Mark Rudan has the potential to end up being one of the best coaches the A-League has ever seen, but how has he gotten to that point with a team that last season narrowly avoided the wooden spoon?
Formation
Mark Rudan has chosen what is, in my opinion, one of the best (if not the best) formations in football. For me, a three at the back with two wing backs is such a good formation. If you have wing-backs with good stamina you have a perfect balance.
You have such a dangerous attack (especially with the 3-4-1-2 formation), as the wing backs play very wide, which means that there will always be width in the attack, there are three at the back, which means that if Wellington is running out of options forwards there will always be options back, which means that they can pass back, calm down and reset the play.
Also, when you’ve got a great attacking midfielder that can break down the defence and is comfortable on the ball, which is something that Wellington have with the likes of Sarpreet Singh, he is allowed to stay forward, and if out of energy can take a bit of a breather, because of the three at the back and two wing-backs along with what becomes two defensive midfielders.
The perfect number 10
Mark Rudan has given Sarpreet Singh a lot of game time considering he’s only nineteen years old, and Singh has replied with great form. Since they have three at the back and two wing-backs, it allows him to roam around and it means he doesn’t have to do much defensive work. He is so good at making something happen, he will get the ball and in the blink of an eye he’s played Roy Krishna through, or gotten around a player.
Since he has amazing accuracy with his passes, he can switch the ball to the opposite wing, which opens up the attack. He really is playing in his dream formation at the moment.
Roy Krishna
Roy Krishna has had a great start to the season, scoring five goals in ten games and being on the same amount of goals as big-name players like Ola Toivonen and Keisuke Honda. He fits really well into the formation, as his great burst of speed allows him to play on the shoulder of the last defender, a skill which he has really improved in his time at Wellington.
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
As sad as it is for me to say it, he completely tore a defence that was almost unbreakable in the past two seasons in the game against Sydney FC, with his burst of pace just being a bit too much for Jop Van Der Linden (in my opinion Aaron Calver would be a more suitable player to mark him). He has worked well with both Nathan Burns and David Williams while playing up front.
He also frequently makes runs out wide, and that is a great thing for a striker to do. It’s very selfless because it will mean that you have less chance of scoring, but he drags a centre-back out wide which means that Singh can have more space to do his magic in.
I’m looking forward to seeing Wellington verse Perth, as that will be a big game and that will show us how good Wellington is, but in my opinion, they could well be the most in-form team in the A-League at the moment, and it would be amazing to see them continue that into seasons to come.
Kenny
Guest
If WSW was having an exciting season the whole of Australia would notice becuase its Wellington no one notices as no one cares about a New Zealand team . Fact is the. Aleague needs WSW to be successful to bring excitement to the league and for the A league to be successful .FFA are clueless .no matter how successful Wellington are it will make no difference to crowds tv ratings in ths country .sad but true .
jbinnie
Guest
Jack - could it be that Mark Rudan ,having done most of his coaching in a lower league, has not yet been open to the moves and counter moves of the "chess-masters " in our top league with the result he appears to have Wellington working to the most successful tactic ever devised, score more goals than your opponent. His approach,and that of his players,has been a breath of fresh air in our competition,a competition stagnating under the ever changing thoughts of the men in charge of our teams. as they try to emulate what they see as "modern football". Cheers jb
AusSokkah
Guest
There's much to be said about going away and honing your coaching skills and man management in a competitive environment that is not the top tier comp, rather than jumping in and learning on the job or being promoted from being a youth team coach or assistant which tends to be how the A-League looks to promote coaches (Aloisi, Mulvey, Okon). He's got a clear approach and a distinct system and it's getting results out of a team that isn't stacked with superstar names. Makes you wonder how many other NPL coaches could do a job rather than recycling the same coaches between clubs. It highlights the importance of having a top quality second tier ie a second division where up and coming coaches can try and prove themselves. One thing I cannot agree with though, is the synopsis on the formation. No formation is better better or worse than others, they succeed based on how well it suits the players and how well those players are coached to implement the actions within the formation (and also how inventive coaches can be within the formations). There is no inherent advantage of a three at the back over other formations. It has it's strengths: more central defensive cover especially against two strikers; immediate width; multiple central striking options which can overwhelm two central defenders. But equally it has it's weaknesses: unecessary extra defenders against single striker formations; wing backs can be pinned back against a good wing and overlapping full back combination meaning the width up the pitch is lost; it's very static in that the wide players stay wide and the only players that really interchange positions are the strikers and attacking midfielders. Rudan has simply picked a formation that suits the players he has (as has Popovic at Glory with his 3 at the back).
Jack George
Roar Guru
I think that this time it will be different. If you can smash a team like Sydney FC, then solidly win the two next games (2-0 against the Mariners and 4-1 against Brisbane Roar) and then continue that form against the team that has spent the most money and got the biggest players this season, then I believe that they have what it takes to continue this consistency through all the way until the end of the league.
Jack George
Roar Guru
Yes, I was having a bit of trouble coming up with the name! I felt like Rudan needed some credit though, his strategy in the past few games has been working really well.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Personally I want to see Wellington do well and put an end to all the cries for throwing them out of the A League. It is my favourite away trip each season except when they took the fixture to Nelson a few seasons ago! I can’t help thinking it might be too early to make a serious call about their overll ability and contribution though. Current form is good but form is a fickle mistress and we have seen the erratic nature of the Phoenix for a long time now........let’s,hope they get through the next week or so resonably intact.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Jeez, where did you get that tactical mind of yours. About that 3-4-1-2 formation, the Glory play in that aswell so yes, it will be an interesting game. What scares me about the WEL vs PER is that because one of their wing-backs is Louis Fenton who is more of an attacker, he’ll be pushing Jason Davidson out of the attack and that’s something that we need. I reckon you’ve got the wrong title for this though. Maybe “How the Wellington Phoenix have became one of the most exciting teams in the A-League” because not a lot of this is about Rudan. Good article though.