Jason Pine: The reason behind the Wellington Phoenix's puzzling drop in form

COMMENT:

Depending on who you listen to, momentum is either a crucial part of sporting success, an empty buzzword that counts for nothing, or somewhere in between.

Those who extol the virtues of momentum point to the fact that sides which get on a winning streak seem harder to contain and clearly take confidence from their most recent exploits into the next game.

But the doubters say regardless of how many times you've won in succession, a team is only ever one poor performance away from losing their impetus and going the other way.

Irrespective of your viewpoint, the fact is the Phoenix had won a club-record-equalling four straight games before Covid halted the A-League season, but have managed just a solitary victory in six outings since the resumption.

It's been a puzzling drop in form from a team that were flying in mid-March. Every time the Phoenix played, fans watched on with expectation rather than hope and the players themselves shared that optimism. Midfielder Cameron Devlin said it was a feeling he'd never before experienced; a certainty the Phoenix would win every time they took the field.