Perth Glory in Bunbury: New coach David Zdrilic calls club’s potential ‘really exciting’

New Perth Glory coach David Zdrilic says he is delighted to have the chance to make his mark on the club, calling their potential “really exciting”. Appointed to the top job in June, former Socceroo Zdrilic has an impressive coaching resume, which includes stints as an assistant with top-flight clubs in Italy, Belgium and the USA. He is one of several new faces at the club, which has also seen turnover in ownership and management after a difficult few years on and off the pitch. Speaking exclusively with the South Western Times, Zdrilic said he had been impressed with how quickly the club had adapted to the sweeping changes. “With a lot of new people at all levels . . . there was a lot to change, but the buy-in to get it so quickly was impressive,” he said. “You hear it a lot, ‘we want to have a fresh start’ and all these sorts of buzzwords, but coming here to Perth, there really is a lot of change. For the fans of Perth Glory and the wider footballing community, I think that change has been very evident. “There’s a lot of work to go and when the season starts, we’ll double down and show this is a totally new identity, totally new culture and definitely new football style and something everyone can embrace. “There’s a lot of fans out there, we want to bring everyone along with us and take this club to the next level.” Zdrilic’s philosophy was shaped in large part by his time as a youth coach with Red Bull-owned German club RB Leipzig, where he worked alongside former Manchester United coach Ralf Rangnick and current Germany boss Julian Naglsemann. He said he had been delighted with how quickly his squad had adapted to the changes he had instilled in their playing style. “To be honest, they took to it immediately,” Zdrilic said. “I think we saw elements of that in the first game, that was only after three weeks, against Brisbane Roar and then against (Melbourne) City, some of the goals we scored were pure philosophy goals. That’s high intensity . . . and maximising that intensity for all 90 minutes. “The boys embraced that from day one, the buy-in was there straight away and that’s half the job.” Zdrilic said he had been happy with how his team’s pre-season, which has included impressive wins over A-League clubs Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City in the Australia Cup, had gone so far. “We have a lot of work to do, we’ve already done a lot of work and there’s a lot more to do to make sure that we continue on the upward trajectory,” he said. “We’re in a good way. There’s still some missing pieces before the start of the season but we’re looking good and these games against the Jets will be important for us to see exactly where we’re at against A-League competition and make sure we’re 100 per cent ready for the first game.” Ahead of the club’s pre-season games against the Jets in Bunbury and Albany, Zdrilic said the trip would be another great chance to build cohesion in a squad which has seen a big turnover. “To be able to travel and go to Bunbury is very exciting for the group. They’ve got memories from last year as well,” he said. “We’ve got different players, we’ve got to try different things, see where everyone’s at . . . there will be a bit of trial and error. “Hopefully, the community will come out and watch two good teams going at it. The boys are really excited for it.”