Wellington Phoenix captain Stephen Taylor believes they're playing "better football" under new coach Ufuk Talay than they managed under predecessor Mark Rudan.
The endorsement comes before Saturday's A-League match against the Western Sydney Wanderers, where the Phoenix try to continue their unbeaten run at Eden Park.
Talay talks a lot in training and, clearly, the message is getting through.
"I think we're playing better football this year, more controlled and especially dominating possession," Taylor says.
Last weekend's 2-1 win over Adelaide showed that quality, as they dominated a side they hadn't beaten in 11 games.
That performance was perhaps the biggest sign yet that Talay's side is the real deal - staying true to his beliefs was the key.
"The longer the players play together, we'll have that consistency," Talay said.
"Even when we lost 4-5 games on the trot, I kept that consistency going, because I believe players need to play together to understand each other and what they're good at - and what they are not good at."
He feels they are slowly starting to take shape, but there's more to come, like a clean sheet. They haven't kept one in 17 league games.
Goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic would love to get his first in front of his home crowd.
"I couldn't buy one the past few games, but to get one at Eden Park would be all the more special."
Their next target is to score more goals. Talay says they're creating enough chances, but need to finish more.
"We are practicing and we are working on that, so we hope, as soon as possible, we can score more goals," midfielder Ulises Davila said.
If they can do that, then they're sure to improve their unbeaten run to four games tomorrow.
"It's a result-driven business, but now we're on that momentum where we are starting to win games and we want to continue that," Talay said.
