Australia Vs Indonesia: Key Duo Pivot, Waiting for Sharpness to Improve

Australian coach Tony Popovic in a press conference ahead of the match against Indonesia, Wednesday (19/3/2025) yesterday, at the Sydney Football Stadium, mentioned his lack of knowledge about the playing style that Patrick Kluivert would implement. Instead of being curious about Kluivert's style for the Indonesian national team, Popovic focused on preparing his team's best tactics.

According to the Sydney-born tactician, Australia will adapt to the tactical approach that Indonesia will present. Like a game of chess, the "Socceroos" squad has prepared numerous strategies to penetrate the defensive zone of Jay Idzes and his teammates.

"We must play patiently. If they press, we must be able to exploit the spaces available in their defensive zone," said Popovic.

He continued, “If they defend deep, we have to look for gaps between the lines and try to penetrate around the penalty box.”

Popovic's tactical plan is indeed very detailed and resembles scenarios commonly envisioned by coaches. However, he also expects individual player improvisation during the match, which will take place on Thursday (20/3/2025) at 4:10 PM WIB at the Sydney Football Stadium.

However, it is not only Popovic who has yet to understand Indonesia's playing style under Kluivert's management. National football enthusiasts and supporters of the "Garuda" squad are also still speculating about the pattern that Thom Haye and his teammates will showcase in their debut match with the Dutch tactician.

Kluivert's coaching style remains a complete mystery. He has not held a single open training session since gathering eight players from Indonesia's Liga 1 for preparations for this month's match starting on March 15. The players have been more focused on physical training at the hotel's fitness center in Jakarta.

Training on the new field truly took place on the second day in Sydney, precisely on Wednesday evening (19/3/2025). The Garuda squad's first training session with Kluivert was held at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney. A total of 27 players participated in the first training session of the new era for the Indonesian national team ahead of facing Australia. This number excludes Kevin Diks and Ragnar Oratmangoen, who had just arrived on Wednesday evening.

Even so, the game plan that Kluivert will present for Indonesia in the match against Australia can at least draw inspiration from the playing style of the Turkish club, Adana Demirspor, which Kluivert coached during the first half of the 2022-2023 season.

In 14 games coaching Adana in the Turkish Super League, Kluivert has been very loyal to the 4-2-3-1 formation that can transform into 4-3-3. The formation is clearly different from the style of previous Indonesian coach, Shin Tae-yong, who liked to apply 3-4-3 or 5-4-1 tactics.

If you look at the game's concentration zone, Kluivert is not much different from Shin. Both like to build attacks from the back line, then rely on the full-backs to initiate attacks.

The striking difference between Kluivert and Shin is the central role of the two pivots. Kluivert relies heavily on the function of the two pivots in the midfield to maintain balance while determining the direction of attack in a positive transition process.

This can be seen from the average position of Adana Demirspor players' movements in a number of important domestic competition matches. In addition to the wingers, both center backs and wing forwards, who predominantly move past the center line of the field, Adana's two central midfielders always move close together on the center line of the field.

That is certainly the reason Kluivert recommends adding a naturalized player in the defensive midfield position. Joey Pelupessy has the qualities Kluivert needs to accompany Thom Haye at the heart of the game.

Joey is competent to appear with the role of anchor who orchestrates the game to control the flow of the ball and the tempo of the game. The experience of the Belgian club player, Lommel, is also needed to face the pressure from the Australian players.

Joey's presence allows the deep-lying playmaker role to be played alternately with Thom. On the other hand, Thom can move forward to be closer to the attacking midfielder.

Thom and Joey can also take turns playing the “dirty” role to physically duel with the Australian midfielder. No doubt, both of them will carry out a big and decisive task for Indonesia's mission to end the record of always losing at Australia's home since 1973.

Kluivert's style is different from the movement of midfielders in the Shin era. The South Korean tactician assigned the midfielders to be closer to the wingers. This can be seen from the average movement of the midfielders which is wider.

Australia has the chance to stick with a 3-4-2-1 formation that relies on attacks from both wings. Through balls made by the wingers will also remain the Socceroos' recipe to break down the Garuda squad's defense.

In order to dampen the threat from both sides of Australia's wings, Indonesia has been equipped with good depth on the "flank" or outer side of the field. On the right side, Kevin Diks has cover in Sandy Walsh and Eliano Reijnders. Kevin is still difficult to replace and has the opportunity to play his second game in the Indonesian uniform in Sydney.

As for the left side, Calvin Verdonk finally has a substitute or equal competitor in Dean James. Although the left wing-back position will still be held by Calvin, Dean can be an alternative to fill the left wing striker position. Dean's offensive understanding, especially the accuracy of his crosses, is a good capital to threaten the Australian goal.

Regardless of the quality of the players and the playing style that Kluivert will present, the Garuda squad is expected to have much better attacking power than Shin's era. Six goals from six matches, including two zero games, is not a good achievement for pursuing the dream of reaching the 2026 World Cup through the third round of qualifying.

With the previous six games under Shin's control, Indonesia needed an average of nine shots to produce a goal. The number of shots is certainly an alarm because Indonesia has only been able to create shots above nine twice, namely when facing China (14 shots) and Saudi Arabia (13 shots).

Meanwhile, Kluivert recorded a better average of shots per goal when he handled Adana in the Turkish League. Luis Nani and his friends only needed seven shots to produce a goal. At first glance, Kluivert's team was more clinical than Indonesia in the Shin era.

In addition, Kluivert also gave his squad the freedom to shoot from various sides without focusing on the penalty box. Adana with Kluivert only recorded 51 percent of total shots in the penalty box, while Indonesia produced 56 percent of shots in the penalty box in the previous six games.

No wonder, Adana's goal percentage from the penalty box is better than Indonesia's. Adana scored 23 percent of the accumulated goals with Kluivert through kicks from outside the 16-meter box. Meanwhile, the Garuda squad only created one goal from inside the penalty box, aka only 16 percent of the total goals in the third round.

The joining of Ole Romeny has become a hope to improve the sharpness of the Garuda squad's attack line. One goal contributed by Ole since joining Oxford United in January was his capital to score a goal in the debut game in the Indonesian national team.

Despite bringing the majority of Shin's squad, Kluivert promises a different and better performance in Australia. He believes in the quality of his players.

"Changes are impossible at the moment. But, of course, there are things I cannot explain. I am sure there will be some changes that we will present," Kluivert said.

Whether there is a change or not, there is only one expectation for Kluivert. Bring home points from Australia. A draw is appreciated, a win will be celebrated….