I think my thoughts on Denis are reasonably well known on this site but I dont criticise for the sake of it.
I've given Denis credit for trying to reinvent himself. He's accepted (or been told to accept) that his philosophies on football must change and full credit to him for doing so.
I still think he has hindered the creative development of the players and I believe we are seeing the results of that now but I credit him for accepting he needs to change, even if it is too late.
But I must say, I thought the efforts that came from our coaching panel for Sundays game was disgraceful.
Not on the day neccesarily but the way we played St Kilda was abysmal.
I know some posters question the short kicking or the long kicking but IMHO the problem was our system of play.
St Kilda play a floating zone type set up. They play a skeleton forward line (usually 3 or 4 man) and set the extra players in a zone 30-70 metres off the ball.
It's not brain surgery if I can figure it out, in fact I wrote about their gamestyle and how to beat it 2 years ago on TBV.
Quote:
In my humble opinion, the Saints play a floating set up not dissimilar to rugby league.
They create a zone 30-60 metres defensive side of the play, a floating flood in simple terms.
They play a 4 man forward structure and place the 2 remaining forwards defensive side of the contest.
Most of their stoppages are set up on the defensive side and the rucks are instructed to place the ball there, similar to Brisbane.
For this structure to work requires 2 main ingredients.
1. Hold up the opposition at all costs when they win disposal.
2. A constant bench rotation as this gameplan requires maximum output from the midfielders.
Their requirement is to run hard when the Saints win possession but to reset the zone if the opposition win the ball. Hence the requirement to hold up the opposition.
Carlton fell into the trap beautifully. We played stop start football and kicked to the contest.
Exactly what the Saints gameplan wants.
How is it beaten?
Teams must go into the game with 2 main objectives and tactical requirements.
Objective 1.
Play on at all costs.
The best way to counter the Saints is to move the ball as quickly as possible. The ball moves faster than the players get back.
Run past at all costs if marks or free kicks are paid to keep the ball moving.
Objective 2.
Maintain possession.
The Swans are experts at this and the Bullies were adequate at it.
If the ball cant be moved quickly which will happen often, dont kick long to the contest.
Players ahead of the play must lead at the player in possession and the short passes must be utilised. This must be continued until a player is in space and in a position to kick long over the zone.
Tactics.
The Saints are very one paced in the midfield and try to get the ball to their wingers at every opportunity.
Black and DelSanto are the targets for handball recieves similar to how Brisbane utilise Power.
More than 50% of Luke Powers stats would be handball recieves, mostly from Simon Black.
DelSanto and Black must be matched with accountable runners.
Be willing to adapt. Teams should play 4-5 man forward lines and place extra players around the contest as much as possible.
A 3 quarter ground squeeze will congest the flood and unsettle the Saints structure.
The Swans played man on man as much as possible and most importantly, every Swans player except Leo Barry was defensive side of his opponent at all times.
The one glaring statistic is the teams that have defeated St Kilda have maintained possession and have finished with more possessions than the Saints.
Dont be afraid to overpossess backward of centre if you cant fast break.
The key is to break up the the flood forward of centre half forward so the forward line is kept open.
Apologies if I have waffled
They let you have the ball and use numbers to win it back and rush forward.
The best way to counter this tactic is to utilise your free players off half back and run the ball. The backs must run with the ball carrier or offer short options to move the ball forward.
Going laterally does very little as you cannot go around the zone.
The only way is to run the ball at their zone and kick over it or slowly bring the ball up and dissect the zone with short passes.
You need smart players (ie. Whitnall)at H/F to offer up leads toward the ball carrier.
The most important facet is not to kick the ball to the contest within their zone.
Amazingly the only goal was scored in the first quarter was from our ruckman having the brains to do this.
From memory Murphy recieved the ball off half back, switched it to Wiggins who had DELUCA ruuning past for the handball. DeLuca carried the ball to the zone and kicked over it to Fevola on the lead.
The players must be trained, instructed and drilled to run in numbers and to share the ball until an option presents.
The forwards must be instructed to run at the ball carrier and to lead in varying directions to break up the zone.
To back this up, I'll give you some simple stats from Sundays first quarter.
Carlton had complete control of the ball in St Kildas forward line 12 times.
We got the ball inside 40 metres from 4 of those occasions for 2 scoring shots.
St Kilda scored 10 of their 14 scoring shots from Carlton giving up the ball after having unhindered possession in our backline!
You can blame the backs but I thought they were very good in the first quarter.
The midfielders were beaten for one of the few times this year but they had a crack.
We were beaten purely on our ability to counter a basic game style.
Grant Thomas must have thought it was Groundhog Day.
I believe the past 4 times we have played St Kilda we are averaging 90 pint losses.
What would you expect. If the same tactic didnt work last time, or the time before, or the time before, odds are you're in the shit this time.
The days are past of players going out and giving everything they have and the rest takes care of itself.
You have to tactically alter your game to counter differing opposition.
Just moving player A from the wing to the back pocket doesnt cut it anymore.
The Saints gave the ball to us and waited for us to give it back.
The same as Port did in the practice match.
Same tactic. Same inept response. Same result.
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