Kevin Muscat is not the type of person who likes to be embarrassed. The last time his Melbourne Victory side played Sydney FC they were completely humiliated, losing 5-0 in front of their home fans on Australia Day. Muscat is also proving to be the type of manager that learns from his mistakes and the way he set out his side defensively in their 1-1 draw against Sydney on Saturday night was proof of that.

Up until the thrashing at the hands of their Sky Blue rivals Muscat had remained loyal to the system he had inherited from Ange Postecoglou. When they faced Sydney FC on Australia Day, one of the big weaknesses of that system was exploited – dealing with extra men in midfield.

Sydney FC, by playing with a diamond in midfield, had a 4 v 2 advantage in the middle of the park and made Victory pay for their aggressive style of pressing.

Melbourne Victory pressed more aggressively in their previous meeting with Sydney and found themselves hopelessly outnumbered in the midfield. Photograph: football tactics

Melbourne Victory pressed more aggressively in their previous meeting with Sydney and found themselves hopelessly outnumbered in midfield.



When Victory pressed as a 4-2-4, they left themselves exposed in midfield and Sydney was able to dominate. Terry McFlynn dictated play from deep in the first half (completing all of his 22 passes) as did Hagi Gligor (100%) and Milos Dimitrijevic (94%), while Alessandro Del Piero was able to run the show in between the lines.

In order to prevent Sydney FC again dominating in midfield when they met on Saturday, Victory altered the way they pressed the ball. While Del Piero played in a more advanced role in a 4-3-3 formation, Sydney still had a 3 v 2 numerical advantage over Victory in midfield, but Muscat showed again that he is flexible and willing to adjust in order to cover gaps and weaknesses.

Victory’s altered pressing style, with one of the front two dropping into midfield to pick up Terry Antonis when Sydney FC had the ball in deep areas. Photograph: football tactics

Victory’s altered pressing style, with one of the front two dropping into midfield to pick up Terry Antonis when Sydney FC had the ball in deep areas. When Sydney’s centre backs had possession of the ball, Victory avoided a situation whereby both Gui Finkler and James Troisi pressed. Instead they looked to close off the nearby passing option into midfield which meant one of them, depending on which side of the field the ball was on, would drop in to mark Sydney’s deepest midfielder Terry Antonis.

Also, when approaching the Sydney defender on the ball, Finkler or Troisi would arc their run to show their opponent the sideline. This made it difficult for Sydney to play centrally and to utilise their one-man advantage. Victory was then able to win the ball back and dominate possession.





football tactics Photograph: /football tactics Photograph: football tactics

In fact, Melbourne Victory’s goal came after they won the ball back when pressing Sydney FC. Gui Finkler showed Nikola Petkovic the line and Troisi blocked a pass into Antonis, but Petkovic played a pass into Ali Abbas in midfield, who was immediately pressured by Milligan. Once the turnover was forced, James Troisi was able to burst in behind untracked after leaving his initial defensive position, which was to mark Antonis.

While Sydney did set up to play on the counter attack, manager Frank Farina still would have like to see better use of the ball from his side. Sebastian Ryall said that Farina’s half-time message was “to keep hold of the ball a bit more” and to “use the possession a bit better … it was a positive that we were creating chances on the break but we needed to control the game a bit more.”

Whereas Sydney controlled the middle of the park in their 5-0 win, they were unable to do so on Saturday. In their Australia Day meeting, Sydney FC’s midfielders attempted 180 passes to Victory’s 108 and Sydney saw the majority of possession. Yet on Saturday Victory’s two central midfielders, Mark Milligan and James Jeggo, attempted 168 passes to Sydney’s 105, despite Sydney FC having an extra man. It was almost a complete reversal.

While Sydney FC defended well and Farina said that possession is not nine tenths of the law, the contrast between their performance when in possession from Australia Day and on Saturday couldn’t have been more stark.

Kevin Muscat learnt from his mistakes, altered the way Victory pressed and did not allow Sydney FC to use the extra man that they had in midfield. As Farina himself once said, “let’s face it, 99 times out of a hundred the game is won in the middle of the park”.

Melbourne Victory made sure Sydney FC didn't dominate the midfield this time around.