Well
this was unexpected. The Socceroos, unbeaten since that heart breaking extra
time loss to Japan in January, have bent the knee to a defiant Oman. So besides
falling back on tired old clichés like the hosts 'raging against the dying of the light', how can we explain this result? Oman definitely
improved, with their defensive organisation becoming faster, which is a credit to
Le Guen. Unfortunately however, it was Holger Osieck's team selection to which the majority of blame can be apportioned.
Now
mistakes, in and of themselves, are rarely something to worry over, as trial
and error is often the best way to learn. Disappointingly however,
the omissions Holger committed against Oman were of a strikingly similar
nature, to the mistakes he made in his team selection against Thailand.
Specifically, deploying Holman and McKay out of position at left wing and
fullback, in a bid to squeeze in all of the 'on form' players into the same
team.
Against
Thailand:
Let's re-examine
the match against Thailand. Australia
produced an impotent performance and this was caused by three factors, all of
which were again on display against Oman.
The
first error was an unbalanced system. To accommodate Kennedy and Cahill
up-front and the fluid partnership of Emerton/Wilkshire, Holman was shunted to
the left. With left midfield occupied, McKay was withdrawn to left fullback.
Because of the characteristics of both players' styles, problems arose.
Holman
is a right-sided attacker; deployed on the left, he ignored his nominal flank
entirely, drifting to his usual central role. McKay is a left-sided central
midfielder; he could not stifle his desire to drift central to create. The
combination of these factors meant that our left flank was completely
abandoned. Australia were only playing on two thirds of the pitch and attacking
only down the right. Thailand took advantage of this; they stoutly defended a
smaller portion of the pitch, and counter-attacked down the vacant left.
The
second error was a lack of mobility. Against Thailand, Kennedy and Cahill were
guilty of being too static. Instead of dropping deep or pulling wide to drag
markers out of position or to vacate space, they both remained by their
markers. This contributed to the third error.
The
third error was a reliance on crosses from deep. Because of Kennedy and
Cahill's lack of mobility, attacks degenerated into fruitless crosses. Our
forays fell into simple pattern of repeated lay-offs and runs into the box,
until Wilkshire was literally left with no other option, but to punt it for the
forwards to knock down.
Against
Oman:
These
failings were all evident against Oman.
Osieck
erred in deploying Holman and McKay at left wing and fullback. It cannot be
overstated how disappointing a tactical gaff this was, given how spectacularly
and obviously it has failed in the past. Osieck's objective was undoubtedly to
squeeze Holman, Kewell, Kennedy and the Williams/Wilkshire partnership into the
same team.
Kennedy's
movement was exceedingly poor. In
the preview, PM underlined that despite his goals, Kennedy is by far the
least mobile of our prospective forwards. Against Oman, the target man
contributed very little to the team's build up play, and in fact he was largely
to blame for the concession of the goal. Kennedy's poor movement prevented the
potential interchange between himself, Holman and Kewell.
The
reliance on crosses from deep was less obvious, but arose for the same
reasons; lack of other obvious options. There can't have been too many that
actually connected with one of the forwards. It is actually strange how
unreliable a route crossing has become for Australia, given that it was or
primary, and arguably only, route of attack, less than a year ago.
Kennedy:
Pundits
are fond of saying 'strikers are judged on their goals'. Well that's bullshit.
In the modern game, poachers have been superseded by
multi-dimensional forwards, able to contribute to the overall play of the team.
Football as a sport has become so systematised, that overall collective play
has become more valuable than individual brilliance. As Jonathan Wilson wrote,
"you don't win games by scoring goals, you score goals by winning
games". Kennedy is by no means a bad player, and he remains a viable alternative
option; Australia's Llorente
protocol shall we say. PM
doesn't even doubt that he'll remain a first team option for Osieck, given how
well he has performed recently. But he should never have been prioritised above
Brett Holman, whom Osieck once dubbed 'the complete player'.
Holman
and McKay:
Over
the past 12 months, it has become apparent that the two most influential
players in Australia's line-up are now Matt McKay and Brett Holman. It is no
coincidence that the two worst performances by the Green and Gold have
coincided with both players being deployed ineffectively.
Their
creativity is important but not in the traditional sense of the 'playmaker',
'trequartista' or 'regista'. Their greatest assets are their energy, stamina,
movement and vision. In effect, McKay and Holman 'initiate' the play; Matt with
his short passing and prompting of positional interchange and Brett with his
runs, pressing and interceptions. PM will refer you back to the preview
for a starting XI that makes best use of both players.
Goal
Analysis:
Al
Hosni 17' - Oman counter-attack. Hadid crosses the half-way line. Kennedy
closest, does not close down. Valeri is hesitant because of Kenendy's
proximity. He finally advances to hassle, but Hadid is able to measure a
beautiful through ball to Al Hosni, making a run between Williams and
Spiranovic. Superb finish. This goal gave Oman confidence, and their play
improved markedly from then until the end of the match.
Conclusion:
Australia
were impotent because McKay and Holman were restricted. It is astounding how
prominent and how invaluable both
players have become, given that more than a year ago, Holman was popularly
regarded as a joke, while McKay's best chance of donning a national team shirt was
a trip to the Rebel Sport changing rooms.
Kennedy,
while deserving a place in the squad, and probably retaining a firm position in
Osieck's future plans, bears some thinking. Is his level of performance high
enough to be a threat to fellow Top 30 national teams? Scott McDonald deserves
another look in, as his movement is the best of any of our prospective
forwards. The goal he created for Robbie Kruse against Wales was a beauty, and isn't something Kennedy would be able to do.
The
midfield pairing of Jedinak and Valeri has come in for some criticism, but that
is overlooking Osieck's intentions when deploying the two of them; to break up
play and shield the back four. In fact that pair also worked perfectly fine in an
attacking sense, when McKay was deployed wide left. Matt drifted centrally,
dictating play in close proximity to Mile and Carl.
Although
Wilkshire/Emerton/Williams are all broadly similar players, Wilkshire seemed uncomfortable as the most advanced player on the right flank. That bears some
consideration, particularly as PM pointed out previously the lack of right
wingers under contention. Rukavytsya, Burns and Garcia still seem to be out in
the cold for unfathomable reasons.
Osieck
made a fatal mistake in this match, but Australia still retain
an advantageous position in our qualifying group. Hopefully this will
be the final time we see McKay started at left fullback. In every game since
the Asian Cup, McKay and Holman have rightly been the first names on the team
sheet. Osieck must realise McKay cannot influence the match from fullback,
just as Holman cannot influence the match inverted.
LATER
ADDITION:
Michael
Zullo, who can now be regarded as our first choice left fullback, should have
been deployed. His partnership with McKay on the left flank has become very
fluid and integral to the team. Zullo is able to provide the pace, acceleration
and penetration down the left that McKay cannot, while presenting an energetic
defensive presence. McKay on the other hand, is positionally disciplined,
meaning he knows when to cover for Zullo’s forward surges. Zullo's threat to the opposition right fullback creates space for McKay to pass and move into.
Due to troublesome circumstances, there will probably be no Round 6 A-League Analysis until Wednesday.
Due to troublesome circumstances, there will probably be no Round 6 A-League Analysis until Wednesday.
Player
Rankings:
Australia
10)
Kennedy
9)
Wilkshire
8)
Kewell
7)
Valeri, Schwarzer
6)
Holman
5)
McKay, Emerton
4)
Jedinak, Kruse
3)
Neill
2)
Williams
1)
Spiranovic
9 comments:
How did Kruse look when he came on? Did he operate in the left flank or centrally off Kennedy?
Kruse came on for Kewell, exchanged positions with Holman
It's a concern that Holger doesn't seem to learn from the same tactical mistakes. I don't know what he has in mind but the team doesn't seem to be able to deliver the results he expects from this formation.
Well I would agree in that man management and nurturing talent are his best points, but he's certainly not naive tactically. I just think the two times he has experimented, its been an attempt to squeeze in all of the 'best' players. You don't want him to abandon experimentation, after all without it, McKay, Kruse, Brosque, Williams, Spiranovic, Ognenovski, Jedinak or Valeri wouldn't be in the squad. Just hope he puts this McKay at LB nonsense to bed
Agree about McKay. I don't feel as confident talking about Holman but I'm guessing you're right in general.
My entire experience of the game was looking at Twitter about half way through. The goal had been scored, and someone mentioned how fired up Matty had gotten since the goal.
I went to bed confident that Australia would win 2:1 (say).
I was a bit shocked at the score when I found out the next morning but then I also found out that Matty was not in the midfield, as I'd assumed. It made me kind of angry.
I know what Matt does when the team goes a goal down. I've seen it many times. It's an absurd thing to say of course but I honestly thought, without even seeing the game, that we would have won with Mat in the middle.
He's not a young player. He may have matured later as a player but he's 28 and in the form of his life. Give him a *position* in the first 11 (not merely a *start*) and give him a bit of leadership. He will reward us, I reckon.
I saw the first 30 minutes - and I just saw a team that wasn't playing well - lacked sharpness. A much better performance than when Oman visited Australia recently. Looking back at the first game between Aus and Oman (in Oz) I thought all three goals involved a lack of concentration or positioning by the Omani's. So were the warning signs already there?
Fantastic read. Thank you.
Clayton
Thanks for the comment Clayton, can I ask how you found out about this site?
I don't think sharpness was a particular problem, except in Kennedy's case. The two worst Aussie performances this year, Thailand at home and Oman away, are completely explainable by McKay at left back and Holman at left wing, with Kennedy not mobile enough up front.
Cheers
Hi again,
I saw some big wraps for your site at Hamish's blog. So I thought I would mozy over and have a look. Very glad I did, there was so little discussion of how the game played out, or why things happened the way they did on other news sources / blogs etc.
Clayton
Cheers Hamish
I think in this case McKay has been a victim of his versatility. Holger has gambled on his ability to both cover the fullback slot AND influence the match creatively.
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