Wellington Phoenix

Phoenix had historical regular season that saw the team overcoming many obstacles to finish in 3rd place. However, the overall feel is of disappointment at the end of the campaign as what followed was extremely painful and undeserved 0:1 loss vs. Glory in the first play-off obstacle. Changing managers last summer and seeing many important players leaving made many predict campaign of major struggle for Phoenix. They all looked to be spot on with Phoenix earning just 1 point from their first 5 games, but then coach Talay and his new stars transformed their fortunes in style between November and January (W7 D2 L1)! The confidence grew fast, the players performed at high level week in week out and the results kept being very good up until the COVID-break. Phoenix’s form after the restart was not the same (W1 D2 L3) and, despite dominating their Elimination Final vs. Glory, the Kiwis lost and must feel they missed out on great opportunity to make Grand Final appearance. Great team organisation on the pitch, excellent use of the wide areas and very prolific strikers were all amongst the main strengths of the team during the campaign. The right flank of the defence was weakness all throughout though with Fenton spending large portion of the campaign out injured and 2 midfielders used out of position in his absence. Playmaker Davila was the key figure in almost every match and he not only created most of the chances but scored plenty of goals himself with his runs from deep very smart and effective. Ball and Hooper also had decent campaigns up front, with goalkeeper Marinovic also with season to remember. Unlikely in previous years Phoenix have already secured most of their players for next season and if Talay stays in charge as expected the Kiwis would be serious contenders again.

Player of the Season: Ulises Davila