Starting Rotation Is a top-six Phoenix such a big deal?
Despite being hammered 6-0, 5-0 and 4-0 in the past six weeks alone, Wellington Phoenix secured their spot in the top six of the A-League Men with a game to spare on Thursday after a hardearned 2-1 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.
The result at the CommBank Stadium in Parramatta sees coach Ufuk Talay’s side return to the playoffs after missing out last season as they aim to be crowned champions for the first time in the club’s 15-year history.
There was predictable elation from the players, management and fans alike over the ‘‘miracle’’ of making the finals, along with the usual claims they had ‘‘no right to be there’’.
I hate to be a party pooper, but since when did finishing in the top half of a 12-team division (they could yet claim fourth spot) become an accomplishment worthy of such hyperbole?
It’s true that the Phoenix have done it tougher than most this season, playing the vast majority of their games across the ditch, being hit hard by Covid-19 cases and suffering injuries to key players, including captain Alex Rufer.
And for overcoming those not insignificant challenges, everyone at the club deserves great credit and our admiration, even if rival teams have also been equally ravaged by the virus and injuries.
Yet the reality is on the pitch they have lost 10 of their 25 regular season games, scored 33 goals (only the bottom three have managed fewer) and conceded a league-high 47 for a woeful goal difference of -14.
The fact that they are still in contention for silverware of any kind with that underwhelming record is an indictment of the A-League finals format and the lacklustre playing standard this season.
On their day, the Phoenix are a capable outfit with some very talented young players at their disposal, particularly Ben Waine, Reno Piscopo and Sam Sutton. This much was evident in their recent 4-1 thrashing of Western United, and the comprehensive 3-1 defeat of Macarthur FC earlier in the campaign.
But those performances have been overshadowed by a string of frankly embarrassing losses to Newcastle Jets (4-0, twice), Adelaide United (4-0), Melbourne City (6-0) and Central Coast Mariners (5-0 and 4-0) — unworthy of a team supposedly fighting for the title.
With no promotion or relegation, the A-League inherently suffers from a lack of jeopardy, so there is an obvious need for some sort of playoff system in order to maintain interest during the regular season – even if the team that finishes top of the ladder should be recognised as the proper champions and not patronised with the second-rate Premier’s Plate.
However, that doesn’t mean that middling teams should be gifted an unlikely shot at glory just to keep the dollars rolling in.
To raise the level of competition, how about revising the finals format to only include the top-four teams on the ladder, with first playing fourth and second facing third in one-off semifinals, the winners of those matches meeting for all the marbles in the grand final. The current convoluted set-up needlessly draws out the season and gives wildly undeserving sides a chance to tear up the form book and win a trophy.
Not that they ever grasp this unearned opportunity.
Since the A-League’s inception in 2005, only one team that finished lower than second has won the grand final, which makes you question the sense in involving the fifth and sixth-best sides in the first place. Going off past history, the Phoenix – one of only three teams to have never won the championship or captured the Premier’s Plate – have little chance of making the A-League showpiece on May 28, let alone ending their long wait for a trophy. Hopefully one day they will finally get that monkey off their back – and earn the results to truly deserve it.