Ghedin, Farrugia agree... tactical change key to Birkirkara’s win

Malta coach Pietro Ghedin and Ray Farrugia, the U-21 mentor, hail Birkirkara as worthy champions after the Stripes again showed remarkable resilience, bouncing back from a goal down to beat Hibs 3-1 in Saturday’s title decider.

National coach Pietro Ghedin has declared himself pleased with the level of football seen in the closing stages of the season, especially in Saturday’s title decider between Birkirkara and Hibernians.

Birkirkara were crowned champions after staging a stirring second-half comeback, hitting three goals in 16 minutes to turn the tables on Hibernians who had been the brisker side in the first half.

The unrelenting excitement during the title run-in put some much-needed gloss on an other-wise mundane league campaign but Ghedin, an optimist by nature, preferred to focus on the positives.

“The season has been keenly-contested,” Ghedin told Times of Malta.

“First it was Valletta who took the limelight, then Birkirkara and after Hibs came into the picture.

“Sliema have also done well.

“Valletta endured some difficulties after a very bright start but Birkirkara and Hibs then took the upperhand. It was a tight race.

“The decider was played at a high level. I’ve watched the match again on television and the rhythm and intensity were high, especially in the second half.”

Valletta, champions in the past two seasons, had been tipped to mount a strong challeng.

Their exhilarating form in the early months of the season fuelled suggestions of another title procession but it proved a false dawn as City faltered as the season progressed.

Their failure to keep their title bid on track left many perplexed, not least Ghedin.

“Valletta were the favourites and were playing well at the start of the championship. I don’t know why but the level of their perfor-mance dropped and they failed to rediscover their form,” Ghedin said.

“Birkirkara were more consis-tent. They struggled against the smaller teams but performed well against their direct rivals.

“In the second half of Satur-day’s title decider, Birkirkara changed their tactical approach and that helped them a lot.

“They pushed forward in an intelligent manner and I liked the way they played. They deserved to win.

“Their progress also shows that Paul Zammit (Birkirkara coach) has done a very good job.

“He has brought the best out of his squad which comprises many interesting players, including five who are part of the national squad and three who play for the U-21s.

“Birkirkara’s improvement was steady and this is why they’ve been successful. Edward Her-rera, Paul Fenech and Gareth Sciberras have been instru-mental for them.”

Although the championship race was edge-of-the-seat stuff, Ghedin believes that it would have been even more compelling if Valletta maintained their chal-lenge till the end.

“I was disappointed that Valletta failed to stay in the title race as I’d have liked to see them compete on a par with the other contenders,” Ghedin said.

“Sliema were the revelation side of the season but in a way that’s not surprising because they are the club with most league titles.”

With the season drawing to a close, the attention will soon shift to the individual honours which will take on added prestige this year after the Malta FA revamped its annual awards.

Invited to single out the players who have impressed him most, Ghedin said: “It’s not nice to mention names but I feel that there are some players who have stood out this season.

“One of them is certainly Gareth Sciberras. Paul Fenech has had a good year while Edward Herrera has left his mark, especially in the final stages of the season.

“For Hibs, Ryan Camilleri has also done well... he has grown in confidence.”

Ghedin’s views were echoed by Ray Farrugia, Malta U-21 coach.

“The season was an up-and-down journey but the finale was very interesting,” Farrugia said.

“I mean, you can’t have a more exciting game than a title decider.

“Birkirkara deserve their title success because they’ve had a very solid campaign.

“We must also give credit to Hibs for their title challenge. Michael Woods has done a good job there.”

City’s bad patch

Farrugia believes that Valletta’s problems stemmed from their negative patch in the second round when they dropped points against the likes of Rabat Ajax and Balzan, not to mention their defeat to Melita.

“Valletta failed to live up to their billing,” Farrugia said.

“On paper, they had the strongest squad but dropped too many points.

“That said, most of the teams in the Premier League can be tough to beat because they are organised. But, more was expected of Valletta, given the quality of their local players as well as their foreigners.”

The Malta U-21 coach highlighted the signings of Herrera and goalkeeper Justin Haber as key to Birkirkara’s title success.

“There are two factors that had a significant impact on Birkirkara’s title bid,” Farrugia said.

“They made two excellent signings at different stages of the season. Herrera, who joined them in the summer, has been one of the best players this season and Haber gave the side enormous strength when he arrived in January.

“But Birkirkara are not just about those two names, they have a very balanced squad with some promising youngsters.

“I know these players very well as Zach Muscat, Ryan Scicluna and Ryan Camenzuli are also part of the Malta U-21 squad.

“Paul Zammit has been bold by showing faith in the young players and he has been rewarded.

“He has a good mix as the standard of their foreigners is very good and in Gareth Sciberras and Paul Fenech, they have two leaders in midfield.

“There’s harmony among the Birkirkara players and they fight for each other.”

Although Birkirkara’s switch to a 3-5-2 approach was at the heart of their rejuvenation in the second half of the season, Zammit’s decision to revert to 4-3-3 in the second half of Saturday’s title showdown proved decisive.

While acknowledging the advantages of deploying a three-man defence with two fast wing-backs, Farrugia is convinced that Birkirkara showed their best when they shifted to 4-3-3.

“In the title decider against Hibs, Birkirkara improved tre-mendously after reverting to the back four,” Farrugia said.

“Seeing the match, I thought that, by playing three at the back, Birkirkara made it easy for Hibs to exploit the strengths of their players but that was not the case when they changed to 4-3-3.

“For the first 20-25 minutes of the second half, Hibs found it hard to contain Birkirkara’s attacks.

“It’s good to have tactical versatility but the turning point for Birkirkara was when they changed to a back-four. It boosted their scoring potential as their wingers had more liberty to attack.”

Like Ghedin, Farrugia regards the Birkirkara trio of Sciberras, Fenech and Herrera as strong contenders for the end-of-season player awards.

“Herrera was undoubtedly one of the most influential players,” Farrugia said.

“Fenech was also a strong performer. I also think that Ryan Camilleri, of Hibs, enjoyed a very good season. These three players have caught the eye along with Sciberras.

“I know Gareth well... he’s not only a very good player but a great person and all the Birkirkara players look up to him.”