Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will put his players, and himself, under the microscope this week as the club looks for a solution to a disappointing start to the season.
Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell will put his players, and himself, under the microscope this week as the club looks for a solution to their disappointing start to the season.
Three losses and a draw have Glory in the unenviable position of propping up the ladder and to compound their problems Perth will be without key playmaker Amaral for at least a month after he tore a hamstring.
It was a forgettable day for the Glory who conceded three first half goals against a rampaging Roar at Members Equity Stadium as the Queenslanders notched their first win of the season.
“In the last couple of games we-ve done well enough and it has been a bit of a hard luck story… this is probably a bit of a reality check,” Mitchell said.
“Today could have been a massive wake up call and what we need,” he added.
Glory has a chance to atone next Sunday when they meet seventh placed Wellington at Members Equity Stadium. The Phoenix sit a point above the Glory and a win will move the West Australian-s above their New Zealand rivals and back on track to reeling in the top four.
“We have to win next week, no doubt about it, by hook or crook we have to win and from there we can build on what we-ve got left in the season,” Mitchell said.
“Mathematically it is still possible to get into the top four but we need to start performing consistently,” he said.
Glory started well and enjoyed a decent amount of possession during the opening exchanges. Skipper Jamie Coyne managed to get himself into advanced positions down the right flank while Amaral-s set-piece delivery troubled the Roar defence, as did Eugene Dadi-s aerial strength.
Queensland also knew the importance of this game and were electrifying on the break, with Reinaldo, Charlie Miller and Matt McKay all catching the eye.
Quick to snatch any loose possession in midfield the visitors took the lead through Craig Moore with a well-struck low drive from just outside the box. Their advantage was doubled when Mackay scored in the 23rd minute and it was an uphill ride from then on for Glory.
Another goal to the Roar in the dying minutes of the first half, courtesy of Miller, effectively ended Perth-s chances and the second half was a non affair.
“It wasn-t good enough today… a lot of things went wrong,” Mitchell said.
“They-re a good side, lets not take that away from them, however we will have an internal review this week and we-ll see if there is any underlying problem and get it out.
“We-re putting everything the table and see what the outcome is and if we can rectify it we will,” he added.
While Mitchell admits the loss of Brazilian playmaker Amaral is a big blow for the side he does have some options to re-jig the line-up with recently signed midfielder Wayne Srhoj fit and ready for action, as is last season-s leading scorer Jamie Harnwell.
“We-ve got a few boys we can look at to come in. It-s unfortunate for Amaral because he was playing very well and doing a great job for us but we can-t dwell on that. We now need to call on the depth we have in our squad to cover for his loss and everyone will need to step up,” Mitchell said.
Perth Glory 0
Queensland Roar 3 (Craig Moore 14-, Matt McKay 23-, Charlie Miller 45+1-)
Sunday 14 September, 2008 at Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Referee: Ben Williams
Assistant Referees: Joe Fusari & Matthew Cheeseman
Fourth Official: Steven Gregory
Crowd: 8,203
Perth Glory: 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 3.David TARKA, 4.Jamie COYNE (Captain) (8.James ROBINSON 46-), 9.Adrian TRINIDAD (24.Anthony SKORICH 62-), 10.AMARAL, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO (26.Jeff BRIGHT 64-).27.Stuart McLAREN.
Substitutes Not Used: 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk).
Yellow Cards: Eugene Dadi 27-, Amaral 56-, James Robinson 60-, Stuart McLaren 80-, Nikolai Topor-Stanley 90-, David Tarka 89-.
Red Cards: Nil
Queensland Roar: 1.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Andrew PACKER, 3.Luke DEVERE, 4.Craig MOORE, 8.Massimo MURDOCCA, 9.Sergio VAN DIJK, 10.Charlie MILLER (7.Michael ZULLO 78-), 11.Reinaldo (12.Tahj MINNIECON 71-), 15.Matt McKAY, 16.Hyuk-Su SEO, 18.Danny TIATTO (6.Dave DODD 71-).
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Griffin McMASTER (gk).
Yellow Cards: Andrew Packer 26-.
Red Cards: Nil
