Wildcard’s Word:

This was the game the season really started for the Nix. Two stink twists of circumstance meant that the first two games were never anything other than uphill slogs yet home against Sydney with a full-strength team… this was winnable. Forget that Sydney had won both games 4-0 so far, the Nix hadn’t had the chance to show what they could do themselves ‘til here and they had to be fired up.

Which they were, credit to the man this column is named after. Coming in with only one predictable change from Perth and that was Tommy Doyle reassuming the left back role that he seemingly owned in preseason until he was injured, the Nix wasted little time in getting the passes flowing and the forward runs started up the top. Pace and space is the key for them on attack, Kosta and Roy drifting wide to find room and then attacking back inwards, with Professor Fink spinning tricks through the middle. Same as we’ve seen them getting at in the first two games.

Only here against Sydney they actually had the energy and fluency to make things work. Mike McGlinchey had an outstanding first half playing on the left of midfield. He got forward and he combined with Krishna and the pair of them were involved in a couple of damn-near arousing moves down that sideline. And 13 minutes in Wee Mac had the ball in the net, only for the flag to go up. It was, ah, something of a theme of the night. Five offsides, two of them ruling out goals and another a very high chance of being a goal itself. But hold that thought.

Because the Nix started really well in Perth too but soon faded. Here a similar thing happened. When on attack, they’ve got five guys all hovering high up the field and that means Vince Lia is tasked with doing a lot of mopping up. Now, Vinnie loves few things more than mopping up, but that’s a significant thing to ask of a veteran player who’s never really been the first name on the teamsheet. When he does well, he does very well. Wins the ball and feeds it to Roly or Wee Mac or Gui or whoever. Then there are the times he doesn’t do so well, where he’s too eager to dive into the tackle and that costs the team making a quick transition into attack or it gives away a foul. At least he’s not easily beaten.

When Sydney did get on top, it wasn’t for long and they didn’t offer too much. The one exception was a glorious chance that fell for David Carney, who had slipped away from Jacob Tratt’s marking and if it weren’t for a stunning save from Glen Moss, tipping the ball onto the crossbar, then it might have spelled disaster. Instead it proved a wake-up call.

Tommy Doyle headed one off of the frame of the goal. Krishna had a goal disallowed for offside. There were corners and free kicks (lots of them) being swung in from all angles and the Phoenix seemed destined to score. Except… they didn’t. Somehow it was still level at half-time, although at least they were offering something. Sydney’s leading striker, Bobo, came into this one with two goals and three assists already but he was well and truly buried by Dura and Rossi.

Bobo went missing. I seem to recall that happening once before…

It was a shame when Tom Doyle had to come off at the break. He’d been one of the better ones here in his first start, contributing going forward especially – which the Nix have missed from their fullbacks so far. The wide defenders don’t have as much room to push forward in this formation as in others because of the top-heavy midfield but a quick dude is gonna be able to offer something. Doyle did that and you could tell the threat down the left lessened with Parky coming on in the second. Not only because of Doyle’s own efforts but also for the link he had with Wee Mac, who disappeared in the back 45 after being so influential to start. And on the other side, Tratt’s done okay but hardly enough to say he’s the long term answer on the right this season. He did win a bunch of free kicks though, so at least he’s not coughing the ball up under pressure.

And let’s be fair, Sydney played a lot better in the second half too. They were able to hold the ball a bit more and slowly they started producing a few chances. In fact you’d have to say they shaded the chances in the second half, just a lucky thing that they had this tendency to drop headers right in the lap of Glen Moss where he didn’t even have to move. A few ‘phew!’ moments for sure.

Then there was the major offside call with Krishna gunning through onto a flicked header from Hamish Watson, who replaced Finkler. Yeah, it was close. But with Watson on we had someone to lob the crosses to, a presence in the box. Instead it was Sydney who did that. Sydney whose replacement striker (Matt Simon) found too much space in the box and was able to nod one down and Sydney who stole an injury time winner through Milos Ninkovic. I mean… no. NO!!! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO! There’s WAY too much space there for Simon, Rossi’s either fallen asleep or he’s though Parky was taking him and Parky’s too busy worrying about the winger. Talk to each other! And then Tratt is too tired to keep up with Ninkovic and with that we lose.

Bugger.

Look, the Nix didn’t deserve to lose but you run that risk when you CAN’T PUT THE BLOODY BALL IN THE NET. And anyone who blames the assistant refs (as they’re known these days) is deflecting. A tight call is a tight call and they go either way. Try holding your run a little or getting that pass in quicker (my preferred is the second of those – I wanna see some quick trigger through balls whenever the defence stands too high). Figure out the combinations that little bit better so you aren’t running the risks. Sure some luck went against them but after 270 minutes without a goal, sitting dead last on the table, it cannot all be luck.

Having said that, here are the offside dramas in more detail:

#1 – McGlinchey’s Disallowed Goal (13 mins)

Yup, very clearly offside. Wee Mac’s run around the defender to find the room and been caught out as he did so. Zero controversy.

#2 – Krishna’s Disallowed Goal (41 mins)

Okay, apparently I’m in a minority here but I thought this was offside too. Andrew Dewhurst didn’t in commentary, he saw half a replay and boiled on that the rest of the game. I miss Piney already.

#3 – Barbarouses’ Disallowed Probable Goal (82 mins)

This one I thought was level, though it’s hard to tell without a side-on vision of it. I could believe it if I was wrong. Such a shame because Watto did everything right and Kosta went too early when he didn’t need to.

Tim Cahill chipped in on the Krisha offside, the condescending prat. He just wanted Sydney to lose.

On the whole, this was comfortably the best we’ve seen the Phoenix this season. They dominated the game not just for 5-10 minute patches when chasing it but for the bulk of the 90 minutes. It’d be rude to say Sydney scored with their only chance because they didn’t, they could just as easily have been 2-0 up before Matt Simon had even come on (jeez, what a luxury to have Simon and Alex Brosque on the bench to bring on – that was one of the major differences. They have players on their bench that have that kinda experience. In my opinion, neither are quite good enough to be reliable starting strikers scoring 10-15 goals a season any more but they’re way overqualified to be rolls of the dice on the bench). David Carney curled one wide on about 70 mins that I swear was about to nestle into that far side of the net. My heart had already sunk when I realised he’d missed the target.

So yeah, Sydney were very dangerous at times. Having said that, we got them on their worst day of the campaign so far and we didn’t make them pay. There would have been times when the Nix would settle for a 0-0 in that circumstance but the pressure of avoiding a three-game winless start probably made them a little too careless. A draw would have been a reluctant compromise. Now we’ve nothing of anything and it stings like a bitch to lose it that late. Goddammit.

P.S. – Are we sold on Roly Bonevacia playing that deep? I’d really, really, really like to see him and Finkler swap roles. Both have been dead average so far for what we know they’re capable of. I want Roly and his thunderous right foot, his power and skill, as close to the edge of the box as possible and I reckon Finkler’s better suited to a feeder’s role anyway – so long as he’s making tackles.

Diggity Doc’s Digest:

Digest ... more like a fish-bone floating through my loins at a horrible angle. As my comrade has stated above, this wasn't your typical frustrating Phoenix-fluff as there were a few tricky moments at the hands of the officials but in digestion, I'd like to throw 'you make your own luck' into the mix, yeah that ol' chestnut.

That the Nix have played alright this season - passing the footy around with joyful abundance and looking fairly slick in doing so - in all three games they have been unable to chuck that icing on the cake. The first two weeks saw us comforted by a couple of excuses and that we can kinda fall back on excuses is a funny common factor, however that's been graced with another common factor and it's all getting far too deja vu-ish. I mean, here I was last week pondering the lack of any killer instinct and that's how I felt last season so right now I'm not only contemplating how the Nix get out of this hole, but also how the world works.

Stopping the Nix doesn't feel all that difficult at the moment, although against Sydney we saw just how threatening the speed of Roy and Kosta can be. Their speed is what enables the Nix to enjoy some level of success by playing straight up the guts and with some space in-behind the defensive line, there's ample opportunity for McGlinchey, Mr Finkler and Roly to slide those passes into space. When the Nix are slowly building though, all you need to do is stack the middle of the field and chuck in the odd foul, or many. 

This game did see our strikers slide out wider, then regularly cut in. That's all good when fullbacks and midfielders are over-lapping, or when Roy and Kosta are hitting the by-line to cut the ball back to the other. This all feels a bit like last season in that regard as the Nix would rather hold on to the ball with their fluffy passing, instead of offering any penetration, especially penetration in the wide channels. 

Jonathan Tratt had four touches in the attacking third (north of the edge of the box) while Rhyan Grant had 11. Flip that on the other side where Tom Doyle and Adam Parkhouse combined for two touches in the attacking third, both of which came from Doyle sniffing around in the box. Sydney's Michael Zullo had five touches in the attacking third, meaning that Sydney's fullbacks combined for 16 touches in that attacking third while our Nix fullbacks combined for six, despite the Nix dominating possession with 59.6 percent and making almost twice as many passes (441 vs 288)

There isn't much scope for our fullbacks to storm forward at the moment, but this is just a basic example of the lack of any great width in how the Nix attack. The All Whites were busy and the officials didn't help the Nix this time around, we can't ignore the fact that the Nix are yet to score a goal even though they are playing their cute, entertaining 'brand of footy'. It all smells rather familiar and until we see some variety in how they attack, I reckon other teams have them sussed. 

Who Are Ya? – Credit to Roy Krishna, who was the Nix’s most dangerous player throughout. Doesn’t always make the smartest decisions but you put him one on one with a defender and he does what needs to be done more often than not. If anyone’s gonna get the floodgates bursting open with a few goals then he’s the most likely candidate.

Undercover Brother – If we can get Tommy Doyle playing on the regular and without all these injuries then he should go a way towards solidifying the left edge of defence. Fair to say Parkhouse has not flattered himself yet and while Doyle is hardly Roberto Carlos, he does what he does well. The Nix were at their best when he was on the park.

Chin Up, Son – Gui Finkler, bro. You’re better than this. Grab a couple lads from the youth team and keep them after training fetching footies as you pump ‘em into the top corner. It’s windy in Wellington, those free kicks can go a little wild sometimes and that takes some getting used to. Eventually one of these ones will hit a Phoenix head and end up in the net. Just gotta keep plugging away.

Up Next: Melbourne Victory vs Welly Nix, 9.50pm on Monday night (NZT)