Don't concede, don't lose
The match in Napier on Sunday was a typical early season fixture between two sides who looked well under done in attack. Newcastle set out to occupy the Phoenix's passing channels and were mostly successful in preventing Carlos Hernandez settling on the ball in the attacking third. Paul Ifill was also closed down quickly meaning the Phoenix's two most creative players had very little impact on the match.
But what has been overlooked is the defensive turnaround quietly orchestrated by Ernie Merrick from a team that conceded 49 goals in 27 games last year at an average of 1.8 per match. Last season, when the Phoenix kept only 4 clean sheets, the team would almost certainly have lost that match when they had not scored.
Starting the match with 3 of Ricki Herbert's back 4 for the second week in a row, only substituting the inexperienced Reece Caira for Tony Lochhead, you would not have believed this was a side capable of shipping terrible goals at an alarming rate during last year's campaign. Last year quality A-League defenders Sigmund and Durante looked at times like park footballers, both making several poor individual errors. Under Merrick the same combination has looked organised and generally composed.
Sigmund has generally played with greater discipline tactically while still imposing himself physically and seems to have restrained his urge to push out from the back trying to win the ball further up the pitch. Caira looks solid enough and although Bertos's positioning is at times suspect, he's rarely been caught the wrong side of his man which was a problem last year.
If the Phoenix are to make the top 6 this year both attack and defence need to improve - but by completing the first three 90 minute outings of the season while only conceding three goals, perhaps there are still positives to be taken from a fairly mind numbing afternoon's football.
Reorganising mid-match has its limitations
Ernie Merrick was widely praised for his removal of Steyn Huysegems and reorganisation of the Phoenix midfield after 30 minutes last week against West Sydney. This week again he went to his bench early to make another tactical reorganisation removing Paul Ifill at half time to bring on Albert Riera. Riera, Lia and Muscat were all nominally defensive midfielders, although Lia seemed to have the most licence to push forward to support the attack. Riera had a good 45 minutes, economical in possession he seemed the most comfortable of the three with the ball at his feet misplacing only three passes during the half. With an extra body in midfield the Phoenix generally reduced the attacking threat from Newcastle and looked less open defensively.
But the removal of Ifill had a marked effect on the Phoenix attacking play. Perhaps as a result of the Belgian's furious reaction to his substitution against West Sydney, Merrick left the Brockie/Huysegems/Hernandez axis in place and it plainly didn't work leaving the attack unbalanced. All three prefer to operate centrally so the formation lacked width and Brockie especially seemed unable to get into the game. With no wide player stretching the play the midfield was congested and the game ended up a scrappy affair. Without Ifill's ability to create something out of nothing, and Hernandez targeted by Ben Kantarovski, Brockie and Huysegems resembled less a partnership and more a new couple awkwardly fumbling after a first date.
What this does show is the limitations of in-game management. Making pro-active changes during a match is an important part of coaching but it is far preferable to get your initial team selection right and stick with it. It would not be a surprise to see one of the Phoenix's two strikers benched next week and a third central midfielder added from the start but either way Ernie needs to get comfortable with his initial team selection.
Home and away
The crowd of 9020 in Napier was probably just enough to see the Phoenix return next year, but won't convince the sceptics that the entire exercise has little to recommend it considering that as many of a third of that number were from out of town and in the Hawkes Bay for the local under 19 tournament. Taking a match away from home is a significant commitment for the club, players and fans who all need to invest time and effort shifting the entire operation to another city. The novelty factor of the Wellington Phoenix playing live outside Wellington does seem to be wearing off.
The four figure crowd in Napier followed last season where a "home" match in Dunedin drew an embarrassing 3,060 (vs 4628 in the 2011 fixture) and the match against Perth at Eden Park an acceptable 11,600 (but fairly disappointing vs the 20,078 which watched the game against Adelaide in 2011). It's hard to see what the Phoenix get out the the exercise (aside from the match outgoings being underwritten by a council or a promoter). As a proportion of total income merchandise must sit fairly low down the list and building the Phoenix "brand" seems a particularly nebulous reason to take matches on the road.
The answer then, must be that matches at Westpac Stadium are generally still costing money to put on while crowds remain under the season average of roughly 9000.
Whether taking games on the road is seen as a genuine long term strategy, or is being used as a bargaining chip to negotiate more favourable terms from Westpac Stadium management isn't clear - it would certainly make more sense if the second were true. But it does seem to indicate short term thinking when it leads to situations like the side not playing in Wellington between 13 October and 9 December and the loyal fans that the Phoenix are happy to rely upon are the ultimate losers.
Passionate fans want to watch their team play, and only a portion of them are able to make a trip outside Wellington. Too long between matches and you begin to lose that bond which has formed the bed rock of Phoenix support (and which the club are more than happy to trade upon). That's something Phoenix management should mess with at their peril. Perhaps more time needs to be spent finding out why crowds in Wellington have dropped away and less time spent marketing one off games out of town.
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