Perth coach Ian Ferguson believes the pressure is all on Brisbane this weekend as the Roar look to set a new Australian unbeaten games record against the Glory on Saturday night.
Perth coach Ian Ferguson believes the pressure is all on Brisbane this weekend as the Roar look to set a new Australian unbeaten games record against the Glory on Saturday night./b>
The reigning premiers have gone 35 matches without a loss through last week’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle, a record that equals the efforts of the Eastern Suburbs Roosters from way back in 1937 when they played in the NSW Rugby Football League.
Already, there seems to be nerves in the Brisbane camp as they close in on such a momentous record after goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos and defender Ivan Franjic were involved in a scuffle during training on Friday.
But news of unrest among the Roar playing squad is music to the ears of Glory coach Ferguson, who can afford to be somewhat more relaxed.
“There’s no pressure on us,” said Ferguson from Brisbane on Friday.
“Obviously a lot of pressure on Brisbane to try and get that win over to make history.”
“It feels as if we’ve come to a party we’re not invited to.”
“So we want to obviously go out there and try and disrupt that and try and do the best we can and hopefully we can get a victory.”
Since his 10-man side bravely came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Melbourne Victory last weekend, Ferguson’s spent plenty of time on his laptop watching Brisbane’s matches this season in a bid to find their flaws.
And all that watching has just convinced him of how important it is to not only get the structure right against the Roar, but also maintain it for an entire game.
“I’ve watched every team play against them now and no matter what they do, their tactics whether it’s over the top, whether it’s down the lines or whether it’s high pressure or low pressure, we’ve got to make sure that we’re switched on and ready to go.”
“There’s a lot of teams come out and try to put a high press on them straight away and … you’re going to run out of steam further down the line.”
“So we’ve got to be smart about what we do and make sure we don’t get pulled all over the place and make sure that we keep our structure and keep the intensity for 90 minutes as best we can and we don’t run out of steam.”
The Glory will be without two big names however as Liam Miller is suspended and Mile Sterjovski is in Perth with his wife for the birth of their third child.
“Don’t get me wrong, we will miss them, but it’s opportunities for somebody else to come in there and hopefully they can, that’s why you’ve got 23 in your squad and hopefully they can take that chance,” Ferguson said.
Despite losing Miller and Sterjovski, Glory captain Jacob Burns said the side is brimming with belief after their inspirational display against the Victory.
“The boys are full of confidence,” declared Burns.
“The pressure’s really on Brissie you know, they’re the ones to set the new record, it’s three points for us at the end of the day so hopefully we’re the ultimate party poopers.”
