A new manager and some tactical tweaks were seen against the Phoenix on Saturday afternoon. The performance as a whole though was the same old Glory.
It will take time for Ruben Zadkovich to implement his style on this Perth side. When I say time, I mean plenty of it.
Having 31% of possession isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you are making good use of it, which for the most part would be on the counter.
That was not the case against Wellington. Just the four shots on goal and only one of those on target. Based on those stats, it’s a miracle we managed to score.
Even with 11 men in the first half, the Glory could not manage to generate anything meaningful in the attacking third. Without Bruno Fornaroli, it was worse than usual.
Two attempts in each half. I’ll cut us some slack since we’re adjusting to a new system and of course the red card in the 52nd minute, but it was still very disheartening.
On the odd occasion when we had a good spell of possession, the passing was very passive. Nothing too risky or progressive from the defenders or the midfielders.
In the last few games, the best chances have come from Pacifique Niyongabire out wide and Daniel Stynes through the middle. Neither started and only Niyongabire came off the bench.
I was surprised they didn’t get more of a look in. A better surprise was Joshua Anasmo getting a starting debut. He didn’t get much of a look in front of goal but was involved in the equaliser.
He received the ball out wide and got one on one with his opponent. Adrian Sardinero, who had one of his better games, made a run into the box and was found by the young striker. He cut the ball inside into the path of Nick Fitzgerald, finding the back of the net for the first time in Glory colours. It was a good reaction after a less than ideal first half, but it all changed minutes later.
Osama Malik’s sending off killed off the momentum we started the 2nd half with. It’s anyone’s guess how the rest of the game would have unfolded had he stayed on the pitch.
The incident itself was very clumsy. Finn Surman played a great ball through to Ben Waine making the run in behind the defence. Malik got caught out and it appeared he tripped up Waine as he was falling over.
If the Glory are resetting come season’s end, he is one who needs to be moved on. He’s had injuries throughout his time out west and isn’t as good as the younger midfielders coming through.
The fact he’d been booked minutes prior makes the whole situation worse. There’s no debate about whether he should have been sent off. Straight red or not, he was getting carded regardless for preventing a potential scoring opportunity.
It was mistakes like that which cost us this game. Both goals we conceded were very preventable and put a dampener on what I thought was a relatively strong defensive performance.
A little lofted pass from Nicholas Pennington and then another from Gael Sandoval broke our defensive line and played through Ben Waine. His first-time volley looped over Liam Reddy, who was caught in no man’s land. If he’d positioned himself better, the volley wouldn’t have gone in and if Waine had opted instead to take a touch and steady himself, Jack Clisby and Darryl Lachman would have had a chance to close the gap and apply some pressure.
Reddy did atone for that error by making a fantastic, outstretched diving save from Sam Sutton’s long-distance rocket in the 83rd minute. I would still prefer to see Cameron Cook in goal though. Zadkovich has said he’ll put faith in the young players, and Cook is a perfect example of one who stepped up when called upon early in the season.
The 97th minute winner from Pennington was the result of poor defending from a corner. We had two players covering the near post in Lachman and Callum Timmins. One of them, probably Timmins because he’s shorter, should have been marking Wellington’s no. 13.
Pennington had enough time to chest it down and pick his spot before Antonee Burke-Gilroy or Giordano Colli could get a block in. After working so hard to stay level, it was disappointing to lose in that fashion.
The two points gained by Wellington could be huge in their push to finish inside the top six. Louis Fenton proved to be a thorn in Glory’s side at right back, consistently getting forward putting crosses into the area. Ben Waine was influential against us again; he’s making a habit of scoring in the Long Distance Derby.
Zadkovich has a lot of work to do fixing up the combination play up front and our transition into attack. Fans need to be patient in letting him implement his style and for the players to adapt to it.
The defensive resilience shown for most of the game was good to see, unfortunately we were caught napping right at the end and it cost us a point we should have taken. We’re back at home on Wednesday against the Jets. I think a first home win of the season and the first under Zadkovich would be the perfect birthday present.
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