Perth Glory goalkeeper Oli Sail says self-reflection and resilience have been key to overcoming several mistakes that have cost his side goals through his first two years at the club.
The 29-year-old New Zealand international joined Perth in March 2023 after nearly a decade spent at Wellington Phoenix. While at the ‘Nix, Sail became the club’s vice-captain and cemented himself as one of the squad’s most important players.
But through his first season-and-a-half in the west, Sail’s performances have often come under scrutiny due to mistakes that have led to opposition goals – mistakes he confronted this week in an honest reflection on his Perth Glory form.
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Sail’s latest keeping error led to Central Coast Mariners teen Haine Eames’ equalising goal in a 1-1 draw with Perth in Round 19 – but the experienced gloveman backed up that performance with a man-of-the-match display against Sydney FC in which his incredible late double save earned Perth a point.
“Coming off the back of a clean sheet is always nice,” Sail said.
“Leading into that there was the game at home where I made a mistake, but it’s part of footy, and I’m a pretty resilient guy.
“It knocked me around for 24 hours, I sulked at home and I kind of moped around a little bit – but I was back in on Monday flying and doing my job at training, so it didn’t hold me down a lot.”
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“It’s part of the job. You make a mistake, it’s exposed and it generally costs you a little bit more than potentially in other positions. That’s the way it goes,” he continued.
“Coming in here, I was brought in to do a job and there was probably a level of expectation, which I’m glad I had. I guess when you make mistakes and people have that level of expectation, it warrants criticism.
“Unfortunately for me, the group here and the club, I guess my mistakes over the last couple of years have all kind of come at once. I didn’t really make any at Wellington for, I don’t know, 85-odd games or whatever it was, and I’ve made a few here. I guess it compounds the criticism there a little bit, but people are entitled to their opinions and it doesn’t really faze me, to be honest.
“I’ve sat down and thought about it a lot and tried to work through things. My processes have never changed, my training habits, my applications have never changed, my preparations. A new environment obviously brings new challenges and we have been a team under pressure, probably, a lot more as well.
“When you’re playing games and you’re expected to make five or six saves instead of two, three or four saves, it obviously increases the risks of making a mistake that’s going to cost goals. That’s part and parcel of the game. It’s about me being able to move on from those mistakes and following on to the next action, and also preparing for games to come to me a little bit more.
“I think I’ve come to terms with it, and hopefully, the performances follow.”
Sail is in the second year of a three-year deal at Glory – a club in transition following an off-season transfer spree and a mid-season exodus that saw seven players depart as new head coach David Zdrilic and football director Stan Lazaridis to overhaul the squad.
There were rumours of a potential Sail exit in the January transfer window but when asked to address the possibility of leaving the club, the keeper keenly stated those rumours were off the mark.
“Those discussions and rumblings came from your end,” he told reporters. “Not you specifically, but they weren’t rumblings within here. They were rumblings from outside.
“I didn’t really have anything involved in that.”
Sail and Perth travel to CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon to face a red-hot Western Sydney Wanderers outfit in the final game of Round 21. Glory are playing for pride in the backend of the 2024-25 season, with a five-point gap over last-placed Brisbane Roar and an eight-point margin to Wellington above them in 11th.
The Wanderers are unbeaten in four games and riding high after a dominant 4-0 win over Central Coast last time out – a result that saw them break into the top six. But young forward Nicolas Milanovic will be absent from the Wanderers squad this weekend after collecting five yellow cards, resulting in a suspension to the 23-year-old.
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