A testing trip to Sydney for the Wellington Phoenix.
Head coach Giancarlo Italiano has conceded that making the playoffs may be a bridge too far at this stage of the season, but remains positive about the immediate future.
“It’s probably a reflection on where we’re at at the moment,” he told media on Friday.
“We’ve had some blowouts in the last few weeks, it’s been more about getting players fit and ready. There’s a lot of boys coming back.
“There’s no lack of desperation from the boys, it just hasn’t clicked. Unfortunately, that’s where we’re at.
“We’ve had a lot of interruptions this season, it hasn’t been as fluid as we would have liked, but again I think the group is galvanised to finish the season well.”
He maintains that an upturn in form is just a single game away.
“It’s like anything. If you’re in a rut, it’s very hard to just switch it on and focus. It’s not that easy, otherwise every week a result would change.
“We just need one good performance. It could come Sunday.
“We might play terribly, score one goal, win 1-0, and then the confidence is back.
“We could run as hard as we can, work as hard as we can, lose 4-3 but it’s more about the performance.
“If the performance is good over time, then there’ll be a game where it breaks and we’ll be back.”
Led by star winger Douglas Costa, Sydney will present a stern test, especially coming off a midweek victory over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League Two.
“I think they had a week off the week before, so they’ll be refreshed for this game. Yesterday wasn’t really hot even though Jeonbuk pushed them.
“They showed a lot of resilience as a group, they’ve had four or five performances in a row. They have the home advantage as well.”
“Douglas Costa is a good player, played in some good leagues. I’d love a player like that.
“But I think their whole team dynamic is very good. They’re a little more fluid in their buildup, harder to defend against.
“Klimala up top, Sena behind, and Alex Grant at the back are good players. I think they’re going to be up there at the end of the season.”
A key issue for the Nix has been a lack of goals, not helped by numerous injuries to key forwards.
“The main frustration is probably the fact that there’s an overreliance on Kosta, because he’s got all the goals at the moment.
“It’s been very hard to get that fluidity in the front third. For me again, it’s not been an issue with the players.
“We’ve actually had an improvement over the last couple of months in our attacking output. We’ve had some big chances in big games. It’s a process.
“It’s not because there’s a lack of effort. All those boys try their hardest, and sometimes it happens, sometimes when you’re down on confidence, everything becomes heavier.
“When you concede, it becomes a bigger obstacle to overcome. But I’ve never questioned the players’ desire to win the game.”
While the Phoenix have not had the season they envisioned at the start of the campaign, Italiano can see the roadmap to future success.
“People’s expectation that we’re going to be ready overnight is unrealistic. Has the football been great? No, but we’ve shown glimpses.
“When confidence is down, it’s harder to play that football and that’s on me.
“I look at other teams doing well this year, Newcastle coming good, last year they were down the bottom. Western United are second now, they had the same narrative and they’ve only added one or two players.
“I think you need to have bad seasons in order to appreciate the good seasons. Young players need to go through this in order to appreciate how hard it is.
“I think on the other side of this we’ve got a team that’s going to be stronger.
“I’m not here to say you should have instant success, it takes time, it’s gradual. That’s the way football works.”
Giancarlo Italiano will be without young goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald for Sunday’s match after he suffered a shoulder injury at training. The extent of the injury is not yet known.
The round 23 Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC is scheduled to kick-off at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney at 9pm (7pm AEDT) Sunday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 1 in New Zealand and on Paramount+ in Australia.
Most recent meeting: 15 January 2025 – Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 0
All-time A-League head-to-head: Phoenix 16W, Sydney 27W & 7D.
Wellington Phoenix squad (two to be omitted): 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Scott WOOTTON, 6. Tim PAYNE, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Paulo RETRE, 9. Hideki ISHIGE, 12. Chico GERALDES, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 17. Gabriel SLOANE-RODRIGUES, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD, 19. Sam SUTTON, 21. Marco ROJAS, 23. Luke SUPYK, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN, 29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH, 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 35. Dublin BOON (gk), 41. Nathan WALKER.
Unavailable: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk) (illness), 11. Stefan COLAKOVSKI (injured).
Sydney FC squad (two to be omitted): 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 5. Alex GRANT, 6. Corey HOLLMAN, 7. Adrian SEGECIC, 8. Anas OUAHIM, 9. Patryk KLIMALA, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Douglas COSTA, 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (gk), 15. Leo SENA, 16. Joel KING, 17. Anthony CACERES, 20. Tiago QUINTAL, 21. Zac DE JESUS, 23. Rhyan GRANT (c), 24. Wataru KAMIJO, 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 31. Jaushua SOTIRIO, 37. Will KENNEDY.
Unavailable: 3. Aaron GURD (injured), 41. Alex POPOVIC (injured), 42. Kyle SHAW (injured).
Main image: Cam McIntosh/Photomac.
