Alistair Edwards appointment as full-time manager in March has seen a dramatic over haul of the Perth Glory in the off-season with the former Socceroos striker intent on giving Australian youth a clear career pathway to playing at the top level.
GLORY MATCH PREVIEW – 2013/14 HYUNDAI A-LEAGUE SEASON ROUND 1 – PERTH GLORY V ADELAIDE UNITED
Alistair Edwards appointment as full-time manager in March has seen a dramatic over haul of the Perth Glory in the off-season with the former Socceroos striker intent on giving Australian youth a clear career pathway to playing at the top level.
Jack Clisby, Matthew Davies, Harry O’Brien, Riley Woodcock have all been promoted from the Perth Glory Youth Team while Jack Duncan, Cameron Edwards, Ryan Edwards and Jamie Maclaren have all represented Australia at some level during their career.
Young forward Chris Harold, Japanese speedster Ryo Nagai and dashing right full-back Josh Risdon are all back for another season while 16-year-old Danny De Silva, who became the second youngest player to make his debut in the Hyundai A-League, age 15 years and 352 days against Sydney FC last year, knocked back some of the world-s biggest clubs to sign on with the Glory until the end of the 2014/15 Hyundai A-League season.
Throw in the quality of experienced campaigners such as Captain Jacob Burns, Socceroo Michael Thwaite, 2012 Most Glorious Player Steven McGarry, central defender Steven Pantelidis, highly-rated midfielder Isaka Cernak, Brazillian import Sidnei Sciola Moraes and the outstanding Danny ‘the Rhino’ Vukovic, and the Glory seem to have the right mix of youth and experience which is sure to worry opposition coaches.
Glory only scored 29 goals last year (the lowest in the competition) with an injury-effected Shane Smeltz leading the tally on seven strikes. The New Zealand forward had hip surgery in the off-season and will miss the first month of Perth’s campaign which means early goal scoring responsibilities will fall on Maclaren, Moraes, Nagai, Ryan Edwards, Harold and McGarry, who moved into an attacking midfield role just behind the strikers at the end of last season.
Maclaren’s three year deal in the off-season was a massive coup for the Glory with a number of other clubs chasing the Young Socceroo. The former Blackburn Rovers player scored a fantastic goal against Turkey in the 2013 U20 FIFA World Cup and his form in the off-season has been just as impressive, scoring six goals against a mixture of local and A-League opposition.
With a full pre-season under Alistair Edwards, look for the Glory to build on their promising end to last season and play a brand of football that will be easy on the eye and produce more goals.
GLORY SNAPSHOT
Coach: Alistair Edwards
Captain: Jacob Burns
Last year’s finish: 6th
Home venue: NIB Stadium
Marquee player: Shane SMELTZ
Ins: Isaka CERNAK (Wellington Phoenix), Jack CLISBY (Promoted from NYL 2012), Matthew DAVIES (NYL Contracted Player), Jack DUNCAN (Newcastle Jets), Cameron EDWARDS (Melbourne Heart), Ryan EDWARDS (Reading – loan), Dean EVANS (Injury Replacement Stirling Lions), Jamie MACLAREN (Blackburn Rovers, UK), Harry O’BRIEN (NYL Contracted Player), Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES (Alki, Cyprus), Riley WOODCOCK (NYL Contracted Player)
Outs: Storm ROUX (Central Coast), Matias CORDOBA (Petrolero, Bolivia), Kearyn BACCUS (Blacktown City Demons, NSWPL), Evan BERGER (Marconi Stallions , NSWPL), Dean HEFFERNAN (Western Sydney Wanderers), Lewis ITALIANO (Wellington Phoenix), Jesse MAKAROUNAS (Melbourne Victory), Billy MEHMET (Dempo SC, IPL), Liam MILLER (Brisbane Roar), Nicholas WARD (released), Neil YOUNG (retired)
OVERALL STATS
MATCH DETAILS
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Adelaide United v Perth Glory
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Kick-off: 4:30pm local (2:00 pm WST; 5:00pm AEDT)
Referee: Ben Williams
TV Broadcast: 5.00pm (AEDT) Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1HD and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand).
Radio Broadcast: 5.00pm (AEDT) Live coverage on 720 ABC Perth and 891 ABC Adelaide
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #ADLvPER
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Adelaide United Squad: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK) (c), 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 4. Jon McKAIN, 5. Osama MALIK, 7. JERONIMO, 8. ISAIAS, 9. Sergio CIRIO, 10. Marcelo CARRUSCA, 13. Steven LUSTICA, 14. Cameron WATSON, 16. Daniel BOWLES, 17. Awer MABIL, 18. Michael ZULLO, 20. Paul IZZO (GK), 21. Tarek ELRICH, 22. Fabio FERREIRA, 23. Jordan ELSEY, 24. Brent McGRATH *two to be omitted
Unavailable: CASSIO (quad – 4-5 weeks), Bruce DJITE (ankle – 4 weeks)
Perth Glory Squad: 1. Daniel VUKOVIC (GK), 2. Jack CLISBY, 3. Brandon O-NEILL, 4. Ryan EDWARDS, 5. Steve PANTELIDIS, 6. Cameron EDWARDS, 7. Jacob BURNS, 8. Ryo NAGAI, 10. Jamie MACLAREN, 11. Adrian ZAHRA, 14. Steven MCGARRY, 16. Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES, 17. Chris HAROLD, 19. Joshua RISDON, 20. Daniel DE SILVA, 21. Scott JAMIESON, 23. Michael THWAITE, 30. Devon SPENCE (GK) *two to be omitted
Unavailable: Shane SMELTZ (hip – 4 weeks), Travis DODD (knee – on-going), Jack DUNCAN (quad – 4 weeks)
