The Wellington Phoenix & Auckland FC Pre-Derby Notebook
We’re three games into the new A-League Men’s season and both New Zealand teams remain undefeated. Auckland FC are a little higher up on the ladder, in as much as the standings are even worth bothering with this early on, though another way to look at it is that both teams have won all their home games and drawn all their away games. It’s just that they’ve had different allotments of each. That stat won’t last beyond Saturday evening... it can’t because they’re playing each other in Kiwi Derby #1 for the 2025-26 season. Auckland FC won all three last term (and also won at reserves level during the National League a few weeks back) but a new season brings a clean slate. Maybe. That’ll be one of the notes.
Chiefy 3.0
There are football managers out there who can you exactly how their teams will play before they’re ever hired and will never veer from that path. Giancarlo Italiano is obviously not one of them because he’s in his third year as head coach of the Wellington Phoenix and we’ve seen three very distinct styles from him.
In year one they were awesome on the way to the club’s best ever finish. Raised up by breakthrough seasons from Alex Paulsen and Finn Surman, they had the tightest defence in the competition, allowing a lot of shots but usually from low risk positions. Weird thing about them is that they finished second with a +16 goal difference (16 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses) despite allowing the most shots against and taking the second fewest. But they were all about efficiency. Lots of transitional attacks with Ben Old carrying the ball forward. And while they didn’t take many shots, when they did shoot they shot from positions they were confident of scoring from. Kosta Barbarouses doing his sneaky things.
In year two they tried to keep the same identity but the transfers of Paulsen, Surman, and Old robbed them of that ability and pretty soon Chiefy adapted into a more pragmatic style. They tried to be spoilers and that meant less of everything. Less possession. Fewer touches in the opposition box, fewer crosses, fewer corner kicks, fewer big chances. They still had the least amount of shots with one of the best ratios for shots on target... but they couldn’t score goals and their defence regressed and they didn’t come close to making finals. It could be argued that this was the same approach but just poorly executed. However there’s no doubt that Cheify was chopping and changing with formations and selections in search of something that’d work. It all got pretty gloomy and the shadow of Auckland FC didn’t help.
Year three has been something else entirely. Thanks to a long offseason and some targeted recruitment, they’ve switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation and have kept at least 55% of possession in all three matches after averaging in the mid-40s for the previous two seasons. They had 71% away in Perth in game one, astonishing stuff from any team let alone the Wellington Phoenix. And it’s not like they’re just knocking the ball across the backline all day. They’re bouncing it around in midfield, looking to hit the tens who are looking for layoffs. Plenty of sharp one-two touch passing patterns. They’ve got attacking wingbacks, especially Carlo Armiento on the left. Ifeanyi Eze is doing a bit of everything up top, running in behind and holding the ball up and taking on defenders and getting on the end of crosses. Not to mention getting his shins pummelled without much protection from the refs but that’s a whole other idea. In the process, the Nix are getting shots away at twice the rate of last season.
It’s early days so this may level out once they’ve played a few more teams. You’ve gotta get at least ten games deep before you can trust the stats. Also it’s not like they’ve come close to executing this for ninety minutes yet with plenty of spells in which they look kinda clunky in between the flashes of goodness. But after the gloominess of 2024-25, this has been a welcome resurgence of joyful football.
The Dreaded High Line
Another aspect of Chiefy 3.0 is that instead of sitting deep and crowding their own penalty area, the Wellington Phoenix back three is pushing up and looking to narrow the distance between themselves and their midfield. That’s what they’ve got to do in order to play this way – you need to be in a position to counter-press or jump on loose balls, otherwise you’re just going to be exposed to transitional attacks all day long. The Nix aren’t going about this with half-measures either. They’re fully committed to the idea, as you can see from a couple examples over the weekend...
There have been 10 offsides called against teams playing the Phoenix – the highest mark through the first three rounds. You could perhaps have some concerns about the recovery pace in that backline, although they’re doing alright with that so far. Even when Manjrekar James, who has forged an instant presence as the middle centre-back (especially with his range of passing), missed the Central Coast game they handled his absence smoothly with an all-academy backline of Matt Sheridan, Isaac Hughes, and Lukas Kelly-Heald.
But reputations take hold quickly and the first impressions of the Nix high line was the opening twenty minutes against Perth Glory when they conceded twice and looked an absolute shambles as the Glory kept hitting that early ball in behind and tearing them up. Panic ensued. People got it in their minds that this is a risky, chaotic, even self-sabotaging tactic. In reality the only problem was that their goalkeeper wasn’t following the plan. Once Josh Oluwayemi began sweeping the space, the problem was solved and the Nix dominated the rest of that game. Now, there is a question of whether perhaps Alby Kelly-Heald might be more suited to that style of goalkeeping than Josh Oluwayemi (AKH has now played a couple National League games to mark his return from injury so it’s a decision that could come to the fore soon) but Olu’s doing what he needs to do and the high line is an asset not a hindrance.
The Corica Blueprint
Meanwhile on the Black and Blue side of the motu, it’s been same old same old from Auckland FC. The blueprint stays the same, just with a couple different faces in there. AFC were at their most effective last term when Max Mata was the target man and Guillermo May had the freedom to roam as a number ten... so they’ve upgraded on the departed Mata by bringing in English import Sam Cosgrove. The jury is still out on him despite a goal in the win against Adelaide last week. His job isn’t necessarily to score a million goals because this is a team with balanced scoring across the squad but only attempting four shots in three matches isn’t ideal (three were headers, including his goal). He’s still figuring out his combinations, still trying to get acclimatised to the particular brand of physicality in the A-League. Cosgrove is winning a lot of headers and doing some outstanding defensive work. Just gotta start linking up better.
They’ve also brought in Lachlan Brook on the right wing, who (along with an in-form Jesse Randall) has nudged Logan Rogerson out of the starting eleven. Brook and Rogerson are very different types of wingers. Rogerson is right-footed and likes to hug the touchline, making runs and getting to the byline. Brook is a lefty who angles infield with his close control and silky footwork. Way less positionally disciplined which is a curious tweak considering how much Rogerson’s diligent work in and out of possession was praised last season. That wasn’t a huge deal with Hiroki Sakai behind him at fullback but with Sakai injured for the next six weeks and Callan Elliot deputising that could leave Elliot exposed (particularly against the bro Armiento who hardly needs any space to begin with when he’s thinking of whacking a shot).
Other than that it’s business as usual. Michael Woud has done an admirable enough job filling the Alex Paulsen sized hole in the goalkeeper position. Jake Girdwood-Reich has done a more than admirable job at carrying the weight of the injured Nando Pijnaker (Nando played a very solid 45 mins for the AFC Reserves last week, he’s not far away). The team is built upon a tremendous defensive base. They win their duels, they hold their shape, they make fewer mistakes than anyone else. They’re combative in the midfield and they win their tackles. They also concede a lot of fouls but that’s all part of their imposing approach. Not an amazing attacking team but they do enough with pace out wide, a bit of guile from May and power from Cosgrove, as well as the aggressive mahi of their fullbacks getting up in support and whipping that ball into the danger zone. Set pieces are a focus. Long shots are always encouraged. It’s a team identity that worked brilliantly for them last year and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Psychic Damages
It’s easy to forget that the Wellington Phoenix were actually pretty decent to start last season. They won three of their first five games with the only defeat being the first derby against AFC. Three wins in their first five... and then only three wins across the entire rest of the season. They lost to Auckland FC for a second time and that sparked a run of five losses in six. A few draws and a narrow loss away to Melbourne Victory seemed to be steadying the ship but it was at that point that they ran into AFC for the third time and were smoked, thrashed, humbled 6-1 with Logan Rogerson (a former Nix player once upon a time) scoring a hat-trick.
The Nix never recovered. Sadness and despair washed over the rest of their campaign. Italiano started to seem grumpy in his press conferences. Chico Geraldes arrived to try and fix things (his debut was the 6-1 game) but he got injured right as he was settling in. An encouraging run of games from Alby Kelly-Heald was also spoiled by injury. Marco Rojas retired. All the while their new rivals were charging towards the minor premiership at the very first attempt, a feat that the Nix have never achieved and which they narrowly missed out on the year prior. Confidence was low and negativity spread. Obviously it was going to be a tricky season for them trying to replace the players they’d lost and perhaps they were always doomed to struggle... but it really felt like the derby defeats (especially the third one) threw them off kilter.
And so the fascination ahead of Kiwi Derby S2E01 will have a lot to do with how each team handles the situation from a mental perspective. Will there be lingering fear and loathing from the Phoenix? Have they had the sports psychologist/exorcist around during the week? Will Auckland FC have any complacency about them? Has Steve Corica been playing with the voodoo dolls?
There’s also a physical damage aspect because both teams are dealing with injuries. For starters, their right-backs Tim Payne and Hiroki Sakai are both going to miss at least the next month, thrusting Xuan Loke and Callan Elliot into the spotlight. Fin Roa Conchie and Hideki Ishige both came off hurt last game for the Nix, who already have Paolo Retre, Nikola Mileusnic, and Ramy Najjarine on the sideline. Manjrekar James missed the CCM match too. For AFC, they’ve been without Nando Pijnaker who might return for the derby though the form of Girdwood-Reich means they don’t have to rush anything. Felipe Gallegos has only played seven minutes due to a knock in preseason. It’s all adding up.
The Next Generations
Three games in and we’ve already seen two fresh academy debutants for the Wellington Phoenix. Xuan Loke was on the fringes last season and after a strong Aussie Cup run followed by an equally strong U20 World Cup display there was no doubt that he was going to be a valued first teamer this time around as Tim Payne’s backup right wing-back. So when T-Payne busted collarbone, there was never any question of Loke stepped up in his absence. He played a crucial role in their goal away to Central Coast in his first start. Very tidy wide defender with plenty of energy, some crisp passing, and pretty good tackling ability too. Above all, he makes smart decisions.
That’s something that’s been highlighted about the other debutant too: Anaru Cassidy. Chiefy called him one of the smartest players to come through the club’s academy in his time. Cassidy missed out on U20 World Cup selection a few months back but the silver lining was that he found himself training regularly with the first team while others were away... impressing enough to make the travelling squad for Perth and then the bench for Brisbane before getting subbed on against Central Coast. Not sure what he did with his own jersey, maybe a pre-game mince and cheese leakage, because he’s usually #37 but he was running around in an unnamed #50 shirt leading to this idea that he’s some complete unknown called up out of the blue. In actuality he’s been with the squad for every game this season and has been a key player in the reserves for a couple years (case and point: this article right here). Cassidy is a smooth midfield operator who fits the 3.0 style beautifully with his blend of sharp short passing and an eye for creating chances. We’ll see plenty more of him in the coming months.
Academy Debutants Under Giancarlo Italiano: Lukas Kelly-Heald, Fin Roa Conchie, Fergus Gillion, Isaac Hughes, Matt Sheridan, Luke Supyk, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Nathan Walker, Jayden Smith, Alby Kelly-Heald, Lachlan Candy, Xuan Loke, Anaru Cassidy
Last season saw the Welly Nix lean too much upon their youth players to the detriment of results. This year they should be stronger with a more experienced core (a key focus of their recruitment was adding players coming into, or already in, the primes of their careers in those mid-to-late 20s ages... whereas last season’s squad had a bunch of U23s, a bunch of O30s, and not much in between). But there will always be a place for the youth at the Phoenix. They’ve just gotta earn it a little more when the team is doing well. Eamonn McCarron has been on the bench while Alby Kelly-Heald recovers from his shoulder surgery so there’s another young’un in search of a debut. Mac Munro made a couple benches during the Aussie Cup. He’s currently part of a formidable CB pairing with Dylan Gardiner for the reserves. Luke Flowerdew (CF), Lewis Partridge (RB), and Ryan Lee (LB) have also impressed in the National League. No reason to think we’ll cap it at two academy debuts this season.
But please, for the love of all things holy, don’t go thinking that the Phoenix have a monopoly on rising talent. The AFC Reserves beat them 2-1 in their first U20s meeting a few weeks back and while the AFC Talent Development model is quite different to how the Phoenix Academy operates, and they’ve only been around for a year so this is less about development and more about scouting (albeit with a year of strong development in there)... mate that scouting has been immaculate. Luke Casserly and his crew have done a tremendous job of identifying and recruiting lads for this squad, putting together a group of U20s who in their first season together have been able to grab some seriously good results against top clubs – they beat Birkenhead United 3-0 last week!
We’re yet to see an AFC Reserves player debut in the A-League (although their ALM scholarship players are regulars for that side and have mostly all featured in some capacity across the A-League or Aussie Cup)... but we may not be far away from that milestone because tucked away on the bench for all three matches has been 18yo Ryan Mackay. The Fencibles junior is a tall, almost languid defender who is good on the ball and even better in the challenge. You don’t make three consecutive matchday squads under Steve Corica by accident. For the two most recent games, both at home, he’s then backed up with National League starts the following day.
Mackay is an outstanding defensive prospect... but so are Luka Vicelich (son of Ivan) who featured during the Australia Cup run and is currently away at the U17 World Cup, and Semi Nabenu who is pretty much a younger clone of Dan Hall, right down to their Fijian heritage. Nabenu’s older brother Simione is a regular for the Fijian national team and Semi has been involved in training camps before, though has yet to be capped. And that’s just the defence. Guys like Aston Burns, Codey Phoenix, Dejaun Naidoo, and Sam Lack have all stood out during the first six rounds of National League. Auckland FC have five players at the U17 World Cup. They sent four to the U20 World Cup. Exciting things are happening.
Bonus Notes
This is a contract year for Fin Roa Conchie and after only making nine appearances for 334 minutes last season you could have been forgiven for wondering if he’d perhaps fade away. Instead he’s started three in a row, giving the team some very underrated mahi as one of the tens. In and out of possession. They lost a lot of control when he went off injured at half-time of the Central Coast game. Glad to see him finding a foothold somewhere.
The Loke vs Elliot comparison at right-back will be a funky one because that position has of course been a problem area for the All Whites for a long time (T-Payne excluded). Neither are in the upcoming All Whites squad with Bill Tuiloma and Storm Roux picked ahead of them. Elliot’s got more of a chance of creeping into the World Cup squad though realistically we’re talking about the next World Cup cycle where this pair will be among the leading candidates (Payne will be 36yo for the 2030 World Cup).
Jesse Randall has started one game at striker and two on the left wing. After a bit of a wasteful day in the draw vs Melbourne Victory, he scored the winning goal against Western Sydney and was threatening against Adelaide too. Lachlan Brook is the one who’s taken Logan Rogerson’s starting spot but Rogerson was used a bit as a left winger during the Aussie Cup so give Jesse Randall some of the credit/blame for that too. Randall scored three goals last season. He scored three more during the Aussie Cup. He seems to really be kicking on.
Kazuki Nagasawa is the most underrated player for the Wellington Phoenix. For Auckland FC, that prize is harder to determine (because they win more often so their players get more recognition) but it probably goes to either Dan Hall (in case people don’t realise just how good he is) or Jake Brimmer. Specifically the version of Jake Brimmer that plays as a deeper midfielder, getting lots of touches and bouncing that ball around with great energy. The one we’ve seen over the past three weeks. Jake Brimmer as an attacking midfielder not as much. Interesting that Brimmer has looked really sharp coinciding with his switching FIFA allegiances to Malta – where he linked up with the national team a few months back but an injury prevented him from making a debut. Not being Australian any more really suits him.
Corban Piper is no longer a defender. He never used to be a defender until the Nix signed him and started talking about converting him into a centre-back. He did that role (very well) for the reserves but in the A-League he found himself being used more as a utility filling in wherever possible. But he’s not a utility any more either. Piper has gotten at least ten mins off the bench in all three games so far and they’ve all come as an attacking midfielder, looking to play close to Eze up front as an aerial target. He got both assists in the win against Brisbane Roar. This man is an attacking player now. And Matt Sheridan looks like he’ll specialise as the right-sided central defender. Manjrekar James and Isaac Hughes are locks, hence it’s between Sheridan and Lukas Kelly-Heald for the other spot (with Hughes swapping sides depending who’s picked)... at the moment Sheridan seems like he’s got the inside lane.
Michael Woud is not going to be Alex Paulsen. Expecting him to match the levels of the best goalkeeper in the A-League two years running for two different teams is not a fair thing to demand. He’s started pretty smoothly though, only conceding once in his first three games. He’s also only had to make five saves across those matches which tells you just what a level that defence has been operating at (Dan Hall, good lord, what a player). Nevertheless, this situation lands very firmly in the ‘So Far So Good’ category.
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