Sydney FC's team coach, Branko Culina faces the media after their match against Persik Kediri during the AFC Champions League game in Manahan Stadium Solo, Indonesia, Thursday, April 12, 2007. Persik Kediri beat Sydney FC 2-1 AAP Image/Ardiles Rante
It really is a funny old game this football. For six straight games, Branko Culina and his Newcastle Jets played with a back four, dished up some delightful football, and had very little to show for it.
At times, like against Melbourne in round 11, the football was top shelf, with Labinot Haliti and Michael Bridges forging a nice mobile combination up front and Fabio Vignaroli proving to be an excellent dictator of the tempo from deep.
All the while Jin-Hyung Song has been catching the eye with his ability to keep his feet and integrate with his front-men.
At the back Nikolai Topor-Stanley had been doing well, while Adam D’Apuzzo had been alternating between central midfield and left back and doing an admirable job at both.
But in six games the Jets were only able to muster two points.
Much of the blame, according to Culina, was apportioned to the lack of communication between the back three of Ben Kennedy, Topor-Stanley and Ben Kantarovski.
Neither, according to Culina, is a great talker, and, for all the good football, the odd lapse in organisation had undoubtedly resulted in a number of dropped points.
The classic example came in the above-mentioned Victory game, where Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez caught out the defence with a couple of rapid sucker-punches.
So last week, in the F3 Derby against the Central Coast Mariners, it was back to basics, with Angelo Costanzo coming into the heart of a three-man-defence, with Topor-Stanley to his left and Kantarovski to his right.
The logic was that Costanzo would be the organiser, responsible for running the team from his deep vantage point.
It has been a strange 12 months for Costanzo. For much of the regular season last year, he was a key fixture in the heart of the Adelaide United defence alongside Sash Ognenovski, and I felt he had both been doing very well.
Suddenly, in the midst of the dramatic and tumultuous end to the season for Adelaide, he was benched, deemed surplus to requirements. Seemingly something was simmering beneath the surface.
In the wash-up to another Adelaide grand final loss, he was released and moved to Newcastle, in time for the Asian Champions League campaign. But even here he has been bit-part at best, both under Garry van Egmond and Culina.
Seemingly, his best days were behind him and he would have to make do with the odd fill-in job.
But with Lubjo Milicevic seemingly on the outer again and Culina in desperate need of some experience and organisation, Costanzo was the man, and had a blinder against the Mariners as the Jets ditched the flowing football for a more rugged and direct approach built on organisation and determination.
As Culina said in the post-match dissection of the win over the Mariners, it was a throw-back to the “old days”, when a sweeper was par for the course.
Indeed, many of Culina’s successful NSL sides featured such a system, and he often found himself struggling to the break-down Adelaide City and Marconi defences marshalled by Costanzo.
Again, last night, in the Jets’ 1-1 draw in Brisbane, Costanzo was outstanding, teaming up with the equally brilliant Topor-Stanley and Kantarovski to shut-out both Sergio van Dijk and Mitch Nichols for all but the equalising spot-kick.
It was far from a classic game and far from a classic performance from either side, but given the dire position both sides found themselves in, and Brisbane’s desperation for points after four straight losses, it was hardly a surprise.
The Roar, now under Ange Postecoglou, showed signs of a neat counter-attacking game last week in Sydney, but without Reinaldo for this one, they were short up front, with Mitch Nichols and Isaka Cernak struggling to get forward and provide the requisite support to van Dijk.
Time after time Tommy Oar whipped in a delightful cross, only for it to be dealt with by Costanzo and Co.
Effective, if not always pretty, the Jets have now picked up four points from six, emphasising again just what a crazy game this football can be.
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