Blog: Glory Gel - Work And Play With Confidence

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Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Glory have had a win. Suddenly the same commentators predicting that Perth's season was over have switched to saying that we'll be the first, if not only, team to beat Gold Christ United this season.

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One of the most pleasing aspects of Sunday's 2-0 win was the style of passing and crossing that Perth seem to be building up through the middle of the park. Glory's first goal came after some lovely subtle work from Branko Jelic, whose pass set up the fast-running Wayne Srhoj to burst through into the box and slot past the keeper. This was then be topped by Adriano Pellegrino catching a great cross from Naum Sekulovski on the half volley and slamming it into the back of the net. Those two goals and other sustained periods of Glory pressure came from a good build up of play, keeping possession, and passing accurately.

David Mitchell is criticised in some quarters for the tactics that he uses or the squad that he picks; but one thing that you can't say is that the man makes Perth play boring football. For those that survived the barren wasteland that was Ron Smith's reign, the sight of fullbacks overlapping with wingers and central midfielders bursting into the box on the back of some cheeky passing is like seeing the holy grail itself. It seems that after two years, Glory playing staff have finally learned how to exist as one cohesive unit.

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With all that said and done however, where does Perth really sit in the scheme of things? A penalty aside, Glory looked reasonably comfortable in defence against Adelaide; and if it wasn't for a Leo Bertos thunderbolt, a point in Wellington wouldn't be out of the question. Last year's wooden spooners were comfortably beaten by two goals, both of which came from midfielders. Which leads yours truly to wonder why it is that our strikers have not scored a single goal between them this year. If the team truly is building up the cohesion that we talked about before, why is Mile Sterjovski still looking a little lost up front?

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Perth's strikers are an interesting lot. They've got a promising young forward sitting in the stands with a busted hip; another young striker brought in as cover from the NSWPL who has a grand total of 21 minutes game time in the A-League; a talented 10-goal poacher who fell out of favour with his loan club in the off-season and now seemingly the Glory as well; a Bundesliga forward who hasn't found his feet apart from Sunday's assist; and a current Socceroo who seems to be torn between the wings and the penalty box. For all the improvement that the club has seen in this year's midfield, where are the goals?

The answer of course is that they're on the way... we think. Glory played a fairly mediocre game in Adelaide; they kicked the ball high and long, didn't work the ball through the midfield, and Jamie Coyne was playing in the centre of the park. No offence to the guy, but he's not a central midfielder; and he should study tapes of Wayne Srhoj on Sunday if he has any doubt. The hoofing of the ball out of defence ensured that Mile Sterjovski and Eugene Dadi had ample time to be double-teamed by Adelaide players who were more than happy to play a containment game once their penalty had gone in.

The game against Wellington was slightly better; but only just- in the first half at least. It wasn't until a prolonged period of play in the second half that the Glory looked a chance to steal the game. Several players had opportunities, but the best they could manage was to hit the crossbar in the form of Mile Sterjovski, or blast over from close range ala Andrija Jukic. It was a frustrating passage of play for Perth fans - the potential was there, but where was the finish?

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In my mind, Branko Jelic appears closest to breaking the drought. His sweet backheel to Jukic in Wellington and cheeky side pass to Srhoj on the weekend shows that he can provide; it's now up to him to step up and knock one in himself. Failure to do so could see his starting position under threat, although strangely that pressure would seem to be coming from youngster Matthew Mayora rather than last year's equal top scorer Eugene Dadi. If something isn't fishy about that, then I'm... well, not cut out to be a fishmonger I suppose.

Mile Sterjovski is another matter altogether. He certainly looks the goods when he gets the ball; the problem seems to be getting it to him. In some ways, Pellegrino scoring on Sunday creates more problems than it solves; Adriano had been low on form prior to that goal and didn't really do much in the game other than score. If he hadn't done that, the easiest solution would be to drop him and put Mile on the right wing with the freedom to attack all he likes. It's from that position that he's played some of his best games for the Socceroos and his overseas clubs; so why not Glory? One suspects that Sterjovski is a confidence player- once he knocks one in, more will follow quickly. The key is getting that first goal...

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So if the unthinkable happens and last year's MGP (and current equal-highest scorer) Pellegrino is benched for the Victory game, who is going to replace Sterjovski up front? Leaving aside the Dadi mystery - already well covered by my comrade in arms the FootballPerth General - is Matthew Mayora up for the task of scoring Perth some goals? Or would former youth team star Andrija Jukic be a better choice? Personally, Jukic would seem the more logical option; Mayora is only a short term cover signing and Jukic is part of the Perth side's future starting eleven. But the real solution may be something even more drastic; the abandoning of Dave Mitchell's tried-and-true tactics and formation.

Imagine for a second that Perth played a 4-5-1 formation. At the back, you'd have the normal defensive line- so no major headaches there, and no need to learn new skills. In front of them you'd have a deep-lying midfielder, which isn't too different from the role that Srhoj or Burns play at present. Just in front of him you'd have a box-to-box midfielder, a role again filled by Srhoj or Burns, and alongside them someone with a bit of flair and an ability to get into "hole" behind the main striker and create something. A perfect role for someone like Andrija Jukic, or perhaps even the returning Brazilian maestro known as Amaral? In front of the midfield you have the single striker - most likely Branko Jelic, as he can hold the ball up and pass cleverly - supported by the two attacking wingers. And it's these wingers who are the key to this formation, because Glory have the men pre-built for these sort of roles.

On the left, you've got Victor Sikora- technically skilled, tenacious and willing to chase when not in possession, and with the ability to pass and cross with terrifying accuracy. On the right, you've got Mile Sterjovski- a man who has made a career out of bolting runs, scoring goals, and creating opportunities for others. All three- Sikora, Jelic, and Sterjovski- have the ability to score at A-League level. While the Glory attack, they would essentially be throwing three strikers at opposition defenders. When team was under pressure, Sterj and "Fully Sikora" could move back closer in line with their central partners. It's a reasonably flexible formation and one that's not too far from the roles that Pim Verbeek likes to play with- a perfect staging ground for Mile, perhaps? Of course, this is all conjecture- and most commentators would say that David Mitchell is as likely to stop using a 442 as I am to win a Pulitzer prize. But you never know...

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Whatever lineup Perth does field this Friday night, you would imagine that they'd be looking at getting an early win over last year's champs. It would boost the team's confidence, dent that of the reigning premiers, and begin to re-establish ME Bank Stadium as a cauldron of fear for visiting teams. Archie Thompson has already mentioned that it hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds for him in Australia, and with the presence of Chris Coyne and Andy Todd in central defence one imagines that trend may just continue.

God forbid, if Glory really begin to gel their strikers may even score a goal... But we'll just have to wait and see.

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