Some things don’t ever seem to change. Summer time brings sunburn. The dog is always going to bark at the mailman. The last dregs of the beer are always the worst. And A-League just doesn’t make any sense. For two thirds of the game against Macarthur FC the Wellington Phoenix were looking excellent and were great value for their lead and then came a weird VAR decision which saw the Nix reduced to ten men and the last third of the game was a bit of a mess, the lads doing pretty well to come out of it with a draw. A draw which for most of the game looked like it should be a win, dammit.

By the way apologies for this one being a few days late but I was out when the game was being played then got swamped with Premmy Files and Flying Kiwis writing before I could get around to watching the full replay of that Nix game, which I pushed to the back of the queue seeing as they actually don’t play again until the 24 January thanks to Aussie’s lingering covid dramas. That’s an annoyingly long time to have to stew on not beating Macarthur. Especially for Alex Rufer. Ah well, on to the game reaction...

THE FIRST 61 MINUTES

The Nix strode out in their only just unveiled fresh away jerseys, a lovely mix of blues which apparently pay tribute to the harbour workers or something, I dunno, it’s always confusing when teams bring out these away strips with entirely different colours that never had anything to do with the franchise before but okay. Same back four and goalie as last time but this time Tomer Hemed and Ulises Davila were both fit enough to start with Jaushua Sotirio and Mirza Muratovic dropping to the bench. Clayton Lewis winning that one up-for-grabs starting spot ahead of last week’s goal-scorer with this eleven looking much more like the full strength crew Uffie Talay probably has in mind. Game one was a freebie against the two-time defending champs after some messy preparation out of their control. Game two, against an expansion team, yeah this is when things get real.

The first thing that stood out was how involved both fullbacks were in the attacking stuff. McGarry had a sweet little volley blocked just a few mins in (David Ball had been flagged offside in the build up but McGarry still struck it well after getting in a good area) while Tim Payne was getting a heap of touches. Best thing about getting the fullbacks forward is the natural width, obvs. Second best thing is that it allows Davila and Lewis to drift inside and overload the middle. Generally a central midfielder would hang back as cover in case of counter attack... but still Cam Devlin nearly set up a goal with a low one across the six yard box while Rufer lashed a volley just over the top from the resulting corner. That’s the sign of a high functioning team when you’re getting that level of involvement across the board.

If you’d played Guess The Score after the first ten minutes there’s no way you’d have picked a draw. The Bluenix were absolutely all over them, it was gorgeous football. Quick passing and conscious movement, everybody on the same page. They could have scored about three times in that spell. Naturally it didn’t continue on like that because football games rarely do but even as Macarthur wormed their way into a few better situations the Nix still had that counter attacking outlet available to them with the mobility of Tomer Hemed and David Ball. When Macarthur got shots away there was generally a Phoenix body in the way. Stefan Marinovic made the saves he needed to make.

And then right as it started to feel as if Macarthur had probably restored balance to the contest the Nix went and scored their goal. There was a lot to like about how they created it: Davila’s pass through the line to McGarry was brilliant and the cut back to Ball just perfect situational fullback play. Ball’s finish was a trickier one than it initially appeared too as he sorta overran it a half-step.

But roll the tape back even further to where Alex Rufer picked up the ball facing his own goal around halfway, tracking backwards. He turned on the ball and immediately looked to play a forward pass...

The one he played was to Davila, the right-sided number ten drifting into the other side of the pitch for one of those overloads, who was able to turn quickly and pick his own pass. That’s what Alex Rufer offers to this team that’s so valuable. He trusts his attackers in tight spaces, he’ll force that pass in there and try to spark something. It’s what started getting him subbed on earlier and earlier towards the end of last season because he won’t just make the safe pass sideways or backwards – he’s looking to give guys like Davila the opportunity to play some footy.

Gotta love what Clayton Lewis and James McGarry both offered as well. It’s sometimes hard to pinpoint where Lewis oughta play and that was often his problem at Scunthorpe where they either needed him to be a winger or a box to box midfielder and neither really suit him. But in this team he gets to be Mirror Image Uli Davila. The off-broadway tribute act. Ersatz Uli. What was so impressive was how precise he was with all his touches and decision-making – I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really expect this kinda impact from him. And as for McGarry, it’s no easy task to replace Libby Cacace but he seems to have a lot of that same tireless energy bounding up the left flank to always stay in support. And the fella’s got a mean left foot too (as does Lewis, as does Davila).

Macarthur were better as the second half began but the Nix kept them at arm’s length and the game flowed on smoothly with the exception of ol’ Tomer Hemed having to go off after leaking enough claret from his head late in the first half to force him into a change of jersey at the half and then they still couldn’t stem the bloodflow and he had to be subbed off five mins into the second spell (Sotirio replacing him). Although not before Hemed almost beat Adam Federici from inside his own half on the volley. A bit more lift and he’d have scooped him for an all-timer goal.

Also, shout out to my fellow Hitchhikers...

If you know you know.

THE “RED CARD”

Then came The Incident. Straight after a great attacking spell for the Phoenix which was begun, coincidentally, by an Alex Rufer ball over the top for David Ball to run onto. Rufer and Denis Genreau clashed in a challenge as Macarthur tried to break and there was some entanglement with both players needing a bit of treatment. It was two full minutes before the ref dashed over to look at the replay screen.

A lash out from Rufer? Mate, he’d been clattered himself and if there was sprig to knee contact with Genreau then it bloody well wasn’t deliberate. But you already know that – you’ve been stewing on it for a couple days now too, right? Plus if you’re looking at the replay for something dirty then how about the initial challenge from Genreau? Stomping on the bloke’s ankle with the ball behind his “standing” leg...

(The shadows tell a story of their own in that pic too)

The good news is that Rufer will only serve a one game suspension rather than the three you’d normally get for a straight red for violent conduct. That’s because the Nix appealed the decision and it was admitted by the necessary authorities that an error was made (two of them in fact). But the way the appeal process works, it’s a different yarn to David Dome getting an apology from the ref’s boss. Inconsistencies abound. Hence a one game ban for a red card that shouldn’t have been.

It’s a weird one but welcome to the A-League.

THE LAST 29 MINUTES

Matt Ridenton immediately replaced Uli Davila to fill Rufer’s role, the Phoenix’s best player sacrificed as a result of the team going down to ten men. That’s the captain and the vice captain both off the paddock in the space of a few seconds... although to be fair Davila probably woulda been taken off soon after anyway given he was only deemed match fit enough for the bench last week and is still building his legs up having had less of a preseason than most thanks to his quarantine period. Same deal for Tomer Hemed who likely wouldn’t have lasted ninety even without a left eyebrow leaking blood like he’d been going rounds with George Foreman or Joe Frazier. Also with Josh Laws playing defence and Clayton Lewis in a more advanced role it’s pretty obvious that Matt Ridenton will be the dude to start next game against the Newcastle Jets when Rufer’s suspended.

So... it took about two minutes and ten seconds once the game finally restarted for the equaliser to be scored. Jaush Sotirio, who’d gone close with a chance himself earlier, had the ball forcibly removed from his possession on halfway and the castle walls were breached by a direct ball over the top from Beñat Etxeberria to Markel Susaeta who pumped it past Big Stef at his near post. Not blaming the keeper one bit there, that whole ‘never get beaten at the near post’ thing is stupid. There’s always gonna be a blind spot. The problem was that they got stung in transition when the defensive line was all over the place with the CBs dragged right in support of the play while McGarry was trying to push forward. Well taken goal though.

You wanna know the difference between the Phoenix with their best attackers out there and a full contingent of players versus the Phoenix with Davila and Hemed subbed off and Rufer sent off? These are the heat maps for the back four plus the two central midfielders for the first 61 minutes compared to the last 29 minutes...

Having said that it was only really in stoppage time when things got sketchy. Stefan Marinovic injured himself somehow but the Nix had already used up their three substitution windows (making four subs) so poor old Oli Sail who didn’t get a single appearance all last season couldn’t even play when Marinovic was hurt. Josh Laws had to take the goal kick after Matt Derbyshire headed onto the crossbar. Like I say: sketchy moments. But Wellington survived even as the game ticked into it’s 98th minute.

The frustrating thing is that it felt like a robbery given the Rufer red card and the way it changed the game so drastically. And now there’s two weeks until they play again so the wait for that first win goes on – it was an odd situation here where both teams’ next opponent is the Newcastle Jets. But complaining about the dumb stuff never gets you anywhere and the Nix had this same tendency last season too where they’d play really well, especially early in games, but not score the goals to reflect that dominance. Which eventually leaves them vulnerable to a tactical roll of the dice by the other team or a howler of a refereeing decision or a screamer of a goal conceded or even just a single momentary lapse in defence. In this case you could tick the boxes for A, B & D... last game there were two instances of C.

And that’s where we’re at. A really strong performance for most of the game which has gotten plenty of praise around the league (thanks to the sympathy for that silly card) but dig slightly deeper and there are hints of a problem that plagued this team last season... a problem that they’re less likely to get away with now thanks to a weaker defence. Then again that’s also a sign that there’s continuity from last season, that the new players are fitting in nicely, that this Phoenix side is genuinely capable of repeating the dose from Uffie’s first term in charge. In a funny way that’s actually a positive... for now. Next game they’d better start capitalising though.

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