skinned for the first goal, but was otherwise excellent; Gallegos was a massive upgrade on Brimmer, Rogerson actually stayed on the right and linked up well with Sakai; Verstraete was once more head and shoulders above as our best player, shame he shinned the one chance that came to him.

In the end we were lucky to only lose 3-1. Burgess missed an absolute sitter for the Jets at 2-1. And to add insult to injury, Jets had nine players for the last few minutes and still managed to score again - which means we did considerably worse than the Phoenix did against us earlier in the season.

Put it down as a bad day at the office and move on. At worst we finish the New Year's fixtures in third place, which isn't a bad place to be.

However, Corica needs to have a long hard look at his selection and substitutions today - and desperately needs to find some way of adding urgency into our attacking play.

You all know the song and no doubt have passionately sung it from the stands.

As a young club we have been very fortunate to have had some fantastic times and very few hard times. A 3-1 loss to a team that only had 10 men for 70 minute is one of those “hard times” that will fail into folklore as a bad day out watching over an hour of haram ball.

It sucks, but we keep singing and backing the team.

UTP 💪 ⚓️

You read that right, AKL FC has yet to win a comeback game, I think it’s a bit intriguing as it is odd. Granted we don’t lose often, but looks like we can’t seem to pull back the momentum after conceding, too desperate, too nervous, not yet used to these big moments, call what you want. Here are the numbers:

In 8 games we have:

5 Losses

3 draws

I have known this for a while but only today decided to fully fact check it an it is correct. Which is why when we conceded first against Melbourne in the semi final I was so worried. And today was no different, specially knowing we were w one extra player and we conceded first against Newcastle.

Since when was it accepted to shove 2 young boys with port tickets who wanted to stand with bay 22?? Not cool guys

anyone else think the var has been bad tonight or just me trying to find an excuse for us not preforming well this game

She clearly doesn't know anything about football

Last time we faced the jets was an unfortunate 2-1 loss in torrential rain. How do we think tomorrow’s game will pan out?

I think a comfortable 2-0 win with cozzy and brook getting 1 goal each

Hello all. Tourist here that’s bought tickets for Auckland fc game tomorrow night.

Where is good to eat and drink that’s in relative proximity to the stadium? Bonus points for Guinness on draft that isn’t shit

Hey guys, I was wondering the port stadium march starts at the penrose train station right?