World News – AU – Can Wellington Phoenix reach the A League final without playing in New Zealand?

Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay is aiming for high goals in his second year as head of New Zealand’s only professional football club despite his move to Australia. Phillip Rollo reports.

Will it help or hinder Wellington Phoenix to be from Wollongong, 2,221 km from home, for the duration of the 2020-21 A League season?

Trainer Ufuk Talay is not sure. This is the question he asked himself an unprecedented second year as head of New Zealand’s only professional football club.

On the one hand, players and staff – and their families – have uprooted their lives to move to another country and will not be able to play in front of their ardent supporters at Sky Stadium. On the other hand, their travel has been reduced significantly and they will get used to the intense Australian heat better.

« I’m not sure which way it will go. I think everyone has pretty much settled in their new neighborhood, which is good, and we have a group that just keeps going like last year when we were stuck in a hotel for 10 weeks, ”Talay said.

READ MORE: * Ulises Dávila wants to make history after staying true to Wellington Phoenix. * Wellington Phoenix midfielder Reno Piscopo has ruled out the opening game. * All Whites midfielder Clayton Lewis is ready to rise again with Wellington Phoenix.

« But it’s a little different now. We have the flexibility of where players come to work to train but actually go home. They’re not on top of each other, which is great.

« Of course if you travel from Wellington to Australia every other week for away games, the trip is a lot less, but the big thing we’re going to miss is playing at home in front of our fans. « .

« I don’t know what the turnout will be for our first game in Sydney. We try to put our faces outside and we believe that Wollongong is a football city and will support us. « . ”

After the aspiring Australian coach led the Phoenix to their highest result to date last season and kept his young squad largely intact, he is aiming for high goals in his second year. Aiming for a return to the A League finals series, Talay looks to improve on last year’s third place despite the obvious challenge of playing in Australia for the entire season and question marks about the team’s new defense.

“We’re always trying to improve on what we’ve achieved over the last year. At the end of the day it’s very important to play in the A-League and get into the top six, which is the final. But we want to get into the top three and see if we can go any higher than last year. But obviously we have other challenges this year. ”

The Phoenix start the 2020-21 season against two-time defending champions Sydney FC in their adopted home WIN Stadium on Saturday evening.

It’s the first of 13 home games to be played at Wollongong, although Talay, like the club’s fans, hopes that at some point during the season a trans-Tasman bubble will open and the Phoenix may return to Wellington.

A string of three straight home games from April to May is envisaged as a possible window, but the recent Covid-19 outbreak on Sydney’s northern beaches that resulted in the Phoenix’s original season opener against Brisbane Roar being postponed has did not help the situation.

« We’d love to go back to Wellington to play games. I think it would be great, not just for the team, but also for our fans and supporters back home. We hope it opens and maybe in this window in April where we have the three home games that we can come back.

« But at the end of the day we just take it as it comes, we don’t want to make excuses and just try to get on with things as best we can. « . ”

The squad turnover was relatively low compared to previous seasons. Eight players have left – most notably captain Steven Taylor and young star Liberato Cacace, who leaves two big holes in the back – but they have been replaced by a talented group of six led by Tomer Hemed.

The Israeli striker has a Premier League pedigree from his four-year tenure at Brighton and Hove Albion and has the potential to be a contender for the Golden Shoe.

Hemed has been called in to fill the void left by Gary Hooper’s departure to India and will lead a powerful attack along with newly appointed captain Ulises Dávila, David Ball and Reno Piscopo.

« If you bring in a Visa player, they must be influential and affect the game. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense to involve a Visa player. « . You can play a local in this position, ”said Talay. « For us he is different from hoops, he will also do a lot of footwork and defensive work when we don’t have the ball and hopefully he can score a lot for us. « . ”

The other newcomers to the Phoenix are All Whites Clayton Lewis, James McGarry and Matthew Ridenton, as well as Australia internationals Joshua Laws and Mirza Muratovic.

McGarry and Laws, both 22, will be tasked with replacing Cacace and Taylor in a relatively raw back four. Though they may lack experience, upon returning from the Netherlands and Germany, Talay was thrilled by the defensive duo’s potential and helped them make a name for themselves in the A-League.

« With young players, you have to give them faith. Do young players make mistakes? Yes, they do. But do older players also make mistakes? Yes, they do.

« You have to step up, but this way players get chances when they move to another location. « . The only way they can get better is by playing … and hopefully they can transform into players like Libby Cacace and move on to bigger and better things. ”

The Phoenix had a difficult start to the new season when they first faced defending champions Sydney FC. Steve Corica’s side are chasing a triple peat after winning the last two editions but have lost their top scorer, Englishman Adam Le Fondre.

Defense Attorneys: James McGarry, Joshua Laws, Liam McGing, Louis Fenton, Luke DeVere, Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, Tim Payne.

Ins: Clayton Lewis (Auckland City), James McGarry (Willem II), Joshua Laws (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Matthew Ridenton (Brisbane Roar), Mirza Muratovic (Brisbane Roar), Tomer Hemed (Charlton Athletic).

Outs: Brandon Wilson (Perth Glory), Callan Elliot (Xanthi FC), Callum McCowatt (Helsingør), Gary Hooper (Kerala Blasters), Liberato Cacace (Sint-Truiden), Matti Steinmann (East Bengal), Steven Taylor (Odisha ), Walter Scott (Macarthur).

Key player: Ulises Dávila, fatal from the penalty spot, scored 12 goals at team level last season, and when he was there, the Phoenix did too. The Mexican maestro was given captaincy following Steven Taylor’s departure and will form a potentially fatal combo with new striker Tomer Hemed.

Please note: Australian U23 international Joshua Laws has big problems with coach Ufuk Talay ahead of his first season in the A-League and will likely start in the center-back alongside Luke DeVere. Like Cameron Devlin and Reno Piscopo, he will be determined to make a claim on the selection of Olyroos before Tokyo 2021.

Estimated start XI: Stefan Marinovic, Tim Payne, Luke Devere, Joshua Laws, James McGarry, Alex Rufer, Cameron Devlin, Reno Piscopo, Ulises Dávila, David Ball, Tomer Hemed.

Wellington Phoenix FC, A-League, Sydney FC, New Zealand national football team, Ulises Dávila, Ufuk Talay