I don't wanna holiday in the sun
I wanna go to new Belsen
I wanna see some history
'cause now I got a reasonable economy

Now I got a reason, now I got a reason
Now I got a reason and I'm still waiting
Now I got a reason
Now I got reason to be waiting

The Nullarbor…

--With many apologies to the Sex Pistols…

 

Going interstate has always been a problem for the A-League incarnation of Perth Glory. So after Wednesday’s result in Sydney, I have but one question – have Perth ever had a better sequence of away results in their A-League history? I struggle to remember it if they did. The recent three game trip that took the club to Wellington, Melbourne, and the sticks of Sydney in the space of just 10 days would have knocked the stuffing out of most sides – but happily I can now report this Glory team aren’t one of them. Perth have not only surved undefeated on the road for three games, but they’ve collected seven of a possible nine points in the process:

Wellington Phoenix (A) 0-1 Win

Melbourne Heart (A) 1-2 Win

Sydney FC (A) 1-1 Draw

So, the question now for Glory fans is this – are these seven points the result of a tactical switch for the team in purple, or have we just been encountering teams on a bit of a form dip? After the Melbourne Heart win, Ian Ferguson was asked what was behind the upsurge in form:

The sudden turn in form, Glory's best four-match run since the start of last season, is as much about things going Ferguson's team's way as it has been a change in the quality of play, according to the coach.

"I've never felt as though we weren't playing good football, I just felt we weren't getting the rub of the green and the little breaks and this time we are. Over the last four or five weeks, we have been getting things,"

Oh dear.

Now that’s not really what I was expecting to hear. Fergie and the team definitely deserve credit for their recent form – but I would have thought that there would be a number of reasons besides dumb luck that the team have improved so. So, in an effort to help out Ian at his next press conference, I’ve put together a handy fact sheet.

Five Reasons for Make Glorious Improvement of Happiness of Perth

  1. The Luck of the Irish.
    Liam Miller is, for all intents and purposes, one of the best imports Glory have seen in the A-League. What makes it even better, as pointed out by Perth CEO Paul Kelly on the Hour of Glory radio show on Tuesday, is the fact that he’s not even a marquee player – he fits under the salary cap, just a regular old import. Yet his workrate and skill is anything but. Fans were left wanting more earlier in the season as we glimpsed his powers as an attacking midfielder; and then they justifiably berated coach Ferguson when he played the Irishman out on the wing for a short period.

    Now, in a different formation, Miller has taken up more of a box-to-box midfielder role, performing both attacking and defensive duties with aplomb. What’s more, the former Manchester United player is not afraid to keep pushing late in a game and take responsibility upon his own shoulders – his mazy dribble late in the game against Melbourne to draw another free kick shows that to great effect. It seems when it’s Miller Time, everybody is happy.
     
  2. Steven ‘You Magnificent Bald Bastard’ McGarry
    As somebody on the BigFooty forums implied above, ‘McGazza’ has been in supreme touch lately. McGarry is often criticised for not scoring enough in the A-League; but goals in recent games have put paid to those concerns, and his usual excellent passing and high workrate have been ever-present. In a way, it is strange that the Scotsman was ever excluded from teams in favour of someone like Adam Hughes – after all, workrate and grit is something Ferguson praises in other players like Hughes and Jacob Burns – the former St Mirren player not only offers this, but also far more going forward than either player. Still, he’s in the team at the moment, and that seems to be having very a positive effect.
     
  3. Fergie’s Men Keep It Up For 90 Minutes
    Well hello, ladies! Once the fadeout kings of the A-League, Perth seem to have passed that title to Sydney as they finally take a turn to be the team most likely to sting you in the dying stages of a match (Brisbane excepted). First there was Josh Mitchell’s last-gasp winner in Wellington, then an equaliser today from Adam Hughes. I’m not sure who to praise here – Ferguson, the fitness coach, a psychologist, the local voodoo preist, or the players themselves – but whoever it is can give themselves a good pat on the back, because past Glory teams (and even this one) have been known to flag at the end of a game and simply go through the motions. It’s high time we took advantage of opposition teams looking to do the same.
     
  4. We’ve Learned Discipline
    Whether you agree with the ref’s decision or not, the fact is Perth have earned a bit of a reputation for being a dirty team. Players like Jacob Burns and Steve Pantelidis are no strangers to the Match Review Panel, and the club has recently struggled with a couple of red cards going against key players. Yet for these three away games, the only thing Perth has to show (besides a decent points haul) is two measly yellow cards. That has meant a full complement of players on the field, and the ability to pressure teams instead of worrying about your own gaps. That’s something Fergie can definitely be proud of – unless he thinks our discipline has always been fine…
     
  5. No 4-4-2 In Sight
    No, not the excellent football magazine – buy one today! I refer of course to the well-known football formation involving two strikers, four midfielders, and four defenders. Pre-season, the club had talked about playing a variant of the 4-5-1 formation, with two defensive mids and three attacking ones. Then we brought in Billy Mehmet. In itself, this wasn’t a bad thing – he’s been quite a decent pickup. Unfortunately, it meant a change in formation to 4-4-2, which worked for the first few games while everyone was getting used to each other, but promptly fell flat during Glory’s poor run that only ended a few weeks ago. During this time, there were brief experimentations with a 4-3-3 and other formations, but Billy Mehmet and Shane Smeltz were, in general, taking to the field together most of the time.

    Then came an injury to Smeltz – an injury that meant Mehmet had to play up front alone. This started with the match against Newcastle away from home, which Perth drew 1-1. Since then, Glory haven’t lost a single game. Now that’s not all down to Billy – indeed, he picked up an injury and Smeltz has been back in action since the Wellington game. Yet importantly, they’ve both never been lining up on the field at the same time. The resulting formation has been almost a full revert back to the 4-2-3-1 of old; sometimes with Jacob Burns sitting a little deeper to make it a 4-1-2-2-1 with Sterjovski and Dodd/Andrezinho out wide.

    This formation, and a midfield trio of Miller, McGarry, and Burns, has brought out the best in Perth Glory. Service to the attacking players has improved dramatically. Hopeful hoofs forward have been minimised. There has been less pressure on fullbacks to attack now that there is an extra man to take up the slack in midfield. All in all, it looks a formation that suits Glory much, much better than any variant of the 4-4-2; and all it took was a fortuitous injury. How lucky is that?

Hmm... Maybe Fergie’s onto something after all...

In any case, it's great to have an A-League Glory team bringing back the spoils from over east. Now it's our turn to host a game, and who should be arriving but none other than the resurgent (apparently) Melbourne Victory. If ever Glory wanted to stake a claim for finals football, this would be a very good place to start.