Ernie! Road Wins are Good Wins (vs Central Coast)
Wildcard’s Word:
You know, for a team that had been thoroughly gutted by the international break, this really wasn’t such a bad lineup. I mean the defence could use some touching up, that’s more than a little sketchy there, but on the whole this was still a very competitive side. Particularly when you consider that Hamish Watson was bloody marvellous playing with Roy Krishna up front – something you surely couldn’t say about his last start in the first game of the season.
Hmm yeah that defence though. Lewis Italiano has never really looked like anything but an understudy in his (admittedly very limited) chances to date – this was his starting debut - while Matt Ridenton is certainly no preferred fullback. Good thing for Marco Rossi then, plus say what you will about Jake Tratt and his marauding nature but the dude has gotten better with every week at right back. Plenty of hope for him yet. Most interesting was that after a shocker against Melbourne Victory that culminated in his getting sent off and the Nix being crushed 6-1, Dylan Fox appears to have lost the reserve CB tag with Ryan Lowry making his debut instead. Can’t hardly argue with that.
And they played in Canberra, which was handy. The Nix’s record on the Central Coast isn’t as bad as theirs in Brisbane or Melbourne but it’s never the worst thing to take an away game to a neutral venue. Canberra obliged with a sunny old day too, give ‘em a team why not.
The last time Hamish Watson started, he struggled badly with being asked to play as a striker running in behind the lines. He’s much more used to doing Chris Wood II things. And yet… he looked great here. Early on he was playing with energy and cleverness, making the right sort of runs and benefiting from the flow on of last week where Ernie seemed to direct his strikers to play closer together. Having Krishna around him was a huge boost, that guy is in some rapid form and roughly five minutes in he absolutely burned that Galloway lad with nothing more than a burst of pace. Now that was a promising sign.
Risky as that Nix back four might have looked, the Central Coast one was no better. They’d finish this match now 35 games without a clean sheet. Sucks for them, we thought 18 games was bad. Jacques Faty is about their only decent defender there and he barely made it through the game with injury while Scott Galloway was unluckier as he needed to be replaced in the middle of the first half.
So naturally both teams looked vulnerable. Except unnaturally it was still 0-0 at the break. Not for a lack of chances either with Fabio Ferreira getting the better of Matt Ridenton once or twice (the left back/right foot thing didn’t help against a player looking to cut inside and shoot) but nothing to worry about there. Italiano didn’t really have a decent save to make – though it’d be nice if he didn’t keep hoofing his kicks out for throw ins, jeez lad. Anyway, Roy O’Donovan did a few things, remember him? Headbutted Manny Muscat once. He did a few things but again didn’t lead to much while Blake Powell was mostly anonymous against his old team.
Roly looked sharp, back in the starting XI. He drew a fine save out of Paul Izzo about 12 mins in, firing first time on his left. Again, this is what happens when you unleash him on the edge of the box. Gotta get Roly involved going forward. And to be honest, with a threatening performance here he might have pushed Wee Mac out of the preferred XI – although that’ll mostly depend on McGlinchey’s injury.
If anyone tells you it was an even first half, they’re wrong. The Nix were missing half a team and they still dominated. As much as both teams will have gone into the sheds thinking they should have scored a couple times already, only the Phoenix can say they had Gui Finkler rattling the post from range with a free kick or Roy Krishna tapping into an empty net with the offside flag up.
No shocker then that Roy Krishna went and put one away less than four minutes into the second half. Hamish Watson with a gorgeous lobbed ball over the defence and two poor touches, one soft and one heavy, cancelled each other out for Krish, whose pace did the trick. As well as a healthy dose of confidence/composure in taking the ball round the keeper rather than trying to slide it by him. He’s playing so damn well, Roy. And the Nix are getting him involved in all the right ways now.
Then a Finkler pass about seven minutes later allowed Roy to run in behind again. Well, not strictly behind. He ran all the way around Jake McGing and was somehow still allowed to get there first with the young CCM defender then sliding desperately to stop him only to get a sprigful of dust because Roy was long gone. Since this is a Phoenix report, we’ll ignore the shambolic defending for both goals (and a host of other chances) from CCM but yeah. They suck.
Roy then did the generous thing and laid the ball across for Hamish Watson, the strikers combining for both goals as was the case last week. Watto deserved one for a wonderful stint himself, while Krishna has now been involved in all five Nix goals, scoring four and setting this one up. Forget the All Whites international window, we’re gonna be screwed when Fiji have to play next time.
so now, the last four times the same player scored his team's first four goals for a season was all for NZ-based teams #CCMvWEL
— andrew howe (@AndyHowe_statto) November 12, 2016
There ya go, 2-0 up with 35 minutes left and the Nix had this one under control. Which is not to say that the Mariners didn’t come back strong. They had most of the ball from then on and Italiano got himself on the highlight reel with an impressive diving stop against O’Donovan while Lowry really grew into the game over this period. The dude doesn’t overcomplicate things. He must’ve cleared that ball a dozen times, looking sturdy at the back. Much more sturdy than we had reason to expect with Dura out. Mate. Looks like he earned that vote of confidence that Ernie gave him.
Dunno if I’d say the same about this Litfin fella. Ben Litfin. He came off the bench for another cameo this week and ran around a heap in the couple minutes that he and also Alex Rufer were given off the bench. A bit surprising that Ernie waited until the 86th minute to make a sub but then his bench wasn’t the most experienced. Shame we didn’t see Logan Rogerson. He probably needs to focus on stopping missing sitters for the Wee Nix before he can command a run ahead of Litfin, who at least was banging them away in Aussie club level.
There was a moment towards the end of the game when I realised I’d forgotten Vince Lia was playing. Ordinarily that’s a bad thing, though with Vinniesta it kinda feels like the opposite. This wasn’t a game where the Phoenix controlled the ball for long stretches, they instead showed a really strong intent to push forward and get Krishna running onto it. With that, Lia only has to be a shield and a ball winner. He’s got Alex Rodriguez now to help with any playmaking side of things and it cannot be a coincidence that the first two clean sheets of the season have come with those two linking up. Also against the bottom two teams, but whatever. It’s almost a 4-2-2-2 formation now, and it’s working.
Hey and this was Ernie’s 100th win as an A-League manager. Nooice.
Diggity Doc’s Digest:
Much of the mainstream media's wash up of this win for the Nix zoned in on how impressive the win was given the context of our Nix All Whites being a tad busy, I sensed a bit of surprise in many of the media reports. Understandable given that All Whites context and how the Phoenix have performed away from home in recent times ... and then more recently, how the Phoenix have played full stop.
Things have been a bit complicated with Ernie during these recent struggles as he simply hasn't got the team fizzing, leaving plenty of room for the myself, my comrade and y'all to debate different decisions from the gaffer. This win over the Mariners, though, points to some pretty wise coaching and planning from Ernie as he said post-match that they were well aware of the schedule before the season started, which meant that they knew when they were likely to be without their All Whites and could build this team around that.
This win was about the Phoenix flexing their depth muscles, showcasing the sort of depth that excites me when I ponder whether the Phoenix have a roster that can compete deep into the finals. Perhaps in the past we have been scorned by these sorts of fixtures because when we see a few of our starters yanked from the team, the depth of the roster is tested and it's young players who have to fill in, not quite doing the same job as the guys on All Whites duty.
Against the Mariners though, a bloke like Ryan Lowry popped up to put in a solid shift at CB. Lowry is effectively competing with Dylan Fox to play back up to Andrew Durante and Marco Rossi, giving the Phoenix two back-up options to ponder when a starter is absent. The Wildcard and I had discussed whether it was better to roll with Mr Finkler or Roly in the midfield, a fantastic conundrum because we saw in this game that having them both in the roster is a huge bonus as they can fill the void left by Michael McGlincy strongly. Maybe Mr Finkler and Roly are better than McGlinchey? Again, a great little problem.
Neglecting the bigger picture, having Mr Finkler on deck helped the Phoenix grab a win here. In the past it feels like we have conceded these games because our All Whites are away, what I like is that Ernie isn't settling for that any more and made a point of recruiting to ensure that there's a few options in most positions.
Hamish Watson is probably the best example of this. It's hard not to like what Watson offers and that's especially the case when you consider the contrast in style between him and Krishna or Kosta. Watson again showed that he can add value to the Phoenix when he plays and there were many classy touches from him, yet there were also many moments where Watson's current limitations smacked you in the face. Minor details like his vision to pick out the best pass or taking a tad too long to fire a shot off saw Watson unable to make the most of the great situations he found himself in. But that's all good because Watson is there to cover Krishna and Kosta, he's not there to start numerous games and be the focal point of the attack as he was last season.
All these options afforded to Ernie give the Phoenix a squad that could be very competitive if they can continue to build. Instead of just having a good starting side, this Phoenix squad has the sort of depth - showcased against the Mariners - that should allow them to ride the ups and downs of a season while staying competitive. The guys who offer that depth just need to do a job and allow the likes of Krishna, Roly, Mr Finkler and the great Jacob Tratt to work their magic.
One time for the most versatile player in the A-League: Matthew Ridenton.
Who Are Ya!? – The best player on the park was Roy Krishna. He’s so fast and he’s so good running at guys and playing direct. Against a hesitant defensive line that’s lacking in confidence already, this was a chance for him to show off and he did just that. He might be our most irreplaceable player all of a sudden.
Undercover Brother – Spare a thought for how well Hamish Watson played, especially when it was hardly the target man role he’s used to. He’s come a long way from being told by Ernie that he was too heavy to play A-League and he’d need to shed a couple kilos a couple years ago – he’s looking bloody fit these days if this game’s anything to go by.
Chin Up, Son – This wasn’t a game where anyone played poorly for the Nix, but Lewis Italiano might need a pat on the back as he lives the life of a backup keeper. The longer his first start went on, the better he started to play and by the end he’d made a couple smart saves and earned a clean sheet. Next week he goes back to the bench, so it goes.
Up Next: Nix vs Melbourne Victory, 7.35pm Saturday (NZT)