Defensive Disorganisation Sees Mariners Profit Against Lacklustre Glory

It was a tough day at the office for the Perth Glory, as the Central Coast Mariners defeated the Glory by 4 goals to 2 in a game that was marred by a few controversial moments.

I spoke about those decisions in my review for the Far Post Perth, but in all honesty, even if those calls went the Glory’s way, it was very unlikely that Alen Stajcic’s side would’ve come away from Gosford with the 3 points.

As shown by the stats courtesy of FotMob, despite not having the lion’s share of possession, the Mariners dominated the Glory.

The fact the Mariners were able to accumulate that high of an xG is concerning.

So how exactly did Mark Jackson’s side pull apart the Glory?

The Mariners’ penetrative passing and wide overloads were particularly effective in breaking the Glory’s 4–4–2 defensive shape down.

As a defensive unit, particularly when they’re in a block, the Glory are really passive, where players are often caught too square, either due to poor positioning or lack of awareness.

Mark Beevers was filling in for Aleksandar Šušnjar, where they had swapped positions.

As shown by the illustrations in the image, Beevers was caught too narrow to his man, allowing a big gap for Marco Túlio to exploit.

Fortunately, the Glory co-captain was able to recover in time by blocking the Brazillian’s shot, however, it was a prelude for things to come.

Not even 10 seconds later, and the Mariners were very close to going a goal up.

Josh Nisbet, who was a standout performer in the game, won the ball off Salim Khelifi, who then found Túlio in a similar position.

The Brazillian then fired a low cross to the edge of the box to an unmarked Max Balard, whose placed shot cannoned off the post.

The Glory’s lack of defensive urgency, intensity and more specifically attention to detail was apparent from the off.

In that situation alone, players were walking or either passively applying the pressure.

Going forward, however, there were a few good moments, notably with how both goals were scored.

The Glory’s first goal was a product of good combination play down their right-hand side, as Luke Ivanovic, Stefan Colakovski and Johnny Koutroumbis combined well to find Adam Taggart at the back post.

Taggart is a really good penalty box striker, as his movement is one of the best in the A-League. He’s nimble, alert and clever, as in this example, he was able to get on the blindside of Dan Hall where he then had a really easy finish.

It was a really well-constructed goal, as that cross from Johnny Koutroumbis was a striker’s dream.

Unfortunately, that’s where the joy ended for the Glory in the first half.

The Mariners equalised about 10 minutes later, and the goal was a product of a problem that the Glory have failed to effectively deal with since the start of the season; stop transitions.

For me, at times in possession, the Glory’s midfield pushes too high, which then leaves our backline somewhat exposed.

Now both Giordano Colli and Oliver Bozanic are decent midfielders in their own right, but I believe they are somewhat set up to fail when there’s no defensive cover behind them.

They’re central midfielders that want to go forward, that’s their natural game, it’s not really either’s best strength to play with that discipline needed to be a defensive midfielder.

So in the below example, both were up quite high looking to compress the Mariners in their own half, but the counter-press got broken pretty easily.

Josh Nisbet, again, was at the heart of a positive attacking move for the Mariners, as he was able to get the ball to the open side to find Jacob Farrell.

Farrell was able to gain a good field position, where he then backtracked and found Nisbet.

The below graphic was another instance of subpar defensive organisation on the Glory’s part.

Nisbet had plenty of time on the ball, as Jacob Farrell made a run on the blindside of Luke Ivanovic, where he was then able to score from close range.

This goal was almost identical to the goal scored by Jack Clisby in the Glory’s loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Practically the same pattern of play — the winger drops deep, as the fullback pushes on, who is then found by the central midfielder, to then score from basically the same angle.

It’s an issue that Alen Stajcic and his coaching staff have to rectify quickly, as more teams seem to be catching on to this vulnerability to our defensive organisation.

The lack of intensity and combativeness across the board is somewhat of a concern as well, as the Mariners had quite a bit of joy in between the lines.

A good example can be seen below, as Ángel Torres was able to receive in between 4 Glory players. That is something that just cannot happen at any level.

In an ideal world, Johnny Koutroumbis reads the danger and is tight to press Torres, to force him backwards.

Instead the Colombian was able to turn and receive, where his low driven shot from distance was saved by Cam Cook.

It’s these small details, particularly in the Glory’s defensive organisation, where the team is putting itself under more duress and pressure than it should be.

The Mariners’ second goal probably shouldn’t have stood, due to a foul on Salim Khelifi however the Glory’s shape again got pulled apart.

A clever fake from Marco Túlio, saw a huge gap open in the midfield, as shown by the still below.

This then led to a 4v3 artificial transition for the Mariners, where after two attempts Alou Kuol was able to put the ball in the back of the net.

The passage of play that led to the Mariners’ third goal was just kamikaze positioning and execution on the Glory’s part.

The Glory, first and foremost, aren’t a very comfortable team in possession. When a team can press with intensity, the Glory often gift the ball away, either via a long ball or a misplaced pass.

The latter occurred, and this led to the below situation.

It was a great interception from Jacob Farrell, whose intervention found Alou Kuol, which then caused the 4v2 counterattack.

Mark Beevers then gave away a penalty, after VAR found that the strike from Marco Túlio deflected off his arm, to which the Brazillian then dispatched the subsequent penalty.

The Glory did start the second half much better, which has been another recurring theme this season, as Stefan Colakovski and Adam Taggart linked up brilliantly to see Colakovski reduce the deficit to just one goal, following a great strike from close range.

An intelligent flick from Taggart, brilliant control from Colakovski and then the cheek to pull off a trivela was magic. A really good finish from a player who’s had a brilliant start to this season.

From there, the Glory were trying to get back into the game and the effort was clear. The execution of fundamental skills though was shocking.

Misplaced passes or not winning 1v1 duels is killing the Glory at this moment, as there were multiple instances when either Josh Nisbet or Ángel Torres were able to run through the middle of the pitch, unchecked.

Below are two examples.

1) Josh Nisbet running through

2) Ángel Torres running through

The Glory play in a manner that’s way too open, and these situations have been occurring all season.

Like the Mariners’ second goal, their fourth goal was arguably the product of another foul not being called in the Glory’s favour, as Aleksandar Šušnjar was cleaned up by Max Balard which then caused a turnover.

The transition led to Balard striking on goal, and Mark Beevers again being adjudged to have used his arm, to which the captain was shown a second yellow card.

Marco Túlio then scored the penalty, to extend the Mariners’ lead, killing the game in some sense by making it 4–2.

So to summarise, below are my key takeaways from the game.

Mark Jackson’s Well-Executed Gameplan:

• Effective use of penetrative passing and wide overloads dismantled the Glory’s defensive structure.
• Dominated statistically, particularly in expected goals (xG), 4.28 to 2.15.

Glory’s Defensive Vulnerabilities:

• Defensive lapses, poor positioning, and passive pressure allowed the Mariners to exploit gaps.
• Transition issues and a lack of defensive discipline in midfield exposed the backline.

Execution Challenges for the Glory:

• Despite moments of attacking promise, Glory struggled with fundamental skills.
• Misplaced passes and losing 1v1 duels created vulnerabilities, impacting overall performance.

Controversial Moments and VAR Decision:

• Controversial calls, including potentially overlooked fouls, added to the Glory’s challenges.
• VAR decisions involved in a few of the Mariners’ goals, contributed to the final 4–2 defeat.