06 Oct Football Nation Season Preview: Perth Glory

Overview:

 A great season from Perth Glory with a very inconsistent finish to the season, losing 2 and drawing 2 winnable games in the last 4 weeks cost them a top 3 spot.

Glory shocked Melbourne City who were the perennial dark horse to win the championship by knocking them out of week 1 of Finals at AAMI Park. Glory unfortunately went down to eventual champions Sydney FC in the Semis 3-0, but showed plenty of promise and have a great opportunity to again create headaches.

Diego Castro scored 13 goals in a fantastic year for the striker, and has support from vice-captain Andy Keogh, Adam Taggart, Joel Chianese and Chris Harold who helped contributed to scoring 55 goals throughout the 29 games they played last season.

Problem for Glory was their defence, and conceding 56 goals from 29 games was apparent. Glory also only kept 4 clean sheets over 29 games last season, and the lack of discipline saw Glory get 72 yellows over the season which is something Kenny Lowe has definitely worked on over pre-season.

Ins and Outs:

INS: Scott Neville, Jacob Poscoliero, Mitch Nichols, Jake Brimmer, Andreu and Xavi Torres

OUTS: Kosta Petratos, Dino Djulbic, Nebrosa Marinkovic, Richard Garcia, Mitchell Oxborrow, Aryn Williams, Lucian Goian, Jordan Thurtell, Rhys Williams, Josh Risdon and Rostyn Griffiths

Veteran defender Dino Djulbic has headed over to Malaysia to play for Felda United, meanwhile they’ve lost Josh Risdon to the Wanderers, Rhys Williams to Melbourne Victory, Kosta Petratos to Newcastle Jets and former captain Rostyn Griffiths has left Australia for Uzbekistani side Pakhtakor Tashkent.

Glory see the return of right back Scott Neville, who spent 3 years at the Jets and 2 years at the Wanderers. Centre back Jacob Poscoliero also heads over to the West after 47 appearances and 3 years with the Mariners, to give some depth to the Glory defence that will need to help out Liam Reddy this season.

Glory bring in veteran La Liga midfielder Xavi Torres, who has plenty of experience in the La Liga especially with a few appearances for Catalan giants Barcelona.

Torres came over to Glory after close mate Diego Castro gave him an endorsement to join the club.

Fellow Spanish midfielder Andreu has also joined Glory for the upcoming season, and will link up with Castro and Torres who should get regular game time for Glory this season.

Prediction:

Perth Glory will have a great team with depth on the park this season, and all they needed to rely on this off season was getting some pace and experience in their defence.

Diego Castro and Andy Keogh should have a good season up forward for Glory, and have linking midfielders in veteran Xavi Torres, the returning Mitch Nichols and Andreu.

Glory should have a solid season, they’ll finish in finals but will have plenty of competition with Brisbane and Wanderers and battle for the top 4.

2017/18 Prediction: 6^th