The Wellington Phoenix’s A-League Men campaign has been dealt a big blow with confirmation top goalkeeper Oli Sail could be out for up to two months.
Sail limped off in the 27th minute of last week’s 2-1 loss to Sydney FC with a hip flexor injury and was replaced by debutant Alex Paulsen, who will be back between the sticks for Monday’s match against the Central Coast in Gosford.
Sail wasn’t expected to play a part against the Mariners after leaving the pitch in pain against Sydney, but Phoenix head coach Ufuk Talay confirmed on Sunday the senior shot stopper may not be back until near the end of February.
“I think Oli’s six to eight weeks out at this stage.’’
Sail is not only one of the best keepers in the A-League he is also the Phoenix’s vice-captain and his onfield leadership will be missed.
The injury will also rule the 25-year-old – who is yet to make his senior international debut – out of consideration for the All Whites’ games against Jordan in Abu Dhabi on January 29 and Uzbekistan in Dubai on February 1 (NZT).
All Whites coach Danny Hay at least has plenty of keeper options, including Stefan Marinovic, Michael Woud, Nik Tzanev and Jamie Searle.
Sail’s sidelining, however, leaves the talented Paulsen as the Phoenix’s No 1, at 19 and with just 63 minutes of A-League football behind him. The even younger Henry Gray will be his back-up.
Talay is prepared to put his faith in the teenage twosome, saying he will not be tempted to sign a more experienced shot stopper in the January transfer window.
“We’ve brought over Henry Gray from our academy, he’s only 16, but we’ve relied heavily on our academy this season, he’ll be the 14th player that’s come into the squad from the academy.
“AP [Paulsen] will go out there and we’ll rely on him to do his job, and Henry will be sitting on the bench.’’
In other team news, left back James McGarry is available again for selection after missing two games with a knee problem.
Striker Garry Hooper arrives in Australia on Monday after being granted leave to miss two A-League games and a FFA Cup fixture to return to England for personal reasons.
Talay said the Phoenix had to rely on academy products because “of Covid and not being able to bring visa players into New Zealand.
“It has obviously been a big challenge for us, but it’s an opportunity for these guys to show what they can do. Whether they sink or swim, it’s up to them.’’
Paulsen’s inclusion will further lower the average age of the starting lineup with Talay noting that the Phoenix and the Mariners had “the two youngest squads in the competition’’.
The Phoenix trained on Christmas morning with Talay noting: “Unfortunately, having a game on the 27th, you can’t give them a day off.”
But the players did get to enjoy some Christmas spirit. “Josh Laws invited all the players over to his parents house, and I think they had a nice little barbecue over there.’’
“For me, the biggest thing with this young group is consistency, that for me is the key for our season. I think we’ve seen it in patches, just not enough through 90 minutes. When the expectation drops a little bit, the players start to rise to the occasion, but I think they’ve got to do that from the first minute all the way through to the 95th minute of the game.’’
The Phoenix have missed Cameron Devlin’s energy has been missed in central midfield, and Talay said he had had “a few conversations with our sixes [captain Alex Rufer and Clayton Lewis] about my expectations there, with and without the ball”.
“They know the role, but they need to be consistent as well. They are probably a little older than our younger ones, but experience-wise don’t have as many games under their belt as well. For me, I’m hoping that the more they play, the more consistency they bring to the team.’’
Talay is mindful that Central Coast – fourth on the ladder to the Phoenix’s 10th – have had some good wins and will be keen for his side to shackle their playmaker captain Oli Bozanic, who scored a cracking freekick goal to beat Western Sydney Wanderers in his 100th appearance for the Mariners last week.
Meanwhile, Talay is impressed with what he’s seen from just-arrived Mexican winger Gael Sandoval.
“He’s looking good … we haven’t done too much with him, he’s done some parts of the session, we’re mindful of him travelling all the way from Mexico, it’s a long flight to Australia.
“But he’s had a couple of days to recover and he’s joined the group. He’s looking good, the disappointing part is we can’t use him till mid-January.”
