Hope is nearly all lost. On a day when the Glory boys could have put themselves within arms reach of the top six with a nice run home to come, they failed miserably on a sunny day in Wellington.
There’s no other way to put it; one shot on target against the team with the worst defence in the league, who hadn’t tasted victory since January, is nothing short of disgraceful.
Good will for Adam Griffiths is running extremely thin. When making finals becomesmathematically impossible, he will still have something at stake: his job for next season.
To pull of the impossible, the Glory will have to win four if not all of their remaining fixtures. Based on the evidence from the last month, it appears an insurmountable task.
The Glory girls suffered a setback in their push for a finals berth, going down 2-1 to Adelaide where spurned chances cost them at least a point.
Back at home today, the pressure has never been higher. Win and they’re back in fifth, whereas a loss will leave them eighth with two to play.
Over in Sydney, the Matildas face the biggest challenge of their Asian Cup journey, taking on tournament favourites Japan in the final at Stadium Australia.
I thought last weekend was massive in terms of the ramifications for the Tillies and the Glory.It’s club defining and generational defining this time around.
For the Glory boys…
What’s the response going to be?
Words don’t have much meaning when they’re repeatedly contradicted by less than sufficient actions. The Glory hierarchy is a prime example of this.
Adam Griffiths has called for his players to rebound from the Wellington defeat with a positive response and a big performance in front of the Glory fans.
Recent history between Perth and Melbourne City has been mixed. The Glory have won two of the last three meetings in Perth, with the loss being a 5-0 drubbing.
Most recently, Tom Lawrence’s hattrick led to a 3-1 win at AAMI Park, avenging a 4-0 defeat at the same venue in Round 2.
City have overwhelmingly underperformed in the league this season, but are firmly in the hunt to make the finals and are coming off a 1-0 win on the road against Sydney.
Getting the job done will be no mean feat. City have damaging talent all over the pitch, and no shortage of good options to bring on late in the game.
It is simply a must win game. Not just for faint finals hopes, but for the morale of the entire club and its fanbase. Anything less than the big performance promised will be disastrous in the aftermath.
For the Glory girls…
What defensive shifts will be made?
Stephen Peters will be glad to be back home for two of the final three matches of the ALW regular season, with the finals race heating up intensely.
The Glory girls will back themselves in at the Sam Kerr Football Centre, a venue where they’ve only lost at once this season, to the ladder leaders Melbourne City.
Defensive adjustments will be required for today’s game against the Mariners, with Nat Tathem ruled out with injury and Onyi Zogg suspended after being shown red late on against Adelaide.
Mischa Anderson is almost guaranteed to be one of the inclusions, most likely lining up at centre back. My guess would be Tijan McKenna stays on the left, with Emma Tovar coming into the back four.
The game at Coopers Stadium was a missed opportunity. Rola Badawiya fired the Glory into an early lead, capping off a strong start to the contest.
The Reds were able to wrestle control back, and got into the lead with a couple of goals which should have been dealt with better.
Isabel Gomez is at the heart of all the good things the Mariners do. Curtailing her influence is the key, in a game where the Glory’s ability to deal with pressure will be revealed.
For the Matildas…
Can they pull off an upset?
Perth was a happy hunting ground for the Matildas in the knockout stages, overcoming North Korea at Perth Rectangular Stadium in a game where they were outplayed for the majority of the match.
At Perth Stadium on Tuesday, the Tillies put on their best showing under Joe Montemurro, going ahead with a lovely team goal finished by Caitlin Foord.
A soft penalty allowed China to equalise, setting up the stage for Sam Kerr to be the hero with the match-winning goal.
In the final, they go in as the underdogs against a Japanese outfit who have been the clear standout team of the tournament, scoring at will whilst only conceding once.
Tonight will be more similar to the North Korea game than the China semi. Japan are going to dominate possession and have more shots. Whether we like it or not, the Matildas will have to rely on defensive stability and individual quality up front.
The teams have met in the final twice previously, in 2014 and 2018, with Japan coming out on top both times 1-0.
This is the best chance the golden generation has of lifting a trophy, and it could be the last time any of them play an international final on home soil.
In the immortal words of Eminem: “you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime”.
Predicted lineup (Glory)
Kucharski – Colakovski
Pennington – Freney – De Abreu – Tevere
Sutton – Wootton – Kaltak – Shamoon
Sutton
Predicted lineup (Matildas)
Foord – Kerr – Fowler
Gorry – Kennedy – Cooney-Cross
Torpey – Catley – Hunt – Carpenter
Arnold
All images courtesy of Tom McCarthy.
