Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano believes Auckland FC are “there for the taking” in the second New Zealand derby.
The two sides will square off in front of a full house at Go Media Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday afternoon, five weeks on from their inaugural meeting in Wellington which went Auckland’s way.
The Isuzu UTE A-League newcomers enter the rematch with five wins from as many matches, and they have yet to concede a goal.
But Italiano believes he has the players to break Auckland down.
“I definitely think so,” he told media after training on Friday. “I think they’re there for the taking. I think they’ve been very lucky to be fair for the last four games.
“They’re very vulnerable. I’m not disrespecting their defensive side. I think they’re a very good team and they’re well structured, but there is a lot of vulnerability there.”
There has been an extra edge at Phoenix training this week and the players have spoken about wanting to get revenge for last month’s derby defeat.
Italiano will try to keep a lid on the excitement and ensure they remain focussed.
“My job is to manage that line of emotion, making sure it doesn’t cross over into too much emotion.
“You probably saw Corbs’ (Corban Piper) and Kazu’s (Kazuki Nagasawa) interviews the other day. I don’t need to motivate them.
“I don’t need to give them a prop up. They’ll do that in the playing group themselves. For me it’s more about making sure the tactics are right, and the mindsets are right.
“There will be a lot of intensity to the game, it’s just making sure my players can stay level-headed.”
And he believes all the pressure is on the hosts.
“I think an early goal especially will change the dynamic of the game and put them in a position where they’re not accustomed.
“If they come away with the win no one is going to expect any different.”
Auckland’s breakthrough goal in the inaugural meeting came from a Nix mistake as they played out from the back, and Italiano plans to continue playing short from goal kicks.
“Of course, probably even more now. I’m not going to change my principles.
“That’s our DNA. That’s something that we build our success on. I think that it would be disrespectful on my part if I changed that because it shows fear, and I don’t have fear.
“We just need to identify the moments [and] be a little bit more switched on for larger parts.”
Auckland FC have only had to travel across the Tasman once in the opening six rounds, while the Nix have made three trips to Australia and have won all three matches, including knocking over the defending champion Central Coast Mariners and beaten finalists Melbourne Victory in back-to-back weeks.
“We’ve had to travel. We’ve won three games away from home.
“Scheduling is a big part of the A-League. It’s not easy to go away and win games.
“That’s probably the hardest part and the Kiwi teams probably have more of a disadvantage so in that respect I think we’ve done very well.”
Giancarlo Italiano has a near full-strength squad to pick from with fullbacks Tim Payne and Sam Sutton available for selection after both missed the Unite Round match against Victory through injury.
Experienced forward Marco Rojas is also getting closer to challenging for a place in the starting XI.
“We can lean on his experience in these games. You saw his impact against Victory last week.
“He’s doing a lot better than what we thought he would in terms of the setback with injuries, but I still think he’s not at that stage where he’s ready to start.
“It will come and hopefully sooner rather than later, but when you have a player like that coming off the bench I feel very reassured that we can change the game very late.”
The seventh round Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC is scheduled to kick-off at Go Media Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland at 5pm Saturday and will be broadcast free-to-air on Sky Open and LIVE on Sky Sport 1 in New Zealand, and LIVE on Paramount+ and 10 Bold in Australia.
Most recent meeting: 2 November 2024 – Wellington Phoenix 0 Auckland FC 2
All-time A-League head-to-head: Phoenix 0W, Auckland 1W & 0D.
Wellington Phoenix squad (two to be omitted):1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Scott WOOTTON (c), 6. Tim PAYNE, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Paulo RETRE, 9. Hideki ISHIGE, 10. David BALL, 11. Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 12. Mo AL-TAAY, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 19. Sam SUTTON, 21. Marco ROJAS, 24. Oskar VAN HATTUM, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN, 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 39. Jayden SMITH, 41. Nathan WALKER.Unavailable: 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE (injured).
Auckland FC squad (one to be omitted): 1. Michael WOUD (gk), 2. Hiroki SAKAI (c), 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 4. Nando PIJNAKER, 5. Tommy SMITH, 6. Louis VERSTRAETE, 7. Cameron HOWIESON, 8. Luis TOOMEY, 10. Guillermo MAY, 12. Alex PAULSEN (gk), 14. Liam GILLION, 15. Francis DE VRIES, 17. Callan ELLIOT, 18. Finn MCKENLAY, 22. Jake BRIMMER, 23. Dan HALL, 25. Neyder MORENO, 27. Logan ROGERSON, 28. Luis Felipe GALLEGOS.
Unavailable:Nil.
Main image: Cam McIntosh/Photomac.
