The fortunes of the Nix
and striker Roy Krishna have become the two most important players on the field given one of their main tactics is for Taylor to hit Krishna with long balls in behind the defence.
The timing of the ball and Krishna’s run needs to be perfect for it to work.
It’s little wonder Krishna leads the league in offsides because of it, but even if he doesn’t win the ball, the idea is to press the opposition so they win the ball back high up the field.
It’s a simple tactic, but, when combined with their impressive full-team press, it has proved to be an effective way of playing in the right areas of the field.
X-FACTOR
The Phoenix do not have the most talented squad in the league. They can’t afford bigmoney marquees. What they have is a team full of solid journeymen who are playing their roles well, some youthful enthusiasm and a couple of exciting, impactful players.
Krishna’s pace will trouble any defence, but it is 19-year-old Sarpreet Singh who has become the shining light, leading former Socceroos goalkeeper and Fox Sports pundit Mark Bosnich to crown him as the best player in the A-League at the moment.
Ahead of Japan international Keisuke Honda. Ahead of Sweden international Ola Toivonen. Ahead of Dutch international Siem de Jong.
The kid can play. He ripped Brisbane apart last weekend, after earlier in the season finding himself out of the squad. There were a few reasons for that – and not all of them need to be public knowledge. But, what is public knowledge is how he has come back from that and set the league alight. Every successful team needs a player like him and he has timed his breakout season perfectly for Rudan and the club.
Words of caution do ring out as well, given Rudan’s project remains a work in progress, with much development still to come.
Only one of their four wins this season has come against topsix opposition. That makes their next three games, all away from home, a big litmus test for how the rest of the season might go.
It starts with second-placed Melbourne Victory tonight, then two games in four days against eighth-placed Western Sydney and seventh-placed Adelaide.
Four to six points from those matches and the bandwagon should really start to roll. Fewer than three and it’s hardly panic stations, but the doubts might start to creep back in.
What: A-League round 10 Where and when: AAMI Park, Melbourne, today 9.50pm TAB: Melbourne $1.50, Phoenix $5.50, draw $4.25