The introduction of Patrick Kluivert as the coach of the Indonesian national team last January gave rise to the idea that the Dutchman would instill a new philosophy for the Garuda team.
That afternoon at the Mulia Hotel in Jakarta, Kluivert told the media that he was a coach with an attacking philosophy, with 4-3-3 as his preferred formation. This formation, Kluivert said, allows a team to easily maintain dominant possession.
However, a coach is not a magician who can change things in an instant.
The national team's first four matches under Kluivert were still played with the three-man defense formation inherited from Shin Tae-yong (STY). The four matches in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers ended with two wins and two losses. The two wins came against Bahrain (1-0) and China (1-0), while the two losses came against Australia (1-5) and Japan (0-6).
Kluivert argued that during that period, he didn't have enough time to implement a comprehensive approach to the game. Besides the lack of time, the four matches were "life or death," leaving no room for experimentation.
Eight months later, his promise was fulfilled. When Indonesia faced Taiwan in a FIFA Match Day match at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (GBT) in Surabaya last Friday, Kluivert fielded a "new look" of a four-man defense for the first time, either in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation.
This change ultimately marked a "new era" for Indonesia under the guidance of the Dutch coaching team. Previously, they had used the three-man defense 25 times, 21 times under former coach STY and four times under Kluivert. The last time the Garuda team used a four-man defense was when they defeated Brunei Darussalam twice in the first round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifying, winning 6-0 in October and November 2023.
The implementation of this new system resulted in 69 percent ball possession for Indonesia, with 680 total passes having an accuracy of 89 percent, according to Lapang Bola statistics.
This dominance resulted in a total of 23 shots. Five of these were on target, all resulting in goals through Jordi Amat (4'), Marc Klok (33'), Eliano Reijnders (38'), Ramadhan Sananta (58'), Sandy Walsh (60'), and one own goal from Ming Hsiu Chao (24').
Taiwan itself only fired seven shots, two of which were on target, but were easily saved by goalkeeper Emil Audero, who plays in the Italian Serie A with Cremonese.
