A-League tactics: why Wellington Phoenix are a threat this season

It was a little under two years ago when Wellington Phoenix owner Gareth Morgan made a bold public statement of intent – he wanted his side to start playing attractive, attacking football. The team was struggling and Morgan believed it was then-coach Ricki Herbert’s defensive and direct style of football that was keeping the fans away. “You’re not going to win the A-League by being the best defensive team,” Morgan said. (Let’s ignore the fact that the last five teams to top the table come season’s end boasted the best defensive record in the competition.)

Since that declaration, Wellington have finished 10^th and ninth on the A-League ladder, conceding 100 goals in the process. But with new faces in the squad, Wellington kept their first clean sheet of the season, defeating newly crowned Asian Champions Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 on Friday night.

“I just thought the defence was rock solid,” said coach Ernie Merrick after the game. “We [didn’t] give much away at all, it was a clean sheet for us, the goalkeeper was there when he needed to be … we held a good line and controlled midfield so it was a good performance all round.”

Merrick’s decision to field an unchanged starting 11 from their 2-0 loss to Melbourne Victory made the win and clean sheet all the more positive. In the game against Victory, the flaws in Wellington’s system were clear in the first half but Merrick and Wellington were able to address and solve those problems against Western Sydney.

Against Victory, Wellington lined up in 4-4-2 diamond, with young Dutch import Roly Bonevacia playing an important role as the most advanced player in midfield. Almost as sort of a false midfielder, when Phoenix had possession Bonevacia would burst forward into a central attacking role. But when out of possession, Bonevacia dropped back into midfield to mark Victory midfielder Carl Valeri.

Elsewhere in midfield, Alejandro Rodriguez pushed forward to pressure Rashid Mahazi and Vince Lia, on the right of the diamond, moved back and forth between a central position and closing down left-back Dylan Murnane depending on which side of the pitch the ball was on.

But the flaw in this system was clear from very early on in the first half. Victory captain Mark Milligan, their best passer of the ball, was left unpressured in possession and as a result was often able to carry the ball forward and spray dangerous passes  that bypassed Wellington’s midfield marking. This tactical feature played a role in the opening 25 minutes, where Milligan and his fellow centre-back Leigh Broxham, both midfielders by trade, constructed attacks from the back. It also played a role in the build up to Victory winning the free kick which led to the first goal of the game.

Against Western Sydney, where Matthew Spiranovic plays in a right-sided centre back position, a change was clearly needed. “I’m a great believer in coaching and not chopping and changing the team every week,” said Merrick after his line up for the Western Sydney game was announced. So instead of throwing out the system and making changes to his starting 11, Merrick instead decided to tweak how Wellington defended. This removed the weaknesses evident in the previous game.

Without the ball, Bonevacia still dropped back into midfield. But unlike the previous week, where he man-marked Valeri, Bonevacia’s positioning was more proactive. In front of his opponent Jason Trifiro, Bonevacia looked to block passes into midfield but when Spiranovic was in possession, he was able to move forward to apply pressure on the ball and prevent Western Sydney from playing penetrating passes from deep.

Later in the game, when Bonevacia moved to the left side of the diamond, the Dutchman again played a crucial role – picking up possession and driving past Trifiro and Iacopo La Rocca in the middle of the park before passing to Roy Krishna who squared the ball across goal for Nathan Burns to score the winner.

This subtle, yet incredibly important tweak to Wellington’s defensive system allowed them to restrict Western Sydney’s attacks. This was because it did not allow them to build through midfield and the clean sheet gave Wellington a platform to work off. It also demonstrates how important effective coaching is, particularly in a league where teams have limited squad numbers and must adhere to a salary cap.

If Wellington can consistently couple this kind of defensive solidity and tactical nous with the flair, pace and creativity offered by attackers like Michael McGlinchey and Burns, then this may be the season where they can again play finals football. And draw those all-important crowds that Morgan and the Phoenix board want.