The Gombau way

Josep Gombau has been voted to take charge of the A-League All Stars for the game against Juventus in August. This is hardly a surprise after the recent run of good results as the Reds are playing the league’s most entertaining football. Still, in the beginning things was difficult for the Catalonian, as Gombau’s side went winless for eight games and some criticism was raised by players and fans to the former Barcelona youth coach's tactical thoughts, creating a hostile environment. It was difficult to understand what Gombau was doing and the philosophy he was implementing not just for people in Adelaide but for every football fan in Australia. Gombau’s focus is always on the performance first. The strict ball retantion and the high defensive line he was tinkered was something new at this latitude. Bringing a new football philosophy to a club needs time. With patience and tenacity, Gombau turned things out, installing his favorite 4-3-3 formation based on possession and attacking mentality. Reds want to win, and what they want is to attack, having the ball and playing an amusing brand of football. They have struggled a bit to counter sides sitting deep and playing on the counter but the Spaniard stayed faithful to his system. “This is the way that we want to win, if we win like this okay and if not we will keep trying”, Gombau said. “"What we want to do is create our own philosophy, our own style.” It started to pay off. Gombau’s playing style revolves around to dominate possession and it starts from their centre halves. The Reds like to start the build up from the back, getting the ball out from the defensive line to play it in between the lines or behind the opposite’s defense. It is when defending against Adelaide became more hard. If rivals allow Fabio Ferreira, Sergio Cirio and Jeronimo Neumann to attack the channels and the spaces over the back line, the Reds become dangerous. They are explosive and quick when facing the goal and running into spaces. Gombau was able to teach is way, building a team playing the style he wants and it is an indictment of his tactical acumen.