Forget Brazil. Forget Asia. Forget Africa. British players are back in fashion at ME Bank Stadium. The re-signing of Andy Todd and Steven McGarry this week has reaffirmed David Mitchell's reputation as one of Australian football's true Anglophiles.
However, unlike five years ago when Perth was last inundated with all things British, I'm not worried. Then, we had genuinely bad footballers like Brian Deane, Steve McMahon and Stuart Young "gracing" our fields. Now we have players that we have seen at A-League level and seen to be up to standard.
The combination of Todd and McGarry with a former Luton and Colchester player in Chris Coyne and destroyer Jacob Burns might be Craig Foster's worst nightmare, but through my purple-tinted glasses it offers much optimism for the coming season. I see a former Premier League defender, an experienced Scottish workhorse and two fringe Socceroos and I'm excited.
British players have been met with much scorn from many sections of Australia's football circles, with Craig Foster leading the charge. While certain points he makes about the need for Australia to develop better players particularly in the attacking third, to simply blame A-League teams who play British players and a British style is quite simply unreasonable.
For example, the presence of Andy Todd in the Glory backline is probably reason enough for Fozzie and co. to write Perth off for the coming season. In reality, however, Todd offers not only experience from the highest level to young Perth defenders coming through but also is possibly an archetype for the kind of centre-half required for a team to play a passing, patient game. Todd is as comfortable on the ball in midfield as he is crushing opposition strikers, and regularly bombs forward to create an extra attacking outlet when the team pushes forward. Wouldn't it be great if we could see more of this from Craig Moore or Mark Milligan in a Socceroos shirt?!
Similarly, McGarry is not merely a fit and strong midfielder looking to pressurise defenders into a mistake or latch onto long balls from the Perth backline. The Scottish veteran has shown in his short time at Perth a willingness to hold up the ball, identify the right pass and find it with precise measure. This is exactly what we need from our young up-and-coming A-League players. And while Ludovic Boi or Andrija Jukic are developing this side of the game I'm delighted to have McGarry in the squad reinforcing the message.
Another contradictory aspect of Perth's growing reputation for playing the sort of football better suited to third tier Scottish football is the role of Jacob Burns. The captain has a deserved reputation for being one of the best midfield "destroyers" in the A-League. What he doesn't have is a reputation as a solid passer who helps the side maintain possession and build an attack from the back.
According to a fan stat site however Burns made a whopping 81 passes for the Socceroos on Wednesday. That was more than Wilkshire or Culina, and with a 94% success rate. Of course, few of the passes launched by Burns will break open a defence and create a goal, but it certainly helps the team maintain possession and build an attack thoughtfully and deliberately.
Considering the strength of the central defensive and midfield combinations being built by Perth, and the development shown by Neville and Howarth towards the end of the completed season as flankers, Perth really do have the makings of a potential champion team.
What is missing, however, are the players to turn dominance in play to dominance on the scoreboard. Good teams really need a central player capable of opening defences, and a central player capable of finishing all the hard work by putting the ball in the back of the net. The candidates for the first role are already in the team- Jukic showed glimpses this season while Sterjovski should be doing the job. Srhoj on the other hand has had his chance and failed and I dare say many Glory fans won't be too saddened if he joins Heart (if they want him) or Fury (if they still exist) next season.
What we really need though is that genuine goal-scoring striker. McBreen filled the role at the end of last season, but probably wasn't the right player long-term for Glory and I'm sure he'll enjoy the Graham Arnold experience at the Mariners. Jelic has the runs on the board but probably should've done more last season. Whether he can take the role on next season remains to be seen. Perth are apparently chasing Serginho van Dijk who could well be the ideal solution.
But how exciting would it be if Perth could find another British solution- namely one by the name of Robbie Fowler? It's unlikely, but I'd love to see it happen!
