Wellington Phoenix became the latest Isuzu UTE A-League casualty amid Heidelberg United’s giant-slaying run in the Australia Cup, and there were plenty of takeaways for head coach Giancarlo Italiano.
Pre-season is a chance to not only build fitness but also iron out a game plan. While Wellington Phoenix’s Australia Cup run came to a surprise end on Tuesday, their picture has become clearer two months out from the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 season.
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Wellington are the latest A-Leagues casualty amid Heidelberg United’s giant-slaying run after the NPLM VIC giants soared to a 4-0 victory en route to the semi-finals in Melbourne, having also conquered Western Sydney Wanderers 3-0.
The quarter-final did not go according to plan for Giancarlo ‘Chiefy’ Italiano’s Phoenix, who fell behind following a first-half own goal and were never able to claw their way back into the contest as Heidelberg – led by former Western United assistant coach John Anastasiadis – added another three goals in the second period.
For Chiefy and Wellington, there were plenty of takeaways as they continue to gear up for the upcoming Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
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“For large parts we dominated that match,” said Italiano, who is also set to further bolster his squad in the transfer market. “The first half we should have capitalised on those two or three big chances that we had.
“[We] scored an own goal against the run of play but the big thing that killed us was the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“We got caught twice on the counter, poor second ball recovery and we got punished for it, and then the fourth goal just topped off the whole performance.
“But the positive was that the boys didn’t give up, the subs came on and we were a little bit more on the front foot, but again that game changes if we score earlier.”
After missing the 2024-25 Finals Series on the back of an 11th-placed finish having narrowly missed out on a Grand Final berth amidst their historic 2023-24 campaign, there have not only been learnings but squad and staff changes to go with tactical tweaks in pursuit of a return to the top six.
While talisman Kosta Barbarouses, former Manchester United youngster Scott Wootton, New Zealand international Sam Sutton, Stefan Colakovski, Portugese midfielder Francisco Geraldes and Dublin Boon have departed the Phoenix, Wellington have recruited Nigerian striker Ifeanyi Eze, Carlo Armiento and Nikola Mileusnic.
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The ‘Nix are also continuing to develop and lean on academy graduates like Luke Supyk, who started away to Heidelberg, along with Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Xuan Loke, Matthew Sheridan, Isaac Hughes, Lukas Kelly-Heald and young gun Luke Brooke-Smith.
Italiano added: “If we’re going to be on the front foot for the whole season, to play like that is high risk, high reward. We need to be fit for 90 minutes that’s the most important thing and then build confidence by playing as many games as we can.
“The signs have been positive but obviously if you’re going to play like this you’ll get anomaly scores like that.”
