Phoenix not going to let Victory dictate play
WELLINGTON: The Wellington Phoenix will not change its approach in today’s crucial ALeague clash against Melbourne Victory, despite the competition’s deadliest marksman being cleared to face the home side.
Victory striker Besart Berisha was shown a red card in Friday night’s win over Brisbane Roar, but had it rescinded under review, freeing him to fly to Wellington with his teammates yesterday.
That came as no surprise to Phoenix assistant coach
Chris
Greenacre.
‘‘I didn’t think it was a
[red] card if
I’m honest,’’ he said.
‘‘As far as we’re concerned, we’ll plan to play against Victory with him in [the side]. It doesn’t change a great deal for us.’’
Berisha has scored a dozen times already this season, includ ing a hattrick against the Phoenix the previous time the two sides met on Halloween night in Melbourne.
Victory has a multitude of attacking threats, though. Kiwi Marco Rojas has 10 goals this season and makes a habit of inflicting pain on his former club, scoring six goals in seven previous games against Wellington.
Socceroo James Troisi is in careerbest form and Tunisian attacker Fahid Ben Khalfallah is starting to find the form that enabled to him win the club’s player of the year award two seasons ago.
But Greenacre insists the Phoenix will not be making special arrangements to quell Victory’s impressive strikeforce which has driven it to six straight wins.
‘‘It’s going to be a tough game. Marco’s on fire, as we fully expect, and Berisha’s scoring goals — but it’s important we really take the game to Victory.
‘‘We can’t sit back and let Victory dictate the play and the speed of the game. It’s up to us to really let them know they’ve been in a game.
‘‘Since Des [Buckingham] and I took over, it’s that defending from the front that we’ve really hit home to the players. It’s how we’re going to deal with [teams] when they’ve got the ball at the back. That won’t change a great deal,’’ he said.
The Phoenix would jump into the ALeague’s top six with a win and Buckingham and Greenacre have the luxury of a fullyfit squad to choose from, giving them some selection headaches, particularly in the attacking third.
Top scorer Roy Krishna returns from suspension and should slot straight back into the starting side, but for whom? Shane Smeltz has looked sharp since resigning with the club, Michael McGlinchey was outstanding on his return from injury against the Mariners on Saturday and Kosta Barbarouses will be desperate to perform well against his former club.
There is also a choice to make between Roly Bonevacia and Gui Finkler in the attacking midfield role.
The Phoenix looked particularly dangerous in the first half against the Mariners with Bonevacia in that role, which may mean another game off the bench for Finkler.