My comment on the Gareth blog
Hi Gareth
I think there is absolutely no doubt that our current tactical approach, no matter what the personnel is, has struggled to beat the best teams each year. Over the past 3 seasons (and half of this one) we have consistently struggled to beat the top 2 teams in the league, and there has been a significant gap, no matter who they are. Without a doubt this indicates that if we are going to challenge for the league we need a change of approach because the results aren't good enough. This should be motivation enough whether or not we are getting good crowds which is an entirely separate issue.
I think it would be preferable for the focus to move back onto the team on the pitch rather than constantly talking about crowds and finances. I think you need to consider the current PR of the club because good news is being turned into bad because of the way it is released. Why announce in the middle of the season that next year you will take more games on the road? All that does is make the hard core fans in Wgtn feel like this team is not for them which leads to further disengagement (and seems at odds with your motivation in taking over the club in the first place which was a team FOR Wellington). Focus on your core market by putting a team on the pitch this city and the fans can be proud of.
However, I don't agree with your contention that it's not about changing players and coaches. Without a change in the way the team is coached, and the technical level of the players, we are always going to struggle to improve the quality and style of play. You can't just click your fingers and impose an entirely different approach on players who are not technically able to play that way. I think you seriously need to consider the football leadership if you are truly committed to a new approach because no Ricki Herbert team has ever played in the way you are advocating. You need to be realistic about what type of changes he will be able to make.
I think it is also admirable that you want an integrated approach across the club. However, again this will take significant leadership and vision from the football side of the club. Who is going to be the driving force behind implementing this? I think you need to consider someone with a track record of imposing this style of football and few people in New Zealand can make the claim to have ever achieved this.
A quick note on the "academy". I think you should be careful with your expectations as this is currently structured. As it stands, we do not have an academy. We have an expanded first team squad that includes some younger players (although not particularly young by international standards - in many leagues 19 year olds are established stars). All we are doing right now is bridging the gap for players produced by the New Zealand domestic system and the A-League. The New Zealand system has for years struggled to produce players of sufficient technical quality to play the type of game you are advocating (although this is slowly changing). If you truly want to start producing a different type of player for the Phoenix you need to get players a lot younger and have them work with specialist youth coaches in your system. Ultimately there is very little you can do to improve players technically if you are only getting to work with them for the first time at 17/18/19 years old.
Finally, I think you're better off looking at modern football tactical approaches rather than looking backwards at the Dutch model of the 1970s. That's just not a method that modern football references now - much of what was admirable about the introduction of total football, a focus on possession, technically gifted players, fluid flexible play marked by off the ball movement, is really just a standard pro-active possession based tactical approach favoured by almost all successful modern football schools of thought. I would be surprised if anyone involved in high - level coaching would actively admit to attempting to play "total football" in 2012.
With all the respect in the world for your financial commitment to the club, before you continue talking publicly about technical aspects of football coaching and tactics you need to go away and learn a lot more about the game. I think you need to leave the football to the people at the club with football experience and I suggest that you get more football experience at board level.