From the Dugout: Glory Returning To Perth
Former Australian captain Paul Okon takes a look at the Perth's changing fortunes.
What started as looking like another disastrous season for Perth Glory has turned around and credit must go to Dave Mitchell. They-ve changed players in their squad and it takes time for them to come together. Normally, when you-re sitting at the bottom, you tend to not play attractive football and you-re just fighting and scrapping, but Perth - surprisingly - have got to where they are now by playing good football and that had to come from the coach.
A few weeks ago people would have looked at a fixture against Perth as a guaranteed three points, but not anymore and this week they have another chance to prove, and push forward, a case that they can challenge for the top four. Now the team is just a few points away from the top four and, on their recent run of games, they-re the form team in the Hyundai A-League and many people have commented that Perth have been playing the best football in the league and I-m inclined to agree.
People will say that for the Hyundai A-League to do well Sydney FC needs to do well, but I-d argue that with Perth Glory all the way over the other side of the country, they too need to do well. In recent weeks, they-ve started to get back to where they once were in terms of performances in the old NSL, where they were one of the dominant teams.
The imports, Eugene Dadi and Adrian Trinidad in particular, are starting to really show their worth and make an impact. While Nikita Rukyavtsya has been one of the main guys behind the team-s resurgence, he didn-t play last week against Melbourne Victory because he was injured, and Glory outplayed Melbourne and thoroughly deserved the win.
Rukyavtsya might be linked with a move away from the club, but the trick for Perth is to get the most out of the players they-ve got.
Next season, with two new clubs coming in to the league as well, recruiting is going to be important. Of course, if they fail to make the four again it will be more difficult so it-s important they continue this good run and hopefully make the four. They are, after all, the only Australian-based team in the A-League to have not played in the finals.
For the future of Perth Glory, they need to make the top four this season.
The biggest test is travelling and this week is a massive test for them against Wellington Phoenix. It-s going to be a real defining moment as to whether they can maintain this challenge to make the top four.
If they get a result there it will prove to them psychologically they can do it on the road and get a result. This is not only for them, but it will send a message to the other teams that when they go to Perth they-ll find it difficult, but that Perth can get a similar result away. If they don-t get a result there all the hard work of the past few weeks will be for nothing and the team will know that. If they were to get a win, however, they really would be a realistic chance of making the four.