Phoenix lack cutting edge
Wellington Phoenix’s lacklustre A-League season opener highlighted their need for a proven goal-scorer but coach Ufuk Talay says it’s not for a lack of trying.
Without a recognised No 9 in the starting lineup, the Phoenix managed only one shot on target in their 1-0 defeat to Mark Rudan’s Western United – and that was a speculative effort from defender Liberato Cacace, who forced a good save out of Filip Kurto with his long-range bomb.
That was the only time Kurto was truly tested by his former club, who have so far failed to replace Johnny Warren medallist Roy Krishna and lack a cutting edge up front as a result.
‘‘I think it was the final execution and having those players in those right areas to actually score a goal [which let us down],’’ Talay said.
‘‘I think we ran over the top of them in the second half and might have even got a second but the most important thing was to get that first one.’’
The defeat against Western would have hurt more knowing the scorer of the goal, Besart Berisha, rejected the Phoenix in favour of a return to Victoria.
The A-League’s record scorer showed how valuable it is to have a striker with predatory instincts, tapping home from close-range in the 34th minute after finding himself unmarked in the six-yard box.
‘‘What annoyed me about the goal was we had two players marking space and in the box you can’t mark space, you have to pick up players, so that’s the disappointing part about it.’’
With a tough run of fixtures coming up, facing grand finalists Sydney FC and Perth Glory and the two Melbourne clubs – City and Victory – in successive weeks, Talay remained hopeful of having a striker signed before the transfer window closes today.
However, he was unable to provide an update on the progress of their search during the postmatch press conference, throwing to football operations manager Shaun Gill, who simply teased ‘‘watch this space’’.
‘‘We’ve always been looking for a striker, that’s nothing new,’’ Talay said. ‘‘At the same time it gives us depth within the squad to bring on a striker in these type of games. We’ve been very picky and nit-picking with what we think we want to bring into this team. There’s been a lot of strikers thrown our way but we want to get the right one that fits into our mould.
‘‘Sometimes it’s better not to sign somebody for the sake of signing somebody, because it’s important that they can do a job.’’
One of nine players to debut for the Phoenix on Sunday, David Ball went close to scoring an early goal when he brought down a Steven Taylor long ball, beat Andrew Durante and chipped Kurto. However, his effort fell narrowly wide of the target.
While he may not be the answer for Krishna, he looks a solid addition, as does 20-year-old Callum McCowatt, who was busy down the left.
‘‘The way that we play we will create opportunities. For me it’s important in our defensive structure that we keep the score to zero but we will create opportunities, it just comes down to that final pass or that execution of actually putting it in the back of the net.’’
Although he showed a glimpse of his quality by beating multiple defenders in one sequence late in the game, Ulises Davila was exposed defensively, regularly caught out by Western’s pacey wing-back Connor Pain.
Pain was one of Western’s best on the night and it was his cross that led to Berisha’s goal.
Western midfielder Alessandro Diamanti also showed his class with a handful of delightful passes but some strong goalkeeping from Stefan Marinovic kept the former Italian international scoreless.
Talay was bold in the second half, throwing on attackers Ben Waine and Reno Piscopo in search of an equaliser. But despite having the majority of possession, they were still unable to break down Western’s vastlyexperienced defensive unit, which was well marshalled by Phoenix legend Durante.
‘‘We wanted to bring on a creative player who can play in tight spaces and Piscopo was the one that we chose to do that with and I think it was quite effective,’’ Talay said.
‘‘We got into those areas and started to deliver balls but we lacked the final execution, like I said, to be able to put that in the back of the net.
‘‘But the positives are the players have a lot of belief. You can see we are a young squad but you can see we also dominated in the second half. The only way is upwards for this group. With younger players and experienced players there’s room to grow and I think we’ll get better with every game we play.’’