Arnold and van Egmond leading Australia’s football education

 

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By Tony Tannous, 17 Jan 2012 Tony Tannous is a Roar Expert

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 A-League, Central Coast Mariners, football, Gary van Egmond, Graham Arnold, Newcastle Jets, Nikolai Topor-Stanley

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Graham Arnold and Gary van Egmond are leading the A-League forward (AAP)

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On a weekend in which high-profile stoushes, both on and off the field, hogged the headlines, it was the battle to control a football game between Graham Arnold and Gary van Egmond, that was the most productive.

As an advertisement for the A-League, the F3 derby between the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets on Saturday evening, full of tactical tinkering and momentum shifts, was right up there.

The pity, of course, is that so few people, both in the stadium, watching on TV or in the media, would have truly appreciated what was going on between the two former Socceroos.

As a nation that truly understands the intricacies of the round ball game, and how a manager can influence the shape of a game through a redistribution of resources, we have a long way to go.

But it’s studying matches like the one at Bluetongue that will speed up the learning process, which is why it’s important there are columns like this to discuss the machinations at play.

The fact that The Roar give me the column inches to dissect such a game in detail is a credit to the organisation’s belief in growing the discourse and knowledge around football Down Under.

To become a great football nation, this education process must continue for decades to come. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

This intriguing game, which ultimately finished level, is another building block. Hopefully a few aspiring managers were out there, studying it. If so, I’d love to get their thoughts.

It started with van Egmond, desperate for some away success, shaping up with a back three, as I had suggested he might do in my most recent column on the A-League website.

Splitting Taylor Regan and Nikolai Topor-Stanley with Tiago Calvano, he had Ruben Zadkovich at right wing-back and the more adventurous Jeremy Brockie on the left.

It was truly a throw-back to yesteryear, when wing-backs were invariably lop-sided, meaning one was advanced while the other was slightly withdrawn, in order to provide balance. Just enough attack, just enough defence.

Van Egmond’s aim, of course, was to control the Mariners’ front two of Troy Hearfield and Bernie Ibini-Isei, leaving one spare defender at the back.

Elsewhere, it seemed he wanted to control the Mariners fullbacks, such a key to their attacking structure.

The suspension of Pedj Bojic, one of the Mariners’ best this season, sure helped, with his replacement Brad Porter struggling to deal with Brockie.

Arnold, in selecting Porter ahead of the in-form Trent Sainsbury, had made the first false move, one he would later address.

Van Egmond’s tactics worked a treat in the early going, the Jets dominating the flanks and grabbing the opener through a rapid incursion down the left.

Half an hour in and the Jets were in complete control. Arnold had to respond, and a few minutes later he did. When Ibini went down injured, he called over John Hutchinson and gave him the instructions.

Michael McGlinchey, playing on the right of his midfield diamond, would go into the top line, with Mustafa Amini moved from the head of the diamond midfield to the right side of a midfield three.

Arnold had gone from a diamond 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3, with McGlinchey and Ibini now wide on the flanks and Hearfield through the middle.

The aim was to stretch the back-three, use the space in behind the wing-backs, and force van Egmond’s hand.

The Jets manager knew it. The sideline microphones picked him up muttering something along the following lines to Arnold: “I thought you never change during a game?”

He had no choice but to respond. Back came Zadkovich on the right, into a more traditional fullback role, with Topor-Stanley shifted out to the left, to look after McGlinchey.

Arnold had gone from being on the ropes to giving his men a chance, and by forcing van Egmond to use Topor-Stanley at left back, there was now some potential.

McGlinchey almost exploited this on a couple of occasions late in the opening half, dribbling past Topor-Stanley.

At half-time Arnold tinkered even further, pushing the quick Hearfield out to the right. The idea, quite clearly, was to get him in behind Topor-Stanley.

Soon he was putting the foot down even further, bringing Daniel McBreen on for Amini and going to a 4-2-2-2, with Hearfield and McGlinchey playing high up on the flanks, almost in the same line as Ibini and McBreen and well in advance of Oliver Bozanic and Hutchinson.

At the same time he made the Sainsbury for Porter switch at right back.

Within minutes Hearfield was played in behind Topor-Stanley, and while Regan and Calvano somehow kept out his cross, the Mariners scored from the resulting corner.

Now it was van Egmond’s turn to react. Recognising he had an issue at left back that the Mariners would continue to exploit, he introduced Sung-Hwan Byun for Calvano, shifting Topor-Stanley into the centre of defence.

From there the game was back in equilibrium, with Jets looking far more controlled at the back. Indeed, van Egmond must have been wondering if he should have made that move earlier.

With scores level, both managers went in for the kill, looking for an advantage in the final third, but neither Michael Bridges nor Ali Abbas for the Jets, or Kwasnik or McBreen for the Mariners, were quite able to provide it.

It had been a thoroughly enjoyable tactical battle, another small step in the continuing evolution of the round ball game in Australia.

Follow Tony on Twitter @TonyTannousTRBA

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