Does Dave Mitchell Have Purple Chameleon Nightmares ?

As coach of Perth Glory in any given 90 minutes Dave Mitchell’s emotions must run the full gamut from total incredulity at the naivety of some of the decisions of his charges to admiration, pride and excitement at the quality and inventiveness of their play.

The poor man must go home totally drained as, I am certain do many in the resurgent Glory Army.

It has been a purple and orange chameleon season for the Glory. A horrendous start in which the team were written off as ‘wooden spooners in waiting’ to a second half of the season the equal or better of all of the final series contenders.

Take the last home game against Melbourne Victory for example. The first 20 minutes was abysmal. Glory could and perhaps should have been 3-0 down.

Poor defensive decisions and failure to deal with the pace of Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp had left many of us thinking it was going to be a long 90 minutes.

A drinks break for 2 minutes due to the heat and Glory come out and totally turn the tables with a least 5 clear cut chances, two of which they put away for a half time lead.

I don’t know what Mitchell said in those 2 minutes but whatever it was seemed to make a ton of difference.

The second half was another game entirely. Melbourne with a potential Minor Premiership there for the taking came back into the game and, once again, they were gifted an early goal.

Glory, after having been in various stages of the match shell-shocked, dominated, dominant and rampant were now well-organised and resolute in keeping Melbourne at bay.

As Victory pushed for the winner it was inevitable Glory would find opportunities and it was a goal to savour by Eugene Dadi that secured the points for the home side.

The question now is, of course, ‘where to from here’ ?

Mitchell has been secured as coach in the medium term and this, to my mind, is a great decision. Since that decision was made known earlier in the season the results, in the main, have been better and the quality of football on show has improved dramatically.

Wayne Shroj has re-signed and this is a boon to the club as his role in anchoring the midfield has been central to many of the Glory’s better performances.

From a defensive perspective Nikolai Topor-Stanley is off to join the Jets and Jamie Harnwell’s legs aren’t getting any younger. Hayden Foxe, as in much of his career, has been beset by an unfortunate series of injuries, Dino Djulbic has had a chequered season and David Tarka – well I haven’t seen him often enough to comment.

Topor-Stanley is as much an enigma as the Glory team. He looked totally lost at fullback earlier in the season and most times comfortable and assured in the centre of Glory’s defence from mid-season onwards. He still has a tendency to attack balls that central midfielders should be winning leaving Harnwell exposed to the pace of opposition strikers as he was for the first goal this week.

Harnwell doesn’t seem to be playing as a sweeper in the true sense of the word so, once he is caught square, he is often going to struggle for pace against the likes of Allsopp, Thompson, Shane Smeltz and other A-League strikers. Where Harwell excels is in the timing of his tackles and his aerial ability. Perhaps if it had been Harwell attacking the ball and Topor-Stanley covering then Victory would have had to work harder, however, my gut feel tells me that it would be very difficult to harness Topor-Stanley’s desire to go and win the ball rather than cover Harwell.

With an excellent debut from Scott Neville and Downey still to come back into the side Glory look to have good coverage on the right side of defence, however, the left is another matter.

Glory need a quality left side defensive player with pace, strength and guile. Mitchell has tried a few in that position during the season and I don’t believe he has found a solution as yet.

The midfield has improved considerably during the season. Pellegrino is a shoe-in for a start having made the right midfield role his own. Wayne Shroj must be one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Jamie Coyne has a very high work rate and, in partnership with Shroj, is the engine room of the team, however, needs to concentrate more on playing simple football when he is in possession. 

Amaral was all class when on the park, however, as with Hayden Foxe, injuries have deprived us of his contribution for much of the season.   

Mark Anthony has shown consistency when given the chance of a game, however, may struggle to gain a starting role every week due to the quality of some of the other candidates in the centre of midfield.  

Left midfield has been a position that has also seen a few faces throughout the season. Scott Bulloch has progressed as a player since his recruitment from the state league and will only get better if he gets more chances in 2009. Nicky Rizzo had an extended run in the side as well and has improved as the season has progressed.

Adrian Trinidad is a classic ball player that has received a number of accolades from football commentators for his touch and vision, however, once again I cannot see him doing his undoubted talent justice out on the left.

That leaves Victor Sikora. Sikora has a fine pedigree and if his non-stop effort and movement in 34 degree heat on the weekend is anything to go by he will be a superb acquisition for the Glory should they make the deal permanent. Whether his position is wide on the left of midfield though - I’m not so sure.

With regards to our striking options. Dadi holds the ball up better than any striker in the A-League. he has drawn more fouls than any striker in the league and is towards the top of the scoring charts in a team that is second from bottom. If Glory can secure his services for another season or two at a reasonable rate they undoubtably should.

Nikita Rukavytsya is on a plane to FC Twente as I write this for a week’s trial. If they do not sign him then somebody else will eventually.

Nikita’s raw pace is electric and causes trouble to all ALeague defenders. As he matures his understanding of the game will improve and along with that, no doubt, his sometimes questionable first touch. Result – we cannot count on having Rukavytsya in the side for much longer.

Rather than relying on two out and out strikers, perhaps the team would benefit from having a player in between the striker (Dadi) and the midfield providing an outlet for Coyne and Shroj. The job description here is for someone with good first touch, excellent reading of the game, vision and the ability to bring other players into the game. Trinidad might fit the role if given an extended run as might Sikora.

This would place a greater emphasis on the wide midfielders to get forward and back. Pellegrino has proven his ability to do this and Bulloch and Rizzo have the pace and stamina as well although both need to improve defensively.

If Rukavytsya is bound for Europe though Mitchell will undoubtedly need a new face to maintain Glory’s capacity to score goals and to ensure continued competition for places. 

Tando Velaphi has made the keeper’s role his own and with backup from Frank Juric next season should continue to show marked improvement. No problems there.

To top this off Glory have a number of very promising youngsters coming through the ranks. The Youth League is a fantastic way to develop their talent and to help Mitchell and his coaching team identify which of those coming through will get the opportunity to prove they can make the grade.

We have already mentioned Neville’s superb performance on the weekend, however, as they mature no doubt we will see the best from Skorich, Jukic and many more moving forward.   

In conclusion it could be a lot worse for Mitchell and the Glory. We have the basis of a very strong squad. Difficult decisions must be made on the capabilities of Amaral and Foxe to last more than a smattering of matches in a season, however, they both remain superb footballers at this level so this is not an easy decision.    

Mitchell’s commitment to repackaging the Glory as a competent footballing side that can score goals and excite the crowd is a huge improvement on past days when it seemed your ability to do well in the beep test was a pre-requisite for a starting berth.

Is Fairest & Best ‘Best’ For WA ?

As the season draws to a close and the champions have been decided our thoughts turn to who will win the top individual awards at the end of season 2008, most importantly, the best player awards.

Just as I started to think of who I fancied for these awards I was reminded that most of my favourites will be automatically disqualified as they have served a suspension during the season at some point.

Not just a suspension for a straight red card but also a suspension gained through an accumulation of yellow cards. What a nightmare ! You can get a yellow card for scratching your ear these days never mind a dangerous tackle !!!

Not that I am saying that the game has not benefited from stricter refereeing and the protection of skillful footballers. It quite obviously has, even if old timers like me still remind the ‘younguns’ of the time we used to try and put wingers over the barrier fence with our ‘long range slide tackles’.

But cleaning up the game and the award of best player accolades, although inextricably linked, must be considered as separate items.

Our friends in the ‘footy’ fraternity use the ‘best and fairest’ methodology to decide who gets the gong at the end of the season. In a game where there are no yellow and red cards and you nearly have to decapitate the opposition player to get reported and suspended I can understand their point. It makes sense to their game, their rules, their history and their ethos. More strength to them I say !

It makes no sense in our game. It makes no sense with regards to our rules (yellow & red cards), it makes no sense to our game and, most importantly, none of the major leagues in the world do it like this. Their best player is their best player, not their nicest player !

Lets take a case in point. The WA State Team captain, Andy Brown is a mate of mine. He plays for the club I support and he embodies the exciting football ethos and tough tackling game many of us like to watch.

Andy has been a tower of strength for Mandurah and the WA state team. he has scored a bagful of goals from the centre of midfield this season including some absolute crackers which combined powerful accurate finishing and jinking runs.

Andy has been touted as a possible winner of this year’s award by many who understand the game.

Andy, however, can’t win the award. He has accumulated two suspensions through a collection of yellow cards that would make the ‘comic book guy’ from the Simpsons green with envy.

Has Andy been sent off ? No !

Has Andy caused serious injury to an opposing player ? No.

Has he abused the officials or spat at anyone ? No.

Andy just tackles hard to win the ball and, in many eyes, that is an offence these days.

There must be many more Andy Browns at every club in all the leagues. Their natural game precludes them from gaining the top honour just as their natural game dictates that they should be a main contender for the awards.

Lets make a change for next season. Ok, if you really think that a staright red card should proclude a player from receiving the top award then let’s run with that.

But, yellow cards should have absolutely no bearing on who wins the award – suspension or no suspension.

Lets bring our game here in WA back in line with the rest of the football world and stop trying to align it with the ‘footy world’.