Coach slams players

The Wellington Phoenix could be set for a major clearout after coach Darije Kalezic hinted that his players are not up to A-League standard.

Kalezic slammed his players for their lack of desire in Sunday night’s 4-0 A-League defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers, a result that leaves Wellington’s playoff hopes in tatters.

Goals to Oriol Riera, Michael Thwaite, Chris Ikonomidis and Jaushua Sotirio sparked Western Sydney’s biggest win of the season and their second biggest on record. It also allowed them to leapfrog Brisbane Roar into sixth, with the Phoenix tumbling 11 points behind the playoff spots.

Although disappointed with the result their second 4-0 defeat in as many weeks Kalezic was honest in his assessment and said the scoreline was a realistic reflection of where the Phoenix were at.

‘‘From my opinion we don’t show enough will and desire to win the game,’’ Kalezic said.

‘‘I cannot say that the players don’t do their best, I believe they did their best but that was not good enough.

‘‘How they did their best and how I did as a coach was not good enough, so from that point of view we have to accept the result, the defeat, because I think the result is realistic.’’

The Phoenix were out-shot 33 to five as the ongoing absence of star player Roy Krishna left them badly exposed in the final third.

Their best chance came in last kick of the first half when Andrija Kalujderovic was left free at a corner but he scuffed his shot wide of the goal.

The Phoenix have now lost all three A-League games without scoring a goal since Krishna’s apparent injury - an injury which should be viewed with some skepticism as Kalezic revealed last week that two specialists have cleared the Fijian international of any damage.

Although the highest priority to resign, Krishna is just one of 15 players off contract at the end of the 2017-18 season.

But the Phoenix are unlikely to be offering any new deals unless they can turn their season around with eight games remaining, with Kalezic revealing as much.

‘‘Now is the time I guess for natural selection,’’ he said. ‘‘We will sit with each other next week and I will explain what I mean by natural selection.

‘‘It’s obvious that we have to increase our level because we still have to play for something and we are two points from second last position and we have to play as professionals to achieve as high position on the table [as possible] and that’s our responsibility to our fans.’’