In my last article, we examined Perth Glory’s defensive line as it stands for the upcoming season. This week, I will be running the rule over their midfield; an area that proved to be a source of considerable pain for the team last year.
Glory’s 2010-11 midfield woes were caused by a variety of reasons. First and foremost was the unbalanced nature of the starting eleven – there were times when up to three of the four men in midfield were defensive-minded players; something that will never work to the benefit of a side on the attack. The lack of a creative, playmaking midfielder – one that can pick the gaps in a parked bus or change the game with a piece of individual brilliance – was obvious, making the coaching staff’s decision to continually ignore young Andrija Jukic and youth team attackers unforgivable in the eyes of many supporters.
As such, fans have been crying out for a bit of creativity in midfield in the off-season, and yours truly hasn’t exactly been quiet about the subject. So who do Perth have that can provide that bit of impetus going forward? Let’s take a look:
The Squad
Jacob Burns (DM/CM)
Adam Hughes (DM/CM)
Steve McGarry (DM/CM)
Victor Sikora (ML/AML)
Mile Sterjovski (MR/AMR/ST)
Travis Dodd (AM RLC)
Jesse Makarounas (AM RLC)
Tommy Amphlett (MR/AMR/ST)
Todd Howarth (ML/AML)
The first thing you notice is that when it comes to central players, really the only way Glory know how to operate is with a defensive mindset. Ian Ferguson and David Mitchell were evidently comfortable with this approach, and often paired Jacob Burns and Steve McGarry as the central two in a flat 4-4-2. The result was that while McGarry could pass the ball around well enough, he didn’t have the vision or speed required to pick open a locked defence. As for Burns, well – last season his gameplan seemed to consist of tackle-foul-foul, tackle-foul-card, foul-foul-off. Such was his aggression that Glory fans began playing “Jacob Burns Bingo” over at Perth fansite Gloryboys.net; just pick the minute of the match that Burns gets a red, and you’re a winner! What’s more, neither player really had the mobility necessary to go up and down the pitch all day – and as a result they rarely linked quick attacks forward, and had to foul players who would otherwise blast past them.
Ian Ferguson evidently thought that we didn’t have enough aggression, however. At the press conference to unveil Adam Hughes as the club’s latest signing, he explained;
"Adam brings strength to the midfield, something I feel we missed last season… He's big and aggressive, he'll bring a bit of bite to our team”
Well, I’m no rocket scientist Fergie, but I think the worst disciplinary record in the league last year means that Glory don’t need to worry about lacking ‘bite’ and ‘aggression’. Now you’re suggesting we need more of the same? There’s no question he’ll keep playing his captain, Jacob “hack yer knees” Burns – so that means that new boy Hughes and Scottish import Steve McGarry will be fighting it out for the other central midfield spot in a flat (or tight diamond) 4-4-2. Meaning of course that once again central playmaking roles are nowhere to be found in the Glory side.
The other option of course is to play a 5-man midfield; either through a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-5-1. In this situation the team can accommodate two defensive minded players; however it also demands that the players in front of them (or along the wings) do a lot of the attacking work – and that someone needs to play a link role between the two midfield lines. Ferguson claims that Hughes is a box-to-box midfielder – so perhaps he is betting that the former Adelaide United man will be able to play this role. It is a risky strategy however to proceed without a playmaker – because as demonstrated early last season, once a team works out how Glory play, there is no individual player capable of sparking something in the middle of the park; no Flores or Hernandez to do something game-changing and morale-boosting that can rally a flagging side. If the bus gets parked – and Gold Coast United did this especially well to us – then they have no-one capable of opening the doors.
But now that we’ve examined the defensive midfielders, it’s time to take a look at the attacking ones. For the purposes of this article I don’t class an ‘attacking midfielder’ as someone who necessarily directs play and openings for others with brilliant vision and creativity. Rather, I think of someone like Travis Dodd, Mile Sterjovski, or Brett Emerton. Someone who will take the ball, run at the defence, try to shoot from range, or send in a raking cross. You might disagree with my semantics, but humour me in this distinction for a moment.
Now there is nothing wrong with this type of player – Travis Dodd himself has shown this enough times against Glory, winning penalties after running into the box, or sneaking onto the end of crosses because his approach hasn’t been checked. My only problem with this approach is that you need to rely on two things – fast movement to these attackers to keep the opponent on the back foot, and that these individual players are skilled and motivated enough to get past their man. The kicker? These are two attributes that the Glory lacked in spades last year. In young Jesse Makarounas, a veritable goal machine for the Joeys, the club might have an ace up their sleeve; he comes with big wraps from the Aussie coaching staff, and Ferguson says he can play pretty much anywhere in the front third. The ultimate test though will be whether the manager dares to give him a chance ahead of the older players.
Thing is, former Socceroos like Mile Sterjovski should be absolutely creaming the A-League, but for some reason the former Lille and FC Basel man hasn’t justified his lucrative salary, at times being outshone by young Tommy Amphlett – at least in terms of application and effort. On the opposite wing, Victor Sikora spent the whole year injured – and his replacement Toddy Howarth, whilst being amongst the hardest working players in the squad, is never going to be a world-class player for oppositions to target. This coming season the Glory must hope that Sikora – a player of true skill and quality when fit – can stay on the field long enough to make an impact, and that Sterjovski can somehow recapture his love for the game.
Should the succeed in this, then a five-man midfield with these two on the wings, Dodd in the centre, and Burns and Hughes just behind them, might just be the optimum approach. It’s also tempting to think of a three-man defensive midfield, in the vein of Manchester City’s 4-3-3; but the fact is those three midfielders can all track back and forth over the pitch at speed all day – something that Burns and McGarry have a big problem doing. So to negate their lack of movement, it may be best to have two distinctly different roles in midfield – the three attackers, the two defenders - to ensure the team don’t become stretched all out of shape as so often happened last year.
At the end of the day, the same weaknesses appear to be present in the Glory midfield when compared to last year; namely a lack of mobility and creativity. Perth have certainly gained a certain amount of skill and experience with the acquisition of Travis Dodd – but the fact is that the team should already have enough of that thanks to Sterjovski and Burns. The concern, apart from a lack of playmaking midfielders, has to be that Glory already carry too many passengers on their books. If these players don’t pick up their act – or even worse, the new signings don’t care to play either – then it could be that Glory’s midfield hasn’t improved at all in the last two years.
