‘He’s getting better and better’: Pierias’ versatility impresses Rudan as goalscoring form rolls on

Western United boss Mark Rudan admired the development of versatile youngster Dylan Pierias after the 21-year-old scored his fifth goal of the 2020/21 A-League campaign against Macarthur FC on Saturday afternoon.

Pierias was an inaugural member of United’s 2019/20 A-League squad, signing in July of 2019 from Melbourne City – the club with which he became the first player born in the 21st century to feature in the A-League on debut for City against Brisbane Roar as a 16-year-old in February, 2017.

Pierias was made to wait more than two years for his next A-League start, granted to him by Rudan for United against Wellington Phoenix in December, 2019.

The electric defender has since grown in significance with each performance leading to the present day, as Pierias leads United’s scoring with five goals in the 2020/21 campaign, equal with seasoned marksman Besart Berisha.

Pierias scored his fifth of the campaign in style on Saturday afternoon, putting his side ahead of the Bulls with a punishing strike off his non-preferred left foot, cutting in off the right flank to hammer the ball into the top left corner.

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United went on to lose the game 2-1, but on a disappointing day for the club Rudan was able to reflect on the growth his promising young defender has made under his watch in the Green and Black.

“He was good. Like I said, he’s very good in transition and he’s improved a lot in the 20 months that we’ve worked with him,” Rudan told the press after the 2-1 defeat.

“I was really happy and pleased for him to have scored another goal, albeit from (the) right-hand side which is always harder to score rather than when he plays through that central corridor, or up front where he scored a couple of goals against Perth.

He continues to develop, and he’s getting better and better.

“That’s the side we wanted to overload and try and get Dylan free, and we did that.

“He then has options, either shoot like he did and scores, or he’s got three different areas to cross from.

“He got the goal and well deserved, but like I said thereafter we didn’t defend as well as we should’ve.”

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After Pierias put United ahead against the Bulls, the promising start to the contest unfortunately came unstuck when Macarthur mounted a comeback to claim a 2-1 win at Campbelltown Stadium.

The result left United in eighth position on the A-League table, ahead of a clash with Brisbane Roar (seventh) on the road in Matchweek 14.

Rudan says he isn’t feeling pressure ahead of his side’s next A-League outing, but he has identified a need to snap a two-game losing streak away from home.

“Not pressure, but we certainly need to win outside of Victoria – we haven’t done that so far this year,” he said.

“It’s going to be a tough schedule, we’ve got a lot of (away) games coming up as well so we need to turn that around.

“For me it’s basically the mentality, that’s all it is. Irrespective of whether you’re at home or away, we need to start turning and getting results away from home.”

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