FFA Cup Review – Not So Glorious Night In Adelaide
After 5 months of hard work, late winners and cracking goals, the inaugural FFA Cup Final came to a slightly underwhelming end (unless you’re an Adelaide fan).
Despite both Adelaide United and Perth Glory being towards the top end of the table, the final was a one-sided affair. The Reds, backed by a fervent home crowd, took the game by the scruff of the neck and the 1-0 scoreline flattered Perth Glory. Despite being a man down for the final 30 minutes (during which time Cirio wriggled his way through the defence to score the decisive goal), the writing was on the wall for the visitors long before that.
The most disappointing aspect about the Glory was they did not play to their best. They looked like a different team to the one who came back from a goal down to beat Sydney away two weeks ago. This was not the team who prevailed 4-2 in extra time over Melbourne Victory, many people’s tip for the Premiership. Kenny Lowe set up his side defensively, in an effort to counter Adelaide’s bountiful attacking options. However, it ended up being their undoing.
Whilst the central defensive pairing of Michael Thwaite and Dino Djulbic (along with goalkeeper Danny Vukovic) did their best to repel wave after wave of attacks, it was their full backs who were exploited most. Josh Risdon and Scott Jamieson have been two of Glory’s best players this season, but they were below par on Tuesday night. Their poor performances were one of the main reasons the Glory’s game suffered, both defending and attacking. The United’s wingers, Awer Mabil and Cirio, did what they have done so often this season and beat hapless full backs with their pace and guile. The Glory pair, normally sound defensively, were slow to close down their Adelaide counterparts, which saw them exploited time and time again. So much of Adelaide’s gameplan was to use the wings to their maximum effect; Perth’s inability to close down and Cirio and Mabil (and Fabio Ferreria when he was introduced) saw Risdon sent off for two clumsy yellow card offences and allowed Adelaide to stretch and penetrate Glory’s defence.
Almost as critical was the reluctance of Risdon and Jamieson to join in with the attack. Perth settled for long balls forward into Andy Keogh (one of the few Perth players who can hold his head high despite a lack of service), attempting to catch out the Adelaide defence (which resulted in one chance for Richard Garcia which Adelaide keeper Eugene Galekvoic did very well to stop). 20% of the Glory’s passes were deemed long balls, which leaves no illusions about their gameplan. There was not enough ball retention in the midfield or enough movement in the front third, leaving Keogh isolated and frustrated. Glory has been at their most dangerous going forward this season when Risdon and Jamieson have joined in. Their overlapping runs have allowed the Glory wingers to move inside and work off Keogh, whilst also freeing up space for the fullbacks to whip in a cross. Neither full back strayed too far forward, limiting Glory’s attacking impetus. Whilst they did so in an effort to prevent Adelaide’s speedsters from getting the jump on them, it also allowed the Red’s own fullbacks Tarek Elrich and Michael Marrone, to get forward and cause problems.
Rostyn Griffiths, Perth’s best player this season, also looked out of sorts. His duel with Marcelo Carussca in the middle of the park was highlighted as a battle that would go a long way to deciding the Cup Final. Griffiths was sloppy, uncharacteristically misplacing passes and failing to nullify the Argentinian’s attacking threat. In contrast, Carrusca held possession of the ball and looked to release the wingers when possible. It was his jinking run that led to Cirio’s winner, dancing round the Glory defence as if they were mannequins.
He was aided all game by his fellow central midfielders, the outstanding Isiais (who racked up over 90 passes), Jimmy Jeggo and later Cameron Watson. Josep Gombau’s possession-based game has done wonders for the team in his 18 months in charge; Tuesday night saw the Spaniard’s philosophy come to fruition. Adelaide’s midfield three were allowed to control the game and play it on their own terms. They didn’t have to worry about starting play in their own half, as the Glory sat back and invited the Reds to come at them. The trio passed the ball between them, into the feet of Bruce Djite up front, out to the wing, and back out to the other wing if needed, constantly stretching the Glory’s defense. The stats tell their own story; Adelaide had 257 more passes than Perth, and only 10% of them were long.
They were helped by the fact Glory’s own central three (Griffiths, Ruben Zadkovich and Nebojsa Marinkovic) let them have too much time on the ball. When Zadkovich attempted to close them down, he flew in rashly and allowed the likes of Carrusca and Isiais to easily sidestep him. None of the three were able to have much influence on the Glory’s attacking forays, and it became apparent how big a loss the injured Mitch Nichols was to the visitors. Whilst he does not have the work-rate of his replacement Zadkovich, his link play with Keogh was missed, as was his creativity in the final third. Marinkovic generally does good things when he moves the ball, he isn’t a box-to-box midfielder and doesn’t receive possession enough to have a major influence on games.
In the end, Adelaide should count themselves unhappy they did not win by more. Mabil spurned two gilt-edged chances, something which is becoming a worrying habit for the Reds. But mostly, it is a job well done for Gombau and his charges. This team could well complete a historic treble next year, based on performances like this. For the second time this year, they outplayed the league leaders. Their defence was barely tested, with the likes of Keogh, Garcia, Danny De Silva and later Sidnei were forced to feed off scraps. Their midfield three took control of the game and kept possession with ease, allowing their wingers to get in behind enemy lines and cause havoc for the defence. On the other hand, the Glory will lick their wounds and look to assess what went wrong. By setting up defensively, they significantly limited their own chances to win.
Goals win games, and Perth rarely looked like scoring.
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