Wellington Phoenix assistant coach Jonathan Gould has intimated a trio of youngsters are on track to join the club ahead of the upcoming Hyundai A-League season.
Gould said former Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Reece Crowther along with young strikers Luis Corrales and Roy Krishna from the New Zealand Football Championship are all showing strong signs while on trial with Wellington.
“Roy and Luis have trained very, very hard. I think they’ve really enjoyed what they’ve done in the last two weeks,” said Gould, who made more than 150 appearances for Celtic from 1997-2003 and also had stints with English sides Coventry, Bradford City and Preston North End.
“I’ve watched Roy and Luis in the NZFC and they are two standout players and they’ve got an opportunity to show themselves within a professional environment and it’s up to them to give it their best shot. From then on it’s in the hands of (Wellington coach) Ricki (Herbert).”
“Reece has got a big presence. He’s six feet five inches (196cm tall) and when you think you’ve got big Mark Paston (195cm) in there as well, you’ve got some tall timber and it makes me feel quite small sometimes,” quipped Gould, who stands at 185cm.
“Reece has equipped himself well. He’s got a tremendous work ethic and even though he is only 20, he has shown himself quite capable and technically has a solid base.”
Gould stressed size was not everything when it came to goalkeeping, with technique and agility equally as important, particularly at the higher levels of the game.
“You ask any coach and if a goalkeeper walks in the door and he fills the frame of that door it sort of inspires confidence in you anyway.”
“But behind that, any goalkeeper has to have a very good technique because without that eventually it will cost goals.”
“Being a big fella is important but being nimble on your feet and having sharp reactions is a must as well, especially at A-League level.”
“The higher you go in the game the more it becomes about your agility as much as it is about coming and getting the high balls.”
Meanwhile, it has been announced that Wellington will take on reigning Hyundai A-League Champion Melbourne Victory in Queenstown on June 27 in a trial match.
