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Perth Glory's A-League revival built on central defenders Shane Lowry and Alex Grant
Date
February 14, 2016
Michael Cockerill
Football Writer
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Playing smart: Glory defender Shane Lowry is an 'old-school' centre-half who does the basics well. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Defenders who defend? Now that is a revolution.
Observe the Perth Glory renaissance, and something becomes abundantly clear. At the heart of a committed, determined back four are two centre-halves, Shane Lowry and Alex Grant, who keep it simple. They win tackles, they win headers, they play the obvious pass. Short back and sides? You bet.
You would imagine there would be nothing special about this. It says a lot about the way the game has digressed that there is.
Win to savour: Perth Glory trio Gyorgy Sandor , Marc Warren and Alexander Grant celebrate their victory against Sydney FC on Saturday. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
In many quarters, the way Grant and Lowry approach their work will still be derided. 'Playing out from the back' is a cornerstone of the national curriculum. In the suffocating embrace of the intellectual snobbery which dominates the discussion about how we should play the game, there is an assumption that defenders who win contests and don't take risks cannot play out. Rot.
Finally, it seems the penny is starting to drop. Two words missing from the curriculum — heading and tackling — have created a technical vacuum. The game has become burdened with a generation of defenders who are encouraged to think and play like midfielders.
Poor positioning, poor decision-making, a lack of aggression, poor one-on-one defending and last — but not least — lamentable heading skills, have been a feature of Australia's recent failures at youth level. In the A-League, these deficiencies are evident on a weekly basis.
But things are starting to turn. Coaches are beginning to see what they have been missing out on. The high press is most effective when defenders over-elaborate. If those defenders go back to basics, often the attacking advantage is lost.
It is not about pumping long clearances into the channel, it is about creating the time and space to play the simple ball. Winning contests, or making interceptions, does that. It is what smart defenders are good at. It is what has been getting Perth results, and making the rest of the league sit up and take notice.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...alex-grant-20160214-gmtn7h.html#ixzz42UrWQr4Y
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It's funny, I think a few of us have argued for exactly this strategy just recently!
He might be able to ride out one last year before the new TV deal.
He might also see that if crowds halve because nobody could be f**ked to go see a team that simply isn't competing, then he'd lose even more.
I was wondering if the savings that have been implied this season may have done enough against some of the outstanding debts to carve into the outgoings next season - still bearing in mind that we've also essentially had to support additional cost in the playing group for the Bosnars and Reddys of the world.
and Siep allegedly