"The stats showed that in many cases it was 11 or 12 seconds on average between us coughing the ball up and the opposition scoring a goal," Phoenix central defender and captain Andrew Durante said.
"So one of the main things we're working on is making sure that we're organised in defence, especially when we have the ball, and that if we do lose the ball we're ready to pounce and win the ball back.
"The research showed that a lot of the goals scored against us came on the counter attack, so obviously that's us going forward but losing possession and then getting caught out at the other end.
"It was a lot of information and as players it's great to get that, because it gives us something specific to work on and improve."
Wellington coach Ernie Merrick, in a recent interview with The World Game, stressed the importance of the team getting its approach right in transition from attack to defence.
Phoenix will continue to work on that in a trial game against the New Zealand 'A' team at New Plymouth on Sunday.
Wellington wasn't bad in defence last season. It conceded 35 goals in 27 regular-season games and had the equal-third best defensive record behind Melbourne Victory (31 goals) and Adelaide United (32). But it can always get better and Merrick obviously believes it has the ability to improve.
A few less goals conceded could make a big difference to finishing places in a potentially close competition.
Phoenix went downhill towards the end of last season and made a disappointing exit from the finals series in the first week, with a 2-0 home loss to Melbourne City.
Durante said the players had put that behind them and were very optimistic about the season ahead - which includes an FFA Cup round of 16 meeting against Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Wednesday night.
"City has recruited well," Durante said. "It will be a tough game, but that's great. The harder the test, the better for us, because it will tell us where we're at. We want those hard games."
"Finishing last season the way we did was hard to take," he said. "I think with about five games to go we were on top of the table by about four points and looking at an incredible season.
"Falling away was disappointing, but we've definitely put that behind us and we're focused on making sure those mistakes don't happen again.
"The pre-season is quite long in the A-League, but the FFA Cup helps and we've already won one game in that competition. Hopefully, we continue to progress in that and give ourselves some more quality games before the season starts.
"We've got a couple more trial games scheduled against A-League opposition as well, so the preparation we're having is very solid."
Merrick is still negotiating to sign a forward from overseas to replace Nathan Burns, who starred for Wellington last season but is now playing in Japan.
Durante tipped one of the club's other forwards - Roy Krishna - to also play an important role in producing the goals Phoenix is going to need.
"It's a big season for Roy," he said. "I thought he had a very good year last season with nine goals, supporting 'Burnsy'.
"There's no doubt Burnsy is a big loss, but Ernie's in the market looking for a quality front man to replace him and we've also signed young Blake Powell, who has been terrific at training. I'm very impressed with him.
"And Kwabena Appiah has gone ahead in leaps and bounds in the pre-season, after only joining us late last season.
"Once Ernie fills that foreign spot with a forward it will be a good battle between several players for who takes the supporting role up front."
