It is frustrating as a coach when one of your players is sent off, especially for ill discipline, but you can't dwell on it.
You need to be able to react and playing with 10 men is something you prepare for as a coach. And you need to be just as prepared to take advantage if your opposition loses a man too.
Firstly, how to deal with having one of your players sent off. If you lose your goalkeeper or a defender you look to sacrifice a more attacking player, or perhaps a midfielder, depending on your strengthens. The most important thing is looking at were you might get exposed.
You need spells holding onto the ball and from an attacking perspective you will be looking to hit them on the counter. If you press them too high up the pitch, then you will be exposed at the back as you haven't got that extra person to provide cover.
If you have started the game as a 4-3-3 for example and lose a man, then you could switch to a 4-3-2 with a flat back four and a defensive midfielder with a player either side of him in the centre. For your front
two you should have one forward dropping off into that 'number 10' role and then another man pushing up further.
To ensure you keep some shape in the middle of the pitch, your right-sided midfielder can pressure their left full-back, then your one central midfielder and left-sided midfielder can move into the centre and create that solidity that you normally get from having two central players.
This keeps you defensively sound in the centre of the pitch.
On the flipside, if you are taking on 10 men with 11, it is about stretching the play and making the pitch as big as possible. You also need to place an emphasis on moving the ball and making sure your players are not taking too many touches. That ball speed is imperative as your players will be tempted to take extra touches as they have an extra man advantage, but you have to stamp that out and keep the ball moving.
You should also be building wave after wave of attack and ensuring you are always pressing on them and forcing them to play the ball long back towards your defenders, who can pick up the ball and start another attack in the other direction.
Sometimes you will see the 10 men start to get the better of the 11. That is often a mental aspect as the 10 men have their backs to the wall and really start to work for the cause.
The 11 can go into a state of mind thinking they will be okay as they have the numbers and it is only a matter of time before they break their opposition down. As a coach you have to ensure such complacency doesn't creep in.
Australia had to get accustomed to playing with 10 men in South Africa after losing Tim Cahill against Germany and Harry Kewell versus Ghana.
After going down to ten men against Germany, Australia got hurt by chasing the game at 2-0 down and as Lucas Neill noted after, they probably would have been better in hindsight to sitting back instead and hit on the counter.
However against Ghana after Harry was sent-off, Australia switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-2-3 in the absence of their striker, with the two wide men - Bresciano and Emerton - working hard to move inside and help the central midfield so they didn't get overloaded.
Australia used their three attacking midfielders to pressure Ghana who themselves were probably guilty of just ensuring they didn't lose the game. Ghana didn't press far up the pitch or with much intensity.
At the Newcastle Jets, we were playing Wellington away a couple of years back and we didn't just have one red card, but two! Joel Griffiths was sent-off after half an hour, then Mark Milligan went at the start of the second half. That changed the game.
We tried to get something out of the game by staying compact, knowing a point would be a good result. However they grabbed a goal with 10 minutes
to go and that forced us to come out looking to score with nine men. We
had a number of chances which unfortunately we didn't convert and Wellington added a second and ran out 2-0 winners.
A couple of years back Melbourne Victory were trailing Central Coast with only 10 men and they managed to score a late equaliser. Victory have the artillery to do that with players like Archie Thompson, who grabbed the goal that day, being so brilliant on the counter. Such counter attacking ability is the key to winning with 10 men.
Managerial masterclass - Keeping the pre-season fresh
Australia is different to Europe as they have a longer competition, so you often end up with a much longer pre-season over here.
The issue you have is making sure the players don't go stale. With the squad training without a game, it makes it difficult for them to retain intensity on the park.
You have to ensure you keep your pre-season sessions interesting, varied and with a purpose so that what you are working on is going towards something which can be used
in the up-coming season.
You also need to get the players away together so they bond before the season starts. That gets them out of working at the same venue too, as it will feel like a long season of training at the same location once the season is underway.
Create a theme on what you are looking to work on. You can break this up by doing work with or without the ball.
Finally, pre-season is very much about making sure your players are fit enough for the coming campaign. So you need to keep monitoring the players' heart rates and working with your fitness gurus to ensure the players' recovery rates improve and they are ready for kick-off.
