A-League 2023 2024 Macarthur Wellington Phoenix

17e journee

18 fevrier 2024
Campbelltown Stadium

ENG

A-League.2023.2024.Macarthur.Wellington.ENG.twb22.mp4

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Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano has provided a fascinating insight into the tactical tweaks made to cope with a last-minute injury to captain Alex Rufer in his side’s 2-1 win over Macarthur FC on Sunday night. The league-leaders came into Round 17 without four first team players and Rufer’s injury made that five in the minutes shortly before kick-off. Rufer was named in the starting XI but was withdrawn with what Italiano confirmed post-game was a quad contusion. He joined Bozhidar Kraev, Sam Sutton, Nicholas Pennington and Tim Payne as one of five key members of Italiano’s squad that missed the road clash with Macarthur – but Italiano had drawn up a formation change to cope with the absentees, and his injury-hit squad rose to the challenge as a hard-fought win, settled by two goals to Kosta Barbarouses, kept Wellington’s five-point lead at the top of the table intact.

“I spend a majority of my time making sure we have a plan B, plan C, plan D and I do that because we have such a versatile group,” Italiano told Paramount+ post-game. “We also have a young group, and I feel as though sometimes the attributes of the players dictate the tactics.

“Because we’ve had injuries and player movements and so on, I felt as though most of the pre-season was spent making sure the players were flexible in their approach, so it makes it easier in these games.