Miron’s new team on a mission
 
DAVID WEINER
GOLD Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg has begun putting his team through its paces for its inaugural A-League season, moulding a side that he says “needs to play good football”.¬†
The outspoken Israeli showed off his club’s three new Brazilian recruits after saying that he feels the unique privilege of building a team from scratch means there will be no excuses if his side doesn’t showcase an attractive style.
“We are in the entertainment business. There’s no point winning 1-0. It’s no good for football, no good for Gold Coast United,” Bleiberg told The AJN.
“We’re too preoccupied with English football, but we all saw in the European cup final [where Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0] -— no-one said you can’t play good football and still win games.”¬†Bleiberg last appeared in an A-League dugout with the Queensland Roar in November 2006, and he says what he learnt from his first stint in the A-League has helped him as he assembled his brand new squad.¬†”I’m happy and excited because we are going to have a good team,” he said.¬†
“But I’m also privileged that I can start and mould the club from A to Z as I want it. It’s a privilege that others never had, not even Sir Alex Ferguson … if you’re smart you should do it better than last time and that I believe is the case here.”¬†Gold Coast United seems the perfect mix for the flamboyant Israeli, who is never afraid to speak his mind.¬†Bleiberg’s boss is the equally forthright Gold Coast owner Clive Palmer, who has boldly declared his side will dominate the league next season.¬†
The glitz and bravado of the Coast has contrasted the relative quiet of fellow new boy North Queensland Thunder, but Bleiberg doesn’t understand the fuss over the owner’s big plans.¬†”It still amazes me that people are so surprised. I believe if you do a survey between the chairmen, I don’t believe one will tell you they aren’t going to win it.”¬†With the squad they have assembled, they are every chance of vying for the title.¬†
From former Juventus goalkeeper Jess van Strattan at the back through to reigning A-League player of the year Shane Smeltz up front, the side oozes quality and is almost worthy of being dubbed the competition’s dream team.¬†While Bleiberg stopped short of saying his side would win the league, he believes he’s got enough depth to give it a real shake.¬†”I’m satisfied because if you’re smart you realise it’s not all about your first eleven it’s about the depth of the team from number 12 through to number 20. We have excellent back-up players.” Bleiberg said.¬†
Second-stringers, such as former Melbourne Victory squad members Steve Pantelidis and Daniel Piorkowski, “show our strength … to find them both unemployed is stupidity by other clubs as they are players with a lot to prove”.¬†The other player with a point to prove is the man on every local football fan’s lips -— Jason Culina.¬†Bleiberg managed to prize the first-team Socceroo back and the coach is adamant he’ll be “in the top three players in the league”.¬†
“He hasn’t started to train yet, but he’s buzzing around,” he added.¬†”People don’t realise, a dollar more, a dollar less, it doesn’t matter. It is a lot different to be a fringe player at one club and a main actor at another.¬†”He’s now the main one in Gold Coast United, and it’s one of the reasons that brought him back”.
Where does he stand alongside Dwight Yorke or Robbie Fowler?¬†”The fact is, so far all the marquee players that came to our shore were closer to 40 than 20, age-wise.¬†”Here we got a guy in the prime of his career. You can’t quantify it, but by my calculation he should be in the top three players in the A-League.”
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