Roar Rookie
Joined October 2011
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A 30 year football supporting nomad who finally found his home at Melbourne Victory.
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I am writing to agree in part with Geoff Smith's article yesterday, 2015 Asian Cup: The World Game needs to clean up the simulation.…
A little over a year ago, Mark Milligan made a potentially risky choice to return from playing in Japan, to join Melbourne Victory in…
There is a pin-prick of light at the end of that long dark tunnel otherwise known as the A-League off-season. Despite there being two…
Put quite simply, Ange Postecoglou's Brisbane Roar is hands down the greatest domestic footballing side Australia has ever seen. In every measurable way the…
The analogy you have created follows closely the reality of the past 2 A-League seasons with your ‘Team A’ being represented by Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets as ‘Team B’ and possibly Adelaide U (last season) as Team C. Perth Glory would have been ‘Team C’ the year prior.
Interestingly, following through on the same theory and using this same real world situation for analysis, you had Melbourne Victory mouthing their preference (through Mehmet and then Magilton) to play the ball on the deck but then the team, lacking either the coached cohesion or simply the lack of ability, would fail to follow it through over 90 minutes. I watched several Victory games where the ball would flow nicely for 10 or 15 minutes but as soon as enough pressure was applied by an opposition team, we would start to play deeper and the distance between the lines would open up and the long desperate (and largely ineffective) balls would return.
This coming season will be very interesting as we now have almost all A-League coaches professing their intention of playing the passing game. The question will be, how many of them will be disciplined enough to follow through with that intention over 90 minutes and over a full season of football? I think we can safely say, Ange will at Victory and so will Van Egmond at Newcastle, Vidosic at Brisbane and Arnold at Mariners. For the others we will have to wait and see.
It seems to me that the tipping point for a team to be able to consistently play quality, on the deck football is governed 4 things.
1) A coaches ability to get his players to understand and accept the methodology (as Ange did at Brisbane)
2) That same coaches determination to weed out the players who can’t or won’t play that way
3) To maintain the discipline regardless of initial results and not slip back into bad habits once desperation or game-chasing kicks in.
4) To finally be successful, because the bottom line is if a team tries to play attractive football and still finishes last, the coach and his preferred style may be jettisoned at the same time.
This last point brings me to the conclusion that attractive football can only be played consistently if a team is moderately to highly successful. And we have to remember the only people who are more desperate for success than coaches, players and supporters are the club owners. Ultimately it is that one thing, desperation, that defines a style of football. If a club fails, club owners become desperate and go for the easy fix.
Long ball football is easier to understand, easier to implement and easier (and cheaper) to staff in coaches and players. And so ultimately it will be the club owners struggling in the bottom half of the table, driven by the needs of survival and quick success, that will determine whether the passing game will be here to stay or just be a passing fancy.
Kick and chase vs passing: which style wins football games?
The first Socceroo to play in the US was actually Adrian Alston in the old North Americal Soccer League (NASL) having transferred from Luton Town (Div 1 I think) to play for Tampa Bay Rowdies back in 1977-78.
Cahill shows where A-League sits in pecking order
Ah yes Gwils, another urban myth propagated by those who clearly do not follow (or indeed hate) football and make their assumptions based entirely on their prejudice towards the game.
“Tedium of your average soccer game inciting young males to unrest” is right up there with the old chestnuts of sockah players being “sheilas, wogs and poofters”.
It's time to ask why 'thugs' are coming to the football