Nothing stood out more as the Wellington Phoenix held Western Sydney Wanderers to a 0-0 draw in their inaugural A-League Women’s match than just how up for the contest the Nix were. They got numbers back in defence when needed and they pushed forward as a crowd in attack when they could. They tried to press high when the occasion allowed. Getting stuck into the 50-50s. They weren’t cutting corners on the effort plays. The consequence of all that work was an outbreak of cramps towards the end... but the reward was a clean sheet and a point on the board at the first asking.

Expansion teams generally tend to struggle. The Phoenix Men came last with 20 points from 21 games in their initial outing. So when you then add in how young this squad is (four players aged over 22 and 12 teenagers in a squad of 20), how inexperienced they are (only four players with prior ALW exp), how they’ve had to relocate to Wollongong aka Wellingong for border/logistical/financial reasons, and how the late notice of their licence gave them less of a preseason than anyone else... anything other than a wooden spoon will be a decent achievement. It wasn’t at all infeasible that they might have lost every game.

Perth Glory went winless last season with a single lonesome point to their name (they’ve already tripled that this time around after beating Brisbane in week one) and the Phoenix have already matched that tally. Lily Alfeld was playing for that Perth team so she’ll be fizzing for that first win when it eventually comes along. Third most ALW apps in the squad but she’s never won a game (and this was her first clean sheet). But after seeing how they went in that first game, gotta feel a whole lot more comfortable now about this team’s prospects. Whether they’re winning games or not they’ve shown that they’re going to be competitive, they’re going to be tough to play against.

The Formation

Save this pic for prosperity, here is the first ever starting line-up for the Wellington Phoenix Women’s team...

From top to bottom, these are those players’ ages: 26, 17, 20, 18, 22, 25, 19, 19, 18, 22, 18. Isabel Gomes and Lily Alfeld were the only ones who’d previously played A-League. Chloe Knott is the only other player who’d played professionally before. Super young and super inexperienced. But all of them were ready for the A-League. Some had had to wait longer than others for this chance but they’ve all earned it one way or another and this was the logical next step in their careers. If that wasn’t known before kickoff then it sure was known after the final whistle.

The team was named in a 4-3-3 but it was more like a 4-2-2-2 in reality. Something close to how the men’s team plays with Chloe Knott pushing up with Grace Jale who was leading the line. The two wingers were a little deeper and then there were a couple holding mids – Izzy Gomez as more of the defensive enforcer with Grace Wisnewski playing kinda like that Ria Percival role with a licence to push forward in support of the press.

Then without the ball they defended in a 4-4-2 which basically just meant the wingers dropping back into the line. A flat back four, relatively narrow but not too narrow. Good shape and structure. Players knew where they needed to be and were pretty clued up on all their roles within those positions too. All in all... seems they’ve crammed a heap of work into a pretty short preseason. Solid areas considering there’s still a lot of room to grow.

Couple curious selections there. Kelli Brown was out injured after picking up a knock in training and likely would have started otherwise. Probably either for Ava Pritchard or Jordan Jasnos. The goalie picked herself. The back four was pretty predictable... Annabel Martin might have gotten the start ahead of Zoe McMeeken on pure merit but the way they played made it clear why ZM was preferred: all about that athleticism from the youngest player in the squad. The rest of it was where the funk was. Grace Jale’s played a lot of central midfield but was a target woman striker here. Chloe Knott is usually a box to box midfielder, used here as a second striker. Isabel Gomez was listed as a defender when she was signed yet played as a combative central midfielder. Grace Wisnewski tends to play higher up the park.

However every selection came with a specific role within the game plan and each of those roles beautifully complemented the skills of those particular players. Jale is strong and tall and can play with her back to goal. Knott is absolutely tireless, crucial within the press. Wisnewski reads the game really well. Gomez is ruthless in the challenge. You get the idea.

Application & Consequence

This is that first paragraph again. The commitment, the application, the intent. The energy that the team brought to the contest. Working hard to win the ball back as quickly as possible. They had that structure to fall back upon but they didn’t fall back. They defended on the front foot... lost count of how many times Saskia Vosper stepped up and intercepted a pass. The central defenders of Mackenzie Barry and Kate Taylor were brilliant at holding their positions up until the ball was there to be won and then instantly taking decisive action. They won a lot of headers, restricting what Western Sydney could do. Hell, throughout the game the Wanderers only really had about three clear chances to score.

One was early on as Sheridan Gallagher smashed a pop off the crossbar. A proper scare for the Nix. On another day that might’ve floated top corner and it would have been a very different game. But the way that one came about, it was from the Nix losing their shape and not WSW breaking them down. Barry had rushed up to win a tackle but didn’t secure possession afterwards and they hit the Nix quickly before Barry could get back in position. There was also a Lily Alfeld save early in the second half after Wanderers shifted the ball quickly into a wide area behind the Nix fullbacks (shocked they didn’t do more of that) but it was a save she was always likely to make. A few other half-chances but really the Phoenix defence had them sorted. They did make errors, but they covered for them. Sweet as.

Across the board the team served up a frantic work-rate. Grace Jale was leading the line but she’d still track all the way back if needed. Grace Wisnewski was a little bit of everywhere. The fullbacks had to hold the width in attack, pushing all the way forward in support, whilst also sprinting back any time they lost the ball. Look at this example from the start of the second half. Zoe McMeeken loses the ball in the WSW half with almost the entire team on attack...

Then ten seconds later almost everybody had gotten back in defence and forced what looked like a dangerous counter attacking opportunity down the sink as WSW ended up having to pass backwards...

Granted, there is a consequence to all that. It’s a lot of hard work having to do so much hard work. Taylor talked in her post-match interview about how a number of players were struggling with cramps at the end. Gemma Lewis has spoken about how much fitness work the team did in preseason in order to get up to the levels required to play this way... and how they’re still not there yet. You saw that in the latter stages. But they battled onwards for that clean sheet all the same.

That’s the thing moving forward now: Can they maintain this effort week after week? Can they ensure that this performance is the baseline for them and not the peak? Can they bring this same energy without the club debut buzz? If they can they’ll be in a good place once a few other things begin to click (passing, attacking patterns, the high press, etc.). Big emphasis on that upcoming second game to prove this wasn’t a one-off though, professional football is all about consistency.

The Press

We’ve just come off a couple Football Ferns tours where their high pressing was a major focus and coincidentally (?) we’ve now seen the same thing from the Wellington Phoenix. It wasn’t an overwhelming press. The trigger seemed to be the ball at the keeper’s feet - when WSW tried to play out from the back at goal kicks, for example. Definitely a situational thing. Also a sustained thing. Towards the very, very end there were a couple chances to really push on that they didn’t go for due to fatigue but otherwise they kept it going over and over again.

Here they are pressing in the first minute...

And the 16th minute...

And the 35th minute...

And the 57th minute...

And the 81st minute...

Two strikers rushing on the central defenders, the wingers rushing on the fullbacks, and then the two midfielders trying to shut down the outlets to the WSW midfielders – particularly Wisnewski dashing out. Then one of the forwards would split off onto the goalie if the ball got that far. When they weren’t pressing, one of the strikers would often drop off to (wo)man-mark the deepest Western Sydney midfielder as they slid back to try and collect the ball.

For long stretches of the game the press felt like the team’s best avenue towards a goal. There were a couple times where they nearly forced something but a clearance was made over the sideline in time... the best moment was when Chloe Knott picked the ball off Clare Hunt in the 58th minute but unfortunately she panicked and tried a snapshot not realising she had space to drive into. Probably would’ve led to a 1v1 around the penalty spot otherwise. Expect to see this press become more of a factor as fitness levels grow and the team has more time to coordinate it in practice.

Goals...?

Yeah, the goals. Of which there were none. And despite relatively even shot statistics there weren’t a whole lot of attempts where you felt like the Nix were a genuine chance to score. Only really one moment in the first half. A throw-in from Vosper to Jale, who chested the ball down to Knott. CK then blasted one on target from the edge of the box. A nice, reliable set piece move. The kind of thing you can practice. Nonetheless, the lack of open play moves was pretty blatant. Second half got a little better, there was that Knott chance as well as a couple fine crosses, but they seemed to lose some direction after Grace Jale was subbed off. Very much a work in progress.

Obvious asterisk being that they haven’t had that much time to work on these things compared to the rest of the A-League so naturally they’re gonna be behind the eight-ball. Get Kelli Brown back into that team and she’ll make a big difference, particularly with her ability to smash a long shot into the roof of the net. That point of difference always helps. Don’t let the defence sit too deep, show them they’ve gotta step out and close you down.

But a lot of the time they were impatient after winning the ball back. Too quick to pump a ball towards the strikers. Too willing to move it immediately when sometimes the pass simply wasn’t on. A lot of their passing was quite sloppy too. 61% pass accuracy for the match, that’s not sharp enough. The difference between a pass a little in front of a teammate and a little behind a teammate can be the difference between a goal-scoring chance at one end and a goal-scoring chance at the other end.

Plus when you turn the ball over too early you don’t give your fullbacks a chance to overlap. When Vosper and McMeeken can get into those positions they’re both capable of swinging in a mean cross. Along with Grace Jale’s hold-up play and the high pressin’, those fullback crosses feel like the best options in attack. Need to give them that opportunity, is all.

Also... Alyssa Whinham’s got some mad skills. Could be an x-factor player, especially late in games.

The Opposition

Finally, it’d be silly not to acknowledge that it takes two to tango and Western Sydney Wanderers were kinda of a perfect team to play first up. A team that don’t play too quickly in possession, didn’t really press, doesn’t have the creative forces which certain other clubs can boast, but who are very well organised and tough to break down. A difficult challenge but one which suited the style of play that the Nix are looking to build. No doubt the Wanderers will be much more bummed about a point than the Phoenix are. There you go. Acknowledgement done.

By the way, the ALW is a 14-game season this time around. It was 12 games last time as it has been for the best part of a decade (after beginning as a 10-game comp for its first couple swings), so the addition of the Wellington Phoenix makes this the longest ever ALW campaign and with further expansion to follow – the return of Central Coast and the addition of Western United in a year – the league is only trending in one direction.

But obviously 14 games between 10 teams does not allow you to play everybody twice and one bonus of the draw is that the four teams that the Welly Nix will only meet once are: Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Brisbane Roar, and Canberra United. Aka the defending champs, the most traditionally dominant club, perennial semi-finalists, and last season’s fourth placed team... respectively. Do have to play Sydney FC twice, they were the premiers in 2020-21, but overall this draw has been extremely kind. So that’s nice.

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