The signing didn’t come as a surprise to Auckland fans, but may have shocked Phoenix supporters (and likely Paulsen); adding that much more to the Kiwi derby narrative.
Of the 10 games he’s played this A-League season, Paulsen has kept six clean sheets – the most out of any keeper in the league.
AFC coach Steve Corica confirmed the club’s director of football Terry McFlynn speaks frequently with Bournemouth about Paulsen’s epic start.
“[He talks] to Simon Francis over there. Whenever we need anything, if we need any data or anything like that, if we need to know about players, we can, we can ask them.
“Obviously, [Paulsen] is one of their players, so they’ll be in touch [about] him.
“[Bournemouth have] been great for us,” Corica said.
As Paulsen continues his exceptional form in goal, helping the next club maintain their place at the top of the league, he said the current vibes in camp are similar to what he experienced in Wellington last season, who, too, were exceeding expectations.
“The processes were very much similar in terms of trying to make sure that our mindset was switched on from the get-go – ensuring that we’re having to take our games one step at a time and making sure that we can control what we have in front of us,” Paulsen said. “It’s a similar feeling as well, but at the same time, I think, us as a team with Auckland FC we’ve shown what we’re capable of, so we just got to make sure that we can keep going at it and keep focusing and stop underestimating teams.”
This Saturday, Auckland will face off against Perth Glory in what will be one of the longest distances travelled for a football fixture within the same league.
The Black Knights have embarked on an eight-hour journey, covering 5,343km from Auckland to Perth, with a layover in Melbourne.
This journey surpasses the Phoenix’s previous distance derby record by 88km.
Corica said that having already defeated Wellington twice this season and securing their star goalkeeper, it’s a bonus to also technically take the title of “distance derby” from Wellington.
“It’s just a few kilometres bragging rights, [but] of course whatever we can put past them, we will look forward to that,” Corica said.
Perth sit second to last on the A-League table having conceded 30 goals this season. Auckland are at the opposite end only conceding eight.
Corica explains how he is taking these stats with a grain of salt.
“You know that in the A-League it’s very, very close.
“[Perth’s] last game was, was tight, they’re getting better each each game. “It’s not going to be easy, I can tell you that much. We’re going to have to make sure that we work hard and do our jobs correctly to get the win.”
AFC have this week signed Olyroos winger, Marlee Francois, 22, as a free agent, having played most recently at Bristol City.
“He’s a young boy that we think can progress. We’ll see once he gets here and see if he’s fully fit and then we’ll go from there.
Corica said Francois is expected to be a “project” player for the side and would be an ideal replacement for Joe Champness who left on mutual terms last month.
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast, and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
