Glory wary of cashed-up City in W-League final

Perth Glory women’s coach Bobby Despotovski insists Melbourne City are no longer untouchable for W-League grand final.

Coach Bobby Despotovski is upbeat on Perth Glory’s chances in the W-League final. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij

Perth Glory women’s coach Bobby Despotovski insists Melbourne City are no longer untouchable, and says all the pressure will be on the cashed-up club in W-League grand final.

City went undefeated on the way to winning last season’s title in their maiden campaign in the W-League.

The star-studded squad has done it much tougher this time, overcoming a mid-season slump to scrape into fourth spot.

City secured a spot in tomorrow’s grand final at nib Stadium with a 1-0 extra-time win over minor premiers Canberra last week. But they face a battle to overcome Perth, who thrashed Sydney FC 5-1 in the other semi-final.

Despite his team’s own hot form, Despotovski is more than happy to take the underdog tag. And he was quick to point out City’s advantage when it came to facilities and access to player talent.

Melbourne City are owned by the City Football Group, which also run EPL powerhouse Manchester City.

“We all try to be like Melbourne City. But we don’t have the funds of tycoons from the Middle East with the oil money to pump into our club,” Despotovski said.

“They came into the league last year and absolutely smashed it. They were untouchable last year.

“But this season we saw some vulnerabilities in there. They can be beaten. But we have to be on our absolute best to get anything out of the game.”

City went through a six-game winless run earlier this season, including a 3-2 loss to Glory in late December. But they have since won three straight games, setting up an intriguing clash with Perth.

Glory also boast plenty of talent, with the best being star Matilda Sam Kerr. But Despotovski said Melbourne City’s vast spread of talent meant they would be hard to stop.

“Their team is full of Matildas or other girls in national teams,” he said. “The pressure is all on them to repeat their title.”

Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams says Melbourne City will lead from the back in the grand final.

City are led by the season’s best player, Sam Kerr.

“She’s had a fantastic year and she’s in red-hot form (but) we’ve done a lot of work with our defence so I think that’s going to help us,” Williams said.

For long stretches this campaign, it was unclear whether City would even be in the finals.

After four straight wins to start the season, City fell in an almighty hole. A first-ever loss for the club brought a six-game winless run, in which Montemurro was called up by the A-League side after the departure of men’s coach John van’t Schip.

In came player coach Jess Fishlock, and eventually the ship was steadied. A drought-breaking 3-1 defeat of Brisbane Roar was followed by a last-round win over Newcastle Jets that confirmed City’s semi-final place.

If there was any doubt that the City of old was back, it was washed away by last weekend’s extra-time defeat of premiers Canberra United to reach the grand final.

Williams said something finally clicked a few weeks ago.

She credited Fishlock, who scored the matchwinner against United, for stepping into the breach. “Everyone respects Jess. She’s got a fantastic mind and football brain. She’s adapted a lot to that player-coach role,” she said.

“The change in dynamic that’s really helped. It’s given a lot of stability in the group.”

As for the Glory, Williams says it’s a grand final match-up she didn’t see coming. “Whatever’s in the water in Perth has done them really well this season,” she said. “It helps they have a really on-form striker in Sam.

AAP