Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo ‘Chiefy’ Italiano referenced “some high-profile managers going through a bit of a rough patch” as he discussed his team’s three-game losing streak in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
The highly-rated Australian head coach guided the Phoenix to within a whisker of a maiden Premiership and Grand Final appearance amid the club’s historic Semi-Final run in 2023-24, but after losing some key personnel to overseas transfers – headlined by Ben Old, Finn Surman and Alex Paulsen, the new-look ‘Nix have struggled for consistency with three wins and four losses to show from eight matches.
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Reflecting on ninth-placed Wellington’s skid – their first three-game losing streak in the competition since dropping three in a row in April last year, Italiano told reporters: “Halfway through that second half I was already thinking about next week, or once we conceded the third, I started focusing more on the fact that I know what to fix for next week.
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“I don’t think I’m the first manager to lose three in a row. There’s some high-profile managers at the moment going through a bit of a rough patch. I’m no different. I’m not perfect or anything like that, and I don’t profess to be.
“I think this is a normal part. I was very blessed last season, we had a very good team cohesion and so on, and worked so hard. But no different to this team.
“But sometimes football, you can have a really good game, be the best team on the park, things don’t work out for you, you don’t capitalise on your chances and lose. It can happen the next game and the same thing happens, all of a sudden momentum works against you.
“I’ve seen some really good teams go through this. For us, it’s a learning opportunity. I’ll go back to Wellington now and get prepared for the Jets.”
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On the match itself, Italiano said: “It’s disappointing more than anything. Probably gifted them three of the four goals, well actually four. Errors or just us being hesitant around the box.
“Defensively… it was very uncharacteristic for us today… I think in the end, a little bit of inexperience cost us.”
