Whilst Gary Marocchi and some of his fellow entertainers would probably disagree, in general a good football team needs a solid defence. Whilst repelling opposition attacks is understandably their primary focus, more and more these days the back three, four, or five are also called upon to be a driver behind attacking moves. Witness Tottenham Hotspur’s attacking full-backs, or Brazilian wing backs of past and present; both fine examples of the danger of a good counter.

 

Perth Glory’s defence last year knew about this two-faceted approach to the defensive line; they probably even talked about it; they just never really found a way of executing it in a coherent manner. On paper, much like the rest of the squad, Perth’s back four looked to be quite solid. You had the experienced Jamie Coyne and the young Scott Neville battling it out for the right back position, Andy Todd and Chris Coyne as the immoveable objects at the heart of defence, and Romanian returnee Josh Mitchell at left back. All good, right? 

 

As we know though, football isn’t played on paper and – perhaps predictably – things went all pear-shaped for the Glory. Chris Coyne had a very extended Chinese holiday, Andy Todd was a lot slower than we remembered and shared an untidy farewell with the mistake-prone Jamie Coyne, and Josh Mitchell - the left back that couldn’t actually seem to play left back - leaving us with Naum Sekulovski again. In goal, the battle between Tando Velaphi and Aleks Vrteski didn’t really eventuate, and neither went on to prove themselves a solid custodian for the Glory’s future. On the upside, Scott Neville continued to show he will give 100% in any position – right wing, right back, centre back, whatever – and Mitchell redeemed himself somewhat by playing a decent role in central defence. But where does that leave the new defensive line in 2011-12?

 

 

The Squad

Josh Mitchell (CB/LB)

Chris Coyne (CB)

Scott Neville (RB)

Josh Risdon (RB) 

Dean Heffernan (LB)

Evan Berger (LB/LM)

Danny Vukovic (GK)

Neil Young (GK)

 

The first thing to note is that Perth seem to be one or two defenders short of the required depth needed at A-League level, especially in the central positions. One injury to Chris Coyne and the whole thing will fall down like a deck of cards. So we’re likely to see (hopefully?) one new face join the above; maybe a Visa player to replace Andy Todd, or a strong defender from the local leagues as ready-made backup?

 

Looking at the squad as it stands though you’d have to say Vukovic, Coyne, Neville, and Heffernan just about write their own names on the team sheet; the latter because he’s the only proven left back we’ve had since Scotty Miller and Stan “No Fly” Lazaridis. Since that’s two full backs and a central defender, it suggests we should grab Josh Mitchell too and play a back four (and let’s face it, when have Glory tried anything else lately?). 

 

 

That said, if Ian Ferguson was feeling a bit adventurous, maybe he could opt for a 3 man backline plus two attacking wingbacks? Mitchell, Coyne, and Heffernan could form the back three (ideally with Josh or Dean replaced with another full-time CB in time) with the more attacking-minded Scott Neville and Evan Berger given licence to threaten the sides and go forward. You could even try and convince the 4-4-2 advocates at the club that they’re still playing their favourite formation – when Nev goes forward on the right, Berger tucks back to ensure there’s four covering the back! Amazing… it’s almost like the tactics never changed! Could Ferguson really pull it off?

 

Well, probably not. You see, the defensive frailties of Jamie Coyne and Naum Sekulovski would have been perfectly suited to such a formation – with three of Harnwell, Mitchell, Coyne, Griffiths or Todd guarding the ground behind them. This would have ensured that the part-time defensive abilities of these two athletes was only required on a part-time basis, and their runs – which could on occasion punish opponents – could be used to great effect. You could probably have even got away with two of the three midfielders being defensively minded, something Glory struggled to balance last season. 

 

Yet one never saw this sort of setup tried at Perth – at least not with any conviction or sustained interest. What’s more, you’d like at least one of your back three to play the ‘libero’ – the sweeper who can come forward and play the ball around a bit. Toddy could have managed this easily – but injury and inflexibility of Perth’s duo of tacticians robbed the team of this opportunity. If Ferguson didn’t try it last year, especially given the freedom he had to experiment when he knew the season was as good as over, then what hope do Perth fans have of a change in tact this time around? 

 

 

It seems then that the most Perth fans can hope for this coming season (apart from a change in coach and an amazing midfield playmaker) is that the new back four is better than the last one. The good news is this does seem to be the case – for one, we actually seem to have a left back now. The bad news? Well, ask any Perth fan and they’ll tell you that the new squad is always better than the old one… but the end result is ultimately the same.