They’ve picked up seven points from a possible 15, with just one win in their last five games.
There is some context to that, as they were desperately unlucky in the 4-4 draw against Adelaide – with some pivotal calls going against them – and then played the last 15 minutes in Newcastle with 10 men, after Louis Verstraete’s controversial red card.
With their late chances – they could have, probably should have won – but on the balance of play, the Wanderers were the better team. They had a first-half goal scratched for what seemed a harsh offside call, while Auckland custodian Alex Paulsen came up with a miraculous save to deny Bozhidar Kraev.
Western Sydney also hit the crossbar late and conceded from an awful goalkeeping blunder, the kind of moment you might see once a season.
On Saturday, Auckland couldn’t get a foothold in the match until just before halftime and struggled to find the fluency that characterised their play earlier this season, especially at home. There are reasons.
Auckland are no longer an unknown quantity and opposition teams are finding ways to neutralise their threats. They have also set impossibly high standards – from their incredible start to existence – which means the bar is much higher.
And the exertions of their campaign, with their high-energy pressing style and number of physical efforts late in matches was always going to take its toll at some stage, which is probably part of what we have seen over the past month.
But that is not a complete negative. The Black Knights want to be peaking in May – rather than now – and need to take the chance to reset. They’ve got to maintain a week-to-week focus and build back to their best form.
Coach Steve Corica will also consider his formation and tactics. Does he maintain two up front, or revert to three in central midfield, as was the template at the start of this season? It’s probably a game-by-game scenario.
Auckland FC players react after conceding a goal to the Western Sydney Wanderers. Photo / Photosport
For his part, Corica disputed that Auckland have lost their edge in recent weeks.
“Not at all,” said Corica. “Eleven games unbeaten and that’s really good, obviously in the first year in the competition. It’s something really special too and a lot of clubs would take that any day.
“The last couple of games with the ball, we probably haven’t been at our best, even though we created a fair number of chances [on Saturday] in the second half. [But overall ] we’ve got better over the period of time. The game against Adelaide we played some good football and we conceded late. Central Coast we played really good football and we conceded late as well.
“We’ve done that to teams as well and sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin.”
Auckland FC remain favourites for the Premiers Plate but have a difficult run, with away matches against Sydney FC (sixth), Melbourne Victory (fifth), and Western United among their final four games, although Corica is upbeat about the situation.
“We want to finish strong,” said Corica. “We want to finish with a few more wins under our belt and clinch the Premiership. It’s getting closer to the end and we’re inching closer, so it would have helped [on Saturday] with a win but Wanderers are a very good team.”
Attacking midfielder Neyder Moreno is likely to return for the Sydney FC match, after missing the last two games with a quadricep strain. Livewire winger Liam Gillion is also not far away, with Corica saying the young New Zealander could be in contention this Saturday, though the Melbourne trip may be more realistic.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
