All power to Herbert, the gambler

KEVIN STENT/Sunday Star Times

BACKING: Ricki Herbert's bosses are backing him to handle the dual coaching load of the All Whites and Wellington Phoenix.

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OPINION: The All Whites' stunning victory on Saturday night is significant in many ways. What might be overlooked in the excitement, however, is the power and influence it hands to coach Ricki Herbert.

He now finds himself in a position of unrivalled importance in New Zealand sport.

As coach of both a World Cup-bound New Zealand team and of the Wellington Phoenix, he has a monopoly on the two top coaching roles and a huge amount of responsibility for football's success.

Yet until Saturday's stunning win over Bahrain, the jury was still out on his ability as a coach and, in particular, the wisdom of allowing him to hold the two jobs at the same time.

No one will say it publicly now but, ahead of Saturday's game, Herbert was on a knife-edge. A defeat to Bahrain might have seen him lose the All Whites job.

Doubts may remain in some quarters, but qualifying for the World Cup is huge vindication for him and one he richly deserves. The result speaks for itself.

His orchestration of the triumph against Bahrain provides an insight into his character – and provides a strong indication of how New Zealand will tackle next year's World Cup finals campaign.

Herbert has shown again that he is a curious mixture of caution and daring. The tension between these two competing impulses lies at the heart of the All Whites' historic win.

His caution is evident in his reluctance as a coach to change selection, formation and tactics unless forced to. He is predictable, to a fault at times. It is almost as if he finds it hard to drop players for fear of upsetting them.

The gambler in him came to the fore, however, in the unorthodox formation he employed in the two games against Bahrain.

Herbert's plan was to shape his tactics around his best 11 players.

That sounds fine in theory, but to many it appeared sheer madness not to use a conventional 4-4-2 lineup in Manama and Wellington. And the failure to select a right back – while employing three strikers – seemed almost negligent.

We scraped through 0-0 in the away tie, but most observers predicted a return to normality and conventionality in Wellington.

But Herbert, like a poker player who sits on his hand, kept the faith and it worked spectacularly.

His masterstroke was to deal with the All Whites' weaknesses in central midfield and at right and left back by playing to the team's strengths in central defence and up front.

Leo Bertos' exceptional performance on defence and attack provided the spark on Saturday, and keeper Mark Paston the critical penalty save. The rest is history.

Herbert's challenge now is to work out how to ensure New Zealand are competitive in South Africa.

Logic suggests he should bank his winnings and start following the rule book.

Somehow, that seems highly unlikely.

Paul Thompson is a former national league player and Fairfax Media's group executive editor.

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