The impacts of COVID mean this is shaping up to be one of the most difficult preseasons Perth Glory has ever faced. They currently have an assistant coach, and five imports in quarantine, whilst new coach Alex Epakis has only been out of quarantine himself for a fortnight.

Without a pandemic, Epakis would have expected to have had a long pre-season under his belt to introduce his playing style and get to know his squad, but COVID has removed all of this preparation. The full squad has yet to have had a full training session together so the enormity of the task facing Epakis cannot be overstated.

Ins and Outs

The departures of Kim Carroll, Leticia McKenna and Morgan Aquino to Brisbane Roar, Isabella Foletta to Canberra United and the loss of last season’s international and interstate imports has forced the club to recruit heavily to make up the shortfall. Players have been brought in from NZ and NSW. While they are all highly credentialled, they will still need time to get to grips with their new environment, their new team mates and their new coach. With the new season only 10 days away and only 16 contracted players, there are still more signings to come and sources within the club suggest they will be coming from local ranks.

Ins:

  • Lily Alfeld (Auckland Football Federation)
  • Liz Anton (Auckland Football Federation)
  • Patricia Charalambous (Canberra United)
  • Deborah-Anne de la Harpe (APIA Leichhardt)
  • Sarah Morgan (Sydney University)
  • Malia Steinmetz (Northern Lights (NZ))
  • Marianna Tabain (MUM FC)

Outs:

Staying:

Strengths

It’s hard to pick an area on the field that stands out, simply because there are likely to be so many new faces in the first 11, but the choice of coach is definitely a positive for the season. Epakis is an impressive pick, and his record in the NSW NPLW shows that he knows what it takes to win. His teams are well-disciplined and tactically astute, and he will be expecting every single member of his squad to be fiercely competitive. His abilities are going to be tested to the limit though, and it will be interesting to see how the players react to his demands and methods.

New Perth Glory Coach Alex Epakis Image Neil Bennett

Challenges

Trying to introduce a new way of playing on a group of players who won’t train together physically until Christmas Eve at the earliest (and potentially later than that) means that the first game against Canberra is going to be incredibly difficult. If Glory doesn’t hit the ground running and in top form, then their season could well be over by the end of Jan. By this time they would have played Canberra (H), Brisbane (A), Newcastle (H), Melbourne Victory (A), Melbourne City (H) and Sydney (A). 

Key Players

Defence

The loss of Kim Carroll has left a massive hole in the centre of the Glory defence and it will be difficult to fill. New signing Liz Anton may well provide similar attributes to Carroll though. She is a good ball-playing centre back with international experience from the New Zealand Under-17, Under-20 and senior national team. 

Midfield

According to observers of the NPLW in NSW, Malia Steinmetz could be the signing of the season for Perth. The NZ international had an excellent season for Northern Tigers in 2019, and was named in the Beyond 90 2019 NSW Team of the Year. Perth fans can expect to see someone who plays the game in a similar vein to Shannon May – she has great technique, good passing range and is not afraid to do the hard yards in the engine room.

Northern Tigers celebrate Malia Steinmetz’s goal. Credit: Dan Ullman (Instagram – @aptitudephotography)

 

Attack

Last season, Perth Glory relied on goals from midfield – in particular Morgan Andrews – to help them win games. The loss of the American places pressure on Glory’s strikers to deliver the goods, and while Katarina Jukic won the golden boot in the NPLW last season, she was goalless in the 2019/20 season. Marianna Tabain is a proven goalscorer at this level with 27 goals, but her fitness is a major concern going into the campaign, so it may well be that new signing Deborah-Anne de la Harpe will be the spearhead.

“Deborah-Anne has been a player I have been aware of and tracking for some time” said coach Epakis when he recently spoke to Perth Glory’s media manager Gareth Morgan.

“I’ve coached against her in the WNPL NSW and have been impressed with her physical output and technical quality. She has a very mature mind-set and level of professionalism for someone so young and is very eager to make the most of her first W-League opportunity.”

Prediction

Given the lack of preparation, the lack of practice games and the unpredictable impacts of COVID, it’s hard to see this team improving on last seasons 7th place. If Epakis can’t get the team firing quickly, then the wooden spoon is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Neil Bennett
Neil Bennett
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