After enduring two losses in their opening two matches of the new A-League Men season, many were doubting what was possible for Perth Glory and Head Coach Adam Griffiths.
However a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Newcastle Jets in Matchweek 4 has seen the Glory string back-to-back wins together having thrashed Adelaide United 4-0 the week before.
Those two wins have seen Griffiths’ side move up to fifth on the ladder heading into the international break, giving fans plenty to be optimistic about ahead of Matchweek 5.
So what’s been the key?
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A-Leagues legend Kosta Barbarouses worked closely with Griffiths during his time at Wellington Phoenix where the Glory boss previously worked as an assistant coach.
Barbarouses joined A-League Championship winner Erik Paartalu and host James Dodd on the latest episode of A-Leagues: On the Whistle.
“It’s just a trademark Adam Griffiths sort of performance,” Barbarouses said following Glory’s 2-1 win which saw them have just 28% possession during the 90 minutes.
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“You know, even my time together with him at Wellington, his firm belief was defending the box with your life.
“We would have sessions where us front four would go off and do our stuff there [and] he’d have the back six – rinse and repeat of wave of attacks, counter attacks coming at them, hitting your zones in the six yard box, 18 yard box.
“I wouldn’t be involved with much of it. But whenever I’d see it, I’d see they’re training way harder than us back there.
“So it just seems like he probably would have been more worried than I was in round one against Brisbane, and thought I really needed to knuckle down at this.
“Look, maybe it comes with availability. Obviously, when you’ve got someone like Kucharski who’s fit and can whack a ball from 20 yards out. It’s fantastic.
“But they’ve got the the traits of players to play on the counter attack. So the last couple games, it’s working really well for them.”
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After suffering defeats against both Macarthur FC and Brisbane Roar in the opening two matchweeks the Glory have certainly tightened things up at the back and that’s been seen via a more pragmatic approach.
Against the Bulls and Roar Griffiths’ side enjoyed 49% and 43% possession respectively, with both games coming on the road and both games ending in defeat.
A look at their last two matches against both Adelaide (4-0 win) and Newcastle (2-1 win), Griffiths’ side adopted a much different approach: soak up the pressure and play on the counter attack, with their possession percentages from both games totalling 35% and 28% respectively.
“When you look at a coach that you go 70-30 % or 80-20% [possession] you go, gee, Millsy must be a much better coach than Adam Griffiths [as] he’s got a team playing that way,” Paartalu added when discussing the Glory performance.
“Actually, you don’t know what’s harder sometimes because I’ve played in both, and it sucks not having the ball.
“But if you’re winning and you’ve got guys on the counter, or you’ve got guys that can dribble and shoot from distance and get your results, there’s another side of the game, which is football and defending and tackling and reading and moving.
“That’s the beautiful game.”
Next up for the Glory is an away trip to the Central Coast Mariners in Matchweek 5 of the League Men season following the resumption of the FIFA International window.
