Port Adelaide 2016

[valleys07]

Have been thinking the same thing, am, its been a Perfect Storm of bad planning, bad luck and bad coaching.

I disagree. Its Poor Execution.

I won't take credit for what I am about to post, but this is brilliant analysis from BigFooty highlighting exactly where our defensive press is breaking down.

Yes, these injuries are not helpful. But it is workrate and structure- in that order, but also associated, that is seeing us look amateur out there at the moment.

I still hold out hope that this will be an Adelaide United type situation. United in the first 6 games of the season leaked goals like a sieve. Why? Structure and workrate. It took our players a good ¼ of the season to fully understand the new game plan, and what is required, formations etc. Once that happened- United started winning games, and looked highly impenetrable.

Our defensive press and its deficiencies can be broken down into 3 parts:

Part 1:

The difference between a successful press and an epic failure can be measured in a distance of around 10m. 10m is the difference between a long kick going to a one on one/two on two contest where speed and skill are the determining factors rather than numerical supremacy.

In the Adelaide review thread, I pointed out a time early in the match where we had the correct shape, but because the line was pushed too high up the ground it allowed Adelaide to move the ball out of defence pretty easily.

Diagram 1.jpg (61.04 KiB) Viewed 430 times

The player in the back lines has the ball. He has three options - he can do a short kick to one of the players that is tucked in between our two lines of defence, he can bomb it long to a one on one between Robbie Gray and Scott Thompson, or he can take the option he did and kick long to a mismatch contest between Wayne Milera and Tom Jonas, with another player from both sides joining in to make it a 2 on 2.

Now, I don't know about you, but when you've got clear space behind you, the ball getting to a fast player like Milera I think is quite a bad thing. What that kick also does is bypass the 5 players who were setup to press. It takes them out of the play and renders them useless defensively. But watch what happens when we move the line back 10m to inline where Jonas and Gray actually were:

Diagram 2.jpg (62.42 KiB) Viewed 430 times

Now, instead of kicking the ball to Milera in a one on one/two on two, Port has three players in the vicinity and it's no big thing for one of them to intercept the kick, because they don't have to turn first before they move toward the contest. The spacing means that even if Adelaide takes the short option at the 50m arc, those players won't be able to immediately play on due to the first and secondary lines being able to quickly collapse on him from both in front and behind like a vice. Which gives the defence time to setup properly and the forwards to push down into midfield.

The reason we are playing a press is two fold - it creates pressure in the forward line but it also slows down the play - and the slower you can make the opposition move the ball the more likely it is statistically that they will turn it over. On a ground that is over 120m in length, I'd much rather force our opponent to kick the ball 5-6 times and do the required running into space which increases fatigue than let them move the ball easily out of defence with 2 or 3 kicks and then hope that our flood/slingshot can turn the ball over in our defensive 50. Call me crazy, but that sounds like Defensive Tactics 101 to me.

Uncontested marks by our opponents aren't the enemy...it's where they receive the ball that is the key issue. 10m is the difference between a rock solid defence and a defence that leaks goals easily. That's why I keep saying it's easily fixed, and why when they DO fix it we'll have one of the best defences in the league.

I see some real genius in the way we are trying to play. It will work once the players don't get caught up in this stupid selfish idea that they need to be close to the ball in order to influence the result. In soccer, defenders aren't judged on their individual performance so much as how they work as a unit, with the only stat worth mentioning being how many goals the defence has conceded. I don't give a **** if Impey never touches the ball if he's doing his job and keeping the shape so it makes it difficult for opposition teams to move the ball toward goal. And you shouldn't either.

However, there is more to the failure of our defence than just spacing, and it involves what our wings are supposed to do when the ball crosses center. The next post will discuss what is happening vs what should be happening - and when you see that, you'll get a better appreciation of what we are trying to do.

[valleys07]

Part 2:

So what the **** is going wrong?

The forward press itself is actually working pretty well, as attested to by our intercept numbers forward of center. I've already discussed what needs to happen for it to be fixed - it's Round 2, not Round 22, so give it time. If they haven't sorted it out by Round 6, then I'll concede they don't know how to fix it. But as others have said, this what we were doing for defense last year, so the reality is we should be getting better at it, not worse. So what's the problem?

Two words: dumb wingers. Let me explain what should be happening when the ball crosses into our defensive 50:

Diagram 3.jpg (65.78 KiB) Viewed 424 times

Alright, this is a standard defensive press (aka slingshot). You'll notice that there is a high concentration of players around the ball, but then from there every other player has spacing of around 20m or so. Don't mind the player positions so much - their primary job is to track any player that doesn't have an opponent within their area, so it will never actually look as 'pretty' as this - as I've said before, a press is fluid and constantly changing in reaction to what the opposition is doing so that we are constantly ahead of them.

Diagram 4.jpg (66 KiB) Viewed 424 times

When the ball passes center, four forwards stay 'out the back' (generally Dixon, Schulz, Neade and Wingard) to be on the receiving end of any turnovers, while the remaining two forwards (Westhoff and Hartlett) join with the midfield to create a wall around the 50m arc. Meanwhile, the wingers drop behind into defensive 50 (source: Hamish Hartlett in an interview on Triple M) and create an overload of a +3 in defense (assuming that we are playing a +1 in defense already to create space for our forwards in attack), denying space for opposition forwards to lead into.

But what is happening at the moment is this:

Diagram 5.jpg (66.21 KiB) Viewed 424 times

The wingers aren't pushing back into defense at all. They are staying in an offensive position, forward of the ball and out of the play. Now, ordinarily this wouldn't be so bad, but our whole defensive structure is geared around having those players drop behind the 50m wall and fill space. Where did most of the goals that Adelaide generate come from in the first quarter and a bit onslaught? That's right - most of them either originated or were kicked from the exact areas that our wingers were meant to drop back into. And this assumes that we are already starting with a +1 in defense - if we went with a standard defensive structure, there would be even more space for opposition forwards to lead into.

When you see an Adelaide player streaming forward down the wing with the ball and no one is within 50m of them, forcing Toumpas (who was playing in defense at the time) to leave his man to go defend at the 50m arc, which means that Pittard has to shift across to Milera and Lynch is left all on his own to take an uncontested mark? That's what happens when the wingers don't drop back into defensive 50. It leads to our defenders having to constantly switch to repel different threats, get caught out of position and generally makes their job a whole ****load harder than it should be.

That's why you don't see many defenders in our defensive 50 - we were always missing two of them. Now, you might think that the spacing of the forward press might be hard to fix...but this? This is basic football 101. How hard is it to remember to drop back into defensive 50 when the ball passes center? These guys need to stop running ahead of the play for easy, bruise free football and start putting their bodies on the line for their teammates.

Yes, I'm looking at you, Jared.

[valleys07]

Part 3.1:

Every club plays a press. It's how high the defenders get to overload the forward 50 and cause more intercepts that is the difference. Take for example, Adelaide on the weekend - they never emptied out their defensive 50 because they rely on a slingshot counter-attack.

This is what our press is meant to look like:

Diagram 6.jpg (67.05 KiB) Viewed 422 times

The whole idea behind it is this - how far, realistically, can a player kick the football? 60m without losing accuracy if they have a booming kick like Hurn or Hartlett? If you look at the lines on the field, they represent 15m increments. So what you have at a kick-in situation is 3 players preventing anything but the dinky kick into the pocket that is the standard get out kick, 4 players standing 15m behind them in the second line (35m) and 5 players another 20m behind them in the third line (55m). They are the players who can have a direct influence on the play. Their job is to lock the ball into offensive 50.

However, if the kick-in player plays on, he could theoretically get another 5-10m and clear the third line (though his chances of actually picking out a target through all those bodies is minimal) - hence why the last line sits at around 60-80m, with 4 players covering it. The last two players act as 'sweepers' - this assignment changes according to which players are pushing up into defense to receive the ball (e.g if a Walker type pushed into defensive 50, Trengove or Carlile would go with him and a faster player like Pittard would become the sweeper because there is a greater chance of a fast break attack happening, since Walker has the ability to take a mark and then quickly play on due to the distance on his kick. But if it was Walker/Jenkins in attack, Carlile/Trengove would stay back).

As the ball moves up the ground, the players shift as well:

Diagram 7.jpg (66.03 KiB) Viewed 422 times

Until it moves to a point where the press actually starts closing in from behind as well. You'll note that a lot of the pressure that came from behind against St.Kilda happened around this area for that exact reason:

Diagram 8.jpg (65.74 KiB) Viewed 422 times

The difference between what we are doing and what other teams have done in the past is that we aren't trying to simply cause a turnover in our attacking 50 through pressure from our forwards. It's more that we are shifting our entire defense forward of center and aiming to lock the ball in until we score a goal. That pressure forces sides to long kick to the wings where we have the opportunity to kill the ball out of bounds with a spoil or intercept mark.

[valleys07]

Part 3.2:

But as I've said, a good press is better than a zone because it's fluid. If you look at what is meant to happen when the ball gets pushed to the wing, it looks something like this:

Diagram 9.jpg (65.84 KiB) Viewed 418 times

Notice how around the ball, the defending players are standing close together, whereas on the other side of the ground the distance between defenders is far greater as to cover more distance. The reason this can be done is two fold - the player with the ball is either going to switch back through defense to reach the other side, enabling the players in the middle of the ground to slide across and create the same overload on the opposing wing. Or they are going to attempt a risky kick across the ground, increasing the opportunity for an intercept mark due to the amount of time the ball has to travel in the air. Unfortunately for us at the moment, what is happening is this:

Diagram 10.jpg (65.94 KiB) Viewed 418 times

Players are getting sucked toward the ball, probably in a misguided attempt to get involved in the play, and leaving an empty wing that provides zero risk for the ball carrier to switch across to. And once that happens, everyone is caught out of position because there is no chance to reset, and easy 'Joe the Goose' goals are scored. The key here is simple - the further away a player is from the ball, the greater his separation from his teammates has to be. So if around the ball you are looking at a distance of 15-20m between players, 50m away you should be looking at a distance of around 30-40m. This is how you cover the ground efficiently when defending.

No defense is infallible, and goals will be scored against it. However, the opportunity to constantly be in a threatening position makes the press a great defensive tactic. The more you can get opposition teams kicking across the ground on a diagonal to find players in space, the more chances you have to create a turnover through an intercept.

[GWW]

I think the coaching staff need to take a portion of responsibility.

[valleys07]

In terms of game plan?

[GWW]

Yeah, I think so. Selection in defence has been acknowledged as a bit too tall, aswell.

[carey]

How the F**k did Toumpas hold his spot? Injuries or not.

Would've been perfect timing to blood young Bonner, All playing that spud does is take a game of what I think Bonner will turn in to. A jet.

[stan]

How the F**k did Toumpas hold his spot? Injuries or not.

Would've been perfect timing to blood young Bonner, All playing that spud does is take a game of what I think Bonner will turn in to. A jet.

I get the subtle feeling that you don't rate Toumpass.

I think in terms of selections Byrne-Jones deserves his selection this week ahead of Bonner.

[stan]

**** me, some of your fans have either too much time on there hands or was Ken justifying his game plan via big footy lol

[carey]

How the F**k did Toumpas hold his spot? Injuries or not.

Would've been perfect timing to blood young Bonner, All playing that spud does is take a game of what I think Bonner will turn in to. A jet.

I get the subtle feeling that you don't rate Toumpass.

I think in terms of selections Byrne-Jones deserves his selection this week ahead of Bonner.

What would ever make you think that?? Lol

[stan]

How the F**k did Toumpas hold his spot? Injuries or not.

Would've been perfect timing to blood young Bonner, All playing that spud does is take a game of what I think Bonner will turn in to. A jet.

I get the subtle feeling that you don't rate Toumpass.

I think in terms of selections Byrne-Jones deserves his selection this week ahead of Bonner.

What would ever make you think that?? Lol

I am real good at reading people, that or the number of posts calling him a spud lol

[LaughingKookaburra]

How the F**k did Toumpas hold his spot? Injuries or not.

Would've been perfect timing to blood young Bonner, All playing that spud does is take a game of what I think Bonner will turn in to. A jet.

I get the subtle feeling that you don't rate Toumpass.

I think in terms of selections Byrne-Jones deserves his selection this week ahead of Bonner.

What would ever make you think that?? Lol

That missed un-contested handball in the 2nd quarter from Toumpas to Carlisle to gift Walker an open run in goal was a sit your arse on the pine job in SAAFL C5. You would be tempted to drop him on that alone. Still can not believe an AFL footballer can make an error like that!

[MW]

Most clubs don't drop a player after one game

[Booney]

Most clubs don't drop a player after one game

We dropped Howard....

[Booney]

Fair bit of tonight is about trust for Port Adelaide.

They need to trust the players around them, the game plan and the coaches message. They need to believe the work they did over summer has them in good shape and it's a matter of system and structure, not personnel. It has to be, because it is, as demonstrated by Hawthorn and Sydney in recent times.

It's also about the fans being able to trust the playing group, it's been a long,long time since we, as supporters, have been able to trust a playing group like we have with this group. We trusted them last year, losses to Brisbane and Carlton meant any trust built up in '14 and '15 was dented a little.

5 years ago we were rubbish and there was no trust at all, now there's more than just a bit of false hope there is some belief that this group has more about them than the previous groups over the last 5-6 years. Some real balls.

If they break that trust tonight, you can rest assured I'll be available in the casino anytime from the final siren 'til dawn.

[MW]

Most clubs don't drop a player after one game

We dropped Howard....

Was he dropped for form or match ups? I can understand match ups, but for Tompas it would be for form.

[stan]

Most clubs don't drop a player after one game

We dropped Howard....

Was he dropped for form or match ups? I can understand match ups, but for Tompas it would be for form.

Ask Carey about Toumpass.

[Booney]

Most clubs don't drop a player after one game

We dropped Howard....

Was he dropped for form or match ups? I can understand match ups, but for Tompas it would be for form.

Mate, I seriously can't work it out.

I thought Trengove would stay at home on Daniher and not get a chance to chop out for Lobbe so Howard and Lobbe would work together and stretch the under sized Essendon defence. I know it's a night game and it will be slippery but Dixon and Howard in the F50 with Westhoff able to run around looked like a forward line up for me. Seems they'll work Hombsch on Daniher while Trengove goes in the middle or Dixon/Westhoff will give Lobbe 5 minutes here and there. Might be more the latter but if they do that then there's only one tall forward. I assume Stewart will play forward but he's not really what you'd call a tall target. I'm puzzled by his inclusion and Howards omission.

Guess that ( and many other reasons ) is why I'm not a coach...

[The Bedge]

I would think Dixon/Westhoff would be the support for Lobbe.

I reckon Hombsch on Daniher is good.