JETS coach Ernie Merrick has never missed qualifying for the finals in consecutive seasons. Here he tells James Gardiner how he plans to keep that record in tact.
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Did the opening round reveal any secrets? The competition looks very even. There has been an influx of good quality players and further development of young players. It looks to be a very exciting year. A lot of changes and all positive. Comparing our team with what I saw, I think we will certainly be in the mix for the finals. There will be teams traditionally at the lower end who will be taking points away from teams at the upper side of things. Look at the Brisbane game for example. They got an equaliser in Perth. City and Victory are two high-quality teams who have a lot of new players and new foreign coaches. Those two and Sydney will still be up near the top, so will Perth, but I think the competition will be more even.
The Jets missed the finals by five points last season. What areas have focused on to make up the ground? In terms of physical preparation, we had a more extensive pre-season with the main goal to increase the high intensity endurance of all players. That's the ability to repeat sprints. Our stats are very good on that. Technically - improving our ball speed. If you are moving the ball quickly, you have to control it better and your passing is under a bit more pressure. Tactically - in defence we feel as though we can win the ball more in the front and middle thirds. In attack, the key focus is controlling the ball in the front third and shooting and crossing from areas that give you the best possible results. The other key point is that everything we do on the training pitch is performed in game situations. That means rapid decision making: where you should be and when you should be there. Mentally - I want to remove the fear of failure. I don't mind making mistakes if you are trying to do the right things. Without mistakes, you don't build up resilience and strength of character.
As an A-League coach, you have never missed the finals in consecutive years. You can't always bring in better players. What has been the key to your success? There are two sides to that coin. When you have success, you lose quality players. Perth Glory have gone through that, mind you it looks like they have replaced them, but it's always hard to replace them. In our situation, I think we have done really well in replacing players we lost. The second side is when you haven't done well, you have to make sure you review and institute changes so you can learn from those mistakes. We got 35 points and scored 40 goals last season, which would be enough to qualify for the finals most years, but we didn't qualify. We have reviewed the key points and worked on them. If you don't do that, you are not being innovative, you are not changing, you are not moving in the right direction. The review and then an extensive pre-season to correct those issues, is how you become a better team. Injuries are a part of it. Losing Wes Hoolahan and Kaine Sheppard is an issue but it is not something that should stop us winning games and being involved in the finals.
Hoolahan was going to play a big role before his injury. He and Sheppard are due back in January. What impact will they have? January is the time of year where you are 13 games into the season and need to spark up the team. In the English Premier League they sign big-name players. We know we will have two quality attacking players who can score goals. That is the positive you take from it. They will be arriving at the right time. We have room to bring in another player in January if we need one. I feel as though we have a squad who can be in the top six by January and their return will be a bonus.
The budget has been cut significantly and assistant coach Clayton Zane departing. Is this season shaping as one of your bigger challenges? When I arrived in year one, I did most of the sessions because I wanted the other coaches to understand how I think the game should be played with a lean towards attack.They all know the system now. I remember the days in the old NSL at Preston, I was the first-team coach, the assistant coach, the fitness guy and I was strapping ankles before the game. To me, that is the best apprenticeship you can have as a coach.The second side, is the money side. We have been very clever in our recruiting. To lose two fullbacks and replace them with Matt Millar and Bobby Burns has been great. We were able to to bring in three quality strikers in Abdiel Arroyo, Nick Fitzgerald and Hoolahan. We have been very specific with the profile of the players we wanted to recruit and we have done that really well. We have promoted Pat Langlois and Gus Thurgate, who is now up to Olyroos level, which shows we are developing local talent. We have a good balance between experienced players and up-and-coming players, who are full of enthusiasm and determination. Because we have recruited well financially, I don't think the budget cuts have affected us.
Millar is fresh from a breakout year. He won't have the luxury of being unknown this year. He is one of the best attacking fullbacks in the league, and I love attacking fullbacks. He is adapting to the way we want to play and is loving every minute. I am not taking his creativity and attacking play away, I am encouraging more of it. Good coaches think of ways to prevent our main attacking areas, there is no doubt about that. But if they spend any particular time on a player on one side, we have Fitzgerald and Burns or Johnny Koutroumbis on the other. Once they start overthinking how to defend against us, that will give us an edge. That is my philosophy - let them worry about how we attack but we have to play to our strengths.
From the get-go you have indicated that Dimi Petratos would be the No.10. He was heavily marked last season. Does he have his swagger back? They definitely double-teamed him last season, but we didn't have too many to take the load off him, mainly because of injuries and suspension. Joey Champness was out for 16 weeks, Roy was suspended for the opening eight weeks, Jason Hoffman was out for 14 games, Jair was injured and we never got Ronny Vargas up to a full level of fitness. I think you'll find it different this year with the fitness and goal-scoring ability of Arroyo, Hoffman and Fitzgerald. We have also worked on how we can collectively attack and not just rely on one player. If he is double-teamed then someone else has to be free.
Roy O'Donovan scored 20 goals in 35 appearances. Are you expecting a similar output from Arroyo? I expect the front four to score goals, preferably in double figures. End of story. Abdiel is an outstanding young man and a terrific player. I'm not comparing him with Roy, but I'm more than happy with Arroyo, Fitzgerald and Hoolahan, if he comes back in January, up front. I think we have covered that really well.
Two periods last season proved fatal. The Jets notched one win in the opening six rounds and one in January. Was that purely due to the scheduling? The draw was certainly part of it. This season the draw is a good draw, a fair draw. It's pretty much home and away. Last season, we lost Joey Champness leading up to round one and Roy was out for eight weeks and we played two out of the first six games at home.
Champness' release to pursue a rap music career is one of the more unusual departures. Have you stayed in contact with him? I have spoken to him in the last four weeks. He is chasing his dream at this stage. Whether he is coming back or not is doubtful. Maybe January. I concentrate on things I can control. We knew that Joey wasn't going to be available and we have worked around that.
Ugarkovic has been a constant in midfield for the past two seasons. Is he ready to take his game to the next level? Definitely. Steve has an amazing physical capacity, one of the best I have seen. Now he needs to move the ball around, work on his passing and accuracy.
It has been 12 months since Koutroumbis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, he is now in the Olyroos squad. Johnny Koutroumbis could play anywhere in the back four or in midfield. He has enormous speed, high endurance, technically very good and he is another I think has a big future.
Most experts have you tipped the Jets to finish from ninth to 11th. First of all the tipsters hadn't seen any performances until last weekend. They are going by teams on paper. You might have a big name and good background but might not be ready to go. The most important point here is that I have never tried to prove a critic wrong. You are trying to do things for the right people rather than worry about critics, which you will always get. That's why I tell the boys to stay off the social platforms. If I can take away fear of failure, I will get the best out of them. I want to get them more creative and playing attacking football and having the discipline to do the defensive job. If you focus on those processes, the outcome will look after itself rather than who says what.
