Glory Head Coach Alen Stajcic is confident that if his side can combine and extend the positives signs they have shown in recent games, they have what it takes to get the better of high-flying Macarthur FC in Saturday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 9 clash at HBF Park (kick-off is at 7.30pm, grab your tickets HERE).
View his full pre-match media conference HERE.
Several narrow defeats, followed by last weekend’s away draw with the Jets, have seen Glory drop down the table, while the Bulls have lost just once this term and remain firmly entrenched in the top four.
But Stajcic feels that the men in purple are well capable of securing a second home victory in four attempts.
“Over the last three weeks, we’ve put together some patches in games,” he said.
“Going back to Sydney FC, a good 20-25 minutes, then the next game against [Melbourne] City it was maybe 40 and then last week maybe 30.
“So definitely putting together a 90-minute performance is what we need and it’s about time we deliver on that.
“If we do that, we’re going to be very difficult to beat… and there’s no reason why we can’t.”
While backing his squad to get the job done, however, Stajcic is keenly aware of the threat that Macarthur and skipper Ulises Davila in particular, will pose
“If they’d won on Monday night, they would have been top of the table,” he said.
“I think they’re undefeated in the AFC Cup as well, so they’ve had a brilliant start to the year.
“They have lots of key players in their side who are doing well.
“Obviously when you have a player like Davila, he’s one of those special players, a little bit like [Milos] Ninkovic and [Diego] Castro and [Alessandro] Diamante.
“He’s in that same mould where they can dictate the game and create moments all on their own.
“Davila is definitely in that bracket and he’s been key for them in the games that he’s played.
“Then they’ve just got a solid team all around the park and they’re probably in the top two or three in the league in terms of depth.
“They’ve built a good squad, a stable squad and I think that’s one of the key reasons why they’re up where they are.”
The Head Coach went on to urge the club’s Members and fans to help roar their side back into the winners’ circle.
“It’s not a good period for us being on the bottom [of the table], we all know that,” he said.
“But this is when you see who the true fans are.
“It’s easy to be a fan when you’re winning, but we want to see and the players want the fans there when it’s tough times.
“We need the fans to come out and support the league.
“There have been a few games where we’ve had excellent crowd support, but I think we need to keep rebuilding this league up to where it was in the mid-2000s and teens where we were getting 10-15,000 to every game.”
Stajcic also confirmed that he is hopeful Oliver Bozanic will recover from a shoulder injury in time to feature on Saturday night and that he is keen to retain the services of the midfielder whose loan deal from Western Sydney Wanderers expires at end of the month.
“We’re going to try and do whatever we can,” he said.
“It’s obviously difficult with what is happening off the field to confirm everything and be 100{e0eacfde3737b7a6d6d38e6c2fa2b27ad4b47af816b194a8894ca596baf1880e} confident with everything, so until that gets resolved, it’s tough, but we’re definitely working on it.
“We don’t have the funds that other clubs might have in this period, so we’re going to have to work on a few things and see how they fall in terms of us being able to move forward, otherwise our hands are tied.”
As for United, their four wins this season have come against Western United, Central Coast Mariners, Sydney FC and Adelaide United and they have also shared the spoils with Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.
Among the standout performers for Mile Sterjovski’s side have been Jake Hollman and Matt Millar who have both grabbed three goals apiece from midfield, new French recruit Valere Germain who has also hit the net on three occasions and Davila who has scored twice and added three assists.
Glory have claimed maximum points just once in the seven previous meetings with the Bulls, although Saturday’s visitors have never won in WA and were downed 2-1 at Macedonia Park last season.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 9
Perth Glory v Macarthur FC
HBF Park
Saturday 23 December 2023
Kick-off: 7.30pm
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3.Jacob MUIR, 5.Mark BEEVERS (co-c), 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 8.Mustafa AMINI, 9.David WILLIAMS, 10.Salim KHELIFI, 12.Luke IVANOVIC, 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Trent OSTLER, 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE, 24.Oliver BOZANIC, 27.Jayden GORMAN, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Two to be omitted
Ins: 27.Jayden GORMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 11.Adam ZIMARINO (injured), 14.Riley WARLAND (injured), 21.Antonis MARTIS (injured)
Macarthur FC squad: 1. Danijel NIZIC, 4. Matthew JURMAN, 5. Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 6. Tomi USKOK, 8. Jake HOLLMAN, 10. Ulises DAVILA, 12. Filip KURTO, 13. Ivan VUJICA, 14. Kristian POPOVIC, 15. Kearyn BACCUS, 17. RAPHAEL, 22. Yianni NICOLAOU, 23. Clayton LEWIS , 27. Jerry SKOTADIS, 31. Lachlan ROSE, 36. Ali AUGLAH, 37. Jed DREW, 44. Matt MILLAR, 98. Valere GERMAIN
One to be omitted
Ins: 7. Danny DE SILVA, 31. Lachlan ROSE
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2. Jake McGING, 24. Charles M’MOMBWA (international commitment)
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