Perth Glory head coach David Zdrilic says Cristian Caicedo was left out of his squad for Sunday’s loss to Melbourne Victory due to a combination of his defensive work rate, and his reaction to being substituted in last weekend’s draw with Adelaide United.
Caicedo came off the bench for Glory in his side’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 6 draw with the Reds but was hooked in second-half stoppage time by Zdrilic.
Visibly upset by the decision, Caicedo walked straight down the tunnel at Coopers Stadium without acknowledging Zdrilic or the Glory bench.
MATCH REPORT: Victory cruise to routine win & send Glory to brink of unwanted club record
This weekend, Glory travelled to Melbourne to take on Victory at AAMI Park, and Caicedo did not feature in the matchday squad; post-game, Zdrilic was asked whether Caicedo’s absence was forced due to injury or a deliberate choice.
“Yeah, I left him out this week,” Zdrilic said.
“What we need from any of the players, you can see that defensively we need to be very strong – that’s first and foremost. We have to understand that in this moment, particularly in a couple of the games we conceded way too many goals. So defensively is a big focus for us. It always is, but in this situation, I’m choosing payers that are going to give us that first.”
Zdrilic was then asked to confirm whether Caicedo was not selected for his aforementioned defensive work rate, or as a result of his reaction to last weekend’s substitution.
“A bit of both,” Zdrilic said.
“But for me, a lot was made of that last week but it’s very clear, it’s simple for me: just because a player comes on, doesn’t mean they can’t come off. And to be honest, it could have happened today as well.
“If a player gives everything they have, and if that’s 20 minutes or 30 minutes, then he comes off. It doesn’t matter if he played the whole game or he came on for 20 or 30 minutes. So for me, it’s very simple… he couldn’t do the defensive work anymore, and then we changed him. If it was someone else, I’d do the same thing again.
“If he trains well, everyone is available. But again it’s two parts of the game. Going forward, (he’s) clearly excellent but you see the flow of the game today, it’s very difficult for us to get a foot on the ball, we had to defend a lot of moments and we need players who can do that.
“I think the guys out there were under a lot of pressure today, so it was very difficult.”
Defeat to Victory on Sunday afternoon extended Glory’s winless run to 17 games – a streak stretching back to Round 18 of the 2023-24 season. If Zdrilic’s side fail to beat Newcastle Jets at home in Round 8, they will equal the club’s longest-ever winless run of 18 games recorded between December, 2006 and November, 2007.
MATCH REPORT: Victory cruise to routine win & send Glory to brink of unwanted club record
