Wellington Phoenix

Just about made the play-offs last season despite a late dip in form due to fatigue. Crashed out of them early though. Boss Talay moving on was the big news pre-season. His assistant manager Italiano will be his replacement, and not much is expected to change in terms of style nor selection. They’ll still be fiercely competitive and industrious but lacking in depth and quality. Much like clubs like Roar and the Jets, their lack of funding has made new signings all but impossible - well, at least of any note. Signing goalkeeper Duncan pre-season as their ‘headline’ acquisition speaks volumes as he’s a very erratic goalkeeper at the best of times. Phoenix are going to have a lot of problems this season, even more than usual. They’ve lost a number of regulars without being able to replace any as of yet. Mauragis isn’t a big problem because Sutton is more than capable. However, they’ve lost two mainstay central midfielders in Ugarkovic and Lewis, only one of which can be replaced by returning captain Rufer, who spent a long time out because of injury. Duncan is nowhere near a replacement for Sail in goal; they concede a lot of chances, and Sail’s reflexes kept them in a lot of games - Duncan’s won’t. They’ve lost right-back Elliot; there’s no actual replacement for him at this point unless they push Payne to right-back (where he has played before) but then the problem is at centre-back as both Laws and Boxall moved on, and Wootton is injury-prone. What else? Sasse moved on too, denying them a natural creator. Yes, he was less consistent than fellow creator Kraev, but they still needed both last season, particularly with Barbarouses really struggling to adapt his game now he’s lost his rapid pace due to ageing. Young striker Waine is still missed, even though he moved on in the middle of last season. This squad is simply too threadbare; barely any depth in any position so even the arrival of tenacious midfielder Al-Taay doesn’t even begin to pave over the cracks. Zawada will still score goals with the right service but he only plays well with confidence so unless they start strongly, he may disappear. Ball is looking his age now, losing more and more pace, and he’s not a good enough player to compensate without it. All Phoenix can do to deal with their glaring weaknesses at centre-back/right-back and in creative positions is to hope that some of their upcoming youngsters have what it takes. To be fair to Phoenix, they’ve done well with such in recent years, and still have Benjamin Old to call upon. Make no mistake, though - this team will struggle without major reinforcements. Will be hoping for a top six spot but are likely to fail.