The Wellington Phoenix Deployed The Youngsters And Got Knocked Out Of The Aussie Cup
Yeah okay never mind then. The Wellington Phoenix are out of the Australian Cup already, having been bounced by NPL club South Melbourne in the round of 32. They conceded an early goal and never managed to muster a response despite a whole lot of possession, heaps of crosses, and some weapons coming off the bench. Not a very good performance but then they weren’t very good in this competition last year either, needing extra time to overcome Peninsula Power before being dominated 3-0 by Melbourne City. They then proceeded to serve up their best ever season so yeah nah don’t worry too much about this result.
Especially not when we dig into the team that they picked. This was a long way from resembling what the Nix will look like by week one of the new season. In fact, it was basically a youth team exercise with only a few spare senior players in the initial eleven. Four lads made their first-team debuts for the club while two more made their first starts. Only Scott Wootton started both this match and the elimination final defeat against Melbourne Victory. Only six players were involved in both overall.
It would have been nice to win and advance and earn another competitive game to add some spice to preseason... but it wasn’t to be. Now we get to pick the bones of that defeat while Chiefy and his boys get back to the important work that takes place on the training pitch.
The Squad
Frankly, the writing was on the wall when Giancarlo Italiano laid out the situation in his media stand-up at the airport, declaring that six academy players would be in the squad (not including the three scholarship hombres) and a number of senior players either absent or on minutes restrictions due to this game arriving so early in preseason – with many of them having been affected by international football. All Whites at the Nations Cup (Tim Payne, Alex Rufer, Sam Sutton, Kosta Barbarouses, Oskar van Hattum, Lukas Kelly-Heald & Fin Conchie). Oceania U19 Championships (Fergus Gillion, Alby Kelly-Heald, Luke Supyk, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Nathan Walker, Tze Xuan Loke, Lachlan Candy, plus several more academy lads who weren’t on this trip). OlyWhites at the Paris Olympics (Sam Sutton, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Oskar van Hattum, Matt Sheridan, Fin Conchie, Isaac Hughes). Safe to say the timing of this match was far from ideal.
Therefore many of those players were not in contention for these games. Rufer and Payne were rested – remember Payne suffered a muscle injury in Vanuatu so he’ll be even further behind in his preseason calendar, although it sounds like he’s back in training now. Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas were going to be eased back in. Chiefy mentioned that Scott Wootton might be limited too, although he ended up doing ninety. Sam Sutton was rested after starting all three matches at the Olympics – the club’s other five Olympians were all in the starting team though. It was too soon for Paolo Retre to be involved. There was no mention of David Ball but he didn’t play against South Melbourne either. At least Mo Al-Taay was all good to start despite having been away making his debut for the Iraq national team around the same time as the Oceania Nations Cup was taking place.
It feels like there should be more first-teamer absences to explain... but actually there were not. That’s because the sales of Alex Paulsen, Ben Old, and Finn Surman, combined with the departures of Oskar Zawada, Bozhidar Kraev, Nico Pennington, Youstin Salas, and Jack Duncan, have left the Welly Nix short on players right about now. They have 14 players on senior contracts and three more on scholarships. Only two imports on the books. Things are progressing to schedule, no reason to panic, it’s just one more way in which the timing of the Aussie Cup is such an inconvenience. The A-League Men’s doesn’t kickoff until the weekend of 18 October which is more than two months away in the distance. Auckland FC are going to be playing that week too, of course, and they only just played their first ever organised friendly last week (no AFC in the Aussie Cup this year because the draw is based on last season’s performance and there was no AFC last season).
Therefore Alby Kelly-Heald was tapped to make his first team debut in goal with academy goalie Dublin Boon on the bench. AKH is the identical twin brother of Lukas Kelly-Heald and his tall frame does admittedly look more at home with goalkeeping gloves. Just like his bro, he’s surprisingly silky with his feet. Had a very good National League season last year too which showed the rate at which he’s developing. As for Boon, he’s originally from Christchurch and played for Nomads United before spending last year in the Roda JC system over in the Netherlands. Got as far as a few Eerste Divisie matchday squads while he was there. Both goalies are 19 years of age. We’re expecting an import goalkeeper to arrive at some stage but this game was for the youngsters.
That was all the information we had prior to the game. As to what Giancarlo Italiano would throw out there under those plentiful conditions... that was anyone’s guess. Here’s what he came up with...
Fascinating stuff. Especially up front where all three fellas were part of the New Zealand squad for last year’s U17 World Cup. Going in order of how the names are presented there, these are the current ages of that starting eleven: 19, 20, 32, 20, 22, 24, 20, 19, 18, 18, 17. Five teenagers. Three more 20-year-olds. Only one bloke aged over 24. Scott Wootton should bill the club for babysitting duties.
The formation(s) used was similar to something they evolved into last season where they defend in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 but then spin the wheel slightly to attack with three at the back. Previously it was the job of Ben Old to be the midfielder/wing-back hybrid out on the left side. Here it was Oskar van Hattum on the right side doing an applaudable interpretation of that role – albeit as much more of a passer much than a dribbler.
We also saw Mo Al-Taay slipping into Alex Rufer duties with Fin Conchie trying to be Nico Pennington. Matt Sheridan was at right-back although he tended to tuck into a back three when OVH was in space out side. Still got a few opportunities to get forward though. Isaac Hughes took over for Finn Surman as expected. The only quirk there was that Wootton moved into the right-sided central defence role with Hughes on the left. Both are right-footed, as is Surman, though it was always Surman RCB and Wootton LCB last term. Granted, whenever Hughes started, it was in a back three where he’d operate on the left side so that part remains consistent. Lukas KH was at left-back with a little more room to push forward than Sheridan got... although there were many times when he tucked in and Sheridan stepped up. You saw these same tricks last season, nothing new except the dudes wearing the jerseys.
Nathan Walker was the biggest surprise in the starting line-up. With Barbarouses and Rojas both left on the bench to begin with, one of the rookies was going to benefit and he was the lottery winner. Walker made that U17WC squad whilst playing second tier with Fencibles up in Auckland, going on to join the Nix Academy at the start of 2024. He’s a speedy and direct winger who had four goal contributions (1 goal, 3 assists) at the recent Oceania U19s. Along with him were striker Luke Supyk, who has a senior team contract and made four A-League appearances off the bench last term. He scored NZ’s only goal at the U17s (from the penalty spot) plus provided two goals and two assists at the OFC U19s - with both of those goals coming in the grand final. And Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues is of course the club’s youngest ever ALM debutant. Strange that we didn’t see too much of him at either the U17WC or the U19s where he was often used as a substitute... but he gets huge raps within the Nix system and back in December signed a four-year first team contract – the first three as an academy player, the fourth as a senior player.
Don’t overlook that bench either. Barbarouses and Rojas need no introductions – other to say that this was Rojas’ first game for the Wellington Phoenix since February 2011. Boon’s already had a mention. As for the other four... Fergus Gillion made a first team debut last year. He’s a midfielder and his brother Liam Gillion has signed for Auckland FC. Fergus played a key role in that OFC U19 squad where he was the only kiwi to start every game. He will be one of the front-runners for any available scholarship contracts. Tze Xuan Loke was one of the captains for the nineteens, a fullback originally from Green Island down south who can do a job on either flank. Dylan Gardiner was playing regular first team footy for Hamilton Wanderers at 16yo and was also part of the U17 World Cup contingent (like Walker, he made the move to the WPA after that tournament). He’s a tall central defender. And Lachlan Candy is a forward/attacking midfielder who spent a chunk of this year on loan with Waterside Karori scoring plenty of goals. He also had a good time at the Oceania U19s.
Everyone except Boon and Gardiner got onto the pitch at some stage... but the real knowledge here is less about how they did and more about the window we’ve been granted into The Chief’s thinking in terms of who the very best academy prospects are. This club has proven they know how to develop their best talent. Now we’ve got an updated 2024 version of who that term pertains to.
The Game
This is the dumb part so you’ll forgive a writer for breezing through it. Basically, the Nix got things underway with sustained possession, most of it across the backline, only to concede the first time that South Melbourne got the ball in their half. There was some decent hold-up play within that move from the home side. There was also a soft clearance from LKH and a lapse from Wootton misreading the pass into the area... allowing Harry Sawyer to convert first time from ten yards. Perhaps Alex Paulsen would have pulled off a miracle save there to bail his team out of trouble but that’s not something the Phoenix can bank on any longer. On the whole it was just a little too timid, a little too off-the-pace.
They might have grown comfortably into the match if they hadn’t conceded. Then again, they might not have. Because, despite the formation, this didn’t look much like the team we saw last season – a team that wasn’t a particularly good attacking side yet which made the most of their abilities thanks to a patient and deliberate approach towards creating the best chances possible. But it all got very hectic with a bunch of youngsters in those positions instead. Van Hattum was the brightest spark, collecting the ball out wide and seeking to feed Nathan Walker with his pace in behind the line. But mostly they just settled for crossing at the first opportunity. A team that averaged 14 cross attempts per game last season, the second-fewest in the league (behind champs Central Coast), for some reason hurled 38 of them into the area in this fixture. Not that it’s a mystery why that happened. ‘Twas a textbook case of inexperience mixed with the pressure of playing from a deficit.
There were a few half-decent moments. OVH blasted one over the top from inside the area. Luke Supyk couldn’t quite get his toes on a low ball across goal (he had a few of those moments in the U19s too). Matt Sheridan swung in some enticing crosses. But with a combined age of 63 between the front three (and a combined 25 minutes of prior first-team footy) there just wasn’t any presence up top. The real presence was on the bench in the form of Marco Rojas and Kosta Barbarouses, who were each chucked on after 66 minutes (along with Fergus Gillion). Barbarouses immediately showed what’s up with a clever run into the channel... but goals continued to elude the Nix. Almost 69% of possession in this game yet only seven shots, with just one of them on target, to show for it. They didn’t create good enough chances. They didn’t create hardly anything at all. They simply conceded early and then spent the rest of the game knocking politely on a locked door.
The Season Ahead
It doesn’t really matter. The Nix treated this like a preseason game and preseason results are irrelevant. If we’re being honest, there were upset inklings around this one long before South Melbourne scored their goal - this team is coming first in NPL Victoria so they’re in strong midseason form. Coincidentally, they also had Mario Barcia in their midfield, the former Team Wellington midfielder (from Argentina originally) who also played against the Wellington Phoenix in this competition back in 2021 when he was with Avondale. The Nix won 4-1 that day although they did so with a far more serious line-up.
This time a year ago, the coach was giving no guarantees that Alex Paulsen would be the starting goalie and they were still intending to sign another import defender prior to Finn Surman earning that spot. It was also during the previous Aussie Cup run when Lukas Kelly-Heald suddenly emerged onto the scene. That goes to show what’s still on the line for the young blokes who got opportunities here. As fans looking on, there wasn’t a whole lot about this performance to bother stashing in the memory chambers, except maybe for a brief moment or two of Sloane-Rodrigues funkiness...
... but Italiano will have had instructions for each one of those chaps. He and his staff will have blokes that impressed them and blokes that they realise still need more time. That in turn will help clarify what they plan to do with the remaining spots in their squad. No doubt whatsoever that they need another forward, probably of the import variety. A new goalkeeper too, although AKH was tidy here. The goal had nothing to do with him and otherwise he looked very confident, especially with his feet. Most likely AKH is competing for back-up duties though (in which case his contract will probably be upgraded to a full one – they’re required to have two senior goalies on the books anyway).
One piece of the puzzle that remains elusive is how Marco Rojas will be unleashed. Chiefy has intimated that they’ll adapt the tactics in order to suit Rojas’ playmaking abilities but here we mostly just saw them trying to play the way they ended last season, with Rojas operating as a roaming left-winger. It’s too soon for anything else to have been concocted and deployed so that much stays cryptic.
There are pretty obvious improvements to be made. All you have to do is chuck Tim Payne, Sam Sutton, Alex Rufer, and Paolo Retre into the eleven. Perhaps some David Ball too... though after a goalless 2024-25 campaign his role could be a slippery one. Is Italiano content to have Ball as an attacking utility working tirelessly for others with excellent leadership qualities? He might be. Or he might want to figure out a role that better puts Bally into dangerous areas like he achieved in reviving Kosta Barbarouses’ goal-scoring efficiency. They need to be improving in attack regardless, especially since the departures of Surman and Paulsen means they cannot guarantee they’ll be able to repeat their prior defensive mastery. Marco Rojas can’t do it all by himself.
In that light, the four teenaged forwards who got minutes (GSR, Supyk, Walker & Candy) have done well to distinguish themselves above the crowd. There could easily be openings for them to pop up and make a difference throughout the season. It’s also interesting that Chris Greenacre’s NZ U19s team gave fellow WeeNixers Ryan Watson (298 min) and Daniel Makowem (213) more minutes than Candy (191), Walker (190), or GSR (149) got in that tournament... yet the Phoenix themselves have shown they rate these lads higher through their selection here (unless there are injuries we don’t know about).
That leaves centre-back as the most intriguing position. Isaac Hughes may have been part of a losing team but he was one of the more impressive fellas out there in yellow. He’s always been a skilled defender so of course he had more than a hundred touches and completed 80/91 (88%) of his passes. And he’s also shown he knows how to batten down the hatches by winning headers, hoofing clearances, and blocking shots. What was cool to see from him against South Melbourne was how comfortable he looked. Lunging into tackles and seeking to move the ball. The Nix will be covering all their bases over the next couple months but don’t discount Isaac Hughes’ chances of being a week one starter. He’s in the same situation that Finn Surman was twelve months ago and look how that turned out. This is also why it’s curious that Dylan Gardiner was the CB on the bench, given that there are older and arguably more established blokes in the WeeNix (such as Seth Karunaratne). But Gardiner’s presence tells us that he is the defener that the club reckons has the highest ALM potential. It’s always good to learn these things.
Get amongst the whanau who support us on Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee if you rate the reads and reckon we deserve a little recompense
Also helps to whack an ad, do the likes and share stuff, and tell your mates to do the same
Keep cool but care