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Gold Coast United FC head coach and director of football, Miron Bleiberg (centre) celebrates with Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO Ben Buckley (right) and Gold Coast United CEO Clive Mensink (left) at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. The Gold Coast's bid to enter the national A-League competition in 2009/10 was today given the long-awaited approval by the FFA. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
When Fox Sports’ tactical formation caption came up ahead of the Gold Coast United’s A-League opener against Brisbane, you could have been forgiven for thinking Miron Bleiberg had pulled one over the Fox producer. It showed the new club shaping up in a rather outrageous looking 2-4-2-2 in front of Scott Higgins.
It featured stoppers van den Brink and Thwaite in the last line, then a four-pronged third line of Osman, Griffiths, Robson and Piorkowski. In front of them were the two “creators”, Culina and Minniecon, with Smeltz and Porter in the first line.
Seemingly, Bleiberg was using a bit of managerial license by insisting the right and left backs, Osman and Piorkowski, would player higher up the formation.
Surely it was one for the caption, a move designed the paint an impression of an attacking formation.
Surely, when the teams actually shaped up, on the pitch, logic would have Osman and Piorkowski tucked in alongside van den Brink and Thwaite in what ostensibly would be another variation on the 4-4-2.
Certainly, commentator Andy Harper wasn’t convinced Bleiberg was telling Fox the entire truth.
Perhaps it was a lack of understanding from Piorkowski on the left, but there was no real evidence in the first round of how important the fullbacks are to Gold Coast’s template.
Perhaps we should have read more into Culina’s berating of Piorkowski for not being in a more advanced position midway through the first half. You’ll remember he was replaced at the break, with Thwaite shifting out to left back and Rees coming in at centre back.
Even Osman, ostensibly a defensive player, failed to offer any significant forward thrust to suggest Bleiberg was about to transform the way we think about a “back-four”.
But in the past fortnight, with Steve Fitzsimmons and Adama Traore summoned into the right and left wing-back spots respectively, the formation has indeed looked a true 2-4-2-2.
Even at kick-off that is the shape, with Fitzsimmons and Traore advanced of the two central defenders, nowadays van den Brink and Rees.
Indeed, often they are found driving forward beyond this third line, which appears to be the starting point. With Gold Coast controlling games and on the front foot, rarely have the two wing-backs been relied on in a traditional fullback sense.
Instead they have been used to provide the width, to break-forward quickly and link with the likes of Culina, Caravella, Smeltz and Porter.
Traore has been quite the revelation, seeing and playing things early, doing in one touch what it might take others two or three touches to do.
Fitzsimmons, hitherto a bit-part player, has also caught the eye with his ability to jink and link, and on Friday he gave Jamieson his second working over in as many weeks. Not to mention an assist and a goal.
By local standards, this has been quite a revolutionary piece of tactical tinkering from Bleiberg, but even when measured against the world it is cutting-edge.
Even for the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona and Liverpool, known for fielding offensive fullbacks, you will often find the likes of Evra, Bosingwa, Alves and Clichy starting alongside their centre-backs, and often dropping back into that shape when their team coughs up the ball.
Radical? Revolutionary? Crazy?
Perhaps it’s just Bleiberg’s way of keeping up with the Jones’s.
It’s certainly a world-wide trend for fullbacks to be used as the key plank in a team’s penetrative template.
Recently Liverpool spent an outrageous amount on England right back Glen Johnson, but against Stoke, last Thursday morning our time, it was easy to see why.
While he shaped up in a back-four in the pre-game caption, Rafael Benitez essentially used a back three, with Johnson given license to stay as high up the pitch as he liked. He had a blinder, scoring spectacularly, assisting, and all the rest.
Carragher covered the right, Insua bombed on down the left, and Liverpool controlled it all.
Control is certainly a key component of the Gold Coast way, and with Pantelidis and Thwaite providing the muscle and a surprising degree of subtlety on the ball, as well as drive into the box, this team sure looks easy on the eye.
Indeed, in three rounds they have dished up best football yet seen in the A-League’s short history, and I, for one, look forward to getting out and seeing it live.
Tony’s team of round 3 (4-3-3, manager of the week, Ricki Herbert)
———————-Bolton——————
————————————————-
Fitzsimmons—–Keller—-Leijer—-Traore
—————————————————
———————Hutchinson—————
————–Srhoj———–Caravella——
—————————————————
Henrique——————————–Sikora
———————–Porter———————-
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