Josep Gombau was announced as the new boss of Western Sydney Wanderers during the build-up to this match, and he chose to observe from afar as Hayden Foxe took the reigns for the final time. Onlookers were interested to see if a few days under the former Adelaide coach had changed anything, whilst others were wondering if Victory were going to finally kickstart their slow start to the season.
 

Western Sydney’s different midfield dynamic

Despite the fact that Gombau has only been at the club for a few days, it seems as if he has already made some small adjustments to the playing system of the Western Sydney Wanderers. This season, it has been shown that they tend to favour building up in central areas where possible, in an effort to maximise their options going forward. So far this season, Kearyn Baccus has been integral in this strategy, performing a fulcrum-like role within midfield as shown below in an excerpt from the Sydney Derby. Consistently positioning himself between and behind his immediate defenders, Baccus was able to provide an option which enabled the breaking of a line of pressure, allowing his team to move forward as a result.

Kearyn Baccus has been integral to Western Sydney’s build-up so far this season.

The Wanderers’ latest outing saw a slight change in the operation of the midfield during the second phase of possession, with less emphasis on Baccus being a key difference. The central area included two holding midfielders, Roly Bonevacia and Baccus, with veteran Mark Bridge being more advanced and playing behind Oriol Riera.Western Sydney’s midfield dynamic when bringing the ball out from the back.

As seen above, the three midfielders played very clear roles when Western Sydney were looking to play out from the back. The closest of the two holding midfielders would drop off and offer a passing line on the inside of the player with the ball, generally creating a 2v1 in the process. The other holding midfielder would offer a diagonal option in the middle of the pitch, whilst Bridge would move into a vertical passing line and look to provide an option between the lines and behind one or more lines of pressure. In most cases, the pass would be to the closest midfielder, but this was not necessarily always the case. Bonevacia and Baccus would frequently rotate positions on either sides of midfield, adding to the ability of the Wanderers to distribute the ball from the back.

 

Riera’s movement to create superiorities

In another easily identifiable change from previous Western Sydney games this season, Oriol Riera played a slightly different role during construction of possession. As well as providing the depth in most circumstances, Riera also showed the propensity to drop from his forward position in between the opposition lines in an effort to create a superiority, or at least to equalise the situation.

Riera’s movement to create a 2v1 in central areas, with the wingers maintaining width and depth.

At this point, it is unclear whether this is a permanent addition to Western Sydney’s system or a ploy employed by the coaching staff to undo the effects of Melbourne’s man orientation scheme. When all three midfielders were being covered by Victory players, Riera’s movement was triggered and he dropped into a position to receive the ball. Whether he did or not was irrelevant, he as the movement in and of itself attracted defenders away from the players they were marking, freeing up options for Western Sydney ahead of the ball. In some cases, Riera was able to create superiorities of either a qualitative or numerical nature, which allowed further progression of the ball and allowed good opportunities to create chances or to get in behind the Victory defence. In some teams that operate with a False 9, the maintenance of depth can be a problem. This was avoided by the Wanderers, as the wingers moved higher whilst also maintaining their width, sustaining the space available to the team.