Well, you’ve got to hand it to David Mitchell. Many people (including this blogger) were standing by, axes in hand, ready to cut him down to size when Glory inevitably petered out of the finals race for another season. He let go of a proven striker at a time when we had no real alternatives; he wasn’t giving game time to young gun Andrija Jukic; and it appeared that he was playing favourites with his personnel, ensuring that out-of-form players stayed in the starting lineup and the team played badly as a result.
However, despite all these problems, Glory somehow sit in fourth spot on the A-League ladder with two games to go; now all but assured of a finals berth. Indeed, the club can finish as high on third and are well and truly in the hunt for a home final. Mind you, that’s not to say that all is forgiven. I still believe that Mitchell has many flaws in his coaching repertoire, and I still don’t think he is the best way forward for this club. If we exit the finals series in the first round, I’ll still feel that this squad we have has underachieved.
But credit where credit’s due - Eugene Dadi bottled his return against his old side, leaving the points well and truly in Mitch’s corner. Andrija Jukic has finally been given a chance to shine in the senior side, and he’s backed it up with a goal, plus shots and passes of the highest quality. The out-of-form Adriano Pellegrino and Wayne Srhoj have been rested from the starting lineup in recent weeks (although in the case of ‘Pele’ Mitchell probably made the decision due to fatigue, rather than his uninspiring form), and the Glory have picked up a decent midfielder in Steve McGarry. Above all else, the decision to ditch James Downey in exchange for the temporary services of Daniel McBreen has proved nothing short of a masterstroke.
'McBreamy'
When the Downey-McBreen deal was first proposed, many people were incredulous; “You would give away a young player in exchange for someone who is already transferring to a different team next year? I have no time for such nonsense!”. Well, four goals in four games later, that deal doesn’t look quite as nonsensical as it once did.
At the time, I said that getting anything in exchange for James Downey would be a good deal; even if it was just a big lump of coal to throw at defenders in the short term. The way I figured it, Downey wasn’t worth playing and Glory were only going to be paying his wages until the end of the season while he sat in the stands, or on the bench at best. The fact that we were getting some pack mule striker designed to distract defenders rather than score didn’t really bother me - at least we’d have another option up front. But as it turns out, this lump of coal has teeth. The pack mule has a nasty kick. And Daniel McBreen has near single-handedly turned Perth Glory’s season on its head.
How annoyed would you be if you were a North Queensland Fury supporter right now? They’ve had McBreen playing for them all season, and all he could manage was three goals in 21 games. Now he’s scored four in as many games for the side in purple, and in a strange twist of fate, two of those goals were against Central Coast - the team McBreen has signed up to play for next season. Amusingly, his double on the weekend ensures that the Mariners cannot make the A-League finals in 2009/10 and dumps them firmly into second last on the table, while Glory march towards their first finals campaign since the NSL.
Such a scenario was hard to imagine just under a month ago when Glory had been thumped by a rampaging Melbourne outfit at Etihad stadium. Yet with McBreen in the side, the Glory somehow now look a much better outfit than they did that fateful night in Victoria. It seems a strange story - sure, if you were to take the other striker from North Queensland, Robbie Fowler, you’d be guaranteed to improve any team in the A-League. But Daniel “I don’t really score goals” McBreen? How has he, of all people, managed to get Perth firing in front of goal?
The McBreen Machine
It should be obvious to most that Daniel McBreen is no Carlos Tevez or Cristiano Ronaldo. He doesn’t have tricky footwork, curling long-range strikes, the eye for a killer pass, or the tendency to sulk like a small child when things don’t go his way. What he does have however is strength, a reasonable amount of pace, and guts that can be rivalled in size only by Ronaldo’s ego. It is this perfect storm of attributes that David Mitchell has been searching for in his strikers all year, previously without success.
Jamie Harnwell has the heart and strength of an ox, but he’s lacking that yard or two of pace that can make Perth’s strikeforce effective on the counter-attack. Eugene Dadi was in a similar situation - he had strength but was lacking pace, and additionally Mitchell felt he didn’t help out enough in defensive situations - tracking back to help cover the danger of an opposition attack. Branko Jelic seems to have enough strength and pace to cover Mitchell’s needs, but his work rate seems to signal that he’s never quite reached full fitness. In the case of Daniel McBreen though, he seems to have it all.
He’s a reasonably big guy capable of winning the ball through clever use of his body, as demonstrated through his first goal against the Mariners. He also has surprising pace for a big fella - many times during his initial games with Perth he’s been on the end of a break, either accompanied by a man or two or going it alone, and he’s been able to stay that one step ahead of defenders. He’s certainly no Ruka, but he’s got just enough pace to be a nuisance. Finally, the guy runs himself off his feet, every single game. Maybe it’s just because he’s here on a short stint, and as a result is doing his best to impress, but I think Mariners fans are going to have a good purchase on their hands - providing McKinna (or Graham Arnold) knows how to use him. Which of course Ian Ferguson didn’t.
So, Daniel McBreen for South Africa 2010? Well, he’d probably score more than Scott McDonald - but no, of course not. He is however going to be a useful pickup for Glory in the meantime.
Where to from here?
There are two rounds left in the regular season, then we’re into the finals. The next two games will be crucial in showing just where Glory are at heading into their inaugural A-League finals appearance. Sydney are always a tough proposition, regardless of whether we’re playing them home or away, and that match will go a long way to deciding whether we earn a home finals berth or not.
Brisbane Roar are a different kettle of fish - there’s been a lot of bloodletting up there, but their win against Sydney signals that they’ve not completely lost the plot just yet. They may no longer have Tiatto, Moore, Miller and co. but they have plenty of good young players ready to prove a point. The Glory will have to be careful, but should (hopefully?) be able to get one over them on friendly ground at ME Bank Stadium. I always hate playing the Roar - until this season, it always seemed to bring out the very worst in Perth.
I suspect that the title fight will come down to one of the top three teams, and that Glory will (again, hopefully) end up fourth, making them a bit of a dark horse for the three teams above. After half a decade of disappointment, it almost seems strange to be talking about Perth like this - and while they could still screw it all up, it still makes a nice change.
Going forward, owner Tony Sage has announced that David Mitchell will continue at the helm of the club next year. While I’m still not entirely convinced of Mitchell’s abilities, he’s done what his boss has asked of him - and in reality (you know, the land away from the internet) that’s all he has to do. Sage’s sights will be set much higher next year however, and it’ll be interesting to see if Mitchell is up to the task of leading Glory further up the A-League ladder.
Until then, Dave Mitchell will no doubt bask in the glory of another astute signing - our accidental hero, Daniel McBreen. And considering the results that we’ve got since McBreen came on board, who are we to deny his gloating?
