Vince Lia is not the most skilled player at the Wellington Phoenix. He’s not the fastest or the strongest, not the best tackler or passer. He doesn’t score many goals (granted when he does they’re almost worth the wait). At 31 he’s probably a few years younger than most casual fans would guess but he’s around long enough that it’s hard to tell the difference – the man the stands know as Vinniesta is the only player left who has played in every season for the Nix.

A decade ago the #Nix were born and Vince Lia has been through it all with the club he has come to love https://t.co/ixuWJwGBV3 pic.twitter.com/sOaCEqVUSL
— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) December 29, 2016

Despite all of this he also happens to be a regular, one of the first names on the team sheet even, and for good reason. See, it’s one thing to look at what he does and say that this team can definitely improve there – because it’s true – but it’s another thing entirely to replace him when there isn’t somebody else who can do it. The last couple of years saw Albert Riera emerge and take over the Lia role in holding midfield but then he went and retired and he wasn’t all that great last season anyway (the heart not really in it, to be fair). Thus here we are at the dawn of 2017 and Vince Lia is still one of the Phoenix’s most important players.

Let’s take the weekend’s loss to the Brisbane Roar as an example. Playing for a third win in a week against a team who’d been suffering through a dry spell of results, the Nix might have been a little tired but they still did more than enough to win that one three times over. Too many missed opportunities, when you fire off 11 shots you figure more than two will at least test the keeper. Instead they were kept scoreless.

At the other end they were relying on Glen Moss being Glen Moss for way more than woulda been in the plan… yet for the most part they didn’t really look like they were gonna concede. After the week’s results prior, most fans would’ve been ready to settle for the goalless draw that this one seemed to be heading for.

And then Vince Lia got injured.

Well, that’s stretching the truth somewhat. He got injured early in the second half and was replaced in the 56th minute, Gui FInkler getting the opportunity to play his footy slightly deeper than he has been. On attack it worked wonders - he was an extra man forward and Wellington were able to keep piling on the pressure. However Professor Fink, for all his magical abilities (many of which only scarcely seen this season), is not a dude who covers a lot of ground. If Lia is slow then Fink must be running backwards.

Brisbane got clever with that and started using that swirling Westpac breeze (it wouldn’t have been much for sailing that day but there’s always a little wind at the Tin) to their advantage with some searching balls over the top. With the Nix defence that bit more exposed, playing a high line as is their standard, and then also lacking a shade of pace between Durante and Rossi… a few sharp subs and they had a ruthless counter attacking threat in place. Specifically the nippy bugger that is Jamie McClaren, introduced five minutes after Finkler and destined to score the winning goal in the 87th.

There were a couple of false alarms first. Nothing was changed. Hey, the Nix were pressing for a win themselves and could easily have scored a winner of their own in the same process. Except they didn’t, leaving the door open for one little mistake at the feet of the ever-dependable Andrew Durante and that point they were ready to settle for was hacked away by Monsieur McClaren’s clean left boot.

Let’s zoom in on that for a closer look. At what point was this a valid defensive shape against the break?

Rossi’s been dragged wide by the runners, which draws Dura all the way over as well. Tratt’s still struggling to get back while Roddy is following him on the other side. Finkler (who replaced Lia just to repeat that once more) is nowhere to be seen. Two-thirds of the field is entirely uncovered by the defence. As it happens, Dura should deal with this but he doesn’t. And where should McClaren find himself for the easy tap-in but over in the uncovered middle.

This was always a possibility once they’d removed a holding midfielder. Tratt and Doyle are encouraged to get forward and provide the width for this team, sometimes that’ll mean they get caught out of place if we lose the ball suddenly. While Rodriguez offers plenty to this team with his ball-winning and passing, he doesn’t have the positional sense of Lia… or at least he’s happier to drift forwards and try influence things there. He didn’t have his best game against Brissie though at times it’s confusing trying to figure out exactly what he’s being asked to do.

On the left is the starting formation for the Nix, as per A-League.com.au –in action it looks more like a 4-3-3 with Kosta (9) and Krishna (21) level with Smeltz (99) but this is close enough. Then we’ve also got the average positions of the teams, just look at that Nix midfield. Roly (4) is pushing all the way forward almost level with Smeltz as he tended to drop in looking for the ball. Krishna and Kosta switched sides a bit so they’re more infield than they really were in practice but take a peek and you’ll see that not only Lia (17) but also Alex Rodriguez (8) each averaged a deeper possie than either fullback. That’s not the case for the Roar’s midfield (Matt McKay and Thomas Kristensen).

Nothing wrong with that, it’s all tactics. The Nix have pace and creativity in that top four and their aim is to both unleash and protect that by having two midfielders holding guard against the break. Ernie had toyed with that idea but usually trusted Lia to do it all himself, it’s taken Greenie and Buck to make Rodriguez a regular and their defensive record shows that it’s mostly worked. Lia has only missed one game this season, because of suspension in Perth where the Nix lost 2-1, while Roddy has started nine of 16 games with three apps off the bench. Injury initially meant that Rod wasn’t available for the new coaching duo but he’s started the last four games in a row, the last three of those with Lia in tow. The best of those was the win over the Melly Victory, so let’s have a glimpse of their combination as shown in heat map form.

This is pretty consistent for them. You see each covering heaps of ground with Roddy trending on the right and Lia on the left. Both will drop deep but Lia will drop a little deeper. Normally you don’t see those focussed areas as far forward for Vince but this was a game that the Nix unexpectedly dominated. When Finkler came on against the Roar he played more or less entirely in the opposition half and Roddy was left marshalling the field alone.

Scan back to that winning goal, it came on Lia’s side of the park. Had he been there then he’d presumably have been dropping all the way back into the defensive line as he does, meaning Durante wouldn’t have had to drift all the way across. Or maybe he would but Lia would sit in the middle where he could have at least pressured McLaren when things broke down. And flick through the highlights if you think this is cherry picking – the last half hour of this game saw the Roar attacking in the same way over and over again, getting in behind the midfield and exposing the defence with long, direct passes. Sometimes Rodriguez was in a position to cover, sometimes he wasn’t.

The things that Lia brings to this team are infamously hard to notice and enjoy but they’re still crucial. So much is about preventing things like this goal from happening, you only get to realise that stuff when he’s not there.

Hence why coaches love him, hence why fans ore often ambivalent. Hence why you’re not allowed to complain about him in any way this season – there’s dirty work that needs doing and he’s the guy that does it.

Who Are Ya!? – It has to be Roly Bonevacia. He’s been a class above the last couple games as he’s been deployed further forward, pulling those strings on the edge of the penalty area where he belongs. If only he could finish, aye? Case and point being that bloody Bergkamp move he pulled against Brissie. If he’d finished that (instead of panicking and air-volleying) then we’d be talking one of the legendary A-League goals. It still feels like a blessing even to have witnessed him miss it on telly.

Undercover Brother – Other than Vinniesta, of course. Let’s go with Tommy Doyle. We haven’t seen the best of him going forward yet despite the enthusiasm but with him back fit and at left back the defence has looked much better. This is probably the full strength back four that Ernie had planned on except for Doyle’s injury. It’s not the worst unit out there. Only Roly, Kosta and Tratt had more touches than Doyle against the Roar – the Nix getting their fullbacks very involved.

Chin Up, Son – Another game that passes without Smeltz having a shot, he’s only unleashed one effort in four games now since re-signing with the club. This’ll be something to take a closer look at in the coming weeks as we’ve gotta give them all some adjustment time. Just remember that the Nix are a terrible crossing team and Smeltz is a poaching striker. If you can get him the ball at his feet in the box then he’ll bring goals. Gotta get him the ball at his feet in the box first, though.

Up Next: Adelaide United vs Wellington Phoenix, Hindmarsh Stadium, Sunday 7.00pm (NZT)