https://theniche-cache.com/football/2024/8/7/the-wellington-phoenix-deployed-the-youngsters-and-got-knocked-out-of-the-aussie-cup#google_vignette
One piece of the puzzle that remains elusive is how Marco Rojas will be unleashed. Chiefy has intimated that they’ll adapt the tactics in order to suit Rojas’ playmaking abilities but here we mostly just saw them trying to play the way they ended last season, with Rojas operating as a roaming left-winger. It’s too soon for anything else to have been concocted and deployed so that much stays cryptic.
One piece of the puzzle that remains elusive is how Marco Rojas will be unleashed. Chiefy has intimated that they’ll adapt the tactics in order to suit Rojas’ playmaking abilities but here we mostly just saw them trying to play the way they ended last season, with Rojas operating as a roaming left-winger. It’s too soon for anything else to have been concocted and deployed so that much stays cryptic.
There are pretty obvious improvements to be made. All you have to do is chuck Tim Payne, Sam Sutton, Alex Rufer, and Paolo Retre into the eleven. Perhaps some David Ball too... though after a goalless 2024-25 campaign his role could be a slippery one. Is Italiano content to have Ball as an attacking utility working tirelessly for others with excellent leadership qualities? He might be. Or he might want to figure out a role that better puts Bally into dangerous areas like he achieved in reviving Kosta Barbarouses’ goal-scoring efficiency. They need to be improving in attack regardless, especially since the departures of Surman and Paulsen means they cannot guarantee they’ll be able to repeat their prior defensive mastery. Marco Rojas can’t do it all by himself.
In that light, the four teenaged forwards who got minutes (GSR, Supyk, Walker & Candy) have done well to distinguish themselves above the crowd. There could easily be openings for them to pop up and make a difference throughout the season. It’s also interesting that Chris Greenacre’s NZ U19s team gave fellow WeeNixers Ryan Watson (298 min) and Daniel Makowem (213) more minutes than Candy (191), Walker (190), or GSR (149) got in that tournament... yet the Phoenix themselves have shown they rate these lads higher through their selection here (unless there are injuries we don’t know about).
That leaves centre-back as the most intriguing position. Isaac Hughes may have been part of a losing team but he was one of the more impressive fellas out there in yellow. He’s always been a skilled defender so of course he had more than a hundred touches and completed 80/91 (88%) of his passes. And he’s also shown he knows how to batten down the hatches by winning headers, hoofing clearances, and blocking shots. What was cool to see from him against South Melbourne was how comfortable he looked. Lunging into tackles and seeking to move the ball. The Nix will be covering all their bases over the next couple months but don’t discount Isaac Hughes’ chances of being a week one starter.
He’s in the same situation that Finn Surman was twelve months ago and look how that turned out. This is also why it’s curious that Dylan Gardiner was the CB on the bench, given that there are older and arguably more established blokes in the WeeNix (such as Seth Karunaratne). But Gardiner’s presence tells us that he is the defener that the club reckons has the highest ALM potential. It’s always good to learn these things.
He’s in the same situation that Finn Surman was twelve months ago and look how that turned out. This is also why it’s curious that Dylan Gardiner was the CB on the bench, given that there are older and arguably more established blokes in the WeeNix (such as Seth Karunaratne). But Gardiner’s presence tells us that he is the defener that the club reckons has the highest ALM potential. It’s always good to learn these things.