So it’s finally happened, Richard Garcia has been sacked by the Perth Glory Football Club and while it was somewhat of a shock, it had been coming for a while now.
The club officially dismissed him due to poor form at home, but I believe that considering the last two years, the club made the right call as it did not look like the future would be sustainable under the former Glory captain.
Now with Garcia gone, the club have appointed Ruben Zadkovich to be the interim manager and Chris Coyne to be the assistant. Now, while the club have stated that if they perform well they would be considered for the role full time, I hope the club does not pursue that view.
Regardless of what happens at the end of the season, we need a new permanent manager to take us forward. Now, some fans have pointed out that there aren’t many good managers available to replace Garcia.
There’s not a lot but there is one option that the Glory should look to explore in my view and that is former Melbourne City manager, John van’t Schip.
As a player, the Dutchman made 273 appearances for Dutch giants Ajax from 1981 to 1992 and then 106 for Genoa from 1992 to 1996.
His development as a manager has seen him go through the ranks at Ajax and Twente before becoming an assistant for the Netherlands’ National Team, coming back to Ajax for a few years before moving to Melbourne.
During his time with the then called Melbourne Heart, van’t Schip was instrumental in their development as a rival club to A-League giants, Melbourne Victory, where he received credit for his ability to construct a competitive squad at such short notice, which involved a variety of senior and young, emerging talent.
After a year with Mexican giants Guadalajara, having been recommended by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, he returned to Melbourne Heart on an initial interim basis, following a 17 winless streak under John Aloisi.
In fairness to van’t Schip, he came in and almost had an instant impact, where during his first 11 games in charge, he went on a 7-match unbeaten run which then saw him become the permanent manager for the next three seasons.
What followed in the 2014/15 season was somewhat incredible, as the side who finished the prior season dead last managed to make the finals, finishing fifth. The Dutchman brought in a mix of young and experienced players to the City side and began to build a core of players that the club would rely on going forward.
The 2015/16 season saw major improvement, with the club finishing fourth and that in part can be thanks to the works of new signing, Bruno Fornaroli, who scored 25 goals in 29 games as well as Aaron Mooy and Harry Novillo who both contributed.
During that season, City were without a doubt the entertainers, scoring 63 goals in the regular season, 14 more than their closest competitors in the Brisbane Roar. That’s an average of 2.33 goals scored per game. The Melburnians also could’ve won the Premiership too if it wasn’t for the last two games panning out the way that they did.
The following season, van’t Schip brought in some more key and quality players notably Tim Cahill, Fernando Brandán and Neil Kilkenny. Unfortunately, due to inconsistency, they did not progress as highly in the A-League as they would’ve wanted, despite a final position of fourth.
But, they did win the FFA Cup in the early stages of that season, which was an incredible achievement with that being the club’s first piece of silverware in the A-League.
Sadly for van’t Schip, he could not see out the season, as he resigned to spend time with his father who was dying in Holland.
Following a season with PEC Zwolle and with the Greek National Team, van’t Schip is now out of work and I believe that the Perth Glory should look to bring him in for the upcoming 2022/23 season.
So for those that aren’t too familiar with how van’t Schip’s sides play, I will provide a brief tactical overview of what Glory fans could expect to be seeing at HBF Park next season, should the Dutchman take charge.
Tactical overview
Johan Cruyff has had quite a big influence in how van’t Schip likes his sides to play.
“[Johan] Cruyff is my football DNA. We had a special relationship until the final years of his life. Yes, he was a great footballer, but more importantly, he was an amazing man who meant a lot to me.
“He always supported me when I was a young footballer and when I turned my hand to coaching. The best thing which I learned from Cruyff is that you need to follow your intuition. The way Cruyff thought was unique.
“My philosophy hasn’t changed, I always love to play attacking football. I usually apply the 4-3-3 formation.”
So with many Dutch managers in today’s game, including current Ajax manager, Erik ten Hag, the legend that is Johan Cruyff has had a major influence in how they see football.
Playing offensively oriented football and dominating possession are areas in which van’t Schip’s sides thrive.
When analysing the Dutchman’s last two seasons with Melbourne City, those two areas have been key.
First of all, dominating possession.
In the 2016/17 season, Melbourne City averaged 57% possession per game and in the 2015/16 season, the Citizens averaged 50%.
Now, the 2015/16 season may not have seen City dominate possession as much as they would’ve preferred, but their offensive ability was easily one of the best the competition’s ever seen.
As I stated previously, in that season Melbourne City averaged 2.3 goals per game. This wasn’t a surprise given that they scored either four or more goals five times during that season. Only twice throughout the whole regular season did they not score.
In the 2016/17 season, it maybe wasn’t as flash, with an average of 1.8 goals being scored per game however, City were the equal third highest goalscorers in the competition, scoring 49.
When looking at how City would go forward, wide play was a critical element. A lot of their best moments under van’t Schip came from tight interplay out wide or a cross looking for Bruno Fornaroli.
Or, to benefit the Uruguayan’s ability to receive in the half-space, turn and unleash a vicious shot into the top corner, City would conduct overloads out wide to create space in central areas. The utilisation of wide overloads to create space is a common theme with Dutch managers, like ten Hag from Ajax.
Take this example below.
Fernando Brandan and Luke Brattan combining
Now in part, this is sloppy defending from Adelaide however let’s appreciate the brilliance of this goal. City have occupied the attention of basically all of the Reds’ defenders, so much so that Fornaroli is left unmarked in a dangerous area.
What follows next is a trademark Fornaroli finish.
Fornaroli’s goal
The wingers in a John van’t Schip side are very positive and direct, where they would look to drive at the defender, with the final action either being a cross or a shot. The wingers would predominantly be quick and intelligent players, with Fernando Brandan and Bruce Kamau being two great examples.
Take this goal from the 2016/17 season against the Newcastle Jets.
Brandan receiving possession
Again, another trademark seen with Dutch managers is encouraging the wingers to hold their width. Brandan in this situation has held his width so that he can receive the ball out wide and draw in his fullback.
The fullback then allows Brandan to cut inside, as going down the line was never his intention. From there, City overloaded the box, which allowed Bruno Fornaroli to pull away from his marker, receive in space and the ball played by Brandan was a beauty that allowed Fornaroli to score a well-crafted goal.
Fornaroli’s header
Notice the positioning of the front three (Cahill, Fornaroli and Kamau) in the box?
That was the structure Tony Popovic used to implement with our forwards that was most prominently seen in the 2018/19 season.
Castro’s goal against Melbourne Victory
Someone attacking the near post, the centre of the goal and the far post. Didn’t matter who, those were just the areas that a would-be crosser would be aiming for and Perth profited so many times from cutback situations in that season, same with van Schip’s City.
Take a look at this example, also against the Jets in that same game where Fornaroli scored the header, just 13 minutes later.
Kamau crossing the ball in
In the box, you’ve got Cahill attacking the front post, Fornaroli the penalty spot area and Brandan just peeling off to the back post. Kamau found Fornaroli, and what the Uruguayan did next was pure genius.
Fornaroli’s goal
Defensively, City’s structure would mostly be a 4-2-3-1, so still using the 4-3-3, but just a variation of it. More or less, this structure was common in the 2016/17 season to accommodate Tim Cahill, who could operate as a second striker.
When they would press, the core objective would be to make build up as hard as possible, by cutting out the immediate options, forcing the opposition to go long or make a risky pass, which could then allow City to start building their attacks from the back.
Take this situation against Melbourne Victory in Round 2 of the 2016/17 season.
City forcing the Victory to go back
This resulted in Georgevski’s free-kick going backwards to Alan Baro, and City took this as the trigger for them to press. Above, you can see Bruno Fornaroli sticking his hand out, not just to inform the team he’s going to lead the press but also to let Fernando Brandán know he has to cut off the easy passing lane to Jason Geria.
City’s press
As mentioned, the immediate short passing options are limited, and it forced a wayward ball from James Donachie which was luckily recovered by Mitch Austin.
Why do I want van’t Schip at Glory?
So I’m sure there’s a few of you going, “James you’ve said all these things about van’t Schip but why do you want him at Glory”.
The reason being, Perth Glory need an experienced coach and one that doesn’t just have an eye for talented players like Bruno Fornaroli and Fernando Brandán, but one that can bring quality players as well as younger players in, develop them, play an attractive brand of football and get us challenging for major honours.
Van’t Schip, overall, did a very good job with Melbourne City and in my view, was very close to winning a Premiership or even a Championship with that side.
He’s someone who deserves respect, not just for his playing career, but someone who knows how to get teams performing in a long term project.
He revolutionised Melbourne City and gave them an identity, which is an area the Glory currently don’t have under Richard Garcia.
If I was either Tony Sage or Tony Pignata, I would be making enquiries as to whether van’t Schip would be interested in coming back to Australia and giving him the resources to conduct a long-term project at the club, which will allow us to not just make the finals but to challenge for honours.
It’s worth a shot to bring in a manager of his pedigree. The club needs it.
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