Loving every minute of it
Some wise words from a departing player gave Finn Surman the confidence he needed to become a central figure at the Wellington Phoenix. Phillip Rollo reports.
Finn Surman was at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina when he caught wind of Wellington Phoenix’s plans to sign a new import centreback. The 20-year-old played only 151 minutes across a handful of appearances in the Phoenix’s previous A-League Men campaign, a massive drop-off after playing 1076 across 15 appearances during his debut season.
With English import Scott Wootton already occupying one starting spot in the heart of the Phoenix’s defence, Surman feared he would be consigned to another long season spent primarily on the sidelines if the club brought in a second foreign centreback.
“It’s well known that in this league a visa player is quite important, so if they use a visa spot on a signing they’re more likely to play them,” Surman said.
“I was thinking ‘I don’t want another year of not playing and just being in and out’. It lays on your mind like ‘am I good enough?’ ‘What do they actually think about me?’ ”
But a text from a departing Phoenix player changed everything for Surman and gave the academy product the push he needed to show coach Giancarlo Italiano he was the right man to partner Wootton.
Surman came back from the Under-20 World Cup, where he captained New Zealand through to the round of 16, with a new level of confidence and it did not take long to win the trust of his new coach.
After being named to start against Western Sydney Wanderers in round one, Surman retained his spot in the starting lineup all the way through to round 27.
In the end, the Phoenix decided against signing an import centreback, later using it to bring in an additional midfielder, Costa Rican international Youstin Salas.
“I got some quite good advice from one of the boys that left last season and it stuck with me,” Surman said.
“He didn’t even say it in person, he texted me. He said ‘just do one thing, make sure you come in to next season being confident in yourself.’
“I thought a lot about that in the off-season and I tried to come back with more confidence in myself and imposed myself more ... not come in and say ‘I’m here if you need me, come in and show that I’m ready and show I can play with this team and be a big part in this team.”
‘As ready as I’ll ever be’
Surman will play the biggest games of his young career over the next fortnight. The Phoenix will play Melbourne Victory in a two-legged semifinal. If they win, they will reach their first grand final.
It is likely Surman will be the youngest player on the field when the first leg of the semifinal kicks off at AAMI Park in Melbourne tomorrow, as he was when the Phoenix and Victory last met.
After playing every minute of the season so far, he said he had no reason to be daunted by the occasion.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve had good preparation playing a lot of minutes over the season and a big part of our success is that we have been pretty consistent across the back four.
“I’m not sure how the team is going to approach it, I think we’ll approach it just game by game and just enjoy it, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in our team.’’
The own goal
As a defender, Surman’s main job is to prevent goals from being scored.
But his single biggest contribution for the Phoenix this season came at the other end of the pitch, when the Phoenix and Victory last played each other, in Wellington on April 12.
Surman helped the Phoenix snatch a dramatic 1-0 win in stoppage time when he connected to an Oskar van Hattum freekick and headed the ball past Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo in the dying seconds. Surman had never scored a goal as a professional footballer. He still hasn’t.
The goal was credited as an own goal to Victory captain Roderick Miranda because the ball took a heavy deflection on its way into the net.
Tough to beat
Alongside Wootton, who has also been an ever-present figure, Surman played a central role as the Phoenix achieved a top-two regular-season finish for the first time in their 17-year history.
A rock-solid defence has laid the platform for their success, conceding 26 goals, the fewest in the A-League Men this season and the fewest the Phoenix have ever conceded across a single season.
They also kept teams scoreless on 11 occasions.
“I’m not sure if we ever said ‘we want to be hard to beat’ because that’s just a given,” Surman said.
“We want to be a good defensive team and we said that from the start. We want to defend well as a team and limit chances for the opposing teams because we know in doing that we will create opportunities for us to go forward with the ball.”
The A-League winner behind the defensive improvement
Helping the Phoenix become a team that is hard to break down is a former player who knows what it takes to win an A-League championship.
Former Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets defender Adam Griffiths came on board as an assistant coach this season and has overseen major improvements in the Phoenix defence.
It is no coincidence either that Western Sydney, where Griffiths previously worked, had the best defensive record last season.
The Phoenix conceded 19 fewer goals this season than they did in 2022-23, despite playing one more match.
“Griffs leans on his experience and knowing he’s been in these situations and that he’s done it and believes in it, gives us all the confidence to do it,’’ Surman said.
“He’s played as a six [defensive midfielder] and a central defender so he knows those positions, and he’s able to demand a lot because he knows what he wants from us, and it’s the same with the fullbacks.”
Wootton’s calming influence
Surman said it had been a big help having a player with Wootton’s vast experience alongside him too.
The 32-year-old has been a professional footballer for 15 years and played for Manchester United under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the beginning of his career.
“He’s always willing to help and he’s patient with me. The most under-rated thing is that he always does it in the right manner.
“Sometimes it will be an arm around the shoulder and positive encouragement and say it in a calm and a relaxed manner and sometimes he will be, for a lack of a better word, aggressive with his communication and yell but he has a really good balance and that’s just the communication stuff. “There’s so much to learn and he’s helped me a lot, not only defensively but with the ball as well. I think we complement each other quite well.“
The last line of defence
Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo produced one of the all-time great goalkeeping performances in the elimination final.
Izzo saved four penalties, including one in normal time, as the Victory survived with 10 men to beat Melbourne City 3-2 on penalties.
But the Phoenix have plenty of faith in their goalkeeper’s penalty-saving ability, should the semifinal also be decided by a shootout.
Alex Paulsen has been a revelation in his first season as a starting goalkeeper. The 21-year-old has kept a club-record 11 clean sheets, saved three of the five penalties he has faced and has the highest save percentage of any goalkeeper in the A-League (81%).
“I played with him [Paulsen] in the academy for two seasons and I’ve always had confidence in him,” Surman said.
“If we don’t block a shot it has to be a really good shot to beat Alex. It got to the point where I was thinking if another team gets a pen I wouldn’t want to be the one taking that pen.”
“Just do one thing, make sure you come in to next season being confident in yourself.’’
The advice Finn Surnam got from a former Phoenix team-mate