It is as good a time as any, with Spanish round having just passed in the A-League, to remember football provides a universal language.
The game can present an innately graceful form of communication at its most fluid and by extension, people from vastly different backgrounds can develop parallel ideas on how the game can be played.
For example, a Catalan and a Dalmatian can form an ideological link through it, despite being born in different centuries.
The title of Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano’s book, La pelota no entra por azar, can be interpreted the same way as visionary Hajduk Split coach Luka Kaliterna’s quote, Igra daje gol a ne igrač.
The former – referenced in Giles Tremlett’s recent piece – means “the ball does not go in by chance” while the latter translates to “the team’s play scores goals, not the individual.”
Context might be different, but the principle is the same: collective plan and consonance is paramount. Despite a 2-0 win over Central Coast on Saturday night, Western Sydney could not be further from it.
Álvaro Cejudo’s 50th minute goal in Gosford made for a telling statistic: despite 61% of possession to that point, the Wanderers’ two goals came from as many shots in total. Both of those openings came in counter-attacking scenarios.
The team finished with 63.7% of the ball and five shots in total. The following three shots came after Oriol Riera’s introduction for Brendon Šantalab, but with 11 versus nine for the final 23 minutes, tactics and positioning then became irrelevant.
Still, irrespective of VAR controversy, the Wanderers’ claiming of three points was wholly inconsequential to coach Josep Gombau’s passing style.
Moreover, in context of Western Sydney’s season so far and the fact they remain the league’s lowest scoring team (11 goals), the nature of their possession presents a legitimate issue.
The Wanderers’s high-volume passing is not exclusive to their short time under Gombau. Rather, early showings suggest it is an amplification of what Tony Popović and Hayden Foxe attempted to implement over time.
Despite one game fewer than the league’s current top four (Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne City, Adelaide), Western Sydney are the only team to complete more than 4,000 passes this season (4,015) out of the five.
The generation of mere goal-scoring opportunities has been an arduous task so far, though. They also hold the highest pass completion rate at 81.9%, but have the least shots on target at 34. The next lowest out of the five teams is Adelaide, with 41.
Although Riera’s absence in the past fortnight must be taken into consideration, the primary concern is the team’s ability to stretch the opposition defence from midfield.
What it ultimately comes down to is both the movement and ensuing distribution from the deeper midfield positions.
Under Hayden Foxe, Kearyn Baccus was the primary distributor from midfield in the initial phases of possession.
Out of the A-League’s top 10 individual pass totals this season, Kearyn Baccus dwarfs the rest for passes per 90 minutes at 85.2. The next highest is Sydney’s Joshua Brillante with 69.2.
Though the number might look impressive in isolation, with the Wanderers’s struggles in creating opportunities in context, one must question its true impact.
In order to gain field position, the older Baccus sibling would provide a lateral outlet for the likes of Michael Thwaite and Robert Cornthwaite to play to. The problem would arise not then, but when the opposition defence is set in its own half.
In reality, he restricts himself to the mere recycling of possession, due to an inability to move between the first and second defensive line without the ball.
To do so requires tactical risk, given a potential lack of protection on the counter-attack. However, it is a necessary risk against a compressing defence, especially if the team’s intent is to keep the ball the way Western Sydney does.
Otherwise, the tempo will remain laboriously slow outside of transitional phases. Gombau’s shifting of Roly Bonevacia and Keanu Baccus there has thus far failed to rectify struggles in changing that tempo, to simultaneously apply and relieve pressure.
Against Central Coast on Saturday, play remained mostly in front of the defence because of that identical hesitancy to penetrate.
In the Wanderers’s 5-0 thumping at the hands of Sydney, they were just as meandering with the result in the balance. Even with the similar majority of possession in the first half, they managed three shots compared to Sydney’s 11, with two coming from absurdly long distances.
Despite the disparity in score line, the performances were much the same.
There is definitely scope to improve, but the fundamental principles of movement that correspond with attacking play in modern football are currently devoid.
If this continues, results such as Saturday’s are hard to sustain for Western Sydney, in any language.
