Before the Glory took to the field last week against Newcastle, Adam Griffiths called on his players to embrace what he described as their biggest challenge of the season.
The result? The Glory were thoroughly outplayed and humbled by the ladder leading Newcastle Jets, massively emphasising the difference between a team who plays the brand of football their coach wants and a team still figuring it out.
Two of the best attacking outlets in Tom Lawrence and Lachie Wales have been ruled outagain this week, leaving them thin on creative options in the final third.
Adding to the pain is the absence of Brian Kaltak, who will be serving a one-match suspension after being sent off in the 67th minute for a last man challenge on Ben Gibson.
In more positive news, Nicholas Pennington is back in the selection mix and the team will have the support of a large contingent of fans for the annual Tour of Duty.
Adelaide is in the midst of a good spell in form, only losing once in their past six. It’s a difficult start to a four-game stint on the road, a run of games which will ultimately define the Glory’s season.
Does Lebib finally get his chance?
The arrivals of Brian Kaltak and Scott Wootton to the backline has almost completely eliminated the opportunities for the club’s younger central defenders to get gametime under their belts.
The experienced pairing hadn’t missed a minute of the season up until Kaltak was shown red on Friday night. Due to this, a new centre back partnership will have to be formed.
Two candidates stand out. Unless a dramatic change is made in team selection, Scott Wootton’s partner will either be Zach Lisolajski or Andriano Lebib.
Lisolajski is the more likely option, having come off the bench to play alongside Wootton when Kaltak was shown his marching orders last week.
Lebib is a more like-for-like replacement for Kaltak; his speed & athleticism would better complement Wootton’s no-nonsense style of defending.
The youngster has seemingly fallen down the pecking order under Griffiths, with just two appearances totalling an hour of game time for the season thus far.
The path he is going down is very similar to Kaelan Majekodunmi, who impressed early doors before fading away into the background.
If the 20-year-old doesn’t get any minutes this week, it’s unlikely we’ll see him in a Glory shirt again. Which is a disappointment, given the potential he displayed in his debut season.
Who is creating the chances?
It’s the biggest question mark going into the final stage of the season, and it’s even more prevalent when some of the big names are out of action.
Adam Taggart and Jaiden Kucharski were completely starved of the ball and shots on goalagainst the Jets.
Each man had one shot and 22 touches in total. Taggart’s shot was blocked from longe range, and Kucharski’s came from a corner late in the first half.
Someone needs to feed them the ball. Whether it’s from the central midfielders or out wide, one or more of them need to assume responsibility and lift their game.
Pennington returning is a bonus. Whether he plays centrally or on the left, it will be an upgrade on Luca Tevere, who was admittedly thrown into the deep end and struggled.
Stef Colakovski has been useful off the bench, but by now he should be ready to start. With two goals and an assist in 112 minutes, he appears to be a man who could take that mantle.
My eyes will be on those two in particular. For the Glory to go out and win at Coopers Stadium, they need to be effective.
And for the Glory girls…
Have they got the resolve to win on the road?
Stephen Peters’ side doesn’t know when to quit. Just when it looked as if their finals hopes were on the cusp of slipping away, they found a way to return to the winners list and close the gap on the top six to within three points.
Saturday has massive ramifications for the women’s side. It’s their last game against a team currently below them on the table and if they win, depending on other results, they could find themselves in the top six going into the Asian Cup break.
Make or break time has arrived, and if this team is serious about breaking their finals hoodoo, the only option is to go to Newcastle and pick up a second away win of the season.
With the talent and character in the group, I have no doubt they are capable of doing it. The recent away form has improved without a positive result to show for it. This is the game to turn that around, and go into the final four rounds with bounds of confidence and momentum.
Predicted lineup
Taggart – Kucharski
Colakovski – Freney – Pennington – Despotovski
Sutton – Wootton – Lebib – Shamoon
Sutton
All images courtesy of Tom McCarthy.
