A-League tactics: City slayed 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.
Modulating to a 4-3-3 with a 'false nine', Phoenix controlled midfield, allowing McGlinchey to pull the strings in attack. Image: Guardian
Photograph: Guardian
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
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