The Welly Nix Got Back Underway With Their Annual Game One Defeat
As far as first games of the season go, that was certainly one of them. Bit hard to say much else because that 2-1 loss to Sydney felt more like tentative steps into the 2021 campaign rather than the Phoenix busting down the gates or anything. Probably to be expected under the circumstances.
Both Uli Davila and Tomer Hemed were on the bench having come into preseason late thanks to their quarantine duties. As such it was a weakened Nix team in both the top two lines and that contributed pretty obviously to a side that still played heaps of that swift passing footy that we love but which also didn’t massively look like scoring... up until Mirza Muratovic’s mystery goal (they didn’t look like scoring and then when they scored we couldn’t look). They did have more purpose to them in the second half after a few subs supplied some Uli & Tom emphasis - finishing the stronger side against the two-time defending champs as the lads chased a point, very nearly getting one too. Very nearly but not quite. But the game still carried vestigial traces of preseason footy.
So we might have to dig a little deeper for game one conclusions. With Reno Piscopo out injured for the first couple games and Davila and Hemed only deemed ready for the bench, there weren’t too many interesting selections left to be made. As we’d seen (or rather heard about) in preseason, ‘twas a back four with Tim Payne and James McGarry on the edges and Luke DeVere and Josh Laws at CB. Cam Devlin and Alex Rufer made for a pretty bubbly central midfield pairing – there were times last season where it felt like Rufer offered this team more than Matti Steinman thanks to his forward passing intent, sacrificing the positional defensive play for more attacking output when the team was struggling to score goals. That hasn’t really changed so excited to see that pairing get plenty of games. Then it was Clayton Lewis and Mirza Muratovic in the attacking mids, both new to the club, with David Ball and Jaushua Sotirio up top. Oh yeah and big fella Stef Marinovich in goal, of course.
Actually it’s not too hard to see what a top strength eleven looks like from that baseline. Piscopo and Davila will start ahead of Lewis and Muratovic while Sotirio drops out for Hemed. Which means that up against the best team in the comp this side served up 1/4 of their ideal front four. Not ideal... but little about this season will be. Last time the Phoenix lost four games in a row to start things off (and still dished up a club record placing) so a promising performance with a weakened group against the trend-setters of the competition is nothing to be bummed out about. (Although… Uffie Talay’s coaching record against the team he was hired from: 0 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats).
First half was worse than the second. First half Sydney FC were pretty strong and that Phoenix defence looked shaky to say the least. Steven Taylor’s absence was always gonna be the hardest one to fill and without him storming around the lads got caught on the back foot too often. Was waiting for a lazy foot in and a penalty once or twice as blokes like Kosta Barbarouses got into the box on the run. But you know what? The two goals that SFC actually scored were both absolute rippers. Especially the second one, damn. Luke Brattan the lil bugger. What an incredible strike.
It’ll take a lot more than that to be convinced by this backline but that’s an okay effort, all things considered. Bent but not broken – that was always the way last season too. A little more concerned about the fullbacks going forwards... McGarry didn’t get a whole lot going there and was replaced by Louis Fenton in the second half. Fenton having gotten some LB reps in during preseason but his distinct right-footedness made him look like nothing more than a backup option in his time out there. Playing with Davila meant he was able to get into some good positions but he clearly didn’t wanna cross with his left and that’s a problem. Tim Payne was much more industrious. Crossing was rusty at times but he linked well, kept moving. Set up the goal too (apparently). Those fullbacks are going to be pretty crucial to supplying a consistent attacking threat. We’ve got attacking mids like Davila who will drift into central areas so the fullbacks need to be able to overlap and provide that width… but as with most things, you’d expect combinations to get better as we get deeper into things. It was only the first match.
So... have you ever seen a properly broadcast game where at half-time the hosts have had to apologise for not having footage of a goal that was scored? Incredible scenes. The coverage got all glitchey right as Muratovic squeezed in an equaliser at the end of the opening half. The picture cut out as the move was building up and then came back as the Nix were walking back to halfway for kickoff. Uffie caught a wild MissingNo... if you know you know.
Nah but for real...
Muratovic faded in and out but he popped up with a goal when needed and that’s huge. There aren’t enough guys in this squad with that knack for goals and it’s something that got a lot of words dedicated to it in some of these offseason write-ups. Muratovic seems to have that special something about him where he can get in the right place at the right time to score goals. Good for him. Could be a key little player as the season progresses, especially in a compacted role off the bench. Speaking of… Matt Ridenton did a few nice things off the bench. He feels like a player who’s gotten a rough rap at times but he’s always tidy and positive. If he’s the backup CM then no dramas there. Well, one drama maybe. Not saying these guys have to carry the weight or anything but Cam Devlin has 1 goals in 29 A-League appearances. Alex Rufer has 0 goals in 73 A-League appearances. Matt Ridenton, who has played as an attacking mid a decent amount, has 6 goals in 107 A-League appearances.
Pressure on Tomer Hemed then… but that was never a secret. The A-League’s only ever Israeli is going to have to carry a lot of the goal-scoring burden in a team long in suppliers and short on finishers. This wasn’t really a game where he got to show his talents off though. Threw himself around a bit – he has a similar build to Gary Hooper but he looks more mobile than him – and his aerial ability is hopefully gonna be a reliable outlet for the Nix. But his biggest contribution here was deflecting in an injury-time equaliser from a blatant offside position.
Eh, whatever. An equaliser would’ve been nice but this just keeps up the trend of losing starts to the season. Undercooked, understrength, playing at ‘home’ against the top side in the comp over the last couple years where ‘home’ actually means playing in a foreign country (and the same city as your opponents are based in). Add it all together and a 2-1 loss is more promising than most starts they’ve had. Theme of the week: it was lovely to have the Wellington Phoenix back but there’s bugger all we can really learn from this game.
The lads are in action again in a week’s time against Macarthur. Then there’s a week off because of all the postponements before they face the Newcastle Jets. So it’s gonna be a stuttering start to things. If this game effectively doubled as a final preseason hit out, well at least Aotearoa was able to watch it this time. Most of it, anyway.
Rightio, get amongst the Patreon whanau if you appreciate the words we serve up
Also whack an ad to say cheers and sign up to our email thing for the bonus yarns
Keep cool but care