Shamrock Rovers Tantang Floriana di Kualifikasi Liga Champions

Klub asal Irlandia, Shamrock Rovers, memulai kampanye kualifikasi babak pertama leg pertama Liga Champions melawan juara Liga Utama Malta, Floriana, di Stadion Centenary, Ta' Qali, pada Selasa, 7 Juli 2026 pukul 18.30 waktu setempat. Pertandingan ini menandai tepat sepuluh tahun kepemimpinan pelatih kepala Stephen Bradley di Shamrock Rovers sejak pertama kali ditunjuk sebagai pelatih sementara pada 7 Juli 2016 menggantikan Pat Fenlon. Di bawah asuhan Bradley, Shamrock Rovers telah meraih kesuksesan domestik yang signifikan termasuk gelar juara Premier Division League of Ireland berturut-turut pada tahun 2025 dan 2026, serta trofi FAI Cup yang ke-26.

“It’s been some journey all right,” kata Bradley mengenang awal kariernya menjelang pertandingan pembuka kualifikasi Liga Champions.

Bradley menambahkan bahwa ia masih mengingat pertandingan pertamanya dan merasakan perkembangan positif yang sangat besar di dalam tubuh klub selama satu dekade terakhir. “It’s been a big part of my life, both professionally and personally, and it’s genuinely one that I don’t take for granted,” tutur Bradley.

Ia juga merasa sangat beruntung dan mengapresiasi posisinya di klub hebat seperti Shamrock Rovers. “It’s not lost on me that I’m in a brilliant job at a brilliant club. I’m very lucky,” ucap Bradley.

Pelatih berusia 41 tahun tersebut kemudian mengungkapkan rahasia di balik umur panjang karier kepelatihannya bersama jawara Irlandia itu saat diwawancarai secara terpisah. “It is just having good people around me. I'm lucky. I've got some of the best people I've ever come across around me,” ujar Bradley. Ia menjelaskan bahwa kehadiran sosok seperti Glenn Cronin dan Stephen McPhail di sisinya sepanjang waktu sangat penting dalam membantunya di segala situasi.

“I've had Glenn (Cronin) and Stephen Mc(Phail) by my side for the whole time. They've been really important for me, helping me in every way,” kata Bradley.

Menurutnya, orang-orang baik di sekitarnya membuat mereka mampu menghargai dan menikmati pekerjaan yang mereka lakukan sebagai sebuah keberuntungan. “It really is good people that makes you really appreciate what we have and enjoy what we have and understand how we're lucky to do what we do and lucky to do what I do,” tutur Bradley. Ia menegaskan bahwa timnya merupakan klub muda yang masih terus belajar, berkembang, dan mendorong diri untuk menjadi lebih baik.

“Like I said before, we are a club that's pushing to get better. We're only young, I know I've been doing this a long time now, but we're only young,” ucap Bradley.

Bradley mengakui bahwa proses tersebut tidak akan berjalan lancar tanpa dukungan penuh dari orang-masing hebat di sekitarnya, terutama saat menghadapi beberapa masalah pribadi. “We're still learning and getting better so that for me is the number one thing especially with some personal stuff that happened,” ujar Bradley.

Ia merasa sangat diberkati oleh kehadiran orang-orang terbaik tersebut yang menjadi faktor kunci bertahannya dia di posisi pelatih. “Without the good people around me, it wouldn't have been possible,” kata Bradley.

Pria yang juga mantan gelandang Rovers ini mengaku baru menyadari momentum hari jadinya yang ke-10 setelah diberitahu oleh seorang penggemar di Bandara Dublin. “I've been blessed with some of the best people you come across, which is one of the key factors for me, I would say,” ucap Bradley. Ia kembali menegaskan memorinya tentang pertandingan pertamanya di Rovaniemi sepuluh tahun lalu setelah diingatkan oleh suporter tersebut.

“I do remember the (Rovaniemi) game,” tutur Bradley.

Bradley menyatakan perjalanannya bersama klub terasa berjalan sangat cepat seperti baru terjadi kemarin. “I didn't register it until I was leaving the airport and one of the fans congratulated me and said it's 10 years to the day,” kata Bradley. Meskipun klub mengalami banyak pertumbuhan dan perubahan positif, Bradley menegaskan komitmennya untuk tidak menganggap remeh posisi yang ia miliki saat ini.

“It's been some journey already. It feels like only yesterday really,” ujar Bradley.

Ia merasa sangat beruntung memegang pekerjaan luar biasa ini di sebuah klub yang fantastis. “I can remember the first game. Obviously there's been so much growth and change in the club in that time, which has been positive obviously,” ucap Bradley.

Menatap jalannya pertandingan melawan Floriana, Bradley mewaspadai komposisi tim lawan yang telah merekrut banyak pemain baru asal Argentina dan Brasil dalam beberapa minggu terakhir. “It's been a big part of my life, both professionally and personally, and like I said before, it's genuinely not one that I do take for granted,” tutur Bradley.

Walaupun belum mengetahui gaya bermain tim baru Floriana secara keseluruhan, ia meyakini tim lawan memiliki individu-individu pemain yang berkualitas. dishonesty “It's not lost on me that I'm in a brilliant job, a brilliant club, and yeah, I'm very lucky,” kata Bradley. Shamrock Rovers sendiri telah mempelajari pola permainan Floriana dari musim lalu untuk memahami filosofi dan identitas permainan yang diusung oleh manajer mereka.

“They’re a good team,” ujar Bradley.

Bradley menambahkan bahwa penyerang tengah Floriana merupakan pemain yang sangat bagus dan patut diwaspadai lini pertahanan timnya. “In terms of their first 11, there's been a lot of changes in their squad in the last few weeks. A lot of players have left and they've signed some Argentinian and Brazilian players from around Europe. So we don't know as a team what that looks like, but we know they've brought in some good individuals,” kata Bradley. Kesulitan membaca peta kekuatan lawan juga diakui Bradley akibat pergerakan transfer agresif Floriana di lini serang dalam sepuluh hari terakhir.

“We watched a lot of their football from last season, their identity and getting a feel for them and the manager’s philosophy,” tutur Bradley.

Ia memproyeksikan kepastian mengenai kualitas individu pemain baru Floriana baru akan terlihat jelas saat kedua tim bertanding di lapangan. “Even with the changes, it's clear to see how they want to play. They're strong, their centre forward is a really good player so they're a good team,” ucap Bradley.

Terkait ambisi di kompetisi Eropa, Bradley menegaskan bahwa fokus utamanya adalah membawa Shamrock Rovers dan sepak bola Irlandia secara keseluruhan terus mengalami kemajuan. “There's been a lot of change in the attacking part of the pitch, they've recruited quite heavily in the last ten days,” kata Bradley.

Ia menargetkan timnya harus terus membidik kelolosan ke fase grup kompetisi Eropa demi menjaga standar kemajuan klub baik di dalam maupun di luar lapangan. “They've signed seven or eight players, they've signed a centre-back as well, from Brazil. So they've gone and recruited quite heavily in the last two weeks or so,” ujar Bradley. Bradley berpendapat kegagalan untuk lolos ke fase grup dalam kurun waktu sepuluh tahun ke depan akan menjadi sebuah kemunduran besar bagi klub.

“There's been a lot of change so it's been hard to get a read,” ucap Bradley.

Saat ditanya mengenai target spesifik kelolosan ke Liga Champions atau Liga Europa, Bradley menegaskan fokus utama klub setiap tahunnya adalah peningkatan performa. “If you look at last year and how the manager likes to play… but the actual individuals, we won't know for sure until we play,” tutur Bradley. Ia mengakui raihan domestik musim lalu sudah sangat baik, namun penampilan di fase grup kompetisi Eropa masih perlu ditingkatkan lagi.

“My first thought is Shamrock Rovers, but the bigger picture is the league as a whole and I think we've definitely been making progress, and for a number of years now,” kata Bradley.

Langkah awal dari perjalanan panjang Shamrock Rovers untuk meningkatkan standar performa tersebut akan resmi dimulai pada pertandingan malam ini. “Other teams have obviously started to come on that journey as well, Shelbourne last year which is really good to see,” ujar Bradley.

Dari segi kesiapan skuad, penyerang baru Jonathan Afolabi ikut dalam rombongan tim ke Malta namun belum siap tampil penuh selama 90 menit. “Hopefully that can be repeated again this year and that's the aim for all of us,” ucap Bradley.

Sementara itu, Dan Cleary, Danny Grant, dan Victor Ozhianvuna dipastikan absen akibat cedera otot, serta kapten tim Roberto "Pico" Lopes yang diberikan waktu istirahat bersama keluarga. “For European football, we know what it means to all clubs around Europe, not just us. It's important both on and off the pitch. It shows progress,” kata Bradley. Di pihak lawan, Floriana memiliki sejarah unik dengan Irlandia di mana julukan mereka adalah 'Tal-Irish' karena kedatangan resimen Royal Dublin Fusiliers pada tahun 1905 yang memberikan warna seragam hijau-putih yang mereka pakai hingga sekarang.

“I said the first time we did the group stage that if we're sitting here after another 10 years and haven't qualified, it's a big failure,” tutur Bradley.

Siaran langsung pertandingan babak kualifikasi ini akan disiarkan secara global di luar wilayah Malta melalui platform Solid Sports dengan komentator berbahasa Inggris. “We've managed to get a few group stages since then and that needs to be our aim. We need to keep aiming for that,” ucap Bradley. “Our aim is to improve, I don't ever shy away from that every year, our aim is to improve,” kata Bradley.

“What that looks like we'll know in the next few months, but our aim, we obviously did the double last year domestically and got the groups, we could have done better in the groups, we know that,” ujar Bradley.

“But our aim is to improve on that and that's always the aim of this club,” tutur Bradley. “Whatever that turns out to be and whether we can do that or not, we don't know. But that's the aim and that starts (tonight). One part of that journey starts (tonight),” ucap Bradley.

“And like I said, whatever that looks like, we will know in the next few months, but we can have a show of life in the fact that we want to keep striving to be better and raising standards for ourselves and the league,” kata Bradley.