Wellington Phoenix boss Giancarlo ‘Chiefy’ Italiano insists spirits are still high and that his side believes they can still salvage their season despite a poor run of form.
The Nix currently find themselves 11th on the ladder having picked up just two points from their last five matches having been beaten 1-0 by Melbourne City last time out.
To make matters worse, the Nix now have the unenviable task of travelling to high-flying Western United on Saturday afternoon, with John Aloisi’s side currently sat second on the ladder.
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“I’m feeling really good,” said Italiano when asked how he and the group were tracking ahead of this weekend’s clash at Ironbark Fields.
“Training was really good today. It’s been pretty productive all week. And again, for a team that’s on the wrong side of results, at the moment, the group vibe is pretty good.
“I’ve been part of some environments where things aren’t going well, and, you know, can be very toxic. But it’s probably the complete opposite with this group which is a good thing.
“I think there’s still a lot of belief in the group. You know, they want to prove a lot of people wrong. And again, I just keep talking about just one performance, one result, and we can turn our season.”
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Round 21’s 1-0 disappointment against Melbourne City was the club’s third-straight defeat in the Isuzu UTE A-League following losses to both Auckland FC and Melbourne Victory respectively, with the spotlight again being shone on the side’s deficiencies in the final third.
However despite their ongoing shyness in front of goal, Italiano believes things will soon start to click into gear – especially once he has his ideal attacking quartet to choose from.
“I think the most important thing when it comes to attacking is understanding cohesion, recognition of where players will be at all times.
“I think what’s happened is there’s probably been an over reliance on on Kosta (Barbarouses) and it’s made it easier for teams to defend him when he’s not getting the service.
“It’s more about getting players now in those areas where they can be effective and provide those creative outlets for him. So that comes down to a lot team chemistry.
He continued: “The advantage I had last year when I came into the team was I already knew the players, it wasn’t hard to make them gel. This season we’ve had a massive turnover of squad and quality as well.
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“Not to say that the players we haven’t brought in are quality as well. Just more about understanding and their movements with each other and the more games we play hopefully we believe that they’ll get better at that combination recognition and so on and that chemistry.
“But it does take time. And when you have a lot of injuries you’re also relying on some younger players, those things can get very clunky. So it’s just more about time than anything.”
