What we’ve learnt about Van Marwijk’s tactics

The improvement in Bert van Marwijk’s Socceroos in all facets of the game has been stark over his three-match tenure.

At the pointy end of his three-match and two-camp career fans and pundits now have a clear sense of which personnel he favours and what structure and blueprint we can expect when the team runs out in Kazan on Saturday, 16 June. After the super-impressive 4-0 win over the Czech Republic – which was a record defeat for the Czechs – confidence in the side and their ability to blanket the middle third and to get numbers forward is growing to bursting point.

Let’s just get one thing out of the way: of course the Czechs weren’t good. In fact their squad on Friday’s game has to surely be one of the worst they’ve fielded since the break-up with Slovakia. However, you can only pants the team you’re playing, and Bert evidently saw this game as an opportunity to test the ‘attacking’ version of his gameplan – the one that will likely be trotted out against Peru.

Despite the suspect quality of the Czechs, the Socceroos dazzled at times on Friday, but holes and tactical glitches could also be identified that Bert can work on in the next two weeks.

In appraising Bert’s tactics and forecasting into the World Cup itself, the man himself has signposted his approach in interviews in camp in Turkey. In this age where hardcore fans have finished Championship Manager several times over and won the Champions League with Bolton Wanderers or Hearts of Midlothian, we are inclined to imagine an array of tactical changes that could occur for each game to reflect the changing opposition. This writer is no exception.

However, Bert has effectively laid out the opposite approach and described the logic of this in interviews. Laying out a single formation and structure in all matches with (likely) minimal personnel changes is the kind of repetition that hard-wires a game plan into a player.

His justification for this is is extreme pragmatism. To write a winning equation in only a handful of weeks with the players, he is simplifying instructions and crystallise the building blocks of his gameplan and not confuse or ‘over-coach’ the players. The Czech game manifested these building blocks in simple, majestic and ultimately successful ways.

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Firstly, for Bert’s gameplan to succeed he needs speed in all phases and forward third players who are aggressive, can hold the ball and also make forward runs off it. This hasn’t changed since March, but what was new was the central midfield duo of Aaron Mooy and Massimo Luongo. With their run, passing range and dynamism to push forward or sit deep, Bert will be very tempted to establish the pair as his starters.

Andrew Nabbout’s well-taken goal will also give Bert Michelin star-level food for thought. Before this debut goal, Nabbout’s biggest impact was off the ball, utilising his strengths of speed and endurance to wear out defenders. He was dicey on the ball and wasn’t linking particularly effectively with his teammates. But moments of magic will be needed in this tournament for Australia to progress, and the confidence generated from this goal, as well as what Nabbout offers off the ball, could see him supplant the more labouring Tomi Juric as the number nine when the team lines up against France.

We continued to transition quickly and directly with the ball. This hasn’t changed since the Norway game, but increasingly these transitions are pointed into the wide spaces to players like Mat Leckie as opposed to a central outlet like Jackson Irvine against Norway.

The Colombia game saw these transitions point wide more often to Leckie or Nabbout; however, Tomi Juric also came deep at times to collect these passes and try to bring Tom Rogic into the game. In the Czech game, with Juric unavailable, new elements of our attacking plan were introduced, namely the support in the wide channels from the fullbacks.

With fullbacks patrolling the wide spaces, Leckie and Robbie Kruse were able to tuck inside into the half spaces when joined in the overlap. Having support out wide in principle allows Rogic to be more easily found with shorter inside passes as the defence has more passing lanes to block.

Rogic’s role in Bert’s side is as a central distributor in the forward phase. This was in stunning effect in the first goal, when a Rogic was used at the top of the box in a five-on-six to move from the left to the right, where Josh Risdon was able to chip a dangerous cross into the back post.

(Matt King/Getty Images)

The advanced use of fullbacks unshackled the wide forwards – Leckie and Kruse against the Czechs – from the touchline, where they had been posted against Norway and Colombia. Indeed in the aftermath of the Czech game Bert commented on our inability to use Rogic more, which means there are more facets of our forward play he is still working on and more dangerous positions that can be achieved in the big dance.

The most impactful piece to fall into place for Bert has been the emergence of Josh Risdon. While Bert and the Socceroos public will have had doubts – by calling two potential back-ups into camp – Risdon has come on spectacularly in his two games under Bert after the trainwreck of a right-back performance from Bailey Wright against Norway.

Risdon was battered against Colombia but stood up gallantly and was arguably our best player against the Czech Republic. Whereas pre-Risdon right back was a point of serious concern in our structure – would we need to drop Leckie back to support? – it is now a position we can set with almost Behich-levels of confidence.

Selecting Risdon as a ‘conventional’ right back with the faith of the coaching team means we can unleash Leckie as a forward, which paid off twice against the Czechs. Surely Postecoglou will have seen Leckie’s goals in Austria and wondered what might have been possible in qualifying if he hadn’t marginalised his attacking threat at wingback.

(Supplied: Nike)

The starkest tactical difference against the Czechs was the higher defensive line. In defence we moved into a very compact and high formation, occupying the edge of the middle third in a structure that Arrigo Sacchi would be proud of. Two narrow and compact lines, patrolled by quick and athletic centrebacks and central midfielders, allowed us to respond, mostly with comfort, to balls over the top and also allowed us to transition with precision with balls directly from the central defenders – Mark Milligan and Trent Sainsbury, both adept long passers.

Having two quick central midfielders who can set a middle block allows his team to intercept then release quickly to the forwards, as they did for the third goal (scored by Leckie). Winning the ball in midfield and releasing wide through Mooy is our quickest ticket into our final third.

In the true Arrigo Sacchi model the two central midfielders become crucial to the defensive structure, as the space between those lines is a goldmine for opposition playmakers. In the moments where we were caught out against the relatively poor Czech forwards, scrambling with our central defenders to block, it was because both Mooy and Luongo were pulled out of shape in the forward phase, exposing that area to be attacked through.

A player like Antoine Griezmann or Christian Eriksen will sit there waiting to catch the Socceroos on the counter if these positional mistakes are replicated. This also applies to Milligan’s midfielder instinct to press the man on the ball and come off his line.

Bert’s options to address this are clear and achievable, and he can either work on the training pitch and on the video with Mooy and Luongo (and Milligan) to refine their understanding or he can sit the line deeper and concede midfield territory. Likely he will do a mixture of both.

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He may consider anchoring Mile Jedinak in this hole. That is probably his last remaining selection ‘headache’. On paper and in practice the pairing of Mass and Mooy is a Bert van Marwijk special. Here he has two strong, super-fit and talented ball players; however, both are in the habit of pushing forward for their clubs.

Bert’s decision will be a trade-off of defensive structural integrity (Mile), for midfield dynamism and greater attacking prowess with Mass and Mooy. The temptation to run with Mooy and Mass should be too great for Bert given the athletic, coachable super-team he favours, so no doubt Mass and Mooy will be inseparable in the tape room during the week, working on their positioning when one is in a position to get forward.

Bert’s thumbprint is now firmly marked upon this Socceroo team despite having access to the players for only a few weeks and three matches. In each match we have improved exponentially – almost to a player – and with the quick, strong and athletic XI working on a singular style and symmetrical formation, Bert is generating a lot of hope and (perhaps dumb) optimism.

Can we get through the group? Possibly not. But after the game against the Czech Republic we can now see a game plan that could. With this team and structure the Socceroos will pressure, will exhaust and now we can even surprise our opponents while in possession.