At a glance
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
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