Jacob Stevens 
Patrick Kluivert is the new head coach of the Indonesian national team. Photo: Wikipedia Commons - Web Summit CC BY 2.0
Patrick Kluivert will face his first challenge as new head coach of the Indonesia Men’s National Team when his side face Australia on Thursday, March 20.
Kluivert has had an interesting coaching career, bouncing around Eredevisie and European clubs as an assistant, brief stints on the books at Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and Brisbane Roar, and most recently as head coach of Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
It’s not a resume that inspires massive confidence, but his assistant, Alex Pastoor, brings a wealth of experience and tactical knowledge that should prove beneficial.
And, per Antara of Tempo.co, an Indonesian news outlet, Kluivert will be likely to take on the man management, motivation and change-room side of things, while his assistants handle the tactics and game-plans.
So what can we expect to see from Indonesia under Kluivert when they take to the pitch in Sydney on Thursday?
In Possession
According to Hendro D Situmorang of the Jakarta Globe, Kluivert has expressed interest in playing high-quality attacking football.
“I like to play attacking football and to have ball possession,” he said during his public announcement in Jakarta.
“I’m familiar with all systems. In 2014, as assistant coach to Louis Van Gaal, we employed a similar style.
“Personally, I prefer the 4-3-3 formation, but it depends on what the [Indonesian] players feel comfortable with.
“I love having possession of the ball – you don’t score if you don’t have the ball.”
This is quite convenient, as Pastoor predominantly employed a 4-3-3 during his time as head coach at Dutch side Almere City, who he took from the Eerste Divisie up to the Erevedivisie.
Pastoor’s attacking philosophy at Almere was heavily reliant on quality wing play. He liked using pacey, incisive wingers to try and get behind the opposition defensive line, before using their crossing ability to whip the ball in to a central striker.
In fact, stats show that Pastoor’s Almere side was almost exclusively a wing play team: the vast majority of progressive passes into the final area coming from wide areas.
So expect to see a lot of work for Australia’s fullbacks in defence, with Brisbane Roar player Rafael Struick a likely starter in the middle looking to get onto the end of those squared balls.
Out of Possession
Graphics: Jacob Stevens, created with Flourish
The hallmark of Pastoor-coached Almere City was a very intense, high, man-to-man counter-press.
Essentially, his side would look to win back possession as quickly as they could, with the aim of forcing the opposition into turning the ball over in Almere’s attacking third.
The Socceroos have often struggled breaking down opposition who sit deeper, and prefer being able to play in space in the midfield. Should the expected back five be up to the task of keeping the press at bay, then some of Australia’s more creative players may have a bit more freedom and space on the ball.
When the press was bypassed, Pastoor often instructed his sides to drop into a solid 4-2-3-1 shape, and Kluivert told Jakarta Globe that flexibility was going to be key to the side’s success.
“When you play football, the system will change, maybe from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2,” he said.
“The most important thing is that players understand what to do in any given moment, and that’s when you can make a difference.”
