A-League tactics: City put to the sword as ‘Nix find spaces

With all eyes on the Sydney derby and the clash of high-flyers Adelaide and Melbourne Victory, it was another Round 8 fixture that caught the eye as Ernie Merrick’s constantly evolving Wellington Phoenix put Melbourne City to the sword.

The analysis of tactics can have its limitations – football matches often turn on moments of individual magic, errors of officiating or simple defensive lapses. Hidden behind excuses such as ‘copping sloppy goals’ however often lie tactical truths, and the stark reality here was that the Wellington players were given the greater opportunity to win this game through their coach’s decisions.

There were three key components to Wellington’s superior attacking threat. Firstly, the relative freedom of their No6 (and conversely, the pressure on City’s No6); secondly, the ability of their key playmaker McGlinchey to find space between the lines of defence; and finally, the ease with which the Phoenix isolated City’s fullbacks in one-on-ones with quick and dangerous players.

In Albert Riera – more starry-eyed backpacker than Liverpool and Galatasaray forward – Ernie Merrick has unearthed a player crucial to his side; he’s the deep-lying ball player, metronome and shield for the Wellington back four.

Against Melbourne, Riera was afforded far too much time and space to get on the ball; with Williams looking to stay on the shoulder of the last defenders to utilise his pace, and Bonevacia keeping Mooy more than busy, Riera was able to comfortably receive the ball and initiate Wellington attacks. In a season in which he’s averaged 49 passes at a completion rate of 84%, Riera here made a season-high 71 passes at 92%, on countless occasions finding the feet of McGlinchey from which Wellington attacks ensued.

Conversely Heart’s No6 Erik Paartalu had one of his more forgettable games, a virtual passenger before his half-time substitution, due in large part to the defensive work of the returning Michael McGlinchey.

It cannot be overstated how important McGlinchey was to this Wellington performance, but also how shrewdly Merrick adjusted the team formation and defensive press to best utilise the diminutive attacking midfielder.

Throughout the season, Merrick has tended towards a 4-4-2 diamond, with Bonevacia, more often than not, the attacking focal point at the head of the diamond. As Kate Cohen has pointed out, in previous weeks, Merrick has adjusted his team’s pressing system, experimenting with different defensive formations (such as a 4-4-1-1) to mixed or limited success.

With Gary van Egmond no-longer coaching in the A-League, Merrick has pilfered the moniker ‘tinkerman’, adjusting here to a 4-3-3 with a ‘false nine’ – in response, presumably, to changes in first-team personnel (the inclusion of Krishna), but also a desire to alter the Phoenix’s press.

With the pacey wide forwards Krishna and Burns pressing City’s two central defenders when in defence, McGlinchey performed a crucial dual role; without the ball he would effectively man-mark Paartalu, but offensively, he would move back into a front-three, before dropping in between the lines (in front of Kisnorbo and Wielart, but behind Paartalu) to receive the ball in acres of space.

Many of Wellington’s best attacks combined both of these factors – Riera comfortably receiving the ball and playing forward, and McGlinchey dropping to receive balls to feet – before in turn looking to exploit the third key area of success for the Phoenix, the pace and skill of Krishna and Burns in one-on-one situations.

It’s been no secret that a key problem for City this season has been the lack of specialist fullbacks, with Van’t Schip experimenting with at least five players in the wide defensive positions.

With McGlinchey receiving the ball to feet in an attacking position, Van’t Schip’s young fullbacks were offered little protection, with both Burns and Krishna too often tormenting their adversaries, looking to beat them with either their pace or their trickery.

A perfect illustration of all three of these components coming together was in the 28^th minute.

With the City keeper in possession, Krishna and Burns press on to the two central defenders and McGlinchey shadows Paartalu. City are forced long and turn over possession. Under no pressure, Riera receives the ball, and beats the first line of defence with McGlinchey dropping to receive the ball to feet. McGlinchey turns and plays wide to Krishna, who dribbles in-field, drawing Paartalu before playing a return pass to McGlinchey, who in turn picks out Burns on the opposite flank. Burns is then one-on-one with City’s left back, who he nearly skips round, winning a corner in the process.

While on this occasion no goal ensued, it was emblematic of the wider context of the match, in which McGlinchey finished with two assists and the two wide forwards finished with three goals from open play between them.

For Van’t Schip it was a frustrating day. Despite Wellington’s tactical advantages, a combination of City’s midfield industry (from Mooy and Melling) and poor ball-retention early on from the Phoenix meant the visitors actually had the better of the opening 30-odd minutes. Too often, though, their attack looked one-dimensional, with their main strategy being to look to release Duff quickly, and for him in turn to pick out the pacey Williams or Dugandzic. Without a designated playmaker, Melbourne failed to significantly challenge Phoenix’s back line – reduced too often to shooting from distance; fifteen shots on target failing to produce a single goal from open play, whereas Wellington’s nine shots yielded four.

Attempts at coming to terms with McGlinchey (the half-time substitution of Mauk for Paartalu) failed to turn the game, with one of Mauk’s first contributions being to lose the ball in the leadup to Wellington’s third goal. It was a hard watch for the Dutchman as his side conceded four times in 17 minutes, effectively ending the contest shortly into the second half.

Post-game. Van’t Schip admitted that after conceding 14 goals in seven games (now 19 in eight) he had attempted to play more conservatively, and ‘more compact’. Without coming to terms with McGlinchey and Riera though his beleaguered back four were offered little protection – a warning shot to the rest of the league that Wellington’s star could well be rising.