Analysis: Well structured Phoenix punished on the counter

Travis Dodd's goal on the counter secured Adelaide another Hyundai A-League home final next weekend against either Gold Coast United or Melbourne Victory, to be decided tomorrow night.


Adelaide lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Adam Hughes and Francisco Usucar holding the midfield. With Marcos Flores just in front of them they lacked defensive protection against Wellington's 4-3-3, with the three man midfield of Tim Brown, Manny Muscat and Nick Ward running the show for a large part of the game.

First half - Wellington hold possession and enjoy an extra man in midfield

The visitors began the match with an aura of certainty and self-assurance. Whether it was a buoyancy founded from the knowledge of being the underdogs in this opening final, or possibly their impudence in their manager's tactics. Perhaps, though, a more likely hypothesis is that this Wellington side knew they were at benefit far more than their opponents. Not because they had recently beaten Adelaide at this same venue but rather the treacherous conditions offering a more enticing situation. The Phoenix knew they were more accustomed to these conditions than Adelaide and used that to their advantage.

They passed the ball with the intent of delivering their assertion in a forthright opening 15 minutes. They didn't look to defend or wait behind the ball, rather they used their flanks to full effectiveness. Keeping both Adelaide defensive midfielders occupied to the point they couldn't always pick up the spare man in midfield, they confidently held possession and taunted the supposedly favoured home side.

Adelaide struggled to adapt to the wet conditions while Wellington were persuading and attractive in their confident use of the ball. But to a certain extent, it must be noted, United weren't particularly fussed in pressing the Phoenix. With their two defensive midfielders dealing with just the one Wellington advanced midfielder (Brown), Adelaide weren't exactly going to allow him to embarrass them. They used their 2v1 in this situation effectively, but were smart in knowing they were outnumbered further up the pitch and let Wellington play while they kept a structured midfield.

But despite this impressive start the visitors failed to score. It's not exactly unusual, as away from home Wellington are regularly timid in front of goals. This only raised questions as to Adelaide's tactics and their apparent acceptance of getting overrun in the midfield.

With Wellington posing a limited threat in front of goal, Adelaide's two holding players seemed unnecessary. They were constantly marking just one man together. With Flores neglecting any real defensive responsibility beyond the halfway line, Muscat and Ward reaped the benefits of time on the ball.

It was the same problem attacking wise with Wellington easily able to man-mark Adelaide and still have a spare man to plug any space. Wellington fullbacks Jade North and Tony Lockhead aren't particularly noted for their attacking runs forward and were more than pleased to sit back and mark Travis Dodd and Andwele Slory. Ben Sigmund and Andrew Durante had the job of keeping Sergio Van Dijk at bay. With both Adelaide holding men not exactly prone to getting forward, Wellington practically had three men marking Flores. Both Usucar and Hughes wouldn't go forward together which meant Dylan Macallister could drop a little deeper to mark one giving Wellington at least one spare man.

It raised the question as to why Rini Coolen didn't sacrifice one of his defensive midfielders with Adelaide overrun all half.


Second half - Wellington tactically good but Adelaide strike on the counter

There were no changes at the half-time interval and Wellington looked steady in this tie. The problem for the visitors, though, was that they lacked any class in attack to probe the Adelaide defence with conviction.

While the formations and players on the park were similar to those of the first 45, Adelaide looked to up the tempo early in the second term. But they soon left that idea behind with the Phoenix midfield advantage not worth fighting for possession.

Instead Adelaide, like they have done so well all season, countered. Matthew Leckie came on and blew Wellington off the park. The home side sat back, let Wellington play, and hit them with pace, flair and quick thinking on the break. While Wellington weren't poor in any shape or form - in fact they were probably the better team tactically - there was an obvious gulf in class, particularly so in this second half.

Van Dijk at times during this match played as a false nine and was overlapped by Slory, but when the feisty foreigner left the pitch Van Dijk stayed up front as a traditional lone striker. Flores, Leckie and Dodd all dropped deeper to help defend but were quick to react on any breaks, secured by the knowledge that their front-man was ready to support then when they had a 2v3 or 2v2 situation arise. Dodd eventually poached the goal, latching onto a ball from Van Dijk after he linked up with Flores.

The ploy worked well and it allowed Coolen to maintain all his defensive players while still posing an attacking threat. It was unfortunate for Wellington Phoenix after their second spirited away performance at Adelaide in the space of a few weeks. But it was by no means undeserved by the counter-attacking Adelaide United.

Matt Collard writes tactical analysis of the Hyundai A-League for Parking the Bus, and match reports for Sydney FC. You can follow him on twitter @parkingthebus