A victory for one manager, a template for eight others

 
Tony Tannous Columnist

By , 7 Aug 2009 Tony Tannous is a Roar Expert

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While the Central Coast Mariners had a touch of fortune with both their goals in last night’s A-League opener, this was a victory for a simple but effective strategy from Lawrie McKinna. Eight other managers are now likely to use it as a template when visiting the champions.

Too often in past seasons the Mariners have been guilty of coming to Docklands, defending high and giving up far too much space in behind.

Invariably they have been carved up by the pace of the Allsopp-Thompson axis.

This time though McKinna came with a plan to sit deep, on the 18 yard box, and not allow any space in-behind.

Having the experienced talker Chris Doig alongside skipper Alex Wilkinson provided the organisation, with Doig dictating the position of the line.

In front of them, McKinna used twin screeners in Pedj Bojic and John Hutchinson. Bojic, in particular, was outstanding with his defensive work.

The plan was to frustrate the Victory, get in the back of Carlos Hernandez and deny him any space to turn and play, and cut off the supply to the strikers.

Michael McGlinchey, playing in front of Bojic and Hutchinson, did a very good defensive job, putting pressure on Leigh Broxham and Grant Brebner and helping the tireless Matt Simon defend from the front.

Simon’s battle with Kevin Muscat was a show on its own.

The other effective McKinna tactic was to put two athletic players in the wing positions.

Ernie Merrick likes his fullbacks to provide the width and penetration from deep, and, if allowed to run unchecked, Matt Kemp and Evan Berger are hard to contain.

But in Adam Kwasnik and Brad Porter, McKinna had two men willing to track the runs.

Particularly on the right, they were able to usher Berger into cul-de-sacs.

In attack, the plan was to get the ball forward quickly, and early on the Mariners transition was good. The second goal came from one such early outlet ball.

The early goals provided the confidence and comfort to stick with their strategy, and there was no need to deviate from it, despite Melbourne having a real crack in the second period.

Naturally, at some point, and especially at home, McKinna’s men will need to come out and play a bit more, and we will see if McGlinchey can influence the play in a more offensive sense.

But the early signs are excellent, and McKinna looks to have acquired three good signings; an experienced central defender and two hunger midfield buzzers (Nicky Travis came on for McGlinchey and clipped one delightful ball in behind).

For a team that didn’t win its first 11 games of 2009, that’s now five straight undefeated games when you factor in the four pre-season matches against A-League sides.

As for Melbourne, there were some eyebrows raised when the team was announced with Brebner and Broxham starting, and last year’s grand finalists, Billy Celeski and Nicky Ward on the bench.

The word is Celeski isn’t yet fully fit after off-season surgery, but even then the midfield shape looked unnecessarily defensive. Ward made an impression late.

And as if the two goal loss wasn’t enough. Muscat’s hamstring injury now exposes an area that has been the talk of Melbourne’s pre-season, the lack of central defensive cover.

Names mentioned include Kemp, Steven Pace and Surat Sukha, but another that might come into calculations is Brebner, unless of course Merrick goes shopping.

With all the pre-season attention on those north, west and east, the benchmark setting southerns have escaped the questions, but Muscat’s injury, the loss and the below-average attendance will spice things up a touch.

Follow Tony on Twitter @TonyTannousTRBA
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