Phoenix wary of Jets in battle
A midweek loss to a lowly club side and tricky opponents today, leave Nix boss wary. By Andrew Voerman.
WELLINGTON Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay is eyeing six points from their next two games, against the Newcastle Jets, who are yet to earn a point through four matches, and the Central Coast Mariners, who have surprised everyone by surging to the top of the A-League ladder.
It’s been more than two weeks since his side last took the field, for their 1-1 draw with Macarthur FC, which was clouded by the controversial red card handed to Alex Rufer that was later apologised for.
That dismissal has still left the midfielder suspended for today’s visit by the Jets to the
Phoenix’s temporary WIN Stadium home in Wollongong [kickoff 8.10pm NZ time], a contest that will be the visitors’ third in the space of eight days.
The Jets had a troubled start to the season off the field, with coach Carl Robinson departing for Western Sydney Wanderers in October and forward Bernie Ibini following him in December, before their owner was stripped of his licence, and they were taken over by a consortium of rival A-League investors on a temporary basis.
It’s not a total surprise, then, that they have begun with four losses, but they’ve been a better side than those results suggest
and the Phoenix will be wary, having made the exact same start themselves last season, before going on to make the finals.
‘‘We’ve been in that situation
last season, and we know how it is,’’ Talay said. ‘‘They’ll have a bit of pressure on them to win the game, but also they’ll have nothing to lose. It’s always a tough opponent to play against
when there’s little or no expectation to win and they’ve maintained a core group of players who they’ve had for three or four seasons now, so they’ve got some very experienced players.’’
Matt Ridenton is likely to start in place of Rufer in central midfield, though Talay did run through a list of options that included Clayton Lewis, who has started the Phoenix’s first two matches in a more advanced role, Joshua Laws, who has started them at centreback, and Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, who is yet to feature in a
matchday squad.
Ridenton meanwhile has come off the bench into midfield twice, including when Rufer was dismissed, and his introduction would make for the least disruption to a side that has impressed, but only has that point against Macarthur to show for its efforts, after losing to Sydney FC first up.
The Phoenix did take the field during their weekend off, only to suffer a curious loss in a friendly against local club Wollongong Wolves, who are only just starting their pre-season – a result that didn’t seem to bother Talay too much.
‘‘Losing against Wollongong wasn’t pleasing,’’ he said, ‘‘but at the same time, it was very important for players like Tomer [Hemed] and Uli [Da´ vila] to get match minutes into their legs’’.
‘‘They played 90 minutes, which was great for us.’’ One Phoenix player eager to kick on is forward David Ball, who finally opened his goalscoring account in the draw with Macarthur, after taking seven matches to do so in his first season and ending with just six goals from 25 appearances.
‘‘If you look through my career, it’s pretty much been 10 goals a season, so I do rely on bringing people into the game and helping them score as well,’’ he said.
‘‘I’d like to probably be a bit more selfish in and around the box to get more goals.
‘‘That’s something that I took from last year and getting on the scoresheet early doors as a striker always feels good.’’
Attacking midfielder Reno Piscopo is also out after suffering a calf injury, with Talay picking he’ll return on February 8.