Ernie! The Wellington Phoenix Are Back
#Sarpong
Some of you might have had the start of the A-League circled on your calendars, while some of you like me have been awoken by the sudden arrival of the A-League and its good friend known as summer. It's been a long time without the homie Ernie! and his Wellington Phoenix, so long that you can be forgiven that the Nix's best player from last season Nathan Burns has left the joint and we are now all wondering where the Nix's goals will come from.
That's the dominant thought leading into this season, but it's eased by the arrival of Jeffrey Sarpong who has a much better CV than Burns did upon their arrivals in Wellington. While it's an obvious comparison to make, I don't really want to fluff on about Burns and Sarpong because they are apples and oranges. Sarpong will take time to ease into his work I imagine and his development is going to be just one of a few storylines to keep an eye on this season. Not to mention that Sarpong is a noted midfielder, so to compare him directly to Burns would be weird.
Sarpong joins Kwabena Appiah as two key players in the attacking zone this season along with Roy Krishna and new striker Blake Powell. Last season left a funky taste in my mouth as the Nix struggled to score goals at times, which was easier to stomach thanks to Burns' efforts and while Ernie! loves to work the ball into the goal it would still be nice to see someone emerge as a strong presence in the box. I expect Sarpong to feature heavily as an attacking midfielder in conjunction with Michael McGlinchey and Roly-poly Bonevacia while Appiah and Powell compete to partner Krishna up front ... or Krishna is left to fend for himself while the likes of Sarpong and Roly charge forward.
Michael Boxall and Tyler Boyd have also left while the Nix picked up Troy Danaskos as a defender. Boxall's departure opens the door for Louis Fenton to lock down that right-back spot while Danaskos and Tom Doyle could put Manny Muscat under pressure at left-back. The only other funky question is what happens when/if Ben Sigmund or Andrew Durante go down, which we hope doesn't happen because together they are one of the better centre-back pairings in the league.
The season gets underway on Sunday with the Nix facing their favourite opposition the Newcastle Jets, in Wellington. I've got no reason to think that there won't be the standard niggle between the two teams which will make it fun but as this is my first chance - besides that horrible performance in the FFA Cup against Melbourne City - to see the Nix in action, I'll be immensely intrigued to see what happens. I have no idea what to expect in this game specifically, but that's why I'm so excited because we get to see how Ernie! has adjusted his team and the way they play to compete against these Australian clubs who all look to have gotten stronger this off-season.
To be frank, while last season was awesome, it also didn't quite hit the mark. The Nix lacked consistent potency and were unable to convert patches of the season where they looked like the best they ever have into silverware. It always felt as though something was missing, just a touch of ruthlessness maybe and I'm nervous to see what this season might bring for the Nix.
If this is anything to go by, we might have a new Niche Cache favourite #Sarpong...