The Wellington Phoenix had only ever won one game in the Australia Cup (formerly known as the FFA Cup) prior to last season. Then they went all the way to the semi-finals and now back to back wins have them one game away from matching that feat this season. Bloody hell, maybe they’ll even win the thing? As long as Ufuk Talay is in charge – and he’ll be in charge for at least one more season – this is a Wellington Phoenix team that can turn anyone up on their day. That’s always a decent recipe for cup footy so make sure you reserve your bandwagon seat nice and early.

Not a bad recipe for league football either, come to think of it. Hence if you’re a Wellington Phoenix fan and you’re not feeling more optimistic about this upcoming season than you ever have for any impending Nix season before then don’t be shy. Cast down the shackles of historic emotional temperance. Give yourself permission to feel ambition.

It’s possible this could be the last campaign with Uffie at the helm. It’s also possible that it could be one of the best seasons in Wellington Phoenix history. So far Uffie has taken them to two finals berths in three years and only missed out on a third by goal difference. All three of them were pandemic-affected... meaning that the Welly Nix have not had a proper slate of home games since the first three-quarters of Talay’s first term in charge and that was when they did the bulk of the work that led to the club’s best ever regular season finish (third place).

That 2019-20 season could have been even better. The Nix were on a four-game winning streak when the pando reared its grizzly head the league but when the football eventually returned in bubble format they won just one of their last six games and then lost 1-0 to Perth in an elimination final. The next two seasons were spent permanently based in Australia with only a few spare trips back home to Wellington (and Auckland). Tough times. The Nix had to do what they had to do and they did it as well as anyone could have expected. But those days are in the rearview now. This season there are no handicaps. Genuine home field advantage has returned. Everything is aligning nicely.

We’ll leave that idea where it is for now though, can’t be getting ahead of ourselves when the A-League is is still six weeks away from even starting. Hell, the squad’s not even fully sorted. The signing of Brazilian attacking midfielder Yan Sasse brings them up to the league minimum of 20 players in the squad but they’re still looking for a final import to lead the line, an aerial threat number nine, and could potentially add another local or two on top of that if they so desire. Probably not, since the academy is doing a fine job at stretching out the depth.

However this chat is about the Australia Cup so let’s chat about the Australia Cup. The 4-0 win over Devonport City Strikers two weeks ago was an expected thing and thus didn’t get a proper write-up (although there were some reaction notes in our Substack newsletter – have a read and sign up). Despite mixing things up a bit with the selections, mostly by necessity due to injury/unavailability, the Nix looked confident and the Nix looked ruthless. Slightly slow to start but then Ben Waine scored in the ninth minute and from there it was a canter... even if it took longer than it should have to add a second goal. Oskar van Hattum eventually provided those honours with a flicked header from a Clayton Lewis cross on 61’. Ben Waine susequently added a second before Bozhidar Kraev came off the bench to finish one off for himself.

Marco Lorenz (right back) and Noah Karunaratne (left wing) made late debuts off the bench, alongside Kraev’s own debut. A couple more academy players breaking through under the guidance of Ufuk Talay, who’s given ALM debuts to: Sam Sutton, Ben Old, Finn Surman, Oskar van Hattum, Alex Paulsen, Riley Bidois, Jackson Manuel, and George Ott... as well as a cup debuts for Kurtis Mogg and now Marco Lorenz and Noah Karunaratne. Plus Zac Jones, Henry Gray, and Luis Toomey have been unused subs in the ALM. Right on.

The summarised yarns from that game include:

A promising showing from Kosta Barbarouses
A couple more goals for Ben Waine in a competition he also scored twice in last season
Sam Sutton was excellent at left-back
Tim Payne played CB with Callan Elliot at RB
Steven Ugarkovic and Lucas Mauragis were unavailable due to being cup tied from last season, weirdly (they played the initial prelims back then when they were still at other clubs)
David Ball and Ben Old were injured
Also ex-Nix goalie Keegan Smith played for Devonport which was funky to see

Here’s the line-up deets...

Oli Sail | Callan Elliot (Marco Lorenz 89’), Tim Payne, Scott Wootton, Sam Sutton | Josh Laws (Bozhidar Kraev 68’), Nick Pennington | Clayton Lewis, Oskar van Hattum (Noah Karunaratne 89’) | Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine (Riley Bidois 77’)

Unused Subs: Alex Paulsen, Finn Surman, Jackson Manuel

Sweet as, love that. But beating an NPL team was expected. The draw then served up Melbourne City for the round of sixteen – the only tie in which two A-League clubs were put together. Typical. But the dramas were few as the Nix produced a pretty excellent first half, scoring twice thanks to Kosta Barbarouses (19’) and Ben Waine (36’). They were flowing forward in attack. There was good width. They didn’t have a lot of the ball but defensively they were mostly unthreatened as Melbourne City failed to break them down. City played this like a preseason game, the Nix played it like a cup tie. The difference was clear for all to see.

There’s all sorts of competition for places in the front four these days. The likes of Reno Piscopo, Jaushua Sotirio, Gary Hooper, and Gael Sandoval may have all left but they’ve been replaced. Bozhidar Kraev made his first start here. Yan Sasse was on the bench, popping up for a very short cameo at the end. Kosta Barbarouses looked sharp up top. There’s another import striker potentially on the way. Considering the limitations of a couple of the departed fellas and the injury dramas of Gaz Hooper... it’s possible that the Phoenix have improved on each and every one of them.

😎😎😎 pic.twitter.com/pNL8fbZvT8
— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) August 17, 2022

Sotirio is sneakily the biggest loss of the quartet even though he’s the worst player of the four. But Sotirio’s vertical runs in behind opposition defences really did grow to be a crucial aspect of the Nix’s attack, stretching the field and thus creating space for others as well as chances for himself. Without him there’s no obvious speedy direct threat to replace that mahi. However what Uffie does have instead is the hefty footballing IQ of Kosta Barbarouses and his off-ball movement instead.

A beautiful trend in this City game was seeing the Nix get out in transition with movement all over the place. Kosta knows where to run. Ben Waine can then react to that with a secondary run based the room that Kosta is able to create. And the dual-tens in this match, Kraev and Old, were both regularly seeking to get forward in haste both with the ball and without the ball.

The possession disparity meant this was a game with lots of counter attacking moments so whether this trend can hold up against a low block is another matter... but damn it was lovely to see. These dudes just know what they’re doing. Enough blokes have played under Ufuk Talay for several years now to set a distinct systemic tone which new players are able to comfortably ease into, whilst adding their own personal touches to the formula.

Speaking of... Bozhidar Kraev. First extended look at the Bulgarian and tell ya what he’s a lanky fella. All arms and legs as he slices and dices his way around defenders. He’s a slightly awkward player which seems to make him tough to deal with. Good technically. Really positive in trying to attack... could imagine that getting frustrating in bigger games but you want guys who’ll take a risk out there. He scored a sneaky one in the first Aussie Cup game and he sorta lucked his way into an assist for Kosta’s goal in this one, so he’s already having an impact.

It’ll be frisky to see how the selections go given that there are likely to be four import players challenging for those front four spots, to go with Barbarouses, Waine, Old, Van Hattum, etc. Talay bemoaned a lack of bench depth at times last season, particularly during the worst of the injury problems, but it’s safe to say that shouldn’t be a problem this term. There’s a strong chance that there’ll be an import player on the bench to call upon in most games – plus at least one (potentially 2-3) All Whites internationals. Keeping everybody happy will be tricky but this side of the fence is obviously superior to the alternative.

Talay spoke about being very close to confirming that import striker in his last presser. Once/if that signing gets sorted, pretty sure it’ll mean that Uffie has used all five import slots for the very first time. It’ll also mean that four of them are attackers. Thus Scott Wootton is going to have a defence built around NZers and Aussies and the midfield will be the same.

One bloke who’s been super impressive in these two cup games is Clayton Lewis. Really emerged as a key player. Seems that Uffie rates he and Ugarkovic highly enough to overstock the attacking group. Alex Rufer should return midway through the season too, fingers crossed. Plus Nick Pennington has started both Aussie Cup matches and Josh Laws played a bit of midfield in the first. The midfield was enough of a problem area last term that Gael Sandoval started several games there yet they’ve only really signed one more player in that spot. That’s both a risk and a vote of confidence.

The second half against Melbourne City was a different affair. City sped things up in response to their two-goal deficit and moved all that possession closer to the Phoenix goal. But Wootton and Laws were solid at the back and it wasn’t until the 84th minute that Matthew Leckie finally bagged a goal for City. That did cause a few nerves, particularly with the prospect of extra time keeping those of us watching back home up past midnight, but no dramas. The Wellington Phoenix took care of business for a really tidy 2-1 win.

Oli Sail | Callan Elliot, Scott Wootton, Joshua Laws, Sam Sutton | Nick Pennington (Jackson Manuel 90+5’), Clayton Lewis | Bozhidar Kraev (Yan Sasse 90+2’), Ben Old | Ben Waine, Kosta Barbarouses (Oskar van Hattum 89’)

Unused Subs: Alex Paulsen, Finn Surman, Noah Karunaratne, Riley Bidois

Another blatant example that Talay was taking this game seriously: he didn’t make a single substitute until the 89th minute of the game. He left his starting eleven out there to do the job right up until it became convenient to start taking some extra time off the clock via substitutions. Hence we saw Oskar van Hattum, Yan Sasse, and Jackson Manuel all pop up at three minute intervals. This team made the semis of this competition last time and they’re not content to leave it at that.

Also must shout out two more players and those two players are Callan Elliot and Ben Old. The right hand side of the pitch. Elliot has started both of these Aussie Cup games at right back which in itself is a curious thing. They had Jack-Henry Sinclair there on trial for a spell but chose not to sign him, suggesting that Tim Payne would probably be the main man at RB (remember that Louis Fenton has retired from this level). Payne played centre-back against Devonport and missed the Melly City game.

That gave Elliot a free swing and he looked as good as he ever has in yellow and black. Not overly challenged defensively but he did enough, plus he was surging forward with extra zest and really looking to take players on and get to the by-line. It’s an impetus that hasn’t always been there from him – as is often the case with young players who can take time to get comfortable and confident enough to try that kinda thing, especially when mistakes can cost you your place in the squad. Elliot missed extended chunks of last season due to covid and injury meaning he never got much momentum going (starting the first four games and then only making four more combined starts the entire rest of the way). There’s breakout season potential for him if he keeps this up.

And even more breakout season potential for Ben Old who was immense against Melbourne City. Similar thing to Elliot where he was getting the ball and looking to be aggressive. Skipping past tackles and trying to combine with short passes. Some areas of Old’s game immediately translated to the A-League, such as his deceptive strength on the ball instantly making him one of the most fouled players in the competition, but one goal and one assist in over 1000 minutes shows he’s got plenty of room to improve. That ain’t gonna be an issue if he continues to look like the well-rounded player that absolutely dominated with the Nix Reserves team, as he did here. Again, it’s just that confidence factor. Unlocks everything.

But it’s only the Aussie Cup. Melbourne City were in banter mode for a lot of the first half. Lose the first couple A-League matches and all will be forgotten in a hurry, that’s how professional football tends to work. We don’t wanna be getting ahead of ourselves here. No needless predictions. No foretelling of glory. Gotta keep it in the here and now and settle for that comforting feeling of being able to trust that things are on track. Call it the Ufuk Talay Contingency.

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