Last night’s City Derby between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC was a fitting spectacle for the A-League debuts of Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton.
While Kewell was effective playing as a trequartista, drifting from flank to flank in search of space and serving as the main conduit of the Navy Blues attack, Emerton’s performance on the right wing was much more muted, and Brett did not feature as prominently during the game as his national team colleague.
It wasn’t that Brett played particularly badly; it was just that Sydney never really strung together fluent attacking phases and Emerton’s performance suffered from the helter-skelter rhythm.
This might be remedied by affording Emerton time to settle-in and build a rapport with his team-mates; but perhaps there is another, tactical reason Emerton was so subdued last night.
Blackburn fans are nearly unanimous in their belief that Emerton, because of his stamina, awareness and accurate crossing ability, was always more effective as a fullback than as a winger. Perhaps there is some merit in that point of view.
If Sydney’s main priority is to properly utilise Emerton’s impeccable delivery from the right flank, (and the fact that he was given responsibility over corners goes some way to supporting this) then he would be in a more advantageous position to become a constant aerial outlet at fullback rather than on the wing, where he is closely marked by the opposition leftback, and compelled to provide close support for the lone forward.
Now I recognise that most people will think this is a controversial, even blatantly foolish opinion given that Emerton is almost certainly one of the most talented and experienced players in the hemisphere, never mind the Sydney squad (they’ll think Emerton at right-back is a waste; why hide him so far from the action?).
But consider this; fullback has become the most important and influential position in modern football, due to the fact that a fullback often has no direct opponent to contend against in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
Fullbacks frequently have the whole flank to patrol with the wide players ahead of them cutting-in to support the lone forward.
Consider last night’s match; with the midfield congested, which players had space to advance into and time on the ball to create situations to overman the opposition defence and launch crosses into the box – Jamieson and Cole, Fabio and Foschini; the fullbacks.
If Lavicka opts to deploy Bridge, Antonis or Petratos on the right wing, pacey and aggressive players, their cutting-in will drag the opposition leftback inside, leaving Emerton behind, free and clear, with acres of space and precious extra time to advance, assess the situation, pick out a friendly target, and unleash a pinpoint curling cross into the box – a facet of the game Emerton excels at, and it was noticeable and disappointing that he didn’t unleash a single cross all game against Melbourne.
In addition, consider Emerton’s defensive abilities; he has the physical stamina to patrol up and down the flank all game, the build to ensure he won’t be bullied off the ball, the experience and awareness to pre-emptively prevent opposition attacking forays through clever positioning, and adroitness in the tackle.
The fact that McFlynn, the Sydney captain and a tough-tackling defensive midfielder is regularly stationed on the right of the double pivot bolsters the argument; after the right winger cuts-in and Emerton at fullback overlaps, McFlynn can drift wide to occupy the space that Emerton has just vacated and the opposition would try to exploit.
For a relevant comparison, consider the performances of Luke Wilkshire for Australia; he is often the most regular outlet for crossing on the right flank, and the time and space he is afforded is created by Emerton drawing in the opposition leftback and allowing Wilkshire to advance and overlap.
Will Lavicka recognise the merit in this approach? Perhaps, though Vitja is infamous for dogged perseverance in a 4-4-2 diamond formation whose lack of width was repeatedly exploited and exposed last season.
If Lavicka does recognise the possibility, will he try it? That is another matter entirely. Lavicka was fortunate to retain his position as Sydney’s manager, given the dog’s breakfast that was the Sky Blues campaign last season.
The majority of fans and the executive board would probably regard Emerton at right back as an illogical waste of money, even though it might just be the ideal way to make use of Emerton’s world class talents; endless stamina, defensive awareness, and superb crossing ability.
j binnie
Guest
Joel - The article you have highlighted was written in the year 2000 & uses modern managers, players & teams to convey the message being sent. A very dangerous ploy, for a reader could be enticed to believe these occurrences happened within that time frame. Nothing is further from the truth. Also in the article it claims Jonathan Wilson is a "guru" on soccer tactics.Jonathon Wilson is not a guru ( a Hindi word for teacher) he is a young investigative journalist who has meticulously investigated the tactical revolution in football since around the mid 1920's naming & propounding the ideas of the men behind this revolution. In his book "Inverting the Pyramid" (a truly great source of information) he will mention & demonstrate by diagram, coaches & full backs using & being used as attacking fullbacks long before the examples your article's author ??? uses. This practice of using a modern example to highlight a point being made is rife among contributors today & actually demeans the work done by many,many fine coaches of yesteryear. The term "total football" is a fine example of this. 99% of football followers believe this "system", to be an "invention" of the Dutch, bringing the game to a new peak around 1974-78.This is totally erroneous, for even the supposed "Father of Total Football", Michels, always denied having any knowledge as to where the description originated,& in fact Wilson will point to Ajax changing their system from a loose 4-2-4 to a 4-3-3 after another Dutch team, Feyenoord, under the Austrian coach Happel, became Holland's first winner of the European Cup using the more "mobile defence to attack" system.It should be said that this 4-3-3 method of play was developed by the Brazilians around 1958, some 20 years earlier, when, after losing possession of the ball their "left winger" Zagallo immediately withdrew to midfield until possession was won again.See where I am coming from??? The tactics of the game is a constantly changing field of ideas from men who are deep thinkers & decide to take on the challenge of beating the current "fad". jb
j binnie
Guest
Midfielder -That numbers game again. Don't know how long you'd get away with having a 3-5-3 formation on the field for at the last count the rules said you were only allowed 10 out-field players and to the best of my knowledge goalkeepers have never been used in a numerical description of a "system",4-4-2,4-3-3,3-5-2,etc,etc. Having said that it should also be said it has been tried before,by intent or by error we will never know for in a game played between a touring Moscow Dynamos & Glasgow Rangers the referee was advised by a Rangers player to count the number of opponents on the field. There were 12 !!!! Mind you it was a foggy November day in Glasgow.???????? Cheers jb
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Do they still make the right backs take home the shirts each week and bring the oranges... I met one once I swear this is true he actually had half a brain ... one of the best ... As for Bret .... I be inclined to play him in a more central role ... say a 3 - 5 - 3 combo with Bret as a deep sitting mid being able to quickly break left or right ...
j binnie
Guest
Fussball - In answer to your question about Foschino &Cernack. This is a difficult one to answer for as I said elsewhere when a manager has to put together a team to fit his chosen system he has to,in short,get to know all the talents,physically,mentally,& psychologically in that players make up. The boy Foschino, I have not seen playing much & obviously have never spoken to him either so apart from assessing his physical capabilities and marrying those to the physical requirements to play wing-back I doubt if my opinion would carry weight.Cernack I have seen playing more when he was at Roar & Fury (I was quite surprised when Ange let him go) & his footballing ability I rate quite highly, but again, without talking to him & working out what makes him tick your question remains unanswerable. Let me say this ,he has all the physical attributes but I would want to know about his attitude to strict discipline which is essential when "recovery" is needed. Let me titillate you with a story on "tackling". While doing a senior coaching course we were asked to chart 2 players in a Leeds United v West Ham game.The players were Bobby Moore & Norman Hunter (nickname "bite yer legs"), at the time both England internationals.& we were to record how many successful tackles each made in the WHOLE game,Moore playing Centre Half & Hunter Left half. Now you'll have to understand the term "tackle" as being where 2 men meet physically while at the same time attempting to wrest the ball away from the opponent. ok? Answers to the recorded observation.--- Hunter,probably the most renowned " tackler " in England at the time made 7 tackles, Moore (an expert positional player) made --- 0, yes none, though his "intercepts" were a sight to behold in timing & execution. I tell you this so you understand, what happens on the field is not always what is the popular interpretation of the observer. Cheers jb
TomC
Guest
Fuss, couldn't disagree more about Foschini's game last night.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
jb Would appreciate your thoughts on another player's possible transition to the wing back position. At MVFC, I've identified Right Wing Back as a major weakness for our team. I really want Foschini to succeed, but after his recent games for the u23 NT and last night's game, I find him to be a liability. Foschini's work rate is good but, in my opinion, his positioning is all wrong when he's facing the ball as the opposition comes forward. Additionally, his tackling is poor, which either gives away a free kick or the opponent skips past him and leaves him on the ground. Finally, when he moves forward to assist the attack his passing is wayward and he has very limited "tactical visualisation" so he rarely makes the insightful run behind the defence. So, I would like your opinion on whether you think a guy like Isaka Cernak could be transitioned into a Right Wing Back? Last night Cernak was a bit rusty, but I've found him to be a highly talented wide player but, in the MVFC team, his options playing wide up front may be limited; however, he could cement a spot in the team playing the wide position in defence.
Matt F
Guest
It's an option, especially when you consider how poor Coyne looked and the fact that Kisel is still to come into the side, but let's not be too hasty to make judgements based on one game.
Joel
Guest
yeah, top call there J Binnie, Danning did have a couple of late chances but completely nullified Rose going forward.
j binnie
Guest
Fussball - You cannot make a leopard change it's spots.Keep trying or get the help of Julia,Greg & Co for if they can't help you not even God can. Cheers.jb
j binnie
Guest
PM Sorry I did not refer to your article directly in my jocular reply to Fussball. Your article was right on the button re. Emerton & most of the technical data used was spot on too. I think you will find Brett did start in Holland in the fullback / wingback position & in this point I would probably move away from content in your reply to me.. When managing a club side one has to look at what players you have available & use them to the best of their capablities, be it psychological or physical ,therefore to "tie" a player to a position after this assessment can be critical decision making. Now the further up the the strata that is football the more managers today are buying players to fit their idea of the "perfect system". I can go back to '62 when players with speed & stamina started to find their way into backlines.By '67 the European Cup final saw 2 wingbacks playing,Gemmell with the ferocious shooting power & Facchetti, the consummate footballer who with his great vision & passing ability could create mayhem down Inter's left flank.You are an obvious fan of what I call the "numbers game". To me it is all so much hoo-haa introduced into the game by people outside the game.I still like to amuse myself by analysing what a coach is trying to achieve with his use of his players & how HE applies his knowledge in getting the best out of those same players.As an example it is now 2 years since I first suggested Michael Zullo could probably made into a left wingback. I was scoffed at.I also suggested more than a year ago Matt McKay could play there too.He has. jb
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Jb You are absolutely correct - "right wing back" is the more accurate term However, at out Association's last meeting when this issue was raised, members were aghast that the name change could have us mistaken as political party representing Conservatives! ;-)
PassandMove
Roar Pro
alternatively, Lavicka could station a relatively more defensive player than Jamieson at leftback, someone used to playing central. that way the other 3 in the back 4 could shuffle to the right to help cover the space. Maybe somthing like Coyne, Bosschart, Beauchamp and Emerton for the back-4, left to right
PassandMove
Roar Pro
yes well jonathan wilson is another who has suggested it, but I think Arsene Wenger was one of the first premier league managers to legitimise the idea with Ashley Cole
j binnie
Guest
Joel - Don't know if you noted a very shrewd substitution last night late in the second half, just after Franic had taken a bad tumble,suddenly, for about 5 or 10 minutes Rose started to make his presence felt with some great runs down the left flank.Up steps Ange & introduces the flying machine Danning wide on the Roar's right. Result - An almost immediate stop to Rose's deep runs.As I said,an extremely shrewd use of substitution as a weapon to curb a perceived threat. Full marks Ange. jb
PassandMove
Roar Pro
Yeah you're probably right in that all players should be given time to settle in
PassandMove
Roar Pro
@ j binnie I'm not too sure of his positional history, though I am under the impression his debut for Blackburn, where he scored, was at right midfield. He apparently did put in shifts at right back in the middle of career there, but most of the time he was stationed at wide midfield. Technically speaking, the difference between a fullback and a wingback does not revolve around attacking intent, rather on the formation the team is using. A 'fullback' can be described as a wingback when there is no winger or wide midfielder ahead of him, most commonly in an old-style 3-5-2 or 3-4-3; they become literally half a fullback and half a winger and are asked to patrol the whole flank by themselves. For instance, Maicon, when played on the right side of a back-4, can be termed a fullback. Under Gasperini, when he was asked to cover the entire right flank with no wide player ahead of him, can be termed a wingback.
PassandMove
Roar Pro
That ignores how pivotal the fullback position has become. If Emerton were to become a constant attacking threat from fullback, that would be a preferable alternative to him being marked out of the game and unable to launch his quality crosses at right wing.
j binnie
Guest
Fussball - (my old sparring partner) Your association is dating itself & it's members by choosing a name like "Right Back P A." Around the early '70's this name & left back was totally outmoded in the coaching manuals being replaced by the term "WING BACK" a name that very aptly describes the requirements & coach expectations of those placed in these positions. Suggestion - At the next AGM suggest a "name change" for the organisation & remember, you need 21 clear days notice for such a change to take place. As an aside from this important message & more to P&M, Emerton started his first class career in Holland playing as a -----Right Back--------Sorry------- Right Wing Back.That was more than a couple of years ago,was it not? jb
PassandMove
Roar Pro
@Kasey point taken, Classico it is. you need a bit of latin flavour
Joel
Guest
I always thought Emerton was at his best at full back for the national team and for blackburn. With the proliferation of formations designed to pack the central midfield- see 433 vs 442 diamond in the Roar vs CCM game fullbacks are often the players with time space to move and pick a pass- Franjic and Rose were pivotal when both sides went forward last night. Frankly Emerton, while by no means slow, does not have the pace he once had- he is less likely break the offside trap or go past the fullback so use him at fullback and see his crossing, passing and tackling abilities flourish in the increased space. Not the first to suggest this either... http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/01/19/twtc-the-advent-of-attacking-full-backs/