Inevitable

By Scott MacLean

I was somewhat fortunate to be somewhere else on Saturday afternoon, as it spared me from the inevitable in Derby Three for the 2025/26 A-League season.

Why? Because it seemed inevitable that, much like the Mongols under Genghis Khan, the horde from the north would sweep down and pillage. After all, the Phoenix had been competitive against Auckland for all of 80 minutes in the first encounter the season prior… …and about that in total in the four since.

It was inevitable that my phone would light up with a notification about Auckland’s opener, though I must confess to being left gobsmacked at the way Nix ‘keeper Josh Oluwayemi wrote himself into lore with the-most Peak A-League Moment™ in the competitions 20 years. It was inevitable that the floodgates would open for another inevitable drubbing, and inevitable that the horde would return north leaving “ELLLLLLINGTON” to pick up the pieces.

After that embarrassment there was only one thing left to complete the inevitable bingo card, and that was the departure of head coach Giancarlo “Chiefy” Italiano. Whether he had his letter in his pocket for the inevitable and jumped before he was pushed is open to conjecture, but his post-match presser had the air of a man bitterly disappointed at what had happened and relief that it was over.

But where did it all go wrong?

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When Italiano succeeded the departing Ufuk Talay after the 2022/23 season the reaction was somewhat mixed, after all Chiefy had been for all intents and purposes a career coach with minimal playing experience. There were even more murmurs when he switched out successful Talay’s 4-2-2-2 “magic box” formation for his own 3-4-3 where, with three central defenders, two defensive midfielders, and the width coming from the two wingbacks, it’s theoretically difficult for attacking opponents to go through the middle of. But it worked, as the Phoenix topped the league for much of the campaign before dipping out to Melbourne Victory in that epic preliminary final tie.

But come the next season many of those who had contributed were gone. Ben Waine had already departed midseason to Plymouth Argyle in the English Championship and another academy product, defender Finn Surman, was snapped up by MLS side Portland Timbers. Striker Oskar Zawada, whose playoff equaliser will live long in Phoenix fandom, headed back to Europe while fellow import Bozihdar Kraev departed for league rivals Western Sydney. And finally, winger Ben Old inked a deal with fallen French giants St Etienne.

When the season kicked off, the gaps left by those departures quickly became apparent. It might seem odd, but it was the last of those listed above – Old – who’s absence was most keenly felt. The prior season the Nix had become masters at absorbing pressure and then after winning possession getting it to the winger who had both the pace to get the ball away from goal and the nous to know what to do with it; whether that was to hold it up or get it to Zawada or Kosta Barbarouses on the other flank.

Without that outlet, which was never replaced, the Phoenix struggled to clear their lines, conceded goals, and left Barbarouses – who had replaced Zawada at the tip of the attack – increasingly isolated up front. This version of “Chiefyball” did little to endear him to the clubs yellow- clad faithful.

Italiano also shot wide on recruitment. Japanese duo Hideki Ishige and Kazuki Nagasawa have had their moments but struggled for consistency, Oluwayemi has vacillated between sublime performances (in Derby One this season) and awful (like Saturday), and defender Manjrekar James has had his struggles playing in a back three. Of this years Visa players, only striker Ifeanyi Eze, plucked out of the Iraqi league, could be said to have exceeded expectations. Closer to home Aussie pair Paulo Retre and Nikola Mileusnic have spent more time injured than available. Norwegian Sander Kartum, recruited from Scottish side Hearts on loan to replace the injured Ishige, must be wondering why he traded in being part of an epic three-way title race with Celtic and Rangers to be part of this.

But for me there are two things that ultimately cost Italiano the confidence in his job. One was that the club’s crop of young players have failed to kick on. Young defenders Matthew Sheridan, Isaac Hughes, and Lukas Kelly-Heald have stalled in their development – Kelly-Heald for one looked a far different player captaining New Zealand at the U20 World Cup – while Fin Roa Conchie, Xuan Loke, and Luke Brooke-Smith have been frozen out. The second is tactics; like Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, Italiano’s unwillingness or inability to change from his preferred formation proved the greatest of flaws, and while it had its moments – like this season against Brisbane when playing with ten men after Carlo Armiento’s red card – it came spectacularly unstuck against the Black Knights. Steve Corica thoroughly outsmarted Italiano, who just could never find a way past the wall of Louis Verstraete and Felipe Gallegos in the Auckland midfield. When the inevitable is to throw defender Corban Piper on as a striker, well there isn’t much.

The Phoenix have already done the inevitable and called on reserves coach and former striker Chris Greenacre for his fourth interim stint in charge for the rest of the campaign. What happens after that though might be anything but.

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