Perth Glory’s best chance of achieving grand final success against Brisbane on Sunday relies on them taking some risks and playing attacking football, according to the Hyundai A-League’s most successful captain, Kevin Muscat.
Perth Glory’s best chance of achieving grand final success against Brisbane on Sunday relies on them taking some risks and playing attacking football, according to the Hyundai A-League’s most successful captain, Kevin Muscat.
Muscat, who wore the armband in Victory’s two championship successes in 2007 and 2009, as well as in the beaten 2010 side, said there was little point in Glory, who go into the match as huge outsiders, trying to hold out Brisbane and attempting to score a late winner.
“It’s been well documented what Brisbane are good at. They like the opportunity to get forward as much as they can and get as high as possible at every opportunity. From Perth’s point of view, they need to gamble,” Muscat, now an assistant coach at Victory, said.
“If Perth just sit back and try to defend with back four and five in midfield like they have played for most of the season, albeit with (Steven) McGarry in there, who hasn’t played in the last few weeks, that will be their biggest downfall.”
He said that Ian Ferguson must implore his players to take advantage of Brisbane’s preference for pushing their full backs high up the park and exploit the home side down the wings.
“The fact Brisbane’s full backs both get forward at the same time. They (Perth) have got to gamble from the outset, rather than leave it too late, it might be all over then,” he said.
“They should leave Travis Dodd and Andrezinho, assuming he is fit, out wide and say, ‘you can attack, but as soon as you win the ball, we are going to flick it outside to our wingers and your full backs will be out of position’.
“That’s their best chance of winning the game. It’s a bit of a gamble, but from where I see it, if they sit back and hope to defend and hold Brisbane out, they will lose anyway. I hope they do roll the dice, from the point of view of it being a spectacle.”
Meanwhile, Grant Brebner, who played alongside Muscat in those two championship-winning teams, feels Brisbane are vulnerable because of their involvement in the group stages of the AFC Champions League.
“I just feel that the Asian Champions League does take its toll on the body and Perth have snuck through to the final without much recognition, they’ve gone about their business very well,” he said.
“Last year we saw Brisbane dominated the season and for 88 minutes of the final, they all but lost the final. Perth will go alright.”
Both men were speaking at a Melbourne Victory business function which was notable for the fact club chairman Anthony Di Pietro did not address the guests.
Di Pietro is in the midst of overseeing the appointment of a new coach, with Brisbane’s Ange Postecoglou tipped to step into the hot seat as the club’s fourth coach in 14 months.
