New import offers Phoenix flexibility
Any concerns the Wellington Phoenix will become onedimensional should be alleviated by the signing of Cillian Sheridan.
The 29-year-old Republic of Ireland international joined the club on Thursday and will be in the running for a spot on the bench for tonight’s match away to Adelaide United if his international transfer clears in time.
He was not named in the initial 18-man squad, but has travelled with the extended group of players who will stay on in Australia for their second road match in four days when they play the Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday night.
What Sheridan represents for coach Mark Rudan is greater tactical flexibility.
The Phoenix have plenty of pacey, agile forwards, but lacked a physical presence up front, meaning they were in danger of becoming predictable.
At 1.96m, Sheridan gives them just that.
That doesn’t mean they’ll change the way they play immediately, but, if the situation or opposition warrants it, then they have the option to play a more target manfocused gameplan.
‘‘He adds another dimension in terms of our playing style,’’ Rudan said.
‘‘We want to continue to progress and improve. What you’ve seen now
‘‘He adds another dimension in terms of our playing style.’’ Coach Mark Rudan
is another step forward in our development, but there is still more to do within our system in terms of the way we can play, and he gives us that.’’
The sixth-placed Phoenix have an uncannily identical four-win, three-draw, three-loss record to the fifth-placed Adelaide, even down to goals scored (15) and goals against (14).
It will also be a good measure of how far the Phoenix have come since losing 3-1 at home to Adelaide on November 24. They have gone unbeaten in their last five games since that match.
‘‘They got a good result against Newcastle [2-1 away win], you can see they’re very well structured and organised defensively and have got pace in attack as well,’’ Rudan said.
‘‘Another team that is going to pose different problems, but our job is to find solutions and we’re working hard to do that.’’
As for managing his players with two games in quick succession, Rudan balked at the use of the word ‘‘rotation’’ in a question. ‘‘Tinkering,’’ he said instead. ‘‘We’ll see. We’re taking an extended squad and that’s normal. The what-ifs come into play. But there is no one game that is more important than another. I don’t look too far ahead.
‘‘Adelaide is the main focus and we’re preparing for that game, but we’ve got an extended squad for the what-ifs and the boys are very fit, extremely fit.
‘‘Whether I need to change things up or not will come down purely to the way they recover and perform.’’