Phoenix have pressing concerns
The Wellington Phoenix’s inability to deal with the Newcastle Jets’ high press is cause for serious concern.
Coach Darije Kalezic wants his side to be able to play out from the back, but that gameplan quickly unravelled at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night as Newcastle pressured them higher up the field than any other team this season.
It led to simple passes going astray and possession being turned over quickly in the 3-0 loss.
Goran Paracki gifted Roy O’Donovan his first goal when mistaking him for his goalkeeper, Keegan Smith, and playing a back pass straight to him deep inside the Phoenix box in the 37th minute.
The other goals came through slick play from Newcastle, but they had plenty of opportunities to get things going with the Phoenix giving possession away early and often.
‘‘In ball possession, we lost many balls unnecessarily. Simple passing from A to B goes many times [went] wrong,’’ Kalezic said.
‘‘That means we didn’t keep the ball as long as wanted to keep it to make it difficult for them. We lost the ball very soon and very fast.’’
Kalezic was also disappointed to see his players’ reaction to the first goal going in.
‘‘A mistake came. It was a really silly goal. I think we are in the balance until that moment and then that goal happens and the players drop their heads and didn’t play anymore in the next minutes.
We conceded the second goal and then it was difficult to come back.
‘‘At halftime everybody was down because of the way we conceded the goal, but that’s professional football. It can happen, and can happen to much bigger clubs than the Phoenix. The players have to be able to put their heads up and try to play how we’ve played until now.’’
The big question is how the Phoenix approach things going forward.
While they are unlikely to abandon playing out from the back, it remains to be seen if the players can execute that gameplan.
They had their first-choice midfield three of Paracki, Michael McGlinchey and Gui Finkler for the first half on Saturday, but they don’t seem to have clicked just yet.
That combination will get better with time, and having Marco Rossi back from injury in the next couple of weeks will help their distribution from centreback, but Newcastle have provided teams with a blueprint for how to exploit the Phoenix.
The loss leaves Wellington in the bottom three on the ladder with two points from five games, while Newcastle remain unbeaten and in third on 11 points.