Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo ‘Chiefy’ Italiano has provided a detailed explanation behind the team’s new high-line tactic in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
The Phoenix’s high-line system attracted plenty of attention in their season-opening 2-2 draw away to Perth Glory last week.
On this week’s A-Leagues Download, the crew dissected Wellington’s high line displayed against Perth in Round 1, labelling it the “high line hijinks”.
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Ahead of Wellington’s home opener against Brisbane Roar in Round 2 on Sunday, Italiano referenced the “high line hijinks” as he explained the tactical tweak in defence, inspired by global juggernaut Barcelona.
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“I can give a really simple explanation,” Italiano told reporters, with the Phoenix looking to bounce back from last season’s 11th-placed finished.
“I’ve always wanted to be a possession-based, dominant team. With that, you need to have profile of players that suit that sort of style.
“I was trying to integrate that last season but for a host of reasons, it didn’t eventuate. Having a good pre-season to bring everything to into effect. So we’re kind of on the back foot last season and things unravelled, and we didn’t have a basis.
“I said this season I was going to do it. I was pretty determined on doing it, had it in my mind, probably about halfway through last season. I’ve watched a lot of teams, especially Barcelona, one of my favourite teams. And if you look at Barcelona’s average starting team, I think it was under 24 last season, which is the youngest team in LaLiga history. But they executed quite well with two 18-year-old centre-backs.
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“I thought, well, if they can do it, I think we can do it as well. It gives you the ability to remain camped in the opposition half. It also means that the opposition have to make a choice whether they want to attack that space, which means they have to be more direct, which means that they have less time on the ball, which gives us more time on the ball, which means that we’ll have more opportunities. That’s basically the premise.
An example of Wellington’s high line against Perth Glory in Round 1.
“We started playing this (way) maybe six weeks ago, with effect. We did a lot of principle-based work on it. The players were, I think, a little bit hesitant at first, and then when we played our first game, they actually enjoyed it. I think it’s something that they’re embracing.
“I think the most important thing is that we’re going to look vulnerable for a lot of games because of the line. But that’s done with the intention, and obviously the payoff is having more of the ball.”
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Pressed further on the new system and how the Phoenix plan to counter teams trying to exploit the high line in 2025-26, Italiano replied: “In a real basic understanding, you need pressure on the ball, and the pressure on the ball dictates where the ball goes.
“So if you have no pressure on the ball, you are actually most vulnerable. And if you look at the two goals we conceded, we probably didn’t get enough of a reaction on the ball initially, and the flow on effect is once our defenders have to step out and defend that transition moment, it becomes troublesome.
“But in saying that, we corrected in the second half quite well, and it’s a feeling as well. Certain players have certain different cues or understanding of how to play the direct ball. And I felt as though Kazuki (Nagasawa), (Alex) Rufer, Fin (Roa) Conchie, even (Ifeanyi) Eze, for a large part, understood where the direct danger was in the second half and shut down the space very quickly.”
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