We can’t keep calling rain checks on the Welly Nix Resurgence. There are only so many false starts that can be passed off before we eventually start to run out of next last chances. Somewhere along the way, while losing 4-0 in consecutive trips to Sydney, we reached that critical mass.

There are still eight games to go so we can’t wave the white flag this soon but the focus kinda has to shift from ‘how is this team going to rally into the playoffs?’ to ‘what is this team doing to salvage some scraps of positivity and ensure they go into next season in much better shape so this doesn’t happen again?’ On that note, we saw a 17 year old academy grad given his first A-League start against Western Sydney and he was far from terrible. We also saw the debut off the bench of All Whites winger Monty Python Patterson. You can’t say Darije Kalezic is a happy chap these days but you also can’t say he’s overlooking the youth team, which is always a fan bonus. Shame about the rest of it though.

Jeezus, even the team’s own website seems to have given up hope. Team websites are usually the very example of bias.

This was a demoralising defeat for sure. The Nix conceded at basically the first available opportunity and then continued to get beaten down for the rest of the match. At the half WSW had thwacked 14 shots compared to a mere two at the other end. Maybe it would’ve been different if Andrija Kaludjerovic had been able to convert a chance at the back post right on the break, exactly the kind of rising side-footed volley that he’d positioned himself for, but instead he dragged it past the post and the Phoenix hit the sheds disjointed and a little shell-shocked.

This was just an awful performance at a time when awful performances can no longer be met with patience. Western Sydney were continuously attacking in numbers against poorly positioned defenders while the Nix got forward down the flank with a winger/fullback, found they were isolated, tried to force a pass or beat a defender and gave the ball away for another attack back the other way. And they did it at such a static pace that it was like Wanderers were laying the trap. You know that Charlie Brown thing with the football (gridiron ball)? That was the Phoenix against Western Sydney whenever they thought they had the ball.

The backline read: Mullen, Fox, Durante and Cacace. So, the 35 year old club captain (who turns 36 in a month) alongside a 23 year old centre-back and flanked by a 28 year old and a 17 year old but the 28 year old was injured and replaced in the first half by a 22 year old. One in his first start, one in his first season with the club and one just coming back from injury. They were a mess all game and Goran Paracki should be included in that too. Not sure if it’s him trying to do too much in a tough situation or others getting lost around him or whatever it is but he started the season so damned well and now he’s a mess. He’s hacking at the ball, he’s running into teammates, he’s either way too deep or he’s playing too close to Matt Ridenton.

And Kaludjerovic is simply not a striker best used as an isolated outlet. He needs players working with him and creating chances for him to finish. He was poor again but it’s hard to blame a striker getting no help. Nathan Burns was wasted out wide as well while Mike McGlinchey… what the hell has happened to Mike McGlinchey!?

Even still, at 1-0 down they were a moment of luck away from sparking something. Unfortunately they just absorbed too much pressure and Michael Thwaite headed in from a corner. Beat Matije Ljujic in the air but it was a great swirling cross and a decent challenge, plus (same with Oriel Riera’s opener) it was really a superb header. The only criticism… why do so many coaches not want defenders on the posts?

That killed the fight from the Nix and Western Sydney kept on coming. Honestly, it was such a shambles. Same old issues too, turning the ball over cheaply and getting hit hard before they can set up their defensive shape. Overlaps out wide as well, Cacace was left with two vs one to defend more than once and after he was subbed off it was Adam Parkhouse doing that job. No offence, but why is Parky still playing when The Python is here now? Guts to Cacace too, learning the A-League the hard way – two games, two 4-0 defeats.

In the end, Western Sydney took 33 shots compared to only five. Shot totals aren’t always the best reflection of a game - you can shoot from halfway if you want but you probably won’t score - except that on this occasion it kinda was. The Nix were lucky to only lose by four. The third goal was a superb team effort finished by Chris Ikonomidis and then because Lewis Italiano hadn’t been at fault for any of the first three he went and missed an easy follow-up shot, the sort of thing that keepers practice a thousand times during the week. Take one’s face and firmly apply one’s palm thereupon.

Andrew Durante blamed the team’s attitude and that’s hard to argue with. When you’re second to every ball, as he said, that tends not to be a technical or tactical problem. That was something that was evident before he brought that up, the Nix were playing reactive football. They weren’t anticipating the game and thus the game was dominating them.

The thing with new coaches is that you often don’t see the results until the second season and beyond so none of this is meant to imply that Kalezic is not the man for the job. But he seriously needs to get these guys sparked up. They’re not playing like a team with their backs to the wall. Gotta think that there’s a lack of leadership in the dressing room too, besides Dura. Who else is there that’s got the seniority to bust a few heads? It’s all fresh import signings and young Aussies/Kiwis.

And then there’s the Roy Krishna situation… but that might be best saved for another day. Gets a bit complicated, that one.

The Phoenix are home to Perth on Saturday night and then away to Central Coast the following Friday. Then they get a week off. These last two games were always going to be tricky and Wellington managed to tie itself in a knot in the process but these are two winnable games upcoming and they’ve gotta start winning those. Not so that they can make the playoffs, but so that they can get out of last place. If they don’t take at least 11 points from their final eight games then we’re looking at the lowest points total this team has ever managed in a 27-game season.

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