A-League 2020-21 Season preview: Can the Roar’s squad build on last year?

Thanks JB I will leave to coaching to my son, but agree 100% with you that even at my ripe old age I still have something to contribute.

Roger -Coaching kids has nothing to do with age, it is a problem we have in Australian football where most Australian Junior coaches are volunteers drawn from the ranks of already financially burdened parents who have little or no knowledge of the basics of the game. The danger inherent in this system is that when that incumbent parent views on TV, the coaches of big clubs standing on the sidelines shouting instructions at their charges, they too believe this is what they have to do, albeit the instructions called may be right or wrong. It has been established by more learned minds than you and I that there is an age "barrier" where a youngster should be allowed to chase a ball around a restricted area thus, in doing so, gets as many touches to the ball as is possible. The "coach" governing the exercise can control the amount of touches by increasing or decreasing the number of 'players", or the size of the "play area". The age grouping for this type of coaching is normally 6-12 with a much heavier emphasis on having "fun" rather that learning the tactical fine points of senior football. After 12 it has been found the young mind opens up to the fact that there is much more to playing a team sport than just kicking a ball ,or scoring a goal. It is at this age it become imperative that a coach must have a much deeper understanding of the game and ,not only that, has the ability to pass that knowledge to his players. So as a potential coach you have to look at where you are going to operate in the larger scheme of things. A coach at the young level only need to know how to pass on the basic skills of the game.ie how to pass, receive, tackle. head, or shoot, usually demonstrated by the coach when the younger charges are having a rest from their "fun runs". Think about it. Cheers jb.

keep going you two, don't stop now. I might even take up coaching kids again. LOL Only kidding my best days are far behind me.

Waz - Long before the advent of our National Curriculum I was taught 2 inherent aspects of our game. (1) Everyone in the team thinks, acts, and behaves to a set of defensive principles when the team IS NOT in possession of the ball. (2) Everyone in the team thinks, acts and behaves to a set of attacking principles when the team IS in possession of the ball. It is these two aspects that govern all the systems we see in our game and in my experience the only weakness in these principles is the "human factor", in other words player behaviour under pressure. Failure to implement these principles in any given situation can only have one outcome, and that's what makes our game so interesting, how good are our players at either retaining ,or losing, possession of the ball. As you are aware, our present curriculum has been re-printed at least 3 times and how any football pundit can separate these principles as I have described them is totally beyond my comprehension. By the way I should add that the two principles I have described were passed to me in 1974/5 some 20 years before Robert Baan introduced us to the fledging National Curriculum being presented today. I agree with your observation that "good" defending, is actually a necessary precursor to "good " attacking. Cheers jb.

I am kidding jb ..... although I do think JA demonstrated a total disregard for defending but not in a Brazil 1958 kind of way ... On a serious note, that “thinking” around defending is something that afflicts Australian football in general - if you read the National Curriculum and Australia’s ‘National Football Philosophy’ (sic) it specifically states that attack is to be prioritised over defence ie Australia’s objective when they face Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Spain is to OUT SCORE them no matter how many goals they concede. It’s an interesting philosophy but doomed from the start imo. Like the USA a decade or two ago, as a developing football nation Australia shows little respect for the defence aspects of this great game and (imo) it’s a huge mistake. If you’re good at defending then a team is tagged “boring” rather than given respect for the skills involved nor an appreciation that most attacks start with great defending somewhere on the pitch.

Roger - Sounds interesting ,always find time to have a good chat about football cheers jb.

Waz - You are kidding are you not.? Brazil 1958 were in fact an all out attacking team with two fullbacks ,the Santos's, just as likely to score with their shooting power. Sweden ,their opponents that day were no mugs either with at least 4 of their team playing top football in Italy, their captain Leidholm widely recognised as one of the finest midfielders in the world. Both right wingers on show that day, Garrincha and Hamrin, were almost unstoppable when in the mood and as I said, with finishers like Vava ,Pele, and Gren on field, goals just had to follow. When one considers how Zagallo operated as a winger on attack and as a defender when possession was lost, it is not too hard to find a link to the tactic known as total football used by Holland some 16 years later when Cruyff and his team mates used the same philosophy, sliding from non possession based defence into possession based attack , even going as far as using their goalkeeper Jongblut as a sweeper, when in attack mode. The tactical history of our game is riveting reading and leads the reader into a world of almost constant change. The problem is we do not yet have good enough players to see these systems used as they are intended. Have we the players in our country to match the latest innovation, the fast one/two touch advancement of ball and players forward into attack positions???. As a coach I will leave you to ponder that question. Cheers jb.

jb “ showing an almost complete disregard for defending” ... John Aloisi coaching style? ????

I love the conversation you two have. One day, in a perfect world, I'd love to sit down with you two over a beer or 3 and let it all hang out. Thanks guys.

I hope you are right EJ, it would be good to see other 'kids' coming through and lighting up the league.

Waz - The numbers game raises it's head once again. In the mid fifties Brazil, the best team in the world used a tactic called Ginga to entertain their hordes of fans, this being a system of play based on all out attack with players showing an almost complete disregard for "defending" as long as the combined efforts of all players resulted in the team scoring more goals than the opposition. The best numerical system to describe how this team played was 4-2-4, with two fast attacking wingers, and these two combined with finishers like Pele and Vava were the "world standard" for the copy cats. Around this time "coaches" began to work their magic and, because of an outstanding physical presence called Zagalla, officially a left winger, Brazil started to take up a 4-2-4 when in possession and 4-3-3, when defending. This was mainly possible due to the fantastic work rate of the aforesaid Zagallo. Many would argue that it was this factor that triggered a slow decline in Brazilian influence in world soccer and the following 10 years witnessed a plethora of "systems" designed not to enhance "ginga" but in actual fact to denigrate the entertainment value to fans. Today there are very few "new" systems around with the result many of the old ones are being copied by young coaches who are in fact trying to emulate the results while at the same time using players of a vastly lesser talent than the stars of the game, Maradona ,Cruyff, Pele ,Garrincha et al. Has it been a successful path? Many would argue that today the need to keep possession of the ball has killed of the principle of 'ginga" for all time, with the ball travelling backwards just as often as forward, a sure fire way of turning the game's attraction into one huge bore. Can it be saved? The better teams in Europe are now engaged in fast ball movement between players with a real emphasis on forward movement by all players concerned and this is a step in the right direction but how long will it take to permeate down to our level. That is the question. Cheers jb.

jb I didn’t get to watch Moon’s Lions team much - too much conflict with coaching. The last time I saw them was 2018 when he played a distinct 4-2-3–1 and very successfully. Looking at the squad he seems to have more players suited to 4-2-3-1 than 4-3-3 but it’s reasonable to assume he’s still trying to recruit so the full squad picture may not be available. But he has set up 4-3-3 so far this pre-season. In terms of the AL splitting in to two groups - I won’t disagree with you other than to say City and SFC sit in the top group imo, then there’s a bunch of challengers, then there’s CCM and Jets a ways behind them. So three groups. It’s only unhealthy without relegation, as we’ve seen with Mariners - there’s no refreshing of the competition taking place, only stagnation. So 15 years in and the AL finds itself in a troubled place, both financially and playing wise, what’s important now is it arrests the decline and comes back strong. Something football has a history of being unable to do.

Waz - Thank you for your comment. 4-3-3 is a system of play that has been around since Brazil introduced it in the late 1950's,almost 70 years ago, and as such has seen many changes as to how it can be played in an "expansive manne"r, namely by programming full backs into wing backs and using different numerical combinations up front by using one, two or even three central strikers. This is what worries me slightly about how Roar are going about "improving" their team in order that a top four position can be almost guaranteed. I'm sorry to say that the A-League has now degenerated into a two group configuration, made up of a "top four" and the rest "also rans". The even more disturbing factor is that just this last week has seen the "pick of the bunch" beaten quite convincingly by their counterparts in Asia and that factor has to affect Moon's thinking even more, for though it is alright to go up against local NPL opposition and score 6 goals it in no way reflects on how the team will perform against Sydney City or WSW. That will be the real test not aided by the FFA'S decision to play games in December, historically one of the hottest months of our year, and, as another contributor has mentioned, playing the games in the afternoon. Yes there are many questions to be asked, a fact that our local sports commentators appear to have no knowledge of our game, but that is another story. Cheers jb.

I think the complaints you'll see about the move shortly will be the fans baking in the sun in the eastern stand, especially as they can't play at night. I agree itll be interesting to see weather the goal scoring stocks can be improved, and I think that the midfield are light on too. Guess we will wait and see, though I'll be watching on TV this year.

It’s distance is a problem but to be fair, anything that’s not in the dead Center will be problematic for some people. Redcliffe is a 45 minute drive for me, an easy park at or near the stadium, a great experience in the ground, and then a drive home. It’s the ones in the far south that will struggle unfortunately

jb I’ll be surprised if Moon sticks with a back 3, especially as you point out one third of that success is missing (at least until March). At the end of last season I felt the spine needed improving - a 6 and 9, neither have been forthcoming but I guess it depends how Moon wants to set up? In early preseason he’s played 4-3-3 and been quite expansive (which will please my mate in Adelaide) but hasn’t looked as solid at the back. It’s early days, and I am really keen to see Moon do well, but they’re a hard one to pick right now.

Waz - Your fears are well founded. The successful back three of last year has been decimated by the loss of 30% of their content and it will be how this lost 30% is to be replaced remains a potential problem. Neither "full back" have shown to have the nous in how to play with a back 3 in a defensive mode and an analysis on how Roar conceded goals last season can usually be put down to one or the other of these two being caught out of position at critical times. McDonald could prove to be the lynchpin in a Roar side sadly lacking a tried and tested playmaker these last few years, for the veteran g has by now built the experience on how to play that role as long as he is supported by another 2 workhorses in midfield. The "kids" may contain 2 players of such talent but we will have to wait and see. Up front is another problem altogether. If favouring a target man style of play, then the cupboard appears to be bare, and as yet, the favoured "trialists " from last season have yet to prove themselves. The coach has a huge task. The transition from local NPL standard to top four A-League standard is huge , not only for players, but for coaches and the continued 'importation" of overseas players appears to be going on unabated by the usual "big guns" in the league so that the season coming is going to have a whole new lot of challenges to be met, not the least of which appears to be how to satisfy a larger number of interested parties to the games, who ,through the ever expanding social media, are more and more able to watch top teams playing their brand of the latest football tactics and formations. Cheers jb.