With 24 shots on goal, you would say that Wellington Phoenix should have salvaged something out of the game. That wasn’t the case in their recent 1-0 defeat at the hands of Perth Glory.
Out of those 24 shots on goal, only seven of those were on target and it proved costly for the Phoenix.
Head coach Natalie Lawrence expressed her frustration in their 1-0 defeat to the Glory.
“There’s a frustration but there’s a sense of pride in the way that we’re playing,” she said.
“When I was first made head coach I was asked what brand of football I wanted to play and I said attacking football.”
This is Lawrence’s first season in charge of the Nix after previous head coach Gemma Lewis took up an opportunity at Wales FA.
Lawrence was the assistant coach to Lewis in their inaugural season last year and was promoted to head coach in September 2022.
For the first few games, there wasn’t a clear view of where Lawrence wanted to take this team.
It was after those opening two games of the season where there was a clear vision of what Wellington would look like under Lawrence.
Since then, their attacking football has been clear to see. Constantly looking to knock the ball up-top and apply pressure to opposition backlines.
It’s obvious that there is a sense of pride at the Phoenix, their confidence particularly going forward is strong.
But despite that, their match-up with Perth resulted in no goals for the hosts and left the visitors relieved to have come away with three points.
Natalie Lawrence has the right to be frustrated, her side dominated the entire 90 minutes and deserved a result from it.
She acknowledges that, admitting that the goals just aren’t coming for the Nix.
“When you look at those stats, you just can’t lose those games, especially with how tight it is at the bottom,” she said.
Wellington are bottom of the league, only two points off Newcastle Jets and seven points off Western Sydney Wanderers. Despite that, the Phoenix have a game in-hand over those two teams.
After a wooden-spoon finish last season, the Nix wouldn’t want a repeat of that this season and Lawrence has made that clear several times that it isn’t their ambition to do so.
The next match is a great opportunity for them to get off the bottom-of the ladder, they travel to Newcastle to face the Jets.
Looking at the way they played against the Glory, it gives Phoenix fans confidence that their team can get the job done in Newcastle next-time round and for the final two games of the regular season after that.
Featured Image Credit: Photomac
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
