If the past fortnight has shown Phoenix fans anything, it's the value of Chris Greenacre.
Anyone who has bagged him this season should watch replays of the last two games (with Greenacre absent) and then attempt to mount an argument against his enormous contribution to this side. He is a massive loss.
In every team there are players who allow others to reach their full potential. Often they're not the best player in the team, but they release their team-mates to do what they're best at. For Phoenix, that player is Greenacre. In particular, he allows Paul Ifill to be at his most effective; without him, Ifill has to do things that severely blunt that effectiveness. I lost count of the number of times he dropped deep on Saturday night, leaving no outlet in the centre-forward position.
Ifill freely admits that he doesn't like playing as a lone striker, or even as one of a front two. He's best in a free role as part of an attacking midfield trio (behind Greenacre), allowing him to receive the ball in wide positions, sit deeper or carve through the middle as the situation dictates.
Unfortunately, there's no-one else in this squad who can play the role Greenacre does, providing an outlet for the midfielders and releasing Ifill from having to play as the point of the arrow. Get well Greenie....without you, things are bleak.
If his loss isn't bad enough, it comes in the midst of a selectorial nightmare for Ricki Herbert. Here's the current list of player issues facing Phoenix...
- Mark Paston - out for the season
- Chris Greenacre - out for the next two games at least, and maybe longer
- Ben Sigmund - suspended for two more games
- Manny Muscat - suspended for one more game
- Vince Lia - on seven yellow cards - misses two games when he gets another one
- Andrew Durante - on four yellow cards - misses a game when he gets another one
- Tim Brown - on four yellow cards - misses a game when he gets another one
If there's any small consolation, it's that Durante and Brown avoided yellows against Sydney and will be available this week. If, God forbid, they'd both been booked on Saturday night, we'd have been facing a situation where they, Sigmund and Muscat would all have missed the Adelaide game on Friday. Who would have partnered McKain (himself just recently back from a three-month injury layoff) in central defence?
On top of all of this, Hindmarsh Stadium is a graveyard for Phoenix. In three visits, they've conceded 13 goals, scored just two and never gained a point. In fact, Phoenix haven't beaten Adelaide in seven attempts. Given those stats, the player crisis afflicting the club at the moment and the tightness of the league, a point on Friday night would be an OK result, as would one on New Year's Eve against the Mariners in Gosford. It's the two home games in six days in January that will define this season for Phoenix. If they can beat both Brisbane and North Queensland at Westpac Stadium in early 2010, a playoff place is still well within reach.
At the end of this season, a few points will separate the sides positioned fifth to tenth on the table and it's likely the finishing order won't be confirmed until round 27 has played out. There's still every chance Phoenix can be involved beyond the regular season, but in order to do so, they'll need to navigate their way through the biggest player predicament the club has ever faced.
