It's a question that many aleague fans will be asking themselves as the aleague season comes closer. You would be silly to write them off as having no chance that would be a silly decision.
They will be motivated because of their disappointing finish to last season.
Durante, Metric and the Phoenix will be ruing their wounds from last season and will be back looking to play.
The Phoenix vibrant performance last aleague season were a joy to watch as they were vibrant and they were able to terrorize their opponents and score at will.
But the question is can Merrick take this crop of stars and turn them into a team of winners?
aleague side Wellington Phoenix team emblem.
The Burning Questions?
Can they replace the amazing Socceroo Nathan Burns?
Will they be as successful across the ditch as they were last year?
Has Metric found a star in Jeffrey Sarpong?
Lessons that will have to be learnt from last season
The biggest lesson they will have to learn is, it is all good to perform well on the regular season, but you have to produce good performances in the finals as well.
The Trip Ahead
You can't deny that it had been a bumpy aleague pre season for the Phoenix, but they kick off a meaningful start at home when they face the Newcastle Jets.
The club has again looked to spread the aleague love throughout New Zealand by choosing to play in two other location's as round the country. These locations are QBE stadium in Auckland vs the Melbourne Victory on Dec 5 and they will face the Mariners at AMI stadium in Christchurch on January 30th of next year.
Home fans sadly won't get the chance to see their team player through the Christmas season as they are away playing the Aussies an Australia.
The one bonus the Phoenix have is that they will only have to travel to Perth once this season and that will happen on round two.
Forthcoming Strengths
Bonevacia and Rodriguez have a year of the aleague through them already.
Their defence is very organised.
They have plenty of midfield options to choose from.
Weaknesses
Lack of consistent scorers due to the loss of Cunningham and Burns.
Tactics
aleague coach Ernie Merrick.
They have Merrick, the longest serving coach in the aleague. His methods are proven and well known.
Merrick always encourages his side to attack.
They have a very intact Kiwi base (apart from Burns).
They have a rock at the back in Durante.
You know what you will get week in week out.
Krishna, Bonevacia and Rodriguez will add a little bit of flexibility to the side and the ultimate prize could be Sarpong.
If it comes off it will be a brilliant season to watch.
Stars
Tom Doyle
A powerful contender for a place in the starting eleven.
aleague Pheonix team member Tom Doyle.
Final Word
If they maintain the high standards of last season we should have plenty of cracker games to watch and enjoy.
The big question is will they perform when it counts or will they crack under the pressure?
0 comments:
Post a Comment