Phoenix yet to strike a balance
Coach Ufuk Talay is prepared to wait until January to sign an import striker if Wellington Phoenix strike out in their search for a replacement for Roy Krishna.
The Phoenix will begin the new A-League season without the experienced No 9 they want to partner with Englishman David Ball, meaning Jaushua Sotirio will most likely start in today’s opener against Western United.
Despite initially being billed as the replacement for last season’s Golden Boot winner Krishna, Ball is viewed as more of a secondary striker who can create as well as score, while Sotirio returned only 11 goals in 81 appearances during his fiveyear spell with Western Sydney Wanderers before joining the Phoenix.
But Talay believes there are numerous scorers in the squad, with young Kiwis Callum McCowatt and Ben Waine showing an eye for goal during the preseason.
‘‘The way pre-season has gone we’ve created a lot of opportunities and I think we’ll get goals there,’’ Talay said. ‘‘We’ve got a mixture of players who can play in both positions, which will help us, players who can play as a No 10 as well as a No 9.’’
With no progress on signing an import striker, the Phoenix were forced to upgrade the contract of teenager Waine hours before Friday’s registration deadline in order to meet the minimum squad size of 20.
But Talay remains hopeful of having a forward signed before the transfer window closes on Tuesday, even if there is no chance he will play any part today, which is a huge disadvantage for the Phoenix as they look to begin the new era with a win over their former coach Mark Rudan and captain Andrew Durante, whose presence has added plenty of spice for the first game of the season.
‘‘I still think we need depth in that position up front, so we’ll have someone coming in for sure,’’ Talay said. ‘‘We’ve been through so many players and we’re just trying to make sure we get the right player that fits into the mould of what we have.
‘‘The way we play, we need a balance, we can’t have 10 of the same players out on the field, so you need a balance and that’s what we’ve been looking at but obviously that comes down to players wanting to come here and what we can afford as well.
‘‘The Plan B, if we don’t make the window, we’ll look in January for that position. With the squad we’ve got at the moment I’m very happy with the depth but I’d obviously like to bring in that extra striker just in case we get an injury or if there’s suspensions and yellow cards. For me it’s important to bring that player in so we do have depth.’’
Talay declared his squad fully fit with all 20 players available for selection. The likely starting 11 should consist of Sotirio, Ball, Reno Piscopo, Ulises Davila, Matti Steinmann, Alex Rufer, Liberato Cacace, Luke DeVere, Steven Taylor, Louis Fenton and goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic. That would see seven players
‘‘I still think we need depth in that position up front . . .’’ Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay
make their debut in the run-on side.
‘‘We’ll be prepared and ready to go for tomorrow’s game. I think it’ll be a great game, a good rivalry between Western United and us and we’re looking forward to it,’’ he said. ‘‘You go out there and you work all week to get three points and you want to play good football but the focus is on getting a result.
‘‘We’ve done our homework on Western United and they’ve had a bit of an up and down pre-season as well, but the focus is on us and if we perform well then we have every chance of getting a result.’’