Caldwell defensive over system switch
GARY CALDWELL believes there is insufficient time for Craig Levein to drill Scotland’s players to operate the three-at-the-back system that transformed his own season.
The Wigan defender was outstanding in Roberto Martinez’s 3-4-3 set-up during their great Barclays Premier League escape.
With powerful runners Maynor Figueroa and Antolin Alcaraz either side of Caldwell, Wigan accumulated 27 points in 14 games to avoid relegation.
So taken was Scotland boss Levein with Caldwell’s comfort in the system, he admitted last week that he’d tentatively discussed trialing a three-man defensive unit in national team training as a back-up strategy for his preferred 4-1-4-1.
However, Caldwell offered a cautious response because he knows just how much painstaking work went into perfecting how Wigan made the changes click.
And he reckons Levein and his staff don’t have the opportunities to do the change justice with the Scotland side.
‘I’d be open to Scotland playing three at the back but it’s difficult to get that right,’ stressed Caldwell. ‘We actually spoke about it last summer at Wigan. I always knew Martinez had it at the back of his mind to do it and we worked on it for many months, gradually building it up.
‘We moved to a three in November against Blackburn and drew 3-3. It took us a long time to get it as good as it got. When we signed Jean Beausejour to play at left wing-back, and then when Shaun Maloney came into the team, it really started to suit the strengths and weaknesses of every single player.
‘A lot of good managers couldn’t cope with it. A few boys said Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t really know how to stop us that night we beat them. We were passing round Manchester United, they couldn’t get the ball.
‘But to get to that stage took lots of tinkering defensively and everyone has to know exactly what they’re doing. Every role is so very specific.
‘To do it at international level would be very difficult because we don’t have the time to work on it properly with the players.’
The man who schemed those Wigan players to play what is an unconventional system in modern English top-flight football is the hottest managerial ticket of the summer.
Caldwell is realistic about the prospects of Martinez remaining at the DW for the start of next season as he’s been in talks with Liverpool and remains in the frame for an Aston Villa post he rejected last summer.
The Scotland centre-half believes his cool gaffer would be a fascinating fit for the Anfield vacancy. Caldwell explained: ‘Having worked with a lot of British managers, you see the tea cups being thrown and stuff like that. Roberto’s from Spain, it’s a different culture and mentality and he remains very calm. At half-time during games it’s me, Shaun and James (McArthur) going mental.
‘He just tells us to sit down and relax, goes through things calmly and that helps us get results. Nothing fazes him.
‘He has a great future ahead of him. At a big club like Liverpool, with their resources, who knows what he could achieve?’