Ernie! 3-1, Youngsters And A New Signing #PositiveVibes
I mean, Moss looks horrible and Garcia looks all class. Sums it up really.
In the space of just over a month - going back to New Years Eve - we've seen the Wellington Phoenix lose twice to Central Coast, who still sit at the bottom of the ladder. If you're a casual Phoenix fan then that should tell you all you need to know about the Phoenix, their struggles and my subsequent sadness-slump. If you're a Harry-hardcore Phoenix fan, let's support each other.
Saturday night saw the Phoenix go down 3-1, this time in Aotearoa as the Phoenix took their traveling circus to Christchurch. This isn't a good circus though, it's one of those cheap circus' that travel around Aotearoa with questionable treatment of animals and rusty caravans (if they still exist), I highly doubt the Nix's front office would have envisioned taking a game to Christchurch in such a horrible stretch.
To keep it 100 percent real, the Phoenix weren't very good once again. I've rolled this narrative out for over a month and it sucks, so I'm going to try keep my head up while writing this and stay positive. Before going all in on the positivity though, there was a strong stench of battler-ness in this Phoenix team, even more so than last week's game against Melbourne City as the team against the Mariners lacked anyone (besides Roly) close to the class of a number of Mariners' players. This is all good though as guys are returning from injury and suspension, it's just a bummer that the Phoenix have that battler stench after the heights they've scaled in the past season or so.
That battler-ness was enhanced by a front-line led by Blake Powell with Joel Stevens in support. Any team with Powell and Stevens as the two key strikers will struggle to win in the A-League right now, but simply seeing a young bloke like Stevens get a run was exciting and gave me something to sink my teeth into ... instead at scratching my head as to how the Phoenix can whip so many meaningless corners/crosses in or play passes into the box, wide areas of the box on either flank to which their opposition just stacks the middle of the box and thwart another Phoenix attack.
Seriously, after the Mariners scored those two goals after half-time, all they had to do was sit back, clog the middle of the park up and chill out. As has been the case all season.
Stay positive.
Stevens was largely a non-factor in this encounter but it's hard to expect a 20-year-old to influence a game in a team that currently sucks. Stevens is lively though and likes to run at defenders, which with the Phoenix loving their meaningless passing swag is nice as Stevens brought a level of directness to the Nix. Stevens and Powell weren't all that bad and I've gotta say that this was the best Phoenix display of their slump; they moved into space well, played direct and kept the ball moving.
How can you not be positive when we saw Stevens and James McGarry get a run? The Phoenix allow you and your mind to wander when the play (how nice of them!) and this week I found myself contemplating how the Nix might look moving forward with players like Stevens, McGarry, Dylan Fox, Justin Gulley and Tom Doyle, heck even Logan Rogerson looks decent.
Anything to take my mind off this current shambles.
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In professional sport, if you're not pulling your weight you get cut and while it's never nice, such is life. Offering a further distraction from the Phoenix's woes was news that Jeffrey Sarpong had been released, apparently Sarpong hadn't settled too well in Aotearoa and he'll now head back to Holland in the mix for the 'Most Lacklustre Signing' award. I liked Sarpong but clearly something wasn't right and the only option remaining was for Sarpong and the Phoenix to part ways, opening the door for the Nix to snap up Alex Jones from Birmingham City on loan. Here's Jones scoring a double once upon a time for West Brom's Under 21 team, cool huh?
In my eyes Sarpong was never a replacement for Nathan Burns, even if in theory he was. Sarpong didn't fill Burns' striker boots and was picked as a wide midfielder so for Ernie to bring in young striker to replace Roy Krishna, not Burns, is exciting and it sounds as though Jones is eager to make a statement with the Phoenix to further his own professional career.
Despite another shitter of a loss, I can't stay too down on the Phoenix when I've watched Ernie give two youngsters an opportunity and he's finally switched something up. There's a chance Jones could line up against Perth this Sunday and as the Phoenix return to Wellington, keep ya heads up.