As good as an attack may be, the difference maker in close games and seasons more often than not is the defence.
Under Tony Popovic, the Glory’s defensive record set the foundation for the Premiers Plate and a home Grand Final.
Just take a look this seasons ladder for proof. The current top three are the teams who have conceded the least amount of goals.
The bottom two, Glory and Western United, have the worst defensive records which is why they’re stuck on two wins from twelve.
Sunday marked the ninth game in a row where Alen Stajcic’s side has conceded at least twice. In the last three games, we’ve conceded eleven.
Earlier in the season I shared my concerns with the forward line. If Adam Taggart wasn’t scoring I had doubts about where the rest of the goals would come from.
That is still true to an extent. Multiple players have chipped in with goals, but only three have scored more than once: Taggart, Stef Colakovski and Aleksandar Susnjar.
Now though it is evidently clear the opposite end of the pitch is the point of concern, and it’s the ease in which teams are able to play their way through that has me worried most.
All it took was one pass to open the door for Wellington’s first and final goal, both scored by the in-form Kosta Barbarouses.
It was David Ball who set up the equaliser, finding the gap between Riley Warland and Susnjar to play in the 33-year-old.
With a fake shot, the Kiwi took Jacob Muir out of the equation and scored with his left foot at Cameron Cook’s near post.
His second goal in the 73rd minute gave Wellington the lead for the third time in the match and came minutes after Glory levelled the scores at 3-3 thanks to Jarrod Carluccio’s first goal for the club.
Tim Payne’s run down the line wasn’t tracked by Luke Ivanovic. Alex Rufer spotted it early and weighted his pass perfectly for the right back to run onto.
Payne’s first time cross was met by Barbarouses in the middle, guiding it home from close range. Cook managed to get a glove to the ball but not enough to keep it out.
The young keeper could have done better with both of those goals but had no chance of saving the other two following some poor defending.
As half time was drawing near the Glory had possession in their half, exchanging mostly sideways and backwards passes.
The pressure was invited and Gio Colli made the error, turning the ball over leading to a break.
Bozhidar Kraev took a tumble in the box, leaving the ball in dispute. Amongst three Glory players, Nicholas Pennington went in hardest and won the ball ahead of all of them.
His layoff set up Rufer’s strike from distance, drilling it low and hard into the far corner with 30 seconds left until the break.
It was a horrible goal to concede so late in the half. The passing sequence before the turnover was very passive andshowed no intent of going forward on the front foot.
The second piece of the calamity was the scramble to win the ball in the box. As all the Glory players stood around the ball, only Pennington showed an interest and hunger to take it.
Losses of concentration proved costly again in this fixture. Susnjar’s wonder strike from outside the box levelled the scores shortly into the second half, but then seven minutes later Wellington got back the lead.
Kraev and Barbarouses, the two danger men, were left on their own near the edge of the box. Exchanging passes, Barbarouses drove to the line and cut back to the middle.
As four Glory players focused on Barbarouses, Payne wandered into the box on his own and ran onto the cutback, smashing it home for his second of the season.
If there’s a positive takeout from the match, it’s that in the last two games we’ve taken the fight to the top two and come close to getting results.
As bad as the defending has been, there’s been more consistency in front of goal. Sunday’s loss was the fifth match in a row where we’ve scored multiple goals.
Lowry olimpico saves a point
Kicking off Unite Round, the women’s side fell behind in the first half and fought back to take a point from a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory.
Rachel Lowe’s header put the Vuck in front 28 minutes in, a lead they held comfortably until Hana Lowry’s corner found its way past a host of players on the line.
The Glory frontline again had troubles breaking down a defence, managing just the one shot on target and eight in total for the match.
The draw keeps Alex Epakis’ side in second place on the ladder, five points adrift of the top and just ahead of the chasing pack behind them.
The Wrap Up
The women’s side return to Macedonia Park on Saturday night, taking on 10th placed Brisbane. It presents a great chance to return to winning ways, having only recorded the one victory in the last five matches.
The men’s side remain in Sydney for the second of a three-game spell, once again taking the field at CommBank Stadium for a clash with Western Sydney.
The news off the field continues to bring more bad than good.The financial situation has cost us at least one more player, with Salim Khelifi moving on loan to another A-League club for the rest of the season.
The race for ownership is no closer to completion than it was last week, although we found out a little bit more about the interested parties.
The focus for Alen Stajcic won’t deviate. All time and effort will be directed to beating the Wanderers on Saturday; another big challenge which we’re hopefully up for.
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