Perth Glory vs Western Sydney Wanderers: Tactical Analysis
Introduction
The 2016/17 season was an interesting one for the Perth Glory. Recruitment wise, we brought in some impressive players including Socceroos Adam Taggart and Rhys Williams, as well as bringing home Rostyn Griffiths. All of those players in this game against Tony Popovic’s Western Sydney Wanderers played important roles in securing Kenny Lowe’s side a 2–0 win.
Goals from Chris Harold and Joel Chianese proved to be the difference in the end, as the game was a story of two halves but ultimately, the Glory coming out on top due to their clinicalness in front of goal.
Coming into the game, the Glory’s form was ok, with their previous four games including 2 wins, a draw and a loss. For the Wanderers, their form wasn’t shaky, rather inconsistent, winning two and losing two with the result alternating over the previous four games.
Starting Eleven
Kenny Lowe went with his trusted 4–4–2 system that was working for the team for a lot of the season. The back four was strong as the centre backs were mean and brutal, allowing the fullbacks in Joe Mills and Josh Risdon to get high and link up with their respective wingers. The attacking trio of Andy Keogh, Adam Taggart and Diego Castro was a prolific frontline, with all three scoring 12 goals each during the season.
Tony Popovic on the other hand went with his favoured 4–2–3–1 system. He probably didn’t have his best season nor did he have his best squad available, but he made it work and importantly was able to get results that were of a decent enough standard that allowed them to just sneak into the finals. Popovic, being a defensive manager, went with this system as it is flexible, conventional but more importantly gives him solidity and compactness when defending.
Statistics
Surprisingly, Popovic didn’t instruct his team to sit back and absorb the pressure. There were many occasions when his side was dominating with the ball, but in the end was unable to break the Glory down, hence the 1 shot on target from 10.
Even though the possession was pretty even, the Glory had more momentum throughout the game. For the most part, whenever they had the ball, they made it count and it led to creating chances that tested Vedran Janjetović.
As I mentioned before, the Glory are an attacking side and this, along with the Wanderers’ blunt edge in front of goal gave the home side the platform to take their chances and punish the away side.
Perth Glory (in possession)
When Glory had the ball, they weren’t afraid to go long. This was particularly the case from goal kicks, as the aerial ability of Andy Keogh allowed the home side to bypass Western Sydney’s first and second lines of pressure.
In these situations, Keogh would look to move to the side where Reddy has placed the ball (generally to create an overload), where he would start in an offside position. This was done to unsettle the two centre backs, as they had to focus on two things at once and often Keogh would be able to win the flick on as a result. Further, you can’t be offside from a goal kick so again this caused more uncertainty amongst the defenders.
Glory creating an overload on their right hand side was a very handy tool that was used frequently. Diego Castro, who was the Glory’s main creator that season, would often play on the left. Mostly from a goal kick, he would look to stay wide and out of the field of view of the right back. This created space for Castro to exploit.
When the centre backs had possession, most of the time they’d look to circulate it between themselves or their respective full back. In possession, Dino Djlubic wasn’t particularly progressive on the ball, as he at times would look to break the lines to find either Chris Harold or Diego Castro, but more often than not his passes were often safe and cautious, or at times, long to the advantage of either Keogh or Taggart.
Rhys Williams on the other hand was more comfortable in possession. He would look to advance with the ball and combine with players on his side. To bypass pressure, Williams wouldn’t be afraid to dribble past the opposition, as he had confidence with his abilities but also in his teammates, that they would be in good positions for him to pass the ball to.
Glory’s main attacking threat, though, was wide play. Lowe instructed his wide players to use the full width of the pitch. Not only would this stretch the compact block of the Wanderers defence, but also give space for players like Keogh, Castro and Taggart to combine, where a cross would then happen, as a result.
The Glory didn’t reject playing in central areas, as they often looked to play in between the lines. Rostyn Griffiths would act as the anchor of the pivot, allowing Brandon Wilson and then Rhys Williams (following Wilson’s injuries) to get higher up the pitch.
Due to the Wanderers only leaving Brendan Santalab as the only forward option, the Glory could afford to have a rest defence structure of Griffiths and the two centre backs, allowing both the fullbacks, Wilson/Williams and the front four to get high and wide.
Both of Perth’s goals came in the tail ends of each half.
Chris Harold played a big part in creating the goal and also finishing it. The first goal was from a free kick, where the phase of play before involved Josh Risdon playing a delightful ball over the top to Harold in a wide position. Due to the winger being too quick, it caused a foul from the defender.
The set piece saw some pretty sloppy marking from the Wanderers, as four Glory players were left unmarked. Obviously, Glory are a threat from set pieces due to the height of some of their defenders and midfielders, so those players were accounted for. But leaving players in dangerous positions unmarked on the edge of the box, doesn’t make sense for me.
Diego Castro spotted this and played a super ball to Harold, where all the winger had to do was shoot hard and low, as there was a very good chance that a deflection would occur that would ultimately bamboozle the goalkeeper. This actually happened and the goal was scored.
The passive reactions from almost all of the defenders allowed Harold to take the shot with basically no one applying any pressure to him.
The second goal scored by Joel Chianese, likewise was scored late on in the second half. This time, it came from open play. The sequence involved both Andy Keogh and Diego Castro messing around with the Wanderers’ defenders. I mentioned this earlier about the danger of leaving Castro in a wide position and it finally paid off for the Glory.
Castro receives the ball, drives at the defenders who put in minimal efforts to stop him. Also likewise with Harold’s goal, the Wanderers’ defenders were passive and not aware of the danger in the box. Chianese was then able to float through and tap the ball home, after some very good wide play from the Spaniard.
Perth Glory (out of possession)
Mostly the Glory would look to defend in a 4–4–2 mid block.
This way, they could stay compact and force the Wanderers to play out wide instead of playing through the middle. From there, they’d look to overload those areas and restrict any balls being played into dangerous areas. This would mostly be created by both the ballside winger and fullback looking to create a 2v1 advantage over the wide player.
During the Wanderer’s goal kicks, the Glory would look to press high and try to win the ball back as soon as possible.
Western Sydney Wanderers (in possession)
From goal kicks, the Wanderers were looking to build the ball up from the back, where in most occasions they’d look to go short.
An example would be below, with one of the two defensive midfielders dropping deep and into a central zone to turn and receive (the Glory didn’t put any pressure on this player).
From there, they’d look to progress the ball vertically, looking to break the lines to find either Mitch Nichols or Brendan Sentalab. Playing in the halfspaces was also common, with players like Jumpei Kusukami coming inside and playing as an inside forward to receive.
What was clear, was that the majority of the players were very comfortable when in possession and this has been consistent with Tony Popovic’s side. It’s a non-negotiable that players have to be comfortable to not only receive on the ball, but play the ball into advanced areas.
Sometimes, it wouldn’t be possible for the Wanderers to play their short passing game, due to the lack of options as a result of the Glory’s staggered defensive lines. So the goalkeeper wasn’t afraid to go long. This option would be more popular if Santalab was going up against Aryn Williams than someone like Dino Djulbic, as the latter is incredibly good in the air.
Winning the second balls was another key element that was present with the Wanderers, as they looked to receive the scraps as a result of an unsuccessful long ball. Terry Antonis in particular, was very good at anticipating where the ball would land and he’d often react quicker than any Glory defender close to the ball.
Mitch Nichols was also important when it came to creating play in the attacking third, as he’d often look to drop in and receive in between the lines, looking to link the play on to an advancing winger. For a lot of the game, he was fortunate that Aryn Williams, at most times, would react a second late to the attacking midfielder’s movement, hence Nichols was able to lay off the ball on multiple occasions.
Overall, the Wanderers were ok when creating play in the defensive and midfield thirds, however in their attacking third, the passes were often sloppy or players would be waiting to have a shot, where inevitably it would then be blocked or off target (hence the one shot on target).
Western Sydney Wanderers (out of possession)
Out of possession, the Wanderers were compact in their 4–2–3–1 shape. They’d look to be centrally solid, looking to force the Glory out wide where they can then overload that side and restrict wide play.
When the ball was in deeper areas, the Wanderers would look to defend deep, leaving only Brendan Santalab as the outlet option.
Often in transition, the Wanderers would be left exposed, hence the high number of fouls committed, particularly on players who caused massive problems for the away side, like Diego Castro and Chris Harold.
Conclusion
Overall, both sides were evenly matched. However when it mattered, the Glory took their chances. Western Sydney had some decent spells in possession, but they were infrequent. Defensively, lapses in concentration and defensive awareness from a host of players cost them in critical moments of the game.
Full credit to the Perth Glory, who were able to keep a clean sheet, which was not always present during the season.
