Phoenix’s brightest star
The Phoenix were in a hole. They were 2-0 down at home to the Central Coast Mariners. They had played a half of football which would have looked shabby on some far flung reach of Hackney Marshes. And then along comes a kid of 19 and changes the way his team is playing football.
Yes, Sarpreet Singh has had plenty of accolades this season, but oddly enough he was almost overlooked on Saturday night. He didn’t poke the ball into the back of the net. He didn’t make the final killer pass. And so the likes of of Roy Krishna and Cillian Sheridan got the media bubbles. But it was Singh who started it all.
Right at the start of the second half the Mariners had almost scored. Only a well-placed header by Steven Taylor had nudged the ball back out towards the corner flag. And there was Singh, quickly to the ball, finding that moment of time to play a first time pass into the feet of David Williams.
Singh goes again. He runs past Matthew Millar, who had been such a menace to the Phoenix in the first half, and he gives Williams the option of a pass before Andrew Hoole can get across to cover him. Given time by the weight and accuracy of Singh’s pass, Williams plays the ball back to him.
Singh is there in the space before Hoole can cover across. He plays a perfectly weighted first time pass onto the chest of Sheridan. Delicate control from the Irishman, a through ball to Krishna, a desperate foul, a sending-off, a penalty and the game is changing.
But it’s actions and consequences. None of that was possible in the first half. Mitch Nichols had been playing in the position that Singh had moved into. Nichols is not as quick and has nothing like the same touch. If he had even got to Taylor’s header, Nichols would have been hemmed in at the corner. At best the Phoenix would have had a defensive throw-in.
Mark Rudan, the Phoenix coach, deserves a fair bit of credit for making the switch as early as he did. So many coaches wait until the 60th minute before making their big shift. The players dug the hole, goes the thinking. Let them dig themselves out of it. The problem with that is the players rarely have a clue where they left the shovel.
Rudan said: ‘‘My selection caused the problem, it is up to me to think our way out of it.’’
Nichols had some decent moments on the ball in the first half, but two things would really have bothered Rudan. On occasions Nichols’ first touch was poor under pressure and the Mariners were pressing him. One shocking touch lost possession and led to the Mariners’ second goal. But worst than that, Nichols had a chance to win the ball back and hurdled out of the tackle with Jacob Melling.
There was far too much of that. Nichols had a chance to win several tackles and was nothing like as committed as the Mariners’ players. You have to be a Cristiano Ronaldo to get away with that sort of thing. And even a corps of Manchester United fans never quite took to Ronaldo because he didn’t give his all for the team.
When you are part of a tribe, as the fans are, you expect the other members of the tribe to be as committed. Ryan Giggs had bundles of talent but he always tracked back, he always worked hard for the team. And so he was beloved.
Rudan has brought that to the Phoenix. No one can doubt the manager’s commitment. And he expects the same of the players. Sheridan said after the match: ‘‘I’ve come into a team where I know you have to work hard, they never stop, losing 2-0 they keep going . . . It’s not an easy team to come into but I know what the values are.’’
It’s not easy because they are a tight group, the work ethic is high and the formation requires tactical flexibility on the pitch. Rudan demands a lot of himself and so he demands a lot of his players.
Singh says: ‘‘He’s always on my case at training. Every time I make a mistake he’s on to me. He talks to me all the time and tells me to work hard and keeping focusing on getting better every day and the rest will come naturally.’’
And Singh is flourishing. The little dink over the top to Louis Fenton for the first goal against Western Sydney Wanderers was exquisite. And we saw that touch again for the Phoenix’s third goal.
Demanding the ball, as he had for much of the second half, Singh dropped back to give Andrew Durante an easy pass. Drawing players towards him, Singh slid a perfectly weighted pass in front of Krishna that allowed the Fijian to run at the defence. All the momentum came from Singh’s pass and that momentum led to the goal that Williams hammered into the top of the net.
Singh once said he would like to play for England one day, but we can forgive him the indiscretions of youth. I mean, he’s a Chelsea supporter, he’s the minion of a brutal Russian oligarch. But Singh’s an All White now. The thought of him playing in midfield with Ryan Thomas is a prospect to be savoured.
He is also a good example to New Zealand kids. Don’t worry about the touch and the vision. As Rudan says: ‘‘He’s got that X-factor about him and that creativity as well and it’s very hard to coach, sometimes you just let them do their thing with the football at their feet.’’
But what you can coach is Singh’s movement. Too many New Zealand kids wait for the ball. They don’t realise that football is a game of constant movement into space. Singh is always moving into space, demanding the ball, except when he tires in that last 15. And that’s not a worry, because the kid will get a lot stronger.
When he does, his ball winning will improve. He’s not short of courage and he times tackles well. But he doesn’t always have the strength to win the ball. That will come in the next few years.
Then Singh will be close to the complete player. Then Singh will be an energy source for the multicultural geyser that is New Zealand football.
‘‘He [coach Mark Rudan] talks to me all the time and tells me to work hard and keeping focusing on getting better every day and the rest will come naturally.’’ Sarpreet Singh