There is never a dull year at the Perth Glory, but I think it’s fair to say this year has been one of the most eventful for the club.
A marquee man came and went, a head coach left unceremoniously, a dreaded wooden spoon was ours for the first time, we endured a stadium debacle and one of our club legends retired.
Our temporary fortress of Macedonia Park hosted our final encounter for 2022, a Long-Distance Derby with the Phoenix on Friday night.
I walked away from the 1-1 draw frustrated, expecting more from a match we could have won. It’s a feeling I rarely had in the first half of the year, much better than anticipating a loss hoping not to get battered.
Ruben Zadkovich stuck with an unchanged lineup for the second game running, possibly the last time we’ll see it with new signing Adam Taggart eligible to play on Monday against Adelaide if he is fully fit.
I do expect the manager to make some tweaks to his starting XI as we embark on a busy January schedule, with six matches in the space of four weeks. The departure of Ben Azubel provides a new conundrum for our man in charge.
With the Israeli striker moving on, a visa spot has become available, and another signing could be made in January. There’s no doubt in my mind a creative midfielder is what we should be targeting if Salim Khelifi keeps playing as a wingback or winger.
The Tunisian has found a rhythm in the league and has been a joy to watch. A mazey run through the midfield and past a defender nearly heralded a spectacular goal and he got the assist for the opener with a great cross to David Williams.
The only other man who has been just as impressive is Keegan Jelacic. Still very raw, but he’s come into the side and not looked out of place at this level.
A great piece of play late in the first half highlighted everything he’s brought to the table. Wellington had the ball deep in defence, and he blocked a pass which rebounded to Khelifi. He received it back, danced around a defender onto his left and nearly curled one into the far corner.
He can be a little shy to pull the trigger at times, which is my only qualm with him thus far. In the 92nd minute, a brilliant long ball from a set piece found him at the back post. He had a chance to smash it with his left after taking a touch, but he went back, and the space was closed down.
Even though those two provided the goods once again, there were points in this game where we really struggled in the midfield area. Wellington’s high press was very effective and forced us to keep going wide, not allowing the midfield two to get on the ball at all.
Getting through the centre has been a struggle for us and will continue to be if a no. 10 doesn’t come in or we keep playing Khelifi, Jelacic and Ryan Williams out wide.
Mustafa Amini has done a very good job so far in midfield, but he’s not known for taking people on and creating chances for others, although he can break the line and make a decisive pass.
Since scoring twice in his opening three games, Aaron McEneff has not shown enough for me. As the more attacking of the midfield duo, I would expect him to be on the ball more often and make progressive passes. A lot of the time he opted sideways or back to the defence, and in the second half a few of his forward passes were off the mark.
His set pieces have also been an issue. Either not getting it over the first man or going over everyone, it has been a let down since the start of the season. Granted, he’s not the only culprit, but it says a lot when our best set piece came from Adam Zimarino, who only came on in the 86th minute and took two corners.
For the defence, there’s not too much to write home about. The back three had a big task ahead of them with Wellington’s strong forward line, but they dealt with it pretty well. Oskar Zawada got the equaliser after a lovely bit of interplay between Bozhidar Kraev and Yan Sasse and could have added to his tally if it weren’t for Liam Reddy palming away his volley in the first half and saving down low to his right in the second.
The big Pole has been a great addition to the Phoenix who have done a great job with their visa spots. Ufuk Talay set his team up well, controlling the game in periods and defending solidly at the end when they were fatigued. Denying our midfield the ball was key for them, so credit has to go towards Clayton Lewis and Steven Ugarkovic.
A very even contest throughout the match, opening up for both teams at time with both enjoying periods of control. Our start to the second half was a bit slow, but we came on strong toward the end with a flurry of chances. Annoyingly, we’re still last in the pack, but we’ve got a game in hand on others and the gap is close between us and the finals spots.
Our next opponent is in one of those spots, and they’ve beaten us already this season. We head back to Adelaide for our first game of 2023. With a four-game home run following Monday’s clash, an opportunity looms to continue building momentum, confidence and closing that gap to the top six.
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