The Mark Rudan Era Has Begun (With A Win!)
So much has gone wrong with the Wellington Phoenix in the last few years, so many things have been spoiled and ruined and wasted and ignored and taken for granted and insulted and blamed that you couldn’t really hold it against the players for a lack of belief in themselves. After all, the results weren’t happening. The blows kept on coming. Losing is a habit and it’s a habit that has many wide-ranging consequences, particularly with a club that has its unfair share of natural enemies.
Mark Rudan didn’t promise free-flowing football, he didn’t promise results or trophies either. He promised accountability and commitment. The thing about that is you don’t exactly restore your personal confidence as much as you recalibrate it into the team environment. It’s about trust in your teammates as much as belief in yourself because your performance becomes about what you’re offering to your mates (although that personal belief still needs to exist, obviously). The Wellington Phoenix were far from a well-oiled machine in their opening weekend win over Newcastle Jets, which is completely expected given it’s game one of a whole new era, but straight from kickoff it was clear that this was a revitalised squad.
It was also a squad well stocked with kiwi players, despite one of the prevailing narratives of the offseason. It’s a complicated situation. Mark Rudan has no imperative to sign New Zealanders over anyone else but many folks, myself included, think it’s a moral obligation for the country’s only professional club. Blah blah blah, end story is that there were still six NZers in the starting lineup here so can’t really complain about that.
Six kiwis in the starters and it was a 5-3-2 formation, also described as a 3-4-3 formation. It doesn’t really matter, just know that there was a back three of Steven Taylor, Andrew Durante and Tommy Doyle with Libby Cacace as the left wingback and Louis Fenton on the right. Mandi started in midfield next to Alex Rufer. Sarpreet Singh as an attacking mid. David Williams and Roy Krishna up front. It’s what Rudes was building towards at the end of preseason and it’s as good a shape as any for this squad. Like, it means players behind the ball which can appear defensive… but also allows for width from the wingbacks and speed up front. Sarpreet gets to sit in the pocket and release Krishna and Williams. It’s pretty fitting.
What’s curious is more the players chosen. No surprises that Callan Elliot and Reuben Way were left in the ressies, what with them only signing this week. Elliot was with the team most of preseason but he wasn’t signed to be a week one starter so no dramas. His chance will come. Tell you who wasn’t expected to play alongside them though: Michal Kopczynski. He has been injured and Mark Rudan more or less said that in the presser but seeing him dropped/rested for Alex Rufer is a big thumbs up for that lad, I’ll come back to his performance soon.
David Williams earned his starting gig over Nathan Burns and it’s nice to have that kind of firepower on the bench… although we cannot sleep on Burnsy’s mediocre offerings last season and look at him losing out on the starting gig here completely at ease. Hopefully puts some fire in the belly for him as Burnsy was always at his best with something to prove – a fire that Mark Rudan has been stoking with his entire squad. Then of course there was Fenton getting right back in there at right back. He’s the only genuine wingback in the squad, really, so he’s a big winner of the current formation but after so many injuries, after a year off in which he dropped back to the Premiership with Team Wellington and didn’t really do much, it was awesome just to see him out there. As for Sarpreet Singh holding off Mitch Nichols… Sarpreet has risen to every challenge in his young career and this was one more to tick off. No small deal, that.
Now, it’d be a lie to say that the Wellington Phoenix dominated this game and thoroughly earned the three points. In reality the Jets were probably on the plane back home feeling like they let one slip. There was Jair’s sliced chance in the first half. Matt Ridenton had a couple shots where he showed that his finishing hasn’t improved too much from last season (but enjoyable to see him in a team with more of a passing focus, dishing that ball around in the midfield – he could have a really good season in Newcastle), Filip Kurto made one wonderful save from Hoffman and Petratos went close once or twice. Even when the first goal came it hadn’t really looked like the Nix were creating much of any major note and then they go and score from an own goal off a header back across the box off a set piece. Sweet as, take ‘em any way they come. But yes, not a resounding victory.
The second goal didn’t come until late, although they almost bagged it a little earlier in an odd sequence where Roy Krishna didn’t pull the trigger, slid the ball over at the second attempt to David Williams, who shanked his shot, but then Sarpreet Singh bundled it in… except it hit his hand and was disallowed. Probably fair enough, it was completely accidental and never worth the yellow card he was given but it was an advantageous little shimmy of the arm that did it. You know what they say though: the VAR giveth and the VAR taketh away. That one was taken away but a late penalty was given. Mitch Nichols bowled over in the box and there’ll be plenty of yarns about the video refs in the A-League this week but end result is that Roy Krishna missed his spotty then slipped it away at the second attempt.
Nix being the Nix, they couldn’t hold onto a clean sheet that their defence certainly deserved. There are issues with the back three, the biggest being a lack of pace. But they were excellent in this game, rarely ever out of position, especially in a more impressive second half from the Nix as a team. A few miscommunications in the first half yet those things should come with familiarity.
Nah, there’s a lot to like about the team that conceded the most goals in the league last season. Steven Taylor looks a proper leader. Tom Doyle is getting more and more reliable in that LCB role. And this extends to Filip Kurto as well who didn’t get tested excessively however he also didn’t put a hand or foot wrong all game. He looks reliable and that’s a huge relief given the goalkeeping stakes since... I mean, more or less since Glen Moss left – Mossy having a decent game in goal for the Jets here, saving a penalty and working hard with those aerial set pieces.
The Nix look like a team that’ll put a huge priority on set pieces. Corners and swinging free kicks… they’ve got guys that can get up for them and Steven Taylor is one of them. He’ll be a factor. It’s one more example of Rudan prioritising those things that he can control, putting fate back in his club’s own hands.
There were also great performances from Mandi and David Williams, though Alex Rufer is lacking the polish of the better midfielders in this league. He gets around defensively, that’s not a problem, but with the ball at his feet his decision making and technical execution needs some work. Great to see him trusted to do a job though and he could be a breakout dude with a manager that believes in him (remember when Anthony Hudson picked him for the All Whites from out of the reserves?). Similarly there’s a bit of a worry about Fenton’s pace and defensive positioning – lucky here that most of the Jets stuff came down the middle or over the other side where Doyle and Cacace did good things.
Again, this was not a fluent performance. Mitch Nichols coughed up the ball in the Newcastle half after the second goal and the Jets still flowed forward on the counter to make it 2-1, pace and space leading to vulnerabilities. Newcastle could have scored a couple more if they were in midseason form themselves while the Nix did nothing to suggest they’ll be scoring at will this campaign, nope they’re still over-reliant on that front three to do everything (unless the set piece weaponry really takes off).
But you know what? They didn’t need to be fluent here. They needed instead to show that they’ve turned a corner and that the manager is having a positive influence. The Phoenix turned up and played with organisation, grinding out a result at home. A big win would’ve been an anomaly. This win depended on the one-percenters and all that clichéd jazz. Seeing them get three points like this is more reassuring that they’ll be competitive this season than anything else – because, let’s be honest, they’re going to have to do it the hard way most weeks.
It’s only going to get tougher for this team. Oppositions will be stronger, there are still obvious issues in where the goals are going to come from, and I’m not sure the squad has nearly as much depth as most A-League sides. But, what, did you think this was going to be easy? Mark Rudan didn’t. It’s a positive start so just savour this moment, breathe it in, and hope they don’t spoil the good vibes away in Brisbane next Sunday.
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