9 points on Adelaide 2-2 Victory

The latest instalment of the league's most volatile fixture ended with the Victory clawing back to level terms to depart Hindmarsh with a share of the spoils. All in all, this contest was not decided by clever tactical flourishes, but through fitness and momentum. 

6 points on Adelaide 0-4 Central Coast

Here are 6 tactical points on the Mariners ruthless four-goal shellacking of a hapless Adelaide. 

Before the start of the season, the Reds were tipped by many, including PM, to mount a serious title tilt, despite the departures of a host of key players. Coolen supervised a complete rebuild of the playing squad, presumably at great expense. Among his prized recruits were Vidosic, McKain, Levchenko and Slory. And although none of the new arrivals have particularly distinguished themselves, perhaps the most disappointing performance has been produced by the manager himself, who has consistently committed severe tactical mistakes. 

6 points on Adelaide 0-0 Newcastle

Here is a 6 point tactical analysis on Adelaide's underwhelming nil-all draw with Newcastle. Don't forget to help spread the word about Pass and Move. 

Adelaide 1-1 Heart: Match Analysis

There are multiple prisms through which to perceive this match; a 'relegation' scrap for one, a grudge match between former colleagues (on the pitch and in the dugouts) another, a Double Dutch affair, perhaps even a fight between the two highest paid and most 'underperforming' managers in the league. Thanks to the audacity of John van't Schip however, PM is going to treat this match as a fascinating tactical exhibition. Kind of obvious really, given the word 'tactics' is in the URL.

The first half was a see-sawing affair. Heart dominated play initially, thanks to their monopoly of possession. But Adelaide battled through, unsettling the Heart and conjuring threatening periods of play. What set this fixture alight however, was the late sending off of Colosimo, and Adelaide's equaliser from the resultant free kick. Both sides really battled in the closing minutes; Slory came close to twice creating open net situations, while Hoffman actually tapped in a shot from close range, only to be called off-side.

Addendum to Besart Berisha

PM recently analysed the 7-1 thrashing Brisbane dolled out to Adelaide.

ADDITION:
That isn't to say Berisha is a 'simple poacher' - that dubious honour belongs to none other than Shane Smeltz, the A-League's own Michael Owen. To again use the Torres metaphor, Berisha's pace and aggression was used to push back the Adelaide centre backs to expand the space between the Red's midfield and defence, something Smeltz isn't capable of.

Brisbane 7-1 Adelaide: Match Analysis

Un-f**king-believable. Brisbane produced a virtousic performance with a display of football that was at turns scintillating, exhilarating and utterly crushing. Brisbane's raw speed of movement, passing and thought, their creative flair, their disciplined and determined pressing; this was the beautiful game at its most elegant and elemental, a full realisation of football as an ideal. Brisbane were almost mechanical in their precision, and provided a demonstration of the merits of subordinating the individual talent to the expression of the collective.

Because of the sheer disparity in quality, it's hard for PM to analyse this match from a tactical prism - Brisbane won because of their superior style of play. Yet there are points of interest concerning Coolen's tactics and Postecoglou's line-up, most pertinently the decision to break up the McKain/Susak central defensive axis and shift Susak to right fullback, as well as the decision to field Caravella out of position on the left with the return of Levchenko to the double pivot.

Adelaide 1-2 Sydney: Match Analysis

Sydney turned in a much improved and more fluent performance to clinch a confidence boosting three points at Hindmarsh Stadium, a venue they had gone three whole years without winning at. Adelaide were effective in patches, but still seem to miss the fluency of the squad Coolen inherited from Vidmar.

THIS ANALYSIS SHOULD BE REGARDED AS INCOMPLETE, but PM thought there was merit in posting the tactical diagram.

Adelaide 1-0 Victory: Match Analysis

This was a taut, tense and heated affair between the two clubs with arguably the most vitriolic rivalry in the A-League; the Reds and the Navy Blues. South Australians scarcely need reminding of the utterly dominant record the Victorians hold over them, the highlights of which include Archie Thompson's 5-goal shellacking in the inaugural 2006-7 Grand Final, and a 5-year undefeated streak held against the Reds that Coolen was only able to break last year. For the Reds, this was a match to savour. Ultimately, the result was decided by a mistaken pass, Van Dijk's predatory instincts and confirmed by a questionable sending off of Leijer. While both managers employed 4-2-3-1 shapes, there were distinctive differences between the two; namely the roles of Harry Kewell, shifted from trequartista to centre forward, and Zenon Caravella, a passing midfielder who has found himself shunted out on the wing.

Perth 1-0 Adelaide: Match Analysis

This was an energetic and aggressive encounter. While the play itself was not particularly cerebral, there was a tactically intriguing feature. Perth, deployed in an orthodox 4-4-2, dominated possession against Adelaide, deployed in a nominal 4-3-3. Adelaide, of all the losing clubs in Round 1, most deserved to; they were unimaginative and insipid.

Adelaide United 2011-12 Season Preview

A third of the way into last season, Rini Coolen was being hailed as one of the best managers to ever grace Australian shores. The team he inherited from Aurelio Vidmar was 10 games into what would become a record streak of 13 games unbeaten. The quintet of Lucas Pantelis, Travis Dodd, Matthew Leckie, Sergio van Dijk and of course the premiere trequartista, Marcos Flores, was tearing through opposition defences at will. To most commentators, it was a foregone conclusion that the Toilet Seat would finally go to Hindmarsh, after a half-decade absence of honours.

Of course, that didn't happen. Brisbane clicked into gear, and smashed that unbeaten record by doubling it. The 'title decider' between the Reds and the Roar became a 4-0 thrashing. Adelaide slipped into 3rd place as Central Coast overtook them as title challengers.

A-League Pre-Season Form Guide

FourFourTwo AU put together a useful guide to the club's results in offseason. These results should probably be taken with a grain of salt; obviously clubs were still making signings, players were still coming back from injury, and managers were giving some youngsters experience - so it's unlikely that clubs consistently sent out their strongest available line-up, or even played in their preferred style.

Nevertheless, there's still utility in seeing how many games clubs lost, how many goals were conceded, and who has scoring form going into the regular season. It should be noted how notoriously unrealiable pre-season results are as predicators of regular season success; in the 4 seasons in which the A-League held a Pre-Season Cup, only one of the Cup winners went on to become Premiers or Champions. Quick summary below.