IN THE future, cities will become deserts, roads will become battlefields, and the hope of mankind will appear as a stranger... He is the Road Warrior. He is... um, Brisbane Roar?
There's a lot to be said for winning games on the road. When the West Coast Eagles began their AFL life back in 1987, their initial forays into the aussie rules heartland of Victoria were often less than impressive. Headlines such as "Will the Weagles ever win in Melbourne?" were a common sight, and much was made of the travel burden faced by the team in relation to the rest of the competition. Eventually they must have sorted something out though, as they have proceeded to make five AFL Grand Final appearances and win three of them.
The Perth Wildcats, another successful sporting franchise in the West, became legendary for their road trips during the 90s which saw them capture four championships in 10 years. In fact, the Wildcats travel so well that they have made the NBL playoffs in every year since 1987, an unbroken streak of twenty-one straight seasons.
Then of course there are the Perth Glory sides of the old NSL. In the 2003-2004 season, the club lost only three games of its entire 24-game home and away fixture list. Yet even this didn't match the achievements of two years prior, where Glory lost just one solitary game the entire season.
Compared to these halcyon days, last year's season must have been pretty depressing for Glory fans; second last for the third year running and still no elusive A-League finals berth. But it's when you look at Perth's away games that the truly damning statistics of 2008-2009 begin to emerge. The following table lists the away records of every A-League team during last season:
Now that's not pretty.
Glory may not have finished last on the Hyundai A-League table, but that certainly wasn't down to their form on the road. Now it's expected that a team - any team - will drop a few games away from home. Even giants like Barcelona or Manchester United struggle to win all their road trips, so there's bound to be a few draws and losses for your average team.
Unfortunately, Perth decided to take this to the extreme last year and garnered no less than nine losses out of 11 matches. This left the club with one win and one draw from an entire season's worth of away games; hardly something coach David Mitchell would have been happy with.
Yet it wasn't just the fact that Perth kept losing away from home that upset Perth's fans- it was how they lost which was most disappointing. On average Glory shipped over 2.6 goals a game every time they played away from Members Equity Stadium; a handicap that the side's strikers simply couldn't overcome.
Newcastle Jets didn't travel well last year either; they managed only one draw more than Glory away from their home of EnergyAustralia Stadium, and they had an "away" goal difference even worse than that of the Perth side. Twenty-six goals hit the back of the Newcastle net (and Ante Covic probably blamed his defence for every single one of them) and while that was three less than Glory's mammoth 29 goals conceded, their forwards only managed to score seven times while Glory nearly doubled that total.
The only team to score less than Newcastle on the road was, perhaps surprisingly, Adelaide United. The grand finalists only managed to bag six away goals; although at the other end their defensive record was second only to that of Roar.
Clearly however, there is one team that rises above all others on this table; and that team is the Queensland-cum-Brisbane Roar. They might wear a hideously coloured kit, but they sure know how to play well on the road. Losing only once in 11 matches, they scored more and conceded less than any other team whilst playing away from home.
Even eventual champions Melbourne Victory had a mediocre away record in comparison, losing half their away matches. Brisbane were the complete opposite of Perth; the Glory were leaking over two and a half goals every match, on average Roar didn't even concede one. Their strong defence was backed up by a potent attack, whilst Glory's was often left to play catch-up.
It's obvious then that if Glory want to be a top four side they must improve on their dreadful away performances of last year (and yes, I know it's a top six next year; but 6th of 10 is still pretty mediocre, isn't it?). Team Manager Ante Kovacevic and newly appointed fitness coach (or Head of Sports Science, depending on what press release you read) Peter Cklamovski have already begun to put in place plans to resolve this issue.
These include moving travel schedules ahead by one day to get players prepared earlier for away games, and holding an extra training session at the away ground to ensure the team is at its sharpest. Cklamovski admitted that Glory had possibly got things wrong last season when he said, "We will arrive a day earlier so it gives us an extra training session, which at times we missed out on last season.
"So I think we'll be better for that... I think Mitch saw a way to improve it and that's the luxury of having experience... What we've come up with definitely will allow us to be in a better position."
Glory will also be staying over in the East during some of the back-to-back road trips they face this year, such as the North Queensland / Gold Coast one (though judging by the words exchanged between those clubs this week there might be a "Mad Max"-style wasteland to navigate up there after all- and I don't just mean the city of Brisbane).
Perth players will therefore be sacrificing some family time in order to be better prepared for their next match; something their fans are more used to doing themselves. With any luck, all of this planning might actually have some effect and Glory can look to wrest the title of "Road Warriors" away from its home in Brisbane. Or should that be away from Brisbane?
Marquee Mystery
I can't finish this week's blog without a quick word on the continued speculation about a Glory marquee. Using what one of my readers creatively termed the Meacock Index, allow me to rate the current candidates; even if one has since signed for a Vietnamese team (and was never considered marquee material by the club in the first place).
Now bear in mind this is just my opinion, but I think it's pretty obvious who the best candidate is. The only question mark (literally) I think hangs over Mile is that he has previously stated his desire to head back to his Wollongong roots.
This makes me question just how long-term a signing he would be, given that Perth is about as far away from the 'Gong as you can get, and there's a consortium or two wishing to set an A-League franchise up in the area in future.
If Glory did somehow manage to snag the 30-year old attacker on a longer-term contract though, you'd think he'd be professional enough to play out his contract before turning his eyes east. Mile is as marketable as Jason Culina, just as talented, has seen the game played in a multitude of high-class leagues, and is a current first-team Socceroo.
What's more, he can play in the middle or up front, and that sort of adaptability is exactly what David Mitchell's team could benefit from. All up, he is by far the least risky of the three options presented above - and quite possibly the best one, too.
Émile Mpenza is someone else Glory have admitted that they're interested in, and he's certainly an interesting character. A predatory striker in Belgium and Germany, he went on to play in the Qatari national league with Al Rayyan, before joining EPL outfit Manchester City in 2007.
I don't think anyone is doubting his experience or ability, but given his unsuccessful and injury-riddled stint with Plymouth Argyle last season, there might be a question over his fitness and motivation. His marketability outside a small section of football fans in Perth could also be questioned; although Eugene Dadi has shown that being cool, dark, and dreadlocked can certainly work in your favour with the locals.
Good luck to the Shed in trying to come up with any chants using his name, though; the full version is Eka Basunga Lokonda Mpenza. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
Finally, there's Denílson de Oliveira Araújo. Better known as "the really expensive Denilson who everyone keeps releasing". Once the world record transfer signing (he cost Real Betis $32 million US, back when the US dollar was worth something) he was released from his contract in Spain four years before it was due to expire.
This left him free to move to France, where Bordeaux signed him and then let him go within a year due to "excessively high wage demands". Quick stints in Saudi Arabia and the USA followed, where FC Dallas's coach even had the nerve to drop the attacker from the starting team - in spite of the fact that he was the US equivalent of a marquee player.
Following this, Denílson returned to South America and his agent evidently began linking him with clubs. To be fair to the guy, Denílson is a World Cup winner and has played at some very good clubs. There's an element of marketability in that alone; but judging by the way the rumours flew about in the last few months before he signed for Vietnamese side Xi Mang Hai Phong, you wonder if he's not just looking for a quick buck nowadays.
He may only be 31, but given the constant complaints about his salary demands I'd advise Tony Sage to steer clear of him and focus on the other two instead. Which, from what Glory PR machine has been saying lately, is exactly what the club's been doing.
The last thing the A-League needs, let alone Perth Glory, is another expensive flop. Give me Mile or Mpenza over this Denílson any day. Though if the Arsenal midfielder is free, I'll happily take him instead...
