Brisbane lose but they remain far from defeated
Columnist By Davidde Corran, 5 Dec 2011 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- A-League, Ange Postecoglou, Brisbane Roar, football, Sydney FC
Sydney FC end Brisbane Roar's unbeaten streak (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
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“As they finally succumb, let’s pay tribute to what they’ve achieved,” declared Fox Sports’ redoubtable commentator Simon Hill as the final whistle confirmed Sydney FC had ended Brisbane Roar’s 36-game unbeaten streak.
Having never been visited by A-League football before, the blustery WIN Jubilee Oval was an unlikely venue for the longest undefeated streak in Australian professional sport to end.
While A-League sides might be tempted into rescheduling their next home game against the Roar at a small local stadium in an attempt to repeat the Sky Blues’ feat, opponents dreaming of catching the A-League champions must still look to the losing side in this encounter for inspiration.
As the Roar have been showing us for almost 15 months, to find success a club’s board must have the vision to decide how they want their club to be regarded as well as keeping faith in their coach and his playing system until both begin to pay off.
When Brisbane hired Postecoglou the club may have decided on a brave new direction but they still expected reasonable results in the short term.
On that front Postecoglou failed as he led them to their worst ever A-League finish.
That failure almost cost the former Australian U/20 coach his job but in the end, the board stuck by their manager.
While the rest is history, the message is clear – make a strong and educated decision on how you want your club to play, and then choose your coach after an exhaustive search for the right candidate to implement it or risk failing miserably.
Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory and Gold Coast United are all clubs who currently find themselves under pressure for making this very mistake.
Even now, despite having seen their record breaking run ended by Sydney, Brisbane are planning on making further history as they look to become the first team to win back to back championships in the A-League.
Of course it wont be easy, with the Sky Blues having removed the veneer of invincibility from Postecoglou’s team, the rest of the competition will be reinvigorated by this weekend’s developments.
Then again, we all know how the Roar responded the last time they lost.
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- A-League, Ange Postecoglou, Brisbane Roar, football, Sydney FC
December 5th 2011 @ 8:15am
AGO74 said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Was at the game yesterday. It seemed like last week must have really taken it out of the Roar (that and no Thomas Broich – much to my disappointment. Love to watch him play). They never recovered from that first minute goal and looked devoid of ideas. Theoklitos erred big time considering he’d been warned by another Emmo corner only seconds earlier. Despite all this, Roar will be back there is no doubt. They are too good a team.
For my team Sydney FC, they were outstanding. Petratos played by far his best game for Sydney but everyone played well. It shows they can do it. Biggest concern is still up front. We need a finishing striker.
Despite the awful conditions (I can’t remember a colder or windier summer day ever), I enjoyed the venue. A nicer day and I’m sure they’d have got another 5 or 6 thousand although to be honest, I thought there was more there than the 11,500 crowd given. Despite being an oval, it was an ok venue to watch the game from viewing-wise. .
December 5th 2011 @ 9:44am
AGO74 said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:44am | Report comment
PS. I also thought that Sydney despite scoring no goals were better in the 2nd half than the 1st half……the fact they didn’t score a goal in 2nd half was probably the only disappointment of their 2nd half performance.
December 5th 2011 @ 4:43pm
Silver Foxx said | December 5th 2011 @ 4:43pm | Report comment
Agree with your comments. It was great, coming from the Sutherland Shire and being a Sydney FC season ticket holder, to not have to make the great trek into Moore Park. I’ve attended a number of NRL games at Kogarah and also thought there were a few thousand more than the quoted crowd figure.
Great games from Petratos and Cazarine and I think Shannon Cole’s best for the club, a real hum dinger.
Interested to see how FC back up on the short turn around to play Perth on Wednesday. Hope that Lavicka persists with starting with Cazarine and that Bridge warms the bench.
December 5th 2011 @ 8:18am
Bondy said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:18am | Report comment
Interesting Brisbane struggle against major capital clubs Melbourne Victory and Sydney F.C their the last two teams to defeat them if memory serves correct .
The feat the whole Brisbane Roar club should be congratulated Postecoglou threw out the drunks and started again and broke an Australian sports record amazing .
It also goes to show the level of professionalism to the H.A.L. in less than 8 years the sport has broken an Australian sports record .
December 5th 2011 @ 10:34am
JohnL said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:34am | Report comment
You are joking right? How many times in the last 5 meetings between Roar and Sydney and Roar and Melbourne have Roar lost? Answer: Once. And those losses have come AWAY from home.
By your logic, since Victory and Sydney have both lost their last games at Suncorp, they struggle against Brisbane?
December 5th 2011 @ 5:10pm
oikee said | December 5th 2011 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
Not much pazazz in the roar’s effort, and i have happily come up with 3 excuses for my boys.
1. Like the Broncos, no Lockyer no Broncos. No Broich, No Roar.
2. Big Artie could not bare another week of Roar bragging about the record, so he swing the arm of justice, from the heavens.
3. Make, ? why are the best team in the leaGUE PLAYING ON A COW PADDOCK IN THE MIDDLE OF A WIND STORM. ?
4. Bugger the cap locks. And that should be “mate” after a few it turns into make.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:01am
jbinnie said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:01am | Report comment
I think saying Sydney outplayed Roar “on the day” oversimplifies what happened yesterday.Forgetting ground conditions,weather conditions et al closer examination is needed to see if “the bubble” has really burst.Have Sydney become a “super’ team overnight?. I’m afraid the answer is “no” for, apart from the tremendous effort they put in to keep their opponents time and space to a minimum they showed very little actual improvement in their overall play. So what happened?
A few weeks ago that experienced campaigner A Thompson showed where Roar could be found wanting by playing up high on the field and making runs between the centre-backs.The young Sydney winger found the same “hole” in the first minute.One up, Sydney then embarked on a plan designed to cut their opponents time and space and they succeeded admirably.Pressure on the player playing the ball was almost non stop and showed up the Roar players who are actually border line cases when facing this type of play,but now the “monkey” has gone I think AP will embark on building his team for the Asian Cup test.The Roar of the past months were not the finished article but as long as they kept performing ,”why change a good thing” remained a good option. Now the physicality of the Sydney match plan has shown “the way”, the following weeks will see the true value of Roar emerge. Interesting times. jb
December 5th 2011 @ 4:09pm
Stevo said | December 5th 2011 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
Agree jbinnie, the Roar are not the finished product and I think Ange has been given a lot to think about in recent times. MV’s park-the-bus and hit on the counter with Archie nearly paid off. The Roar have found it hard to break down teams that have decided to defend well. The challenge in the ACL will be greater than in the A-league and teams can be expected to be solid both defensively and offensively. What I have found to be somewhat dissapointing about Roar is their “same paced” approach. Just when I think they should zip the ball across the pitch to catch opponents off-balance they allow teams time to get behind the ball and create a “wall”. Maybe it’s just me.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:21pm
j binnie said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:21pm | Report comment
Stevo – It’s not “you”,you are quite right.One of the components of presenting a defensive line up to a team when possession is lost is the immediate retreat of all players into the back two thirds of the pitch and, when allied to a constant “pressing” game, the tactic becomes very effective if discipline and effort are maintained.
This was the tactic Sydney used and the only way to counteract it is to lift the “passing game” as practiced by the Roar with speed and accuracy, not only with the ball, but with movement of players off the ball..If this is done the “pressing tactic” is not only nullified for,when an opponent tries to close down quickly, a ball passed accurately to a mate who is on the move will actually takes the “presser” out of the game as the ball passes him on it’s way FORWARD..
In Sunday’s game we had two different systems of play being used against each opponent and the Roar lads came off second best.The danger now is that other teams (who are not necessarily better “football” teams) can sneak victories this way so the Roar are going to have to change,not necessarily the system they have used so successfully, but the application of that system and it is in this area I think the Roar have the players to lift their game to a new level,even when being “pressed”.
Roar,like every team,can be improved. There have been signs in recent weeks that their “passing game” may be beyond the talents of some players when attempts to “speed up” are tried.This is what football management is all about,seeing where improvements can be made, then quietly going about applying the remedies.Victory applied a fright some weeks ago,Sydney did a little more,now it’s up to Ange & staff to take the necessary steps to fix the potential problem areas. They can do that,they have proved themselves. jb
December 6th 2011 @ 12:58pm
stu said | December 6th 2011 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
perhaps the roar will not be able to reach that ‘next level’ with the current players in the squad. we all need to remember each player will reach a level they can not exceed.
December 6th 2011 @ 3:12pm
j binnie said | December 6th 2011 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
Stu.-That is exactly the problem facing the Roar as it prepares for the upcoming Asian Cup “adventure.
So what to do? A few months back the pundits in our game were telling us Barcelona were the pick of all club teams playing the game and everyone should try and achieve that level. They are now lying second to Real in the Spanish league so one must assume Mourhino saw something our pundits didn’t and planned his strategy accordingly.!!!!!
You see Stu,in my opinion, the game of football is constantly in a state of change, that is why it has lasted 150yrs.That’s where the Roar are at this very moment. Can they afford to put aside the warnings given to them by Victory and Sydney,and carry on battling along in an attempt to win another title or do they “tweak” the system that has done them proud,get a few new players playing in “doubtful positions” and all in all improve on their last 18 months form???.
That is the challenge ahead and I wish them well for they have done the game proud in this country. jb
December 6th 2011 @ 4:55pm
Futbanous said | December 6th 2011 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
Personally jb I believe Ange wants/needs to be in this position. He talks about constantly improving. But how can you improve when nobody is testing you. Sydney did not just him a favour in assessing the chinks in the Roar armour(particularly personnel as mentioned) but the A-League generally.
For me he’s advanced this league many years ahead of where it would be in relation to playing standard if he hadnt taken over the Roar when he did.
Its the mantra I’ve adopted since the beginning of the A-League the quality/standard(whichever term you like) of football will determine its success in emulating the newer leagues like the J & the MLS.
I look forward to this Friday to see what happens on the park..
December 5th 2011 @ 9:30am
Futbanous said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:30am | Report comment
Next step for the Roar is the real test of Ange’s coaching ability & indeed his mettle.
Ok so SFC found a few chinks in the Roars armour,but a good coach(& Ange is) finds a way to fix the chinks.
The Roar raised the bar others are catching up. As I said the other day this has to keep happening to raise the overall standard of the A-league. A one way street is not a comp.
If SFC think they have the Roars measure,well we see next time we meet.
On what jb said above Massimo for me was one player who is borderline when pressured,but he was not alone.
We learn & move onwards & upwards the rest follow Ange & the Roar on the conga line.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:30am
Punter said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:30am | Report comment
Futbanous, I think Sydney were outstanding (not a poor player yesterday, even McFlynn, whose distribution is still poor, did his job with aplomb) & Brisane were poor (very flat), so I don’t think Sydney thinks they have Roar’s measure. Sydney was up for the game as most teams are when they face Brisbane. Brisbane coming of the record last week and missing Broich, were perhaps not up for it.
As JB did mention, there is a few borderline cases for Brisbane yesterday, up against with Sydney’s high tempo, well structured game. Massimo was mentioned, Stefanutto is another, Nichols & Braten were poor (lost the ball on numerous times), but happy to give then another go, especially Nichols. You can also add Danning, though he didn’t play yesterday.
But I can assure you being a SFC fan, we have far more ‘passengers’ than what Brisbane has, I am more talking of their ability (Brisbane) to take it to another level again.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:45am
Qantas supports Australian Football said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:45am | Report comment
I think what yesterday’s game showed us is: that Broich is a pivotal part of the Roar machine. He was greatly missed yesterday for his creativity and leadership on the park and Sydney were playing it tough. Some glimpses of brilliance by SFC but they were not playing beautiful football. Of course the conditions were extremely difficult to play in—both keepers misjudging the flight of the ball in the air, which hindered their clearances and playing from the back. Petratos has not hurt his chances from starting over Bridge next week—Petratos, Antonis and Cole are three very exciting young players of the future for the Sydney club.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:50am
Tom Seungmin Lee said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:50am | Report comment
In my point of view, as a K-League fan, yesterday’s victory of Sydney was similar to the one of K-Leagu clubs against J-League clubs in the AFC Champions League. Despite some Sydney fan told me he didn’t regard the competition is not important as A-League(Really?) I can see their way is similar – Erase all the spaces and pile up pressure from the very up front. Then usually J-League teams, like the Roar yesterday, got no idea where to pass and be “SUFFOCATED” then you can cook them as you want.
Brisbane couldn’t find any space behind Sydney’s last four because Sydney’s central midfielders were there. They keep in tight to the back four and when they got a ball, making a link through the centre and setting up the whole plays effectively. Whenever teams got such a firm plan and excute it well on the pitch, they are hardly beaten on the field. Yesterday’s Sydney FC were beautiful.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:06am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:06am | Report comment
It was the perfect time for the Roar to lose (and I’m not just saying that because it was the mighty Sydney FC who knocked them over!)
I said a while ago that it was important for the A-League that the Roar broke the record but equally important that they lost soon after so that fans didn’t switch off thinking that the league was a one horse race.
The thing that impressed me the most was that it wasn’t just a “park the bus” game where Sydney won 1-0 with only 1 chance all game (which was how I thought a team would beat the Roar) but we actually looked the better side. Whilst the Roar dominated possession they only really created one clear cut chance whilst we had a number of good chances. I think we should sign the “wind” character up full time as he scored a cracking 2nd goal for us!
It’s only one game though. The Roar will bounce back and are still clear favourites (I’d hate to be the Heart on Friday!) whilst Sydney need to switch focus to Perth in Campbelltown on Wednesday. If we slip up against the Glory then the Roar result becomes pretty meaningless
December 5th 2011 @ 10:39am
Realfootball said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:39am | Report comment
Well done Sydney. Brisbane were very poor, but partly – only partly, though – because Sydney put them under pressure. Nicholls needed to step up in Broich’s absence and simply didn’t – it was almost as if he had been infected by the Olyroos mailaise by contact with the lamentable Vidmar. It was unusual in a good team to see so many players off form at once – Henrique was anonymous, Partaalu very poor, Murdocca very poor, likewise Steffanuto, who was simply awful, and Farran was back to his usual headless chicken impression. Brattan surely has finally, unequivocally, established that he does not have what it takes at this level. With the loss of McKay, Ange needs more depth in midfield, because if Brattan is the best Roar can do, they will be in trouble win the ACL. Big question marks hang over Nicholls ability at the highest level – his lack of pace on the ball is a significant problem.
I have thought for some time that Brisbane need more variety in the squad, particularly in attack. There is no capacity for variation if the game isn’t going well, and we saw this against Sydney. For all his issues, Reinaldo offered something different off the bench – an old fashioned centre forward – big and strong, and could put himself about in a way his teammates could not.
I would be very surprised if this performance is repeated again this season. But agree with QSAF – the game showed just how pivotal Broich is to Brisbane – and Nicholls is not up to filling his shoes.
It was a good result for the A-League – Sydney was the team who would always have gained the most by breaking the run. As for Brisbane, there is no doubt that the run has recently become something of a monkey on their back, and now it’s gone. And the race for the title is suddenly wide open.
The only shame is that Brisbane went out with whimper, not a bang.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:50am
Futbanous said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Realfootball
Agree with most of what you say except regarding Brattan. Young lad still learning. Remember Nichols a couple of years ago,nowhere near the player today. But agree maybe need something extra for the ACL. Talk of recruiting during the January transfer window,we wait & see.
December 5th 2011 @ 11:03am
Realfootball said | December 5th 2011 @ 11:03am | Report comment
Agree that Nichols has come a long way, but he is 22 going on 23, and no longer a particularly young gun. And I believe that Brattan is 21 now – I’m sorry, but I just don’t think the boy has it. All he seems to offer is a passing game, and it isn’t that good. He just doesn’t bring any notable quality to the team. I thought Bush was a far more interesting young player – I wonder what has happened to him?
Certainly if Broich or Berisha aren’t on the park, Brisbane currently doesn’t have many quality options in reserve.
December 5th 2011 @ 11:18am
Futbanous said | December 5th 2011 @ 11:18am | Report comment
Yes Bush In the youth team? Will have a look.Still there according to the Roar website. Agree though Brattan whether he comes good or not is not an immediate answer & with the ACL coming up time is of the essence.
Noticed Fitzgeralds name as quite prominent in the last game reported a 4 all draw with Sydney.
Visconte seems to be a forgotten man also. Cant tell if he’s up to playing A-League/ACL because havent seem much of him to be honest.
December 5th 2011 @ 12:23pm
Realfootball said | December 5th 2011 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
Had forgotten about Fitzgerald – was most impressed with him in pre season. I’m surprised that he hasn’t at least been on the bench, given his pace and the goal scoring threat he offers.
Visconte never impressed me. Not enough pace for an out and out winger, and a truly awful first touch. Had his chances last season and didn’t take them.
December 6th 2011 @ 12:45pm
Roarchild said | December 6th 2011 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
It’s only the smallest hint of a rumor but perhaps Dario Vidosic might be available.
He would be a huge upgrade over Issey or Henrique and would make the attack look a lot more menacing.
You didn’t mention Franjic in your players out of form list…. he was ok on the weekend but he was playing at a level good enough for the Socceroos before he was injured towards the end of last season.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:42pm
j binnie said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:42pm | Report comment
Realfootball – Your comment about Roar needing more variety in their game is very interesting. You mention a big strong centre-forward and strangely I found myself thinking exactly the same thing on Sunday especially when Meyer was brought on for he has all those physical abilities and on his few appearances has shown he has a nose for goals.This is where the Roar system could do with a tweak for Berisha is now a marked man and is spending more and more time chasing after the ball even back to the half way line,and that is exactly where his centre-back opponents want him to be.He is extremely mobile in the penalty area and that’s exactly where he should be but could do with a bit of strong assistance.
A few weeks ago Archie Thompson highlighted a “hole” in Roar’s defence especially when a fast forward ran at the space between the centre-backs. The Sydney winger found it on Sunday.What to do? Can Roar afford to have that gap when an international centre-half is on the bench.Maybe another tweak to the system is needed there.
These 2 changes would not alter the basics of the system presently used they would simply “stretch” the overall “length ” of the Roar’s area of operation making it just a little harder to close them down swiftly> Will be interesting to see what,if anything, will be done.jb
December 5th 2011 @ 11:28am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 11:28am | Report comment
Good to see we made the covers of the sport sections of both Sydney papers, even knocking out the cricket.
December 5th 2011 @ 12:10pm
striker said | December 5th 2011 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Yeah i was surprised to see we knocked the cricket off the back page and the Rugby League what a shock.
December 5th 2011 @ 12:25pm
Realfootball said | December 5th 2011 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
Great publicity for Sydney FC. Now let’s hope they go on with it.
December 5th 2011 @ 12:36pm
Axelv said | December 5th 2011 @ 12:36pm | Report comment
Brisbane looked very sluggish yesterday, while Sydney played well and had some luck. Brisbane were without Broich who may have been the difference in getting them back into the match. Let’s be honest of Brisbane’s 9 matches, in 3 of them they have not looked their best.
The whole undefeated thing was a marvelous streak and we’ll most likely never see it again in our life time. In another way though it’s good for Brisbane, they get to focus less on their streak and concentrate more on their football and where they went wrong. Their touches and movement of the ball yesterday was sloppy, Sydney were allowed to adjust their defense without any panic. Had Brisbane not been so slow they could have still cut through the Sydney defense like butter as soon as they make a mistake or can’t keep up, which when Brisbane is playing good football, is only an inevitability.