Since the introduction of Shree Cement as the investor of East Bengal club the team the concerned officials have been on a shopping spree keeping in mind the upcoming ISL. The first name that adorned the list was Robbie Fowler, the Liverpool legend as the coach of this team. Though having an illustrious career in British Football his coaching experience is limited and involves only two spells, once as a player cum coach for Muanthong FC in Thailand and a brief spell at Brisbane Roar in the A-league. So, there is not much scope to discuss his coaching tactics in detail but still we will try to highlight some salient points of his style of play.
Preferred Formations
The most preferred formation of Mr. Robbie Fowler which he used most often while in Brisbane is 3-4-2-1. Though he tried flat 3-5-2, 4-4-2(double 6), 4-1-4-1 and 4-4-1-1 in some matches, 3-4-2-1 was used most commonly so we will concentrate on that. In this particular formation three central defenders are used along with two wingbacks who also serve the purpose of wing halves. Two central medios give cover for the defense and provide supply for the front three responsible for the attacks. Now let’s come to particular features of the offense and defense. First, the offense.
Offense
In offense the front three remain close to each in a narrow triangle. This helps in quick positional changes and passing and also makes the opponent defense narrow by pulling the wingbacks inside. This creates space in the flanks which is exploited by the overlapping wingbacks. So, in effect the team has five men in offense more often than not with the two wingbacks joining the front three. The formation with possession becomes almost 3-2-5.
The defense:
Brisbane Roar under Mr. Robbie Fowler did not get involved into active pressing. The preferred to play a waiting game. The main characteristic of their defending was to make a mobile block of five players in the midfield. The main purpose was to force the opponent to go towards the wings where then they could be pressed or to make them go for long balls those could be easily negotiated. The two wing backs along with the central defenders made a second wall behind the block. The block and the backline played close to each other denying space to the opposition to play in between the lines. So, without possession the formation became 5-2-3 or 5-4-1.
Pressing
As said earlier Brisbane under Mr. Fowler did not go for active pressing. There were a few pressing triggers however when they pressed quickly and intensely. When an opponent turned towards his own goal with the ball, when a pass was made to the goalkeeper Or when the ball was passed in the flanks. In those occasions they pressed to win the ball and hit the opponent in transition.
A major feature of that team was their safety-first approach. They did not go for risky passes but preferred to keep possession. The relied mostly on patient building than quick counters and the defensive record of Brisbane shows that.
The weakness:
Though having a good defensive record the team had some issues in the offense. They did not score many goals and sometimes looked devoid of ideas in the upfront. In his initial months at Brisbane he was criticized for his defensive approach
His high defense line specially when the match was at level or Brisbane trailing sometime was a matter of concern as his overlapping wingbacks left spaces behind which was exploited by the opponent.
Conclusion
We can say that the style of play depends on the quality of the players at the coach’s disposal. The fans will wait to see what approach he takes and how he fares at Red and Gold arena. We all anticipate an exciting season ahead.
