Football can be a cruel game, as Perth Glory found out on Sunday against Dwight Yorke’s Macarthur.
Sometimes, all a team needs is that one opportunity to be clinical and ruthless to get the win and the Bulls illustrated that to a tee.
Sunday’s game was a fantastic opportunity for the players to improve upon their impressive win at home to Western United and to be fair, the first half saw the Glory play arguably some of their best football all year.
Some of the chances created by the players were the product of some excellent football.
We used the wide areas very well to allow the likes of Keegan Jelacic, Ryan Williams and Salim Khelifi to exploit the space and create opportunities for their teammates.
Glory experienced some joy whenever there was a switch of play due to the Macarthur wingers, Daniel Arzani in particular, being lazy and not tracking back.
Mark Beevers switching the ball to Salim Khelifi
After 14 minutes, Glory should’ve been 1-0 up.
I’ve said it on various platforms a few times and I’ll say it again. It’s a relatively big call, but I firmly believe that Keegan Jelacic has the potential to be Diego Castro’s successor.
I know I’m basing my judgement on a really small sample size of two games, but some of the qualities that Keegan has displayed in both of the games have been clear to see.
His poise, touch, dribbling, ability to shift his weight and close control are already of a decent level. I’m sure that after a few years of experience, we will see the Kiwi explode and reach his potential.
The chance he created for Ryan Williams was a product of some of those qualities.
He’s an intelligent footballer, as displayed in the image below. The full back is quite tight to him, but Jelacic knows upon receiving the ball there is space in behind.
Jelacic receiving the ball from the throw-in
He shifts his weight beautifully to get past Ivan Vujica, which allows him to get into a great position as he attacks the box.
Jelacic getting past Vujica as he is about to make the cross to Williams
Now Jelacic has done everything right; getting past his opponent, attacking the space, drawing in a defender and then finding his teammate.
The problem was, the finish did not reward the excellent build-up to the chance created.
Ryan Williams got his foot underneath the ball too much, which caused the shot to fly over the bar.
Williams missing the opportunity
Now, I like Ryan Williams; I think his power, endurance and speed are excellent attributes.
The only concern I have is with his end product, whether it be a shot or a cross. His numbers, in terms of goals scored or assists, could be much higher if this improves over the coming weeks.
Glory then took control of the game from that moment on, as we started moving the ball around a lot better.
Our ball work has improved drastically since the beginning of the season, but our ruthlessness but also our composure in front of goal has been unfortunately woeful.
Another example, we got in behind Macarthur’s defence, which was frequent throughout the game. David Williams squared the ball to Keegan Jelacic, who shifted his weight to try and get Tomislav Uskok off balance.
The angle was a bit too tight for a shot, so Jelacic laid the ball off to the oncoming Mustafa Amini.
Similarly to Ryan Williams, I also rate Mustafa Amini. I think in every game he’s played for us, he’s been excellent.
But his shooting from outside the box has been poor and we fluffed a great opportunity to get the ball into a dangerous position.
The shot is a bit blurry, but Salim Khelifi has pulled off to a great position just outside the box.
Amini about to strike the ball, with Khelifi making a late run
There was space to exploit for the Tunisian as he probably could’ve cut the ball back and a goal-scoring opportunity would’ve been created.
Instead, the ball ballooned over the bar.
Having that discipline, ruthlessness but more importantly, the composure necessary in and around the opposition’s box is something we need to work on.
Another opportunity went begging for us as Salim Khelifi did really well to cross the ball into a dangerous position.
Jelacic missing the opportunity
When I mentioned earlier about Keegan Jelacic potentially exploding after a few years of experience, this shows why he’s still a bit of a raw talent.
From that position, we probably should’ve scored. That chance had an xG of 0.60, which was our best shot all game according to the data.
We’re working the ball into the right areas, but we are not punishing teams. Instead, they’re punishing us.
Macarthur found the breakthrough midway through the second half. Al Hassan Toure whipped in the corner which was dealt with rather easily and as Macarthur recirculated the ball, this happened.
Baccus in position, Toure all by himself
Toure was in space and had no one in close proximity . He then received the ball, with David Williams eventually applying the pressure but he was too slow.
Al Hassan Toure about to cross the ball
Bachana Arabuli was Jacob Muir’s man but unfortunately Muir lost him and all the Georgian striker had to do was guide the ball home past Liam Reddy.
Arabuli scoring his goal
Up until that point in the game, Macarthur hadn’t really tested Reddy in goal but it just shows, all a good team needs is one chance.
After that, the Glory had a few chances but again we didn’t take them.
On reflection, there are a couple of things to note from me.
One is that we’re not a ruthless team. So many times, particularly in the first half Macarthur were wasteful and sloppy in possession.
Arguably, a finals team would win the ball back, transition at speed and create a goal-scoring opportunity.
Unfortunately for the Glory, we just seemed a bit too slow at times, when it came to either breaking out into attacking positions or having a general idea of what to do.
We’re not clinical enough in and around the box either. Some of the decision-making at times was park football-level type thinking. Albeit it wasn’t that overly frequent, but some small moments that could’ve turned into big opportunities, we missed as a result.
Third, defensively we need to stop switching off. We’ve yet to keep a clean sheet this season, which is a shame as there have been a number of games thus far where we looked really well-organised and compact.
But we need to be more aggressive, especially with our intensity off the ball. We need to make more tackles and get our hands dirty. Aaron McEneff a few times throughout the game showed what our midfield players needed to do, getting stuck in there.
Looking forward to the next game at home against Wellington Phoenix on Friday, it won’t be an easy test but it will be a great opportunity to bounce back.
We looked really good at Macedonia Park when we took on Western United, so hopefully, we can bring that same intensity on Friday and get a good result in the Distance Derby.
About the Author
