‘Oh s***, where is he?’ Experts’ view on how you stop Maclaren from scoring

Melbourne City striker Jamie Maclaren has exploded out of the blocks in the first four rounds of the season – but Nigel Boogaard and Andrew Durante can offer defenders some hope, writes Tom Smithies.

As inevitable as the first cicada of summer, Jamie Maclaren is top of the Isuzu UTE A-League goalscoring lists. Four rounds have brought him five goals, with at least one goal in every game, and the odds on him collecting a fifth A-League Golden Boot are shortening by the week.

You can imagine the analysis of Maclaren’s game being pored over at Perth Glory’s HQ this week. City’s three other goals this year have come from Cadette, Marco Tilio and an own goal, so in theory if you stop Maclaren, you have a good chance of stopping City.

Would that it was quite so simple. An A-League total of 125 goals in 180 games creates an enviable ratio of 0.7 goals per game for the Socceroos striker on Australian soil. You could say he thrives on City’s style of play, but then that’s designed to give him the optimum platform. He doesn’t need many opportunities to add to his tally.

The battle for centre-backs playing against Maclaren is very much a mental one. Certain styles of striker demand a physical contest but Maclaren’s relatively slight frame is built for quick movement and exploitation of space. Nor can you let up – Maclaren has scored more goals from the 75th minute on than in any other similar-length section of the game.

All of which begs the question of how you do stop him from scoring – maybe ask Nigel Boogaard and Andrew Durante who both made a decent stab in their lengthy A-League playing careers. Boogaard conceded only four goals in 10 games against the City marksman for Adelaide and Newcastle, while Durante’s six conceded in 12 for Wellington and Western United was still well below the striker’s career average.

1. Stay close at all times

“You could think you had him in your pocket and he hadn’t touched the ball in the build-up, and then you give him half a yard of space and he’s taken the chance,” recalls Boogaard. “He just needs 30cm of space, enough for the ball to get past you, and then he’d have the ability to maneouvre an opening.

“He’s not quick enough to burn you if he gets in behind, his style is more about getting on the end of the move. As centrebacks you’d have one near him and the other trying to cut off his service.”

Durante couldn’t agree more. “Jamie was someone I always liked to get tight too, smother him really. He’s not a physical striker like Bruno Fornaroli who’ll pull you into the contact and roll you. He’s a penalty box No 9, who sneaks into a position to hurt you.”

2. Stay on your feet

Maclaren has been the beneficiary of three penalties awarded to City this season, each converted with utter certainty. In fact he has scored 21 penalties in the A-League overall and missed just four – so a defender who commits a clumsy foul knows what the outcome is likely to be.

But Boogaard says the risk of a cheap penalty is just one of the reasons to stay upright. “You have to be smart – if you give away a penalty there’s a 90% chance it’s going in, but he can get a toe poke away towards goal if you dive in and leave yourself exposed.”

3. 100% concentration

“Jamie’s the sort of player who can disappear from a game, and in some ways it’s intentional,” says Durante. “It almost lulls you into a false sense of security. All of a sudden, if you switch off at all, he can pop up and hurt you.

“He works the channels well, his movement is smart – it’s a great challenge as a defender to track him and try to anticipate what he’s going to do.”

Boogaard acknowledges that the ability of a striker to disappear in the box until the key moment is “an artform”, that requires equal intelligence to combat.

“Jamie’s movement to lose the attention of the centreback is subtle but really effective – it might be two steps forward and then one back just as he knows the ball is being delivered, and that’s enough to shift the defender’s body weight to the wrong side,” he said.

“I don’t know if people appreciate the work that goes into creating those tiny pockets of space where he can do damage, but as a defender, you see the ball go wide and you’re like, ‘Oh shit, where is he!’

“Now I’m retired and not trying to keep him out anymore, it’s great to see him in this form ahead of the World Cup, and I hope he goes there and does something special.”