What a week it has been. When news filtered out on Tuesday night of the sacking of David Zdrilic, the immediate reaction was surprise at the timing of the announcement with very little shock at the final decision.
Reports suggested he would have until January to prove his worth. He was backed for a second year at the helm and given a full pre-season to prepare his squad for a finals push.
Just two games in, the rug has been pulled. While the focus from fans and media shifts onto the potential replacements, the squad must turn their attention to Friday’s blockbuster clash with Melbourne Victory.
Both sides are under the pump, and would desperately love a first win of the season to kickstart their campaigns. One will get the chocolates; the other will leave with egg on their face.
In the announcement on Tuesday, it was revealed members of the existing support staff would take charge of the team while a new replacement is sought out.
Adam Griffiths looks to be the man who assumes the main coaching responsibilities; choosing how his side lines up this week will be of great intrigue.
The back three/five has been utilised in the opening two games. It hasn’t worked out, but thesquad has been working on playing in that system for most of the pre-season.
Change has been a buzzword this week; there needs to be a switch, which is why reverting to a standard back four would be the wisest move in my opinion.
The formation and the lineup requires tinkering, and this game is a free hit for the interim coaching staff to try something new without copping too much flak for it.
Move Lachie Wales further up the pitch, add a third midfielder to the starting eleven. Do something different, see what happens. It can’t be any worse than we saw against Melbourne City.
Tom Lawrence – Will he terrorise the Victory backline?
There was bad news on the injury front. Luke Amos and Nicholas Pennington remain unavailable. Joel Anasmo won’t be back, and he’s been joined by Jaiden Kucharski, who left the field early against City with a groin injury.
Overall, it doesn’t look good. On the bright side, the sole positive was the word about Tom Lawrence. He is expected to make his debut; visa sorted and ready to go on the pitch after another full week of training.
A starting debut is unlikely, but a man can dream. If he does get minutes on Friday night, all eyes will be on the Welsh international to see if he truly is the signing Glory fans have been calling out for since the departure of Diego Castro.
The Victory backline weren’t great against the Jets in round two. The prospect of Lawrence and Adam Taggart coming at them will cause them headaches.
As good a chance as it is for Victory to notch a win, the Glory should also go in with confidence knowing Victory are vulnerable and there for the taking. If Lawrence lives up to the hype, he will take advantage.
And for the Glory girls…
Can they break the away hoodoo immediately?
The A-League women’s season gets underway this weekend, with the Glory travelling to Sydney to take on the Wanderers.
Western Sydney finished bottom of the table last time out and lost their two biggest goal threats in Sophie Harding and Sienna Saveska.
Glory also didn’t make finals, missing out once again after performing well at home and miserably away, failing to win a game on the road.
The majority of the squad has been retained, a massive bonus which should help the team in their bid to get back into the top six.
A couple of fine additions have been made in the form of Emma Tovar, signed from Valencia, and star striker Rola Badawiya, coming in from Braga in Portugal.
If Stephen Peters seriously wants to contend for finals, the away form needs to be rectified. What better way to do so than by picking up three points at the first time of asking.
Predicted lineup
Taggart
Despotovski – Lawrence – Wales
Timmins – Bozinovski
Shamoon – Wootton – Kaltak – Risdon
Sutton
All images courtesy of Tom McCarthy.
