Brett who? – It’s not out of disrespect, but Gold Coast United won’t be paying Sydney FC marquee man Brett Emerton any special attention on Sunday.
Instead of nullifying the likes of Emerton and fellow playmaker Nicky Carle, United coach Miron Bleiberg has instead chosen to focus on readying his ‘fearless’ young troops to go for the jugular.
“I swear to god I haven’t mentioned the word Emerton all week,” he said. “We’re facing Sydney in Sydney, not Emerton.”
“He’s a good player with a reputation. He hasn’t scored so far and one day, he will score and hopefully it’ll be next week.”
“We’re fearless, this season. We’ve got a lot of young guys and we don’t tell them what to expect this season, that because Emerton is playing they should be careful.”
“They’re going for a win. They don’t care.”
Normally, when it comes to games like Sunday’s fixture at the SFS, Bleiberg would be more than happy to set up to frustrate the hosts and play for the draw.
But after stuttering their way through consecutive draws against Wellington and Central Coast – followed by a 3-0 loss to crosstown rivals Brisbane – he explained it was out of necessity that they would go for the full three points on offer.
“To go to Sydney and get a point – there’s nothing wrong with that,” Bleiberg said.
“Had we got three points against the Mariners or Wellington in the first two rounds, I’d be happy with a point.”
“My original plan was to have seven points by now. I predicted three points against Wellington and it didn’t work out – then we almost snatched it against the Mariners and it didn’t work.”
“We’re two points behind, so because of the situation, we have to go for a win or we’ll slip to the bottom of the table. That’s the calculations, as simple as that.”
Helping his calculations is the availability of young gun Ben Halloran, who was left out of last weekend’s 3-1 triumph over Newcastle despite overcoming an ankle injury.
But what part he plays in Sunday’s match remains to be seen.
Bleiberg has a full quota of attacking stars to pick from aside from Halloran, with marksmen Dylan Macallister and Maceo Rigters in top form and newly-crowned NAB Young Player of the Month James Brown showing no signs of slowing down after a stunning start to the season.
That’s a defensive headache the United boss is delighted to have.
“I’m not sure if he’ll be part of the first XI but he’ll be part of the game,” he said of Halloran.
“Or maybe we play with four strikers? 4-2-4, like Brazil in 1956,” Bleiberg beamed.
