by Ben Gilby (9/11/23)
Above: Perth Glory head coach Alex Epakis talking to the media today. Image: Perth Glory.
Whilst his side are top of the A-League Women ladder with three wins from three, Perth Glory head coach Alex Epakis insists his focus is solely on ensuring their style and performance levels remain high.
“We focus on some key areas of our football and our playing style that we want to get really good at and that’s our overall internal exciting challenge. The by-product of that is a good performance and a good result and ideally three points.
“The moment we only focus on wins is when we lose track of what we are doing on the field and what we are trying to build. I want us to focus on the things that are important to us, and our identity, and our playing style, and let’s chase perfection in those areas, and the results will take care of itself.”
Another strong performance last weekend in the nation’s capital ensured that the Western Australians finally claimed a victory on Canberra soil.
“The players wanted to be part of the first Perth Glory team to go over there and win a game. It was a nice side story, but the main thing was the three points. We would have liked a bit more control after we conceded that 3-2 goal. In games, you get tested in different ways, and ours was to make sure we were resolute, structured, and confident in not having the ball at times.”
Whilst Perth conceded their first goals of the campaign in their win at McKellar Park, there still is immense pride in the fact that the league leaders remain strong at the back – and the key to that is everyone having responsibility for denying space to the opposition, as Epakis highlighted.
“We’ve done extremely well not to concede from open play yet, and we’ve spoken a lot about that. It’s about structure and being really eager to ensure that defending is a collective effort and not just on the back four and the keeper.”
Whilst last weekend’s match offered opportunities to a few more Glory players to get their first minutes of the season, one of the club’s key signings, striker Quinley Quezeda is yet to have any minutes. It sounds like that is about to change, and the Philippines’ record scorer is ready to be unleashed.
“We have a full squad available this week. Quinley had a quick turnaround from her Philippines duties and she was also carrying a soft tissue injury coming into that (international) camp. We’ll benefit from that in the weeks ahead as she’s fully fit, firing, and ready to contribute.”
With the Glory having overcome Canberra last weekend, they now face another team they have found it hard to get the better of in recent years, as Adelaide United make the trip to Macedonia Park this Saturday. The South Australians contain two players that Perth fans know all about – Alana Jancevski and Hannah Blake – a pair who will pose a significant threat on their return to Western Australia.
“Adelaide have some good quality attacking quality,” Epakis recognised. “They’ll come here looking for three points. They are well-coached and have really established a strong squad and program over the last few seasons. They are doing some really great things and it’s important to recognise that.
“We go well (against them) and always compete, but they’ve always had the edge in specific moments across key games, but I think now we have the character, the experience, and the quality to win those really important moments in the battle and I think we’ll see that on the weekend.”
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