Brisbane Roar are in a slump not a crisis
Columnist By Davidde Corran, 15 Dec 2011 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- A-League, Ange Postecoglou, Brisbane Roar, football
Brisbane Roar aim to make the Grand Final for the second consecutive year - can they win the A-League? (AAP Image/ Patrick Hamilton)
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So after 36 games unbeaten Brisbane Roar’s players have promptly reacquainted themselves with losing. Last night’s 2-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix was their third on the trot. Six goals conceded, one goal scored and zero points acquired.
After the final whistle in Dunedin, Ange Postecoglou had his players run laps of the Forsyth Barr Stadium as they warmed down.
It was an appropriate sight as the cries against the way the A-League champions are playing at the moment turned into a chorus.
Yet the suggestion that the Roar must alter the way they play and “become more direct” are entirely misplaced.
The Australian’s football writer Ray Gatt even went so far as to say they were “trying to play too much pretty football”.
Personally, I disagree.
The Roar need to develop on how they play not overhaul the whole system which brought them this success.
If other teams have figured out a way to stymie them, then Brisbane must step up their game.
Look to increase the tempo, stretch opposing defences by always keeping the ball moving. Take quick free kicks, never let the other side. If opponents want to chase the ball around all day, then let them.
Remember that keeping possession is also a solid defensive approach, just make sure you use it wisely.
Furthermore Postecoglou must get his team more focused on how they implement their system. Choosing the right moment when to press right up the park and win the ball and when to funnel back a bit and press in midfield.
The solution to the current conundrum facing the Roar is the same thing that got them this far.
Thankfully Postecoglou agrees.
“I think things will turn around very quickly results-wise, but more important for us it’s just about being a better team and doing what we do better,” the 46- year-old said last night.
“It would have been very easy for us tonight, coming off the back of two losses, to play defensively, clear our lines and try to hold on for a draw.
“Everyone would be happy and saying we’ve turned it around, but it’s not what we’re about.
“We’ll keep doing what we’re doing because ultimately that’ll produce better players and make us a better team.”
So this is now the challenge a man who has quickly become the hottest coach in Australian football faces.
Throughout the Roar’s magnificent run the question lurking beneath the surface is what would happen when things started to go wrong? We’re now finding out the answer to that as we see what Postecoglou is really made of as a coach.
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- A-League, Ange Postecoglou, Brisbane Roar, football
December 15th 2011 @ 8:04am
Qantas supports Australian Football said | December 15th 2011 @ 8:04am | Report comment
“It would have been very easy for us tonight, coming off the back of two losses, to play defensively, clear our lines and try to hold on for a draw Everyone would be happy and saying we’ve turned it around, but it’s not what we’re about.”
I fine this comment by Ange very interesting. So if that is going to be his philosophy for his first jaunt into the ACL (although it is very commendable) but he won’t get out of the group stage. Even Sir Alex of Man U came to realise that, the EPL was a lot different competition to the UCL. Even Sir Alex had to change his team’s playing playing style to suit the the UCL. This is going to be very interesting to see how Ange approaches the ACL. Good luck to Ange if continues to play the free flowing style we have seen the Roar play.
December 15th 2011 @ 8:52am
Jose said | December 15th 2011 @ 8:52am | Report comment
No Broich, No Brisbane.
December 15th 2011 @ 9:05am
Futbanous said | December 15th 2011 @ 9:05am | Report comment
The rollercoaster ride of the Football fan.
First few seasons we were like Captain Ahab seeking the great white whale showing great promise but Moby was too smart for us.
We escaped the final scene where Moby rises from the depths with the obsessed captain tied onto him & switched to the’Wizard of Oz”. Ange(the wizard) shows us that we have courage a brain & a heart.
But then along comes “How the Grinch stole Christmas”.
December 15th 2011 @ 9:10am
AGO74 said | December 15th 2011 @ 9:10am | Report comment
“The Roar need to develop on how they play not overhaul the whole system which brought them this success.
If other teams have figured out a way to stymie them, then Brisbane must step up their game.”
That pretty much sums it up. To distance yourself on the back of a few losses from an entire system that has brought so much success would be foolish.
December 15th 2011 @ 9:24am
j binnie said | December 15th 2011 @ 9:24am | Report comment
I think Ange has a bull by the tail here.If these reports are correct he appears to think that people want him to change his system. Not true. He needs to IMPROVE his system because of other team’s willingness to make a plan based on a very chancy defensive block with occasional successful breakaways,not always engineered by clever football, but more likely “loss of possession” caused by pressure on the ball and the player in possession.
There is ever growing evidence that the positional make up of his team needs to be altered to “close” a hole in the centre of his defence,that does not constitute a change to the system rather an alteration based on the goals being scored.
So what is happening?. Having gone 36 games without defeat Ange can be excused for being faithful to his players but as his system HAS to be improved he is going to run into a rather unfortunate realisation,that he will reach a threshold where some of his players cannot perform at the levels demanded by that improvement.
Despite playing some attractive football last night,even achieving successful penetration on a few occasions, Ange has to ignore that aspect and concentrate on where it is “breaking down” if he has to engineer the required improvement.
In 15 minutes of play last night Adner had still to make a bad pass but from that point on as his passing became more erratic, his “body language” told a different story as he, an experienced professional,indicated that his “options” were becoming less and less. The commentators put that down to his passing ability I put it down to lack of constructive movement from those in front.
Ange’s “system” is based on certain factors,movement on and off the ball,speed and accuracy of ball movement,control of possession AND penetration. Somewhere in those factors there is “breakdown” and that is what needs fixed.This “breakdown” is much more evident on TV shots taken from above the play,so it may pay Ange to get “Rado” to watch the game from “above” in the stand in order that “improvement” can be achieved more quickly. Just one suggestion. jb
December 15th 2011 @ 9:44am
Realfootball said | December 15th 2011 @ 9:44am | Report comment
Actually, Brisbane do need to change the way they are currently playing, because it goes like this – 80% possession to the edge of the final third, then slip in to neutral and pass first sideways, then backwards, and so the pattern repeats. Endlessly. How a team can have so much possession and yet fail to find a shot in a half of football is beyond me. The lack of drive forward when they reach the final third has become, literally, farcical. This is what all the other teams now know: line all your players bar one or two quick men just outside the penalty area and Brisbane will stop and go backwards. Then one bad pass, and you’re in behind (yes, Eric, I’m talking to you) – which, against the Phoenix Jurman and Adnan coughed up with monotonous regularity.
This reflects, however, underlying issues. It was always a dangerous strategy to go into a season with one striker in an entire squad. That always mystified me. Secondly, a number of players are simply not up to standard, as in the standard of the League this season: Murdocca, Adnan, Jurman, Nakajima-Farran, Fitzgerald. Partaalu is out of form, as is Franjic, who seems to have completely lost his pace . Steffanuto is more error prone than the NSW rail system and his age is showing. Danning is a question mark. The idea that Nichols was recently called into the Roos squad so recently suddenly looks to be, well, improbable, to say the least.
JB has it exactly right – it’s not a matter of changing the system – it’s a matter of improving it. But the problem is the lack of depth in the squad. What has become very clear in the last 3 games is that the second tier of players – and some of the first tier – are simply not up to scratch. Brisbane urgently need another quality ball playing midfielder and striker. How can you change a game that you are chasing if you don’t even have a striker to come off the bench.
We are all hoping Brisbane carry the flag with distinction in the ACL. With Ange’s current squad, they are on track for a hiding. The Roar have allegedly cashed up, ambitious owners. In the January window they need to give Ange money to spend, because this squad was built and a shoestring and it is showing.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:33am
Jose said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Exactly. Possession means squat if it’s not productive. A very misleading stat.
December 15th 2011 @ 5:08pm
j binnie said | December 15th 2011 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
Realfootball – You and I are obviously on the same wavelength re .Ange’s need to “upgrade” his favourite system of play.However we disagree on your analysis of the players.You say Adnan & Jurman coughed up possession with monotonous regularity but did not say that this was caused by bad passing.Let me explain that statement
Ange’s system is based on movement,movement of both players and ball and to blame two centre-backs for poor distribution immediately raises the thought in my mind who were they trying to pass the ball to? That takes you to the player/s immediately in front of them and to this end you blame Paartlu’s “mistake” for setting up the first goal ,Are you aware it was a needless back pass from Nicholls to Paartlu (IMO totally unexpected by the big Def/Mid) that started the problem.I’m afraid if you wanted to “chart” the number of “bad” passes being made by Roar in recent games you would have to have 9 mates helping you and you might get a huge surprise in who finishes top of the heap.
In your article you criticise 9 out of the 12 players used against Wellington,but I think that’s the easy way out for the opposition only scored 2 goals,one with a deflection and the other a direct breakdown of Roar’s defensive set up that has been evident since the Victory game using the “how & from where” the goals were scored as a measure.
That flaw could be cured quite easily. The Dutch found the same problem when they converted to 4-3-3 at international level but simply overcame it by encouraging their “erratic” goalkeeper Youngblut to come out to the edge of the penalty ares when the team was in possession thereby giving themselves another option when playing their possession game.The British press deemed him “mad”. Results proved otherwise.
Most of the players you mention have taken part in some “good win”games this season so must have something to offer,lets try to analyse by being objective,not critical. jb
December 16th 2011 @ 10:34am
Realfootball said | December 16th 2011 @ 10:34am | Report comment
We will have to agree to differ on this JB. Partaalu’s pass was simply a very poor pass under little pressure when he had other options. I do take your point about the options on offer to the centre backs – but only to an extent. Every bad pass Adnan and Jurman made had an easier option. Their decision making was still the problem.
December 16th 2011 @ 11:49am
jbinnie said | December 16th 2011 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Realfootball – Don’t get me wrong about the two centre-backs decision making but we have an advantage over them when we see a game inasmuch we “see” the game from above where options are more apparent than from what a player sees at ground level. Adman did not make a bad pass for 15 minutes then “suddenly it all went wrong”. You and I differ on this but if the man has an apparent skill for 15 minutes IMO it just doesn’t disappear for the next 75 minutes there has to be other reasons, those are what you must look for.
Also,I didn’t pass comment on Paartlu’s pass what I did say he acted as if the back-pass from Nichols was unexpected and in that I would totally agree,not only was it unexpected it was totally unnecessary. That brings me to the young Nichols,who, with the absence of Broich, has been thrown into the chief playmakers role and his inexperience is showing. I still think Mitch’s natural instinct is of the predatory player but under the system being played I don’t think that natural instinct is being experienced for at times he appears to be playing a box to box role on the right which involves more than a fair share of defensive work and, while he still has time to adjust to that, it is not yet evident, so his natural desire is being curtailed.This can be frustrating and in fact dangerous to the defensive set-up and I think Mitch is aware of this so picks the option of playing balls backwards when in fact his front man Berisha is crying out for forward movement and support which he is not getting at the moment.
Now Nichols is not the only one suffering this malady and it is all adding up to what one could only describe as slight confusion when the team progresses to the opponents back third and this is in part caused by the “slow” build up that allows defenders to get back in numbers.Remember, Ange’s system is totally dependent on 3 things,keeping possession by moving the ball quickly and accurately,which in turn is dependent on player movement on and off the ball, and the supreme fitness to keep this up for 90 minutes.Having those 3 things under control the AIM of the game comes into play,score goals.Against Perth and Adelaide this was shown in all it’s glory, and IMO it hasn’t gone away it just needs what I term “tweaking” a constant in football tactics when teams try to stop your system working. jb
December 15th 2011 @ 10:04am
TomC said | December 15th 2011 @ 10:04am | Report comment
I haven’t read the original article by Ray Gatt, but it doesn’t seem to me that saying a team is ‘trying to play too much pretty football’ is the same as saying they should totally change their style.
I would suggest that when other sides adapt to your own style, it makes sense to adapt yourself, rather than try to do the same thing, only better.
That doesn’t mean throwing away everything they’ve acheived over the past year and a half, but to adapt to be able to play other styles alongside it.
December 15th 2011 @ 10:44am
striker said | December 15th 2011 @ 10:44am | Report comment
I think without Broich there looking a team who has no confidence and will struggle big time without him.
December 15th 2011 @ 10:46am
Futbanous said | December 15th 2011 @ 10:46am | Report comment
So what we are saying is that the Roar have a system. That system is being worked out by the opposition & their adjusting their tactics accordingly.
I’ll accept that the Roar can probably plug the hole in defence with the same players,by improving the tactics,but what about attack?
By that I mean how do you improve on the tactics in the final third as remarked upon by Realfootball without better quality players?
If the answer is you cant, then theres a problem because of the salary cap.
I accept that systems of play are important nowadays,but by concentrating on them we often overlook the attitude of players.
There seems to me a decided drop in intensity in the Roar play currently. Before there was a willingnesss to pressure the opposition or run into space to receive the pass ,seemed to be lacking to me,particularly last night. I remember one particular incident where Mitch lost the ball & although the Phoenix player was within spitting distance he watched him continue forward rather than run & pressure.
Apart from other teams working out the Roar to some degree,has Ange then changed the training routine with one eye on the ACL & its presently taking a toll physically?
December 15th 2011 @ 11:00am
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:00am | Report comment
3 weeks ago, Ange was genius. Almost infallible. So amazing, how did he do it?
Fast forward and now apparently everyone is an expert, and knows how to fix Brisbane’s perceived woes.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Sydneywere incredibly lucky to score in the opening minute with Sydney taking full advantage of a moment of confusion following a free kick. The second goal was sheer luck, with the ball taken by a strong gust of wind. All Sydney had to do then was hang back and maintain the lead. And hang back they did.
Further, Heart (until last week maybe) were the most under-rated side in the competition. They were playing good football, yet lady-luck somehow continued to thwart them, and their position on the ladder didn’t reflect their skill. Heart are playing very well at the moment, and even the best teams are beaten by other good teams.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:33am
Realfootball said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Roger, the problem is firstly, how poor Brisbane’s general play has been, and, secondly, that the team doesn’t even look like scoring despite dominating possession. Neither Sydney nor Heart nor Wellington were “lucky” to win. They took their chances, and Brisbane never looked like scoring apart from one scrambled goal.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:38am
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:38am | Report comment
But let’s not also forget that this is exactly how they started out in the season last year. Lots of posession, passing etc, but no goals. It took a while for a couple of players to step up for that final pass or two.
Apparently Broich is on of their few goal outlets at the moment, but that will change as the season goes on. Just you watch.
Oh, and Sydney were lucky to win – don’t kid yourself otherwise. And I never said Heart were lucky, I said they were good, and that because of that, they beat the Roar.
December 15th 2011 @ 1:50pm
Realfootball said | December 15th 2011 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
Good point about the slow start last year. But then of course Brisbane had both McKay and Broich.
Some recruiting in the Jan window is needed. There are no backups of suitable standard for Broich and Berisha, and no capacity for variation. All are needed, urgently.
December 15th 2011 @ 2:41pm
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
Well, you can’t argue that a few more options up front wouldn’t be desirable, not to mention a marquee player.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:35am
Jose said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Rubbish. Wellington were all over heart and they were lucky to get the win over them. But it all balances out in the end.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:42am
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Wait, Jose are you saying that Heart aren’t playing well? If so, you have obviously not been watching them play much. And in case you were wondering, I am not a Heart fan. Quite the opposite.
December 15th 2011 @ 11:51am
TomC said | December 15th 2011 @ 11:51am | Report comment
I don’t think it was ‘lady luck’ that was deserting the Heart. Just a lack of effective strikers and a fragile defence. They are the classic example of a team that can play great football for 90 minutes and still lose 1-0. It’s a problem that will plague them for the rest of the season, although I’d still expect them to finish in the top four.
December 15th 2011 @ 12:14pm
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
Yes, it may be that too. But you’ve just agreed that they can play beautiful football, which they did against the Roar, and that you’d expect them to finish in the top four, which is suggestive of a good team. So the only point we disagree on is whether or not they have been relatively unlucky
December 15th 2011 @ 1:13pm
TomC said | December 15th 2011 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
No, I think their inconsistent results are a product of team management, not bad luck.
Incidentally, at the start of the season I felt they’d struggle into seventh or eighth, but I’ve been very impressed by Dugandzic, Fred and Germano at times. Babalj too has surprised me.
December 15th 2011 @ 2:39pm
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 2:39pm | Report comment
TomC, right, so as I said, we disagree on whether their inconsistent results are due to luck or bad team management. But for the rest, we are more or less saying the same thing in relation to Heart.
December 15th 2011 @ 3:39pm
TomC said | December 15th 2011 @ 3:39pm | Report comment
Yes. Whoops. Misread your post.
December 15th 2011 @ 12:06pm
AGO74 said | December 15th 2011 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
Yes, I am a Sydney FC fan but to suggest they were lucky in either goal is ridiculous.
The first goal was smart play and a terrific finish. The second was a delibarate shot combined with poor keeping effort and good pressure on Theoklitos from Carle. If you saw the game it was no fluke as Emerton had taken a corner only seconds earlier so he knew exactly what he (and the wind) was doing. Aside from that, they played Roar off the park and probably should have scored more in the 2nd half.
December 15th 2011 @ 12:15pm
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
I saw the game AGO74, and this is my opinion of what I saw. You disagree, which is your right.
December 15th 2011 @ 1:57pm
Matt F said | December 15th 2011 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
The Roar only had one clear cut chance all game against Sydney (Berisha early in the 2nd half.) That was the only time Reddy really had to do anything. Not sure how that makes Sydney lucky?
December 15th 2011 @ 2:21pm
Roger said | December 15th 2011 @ 2:21pm | Report comment
You will note how I said “Sydney were incredibly lucky to score in the opening minute with Sydney taking full advantage of a moment of confusion following a free kick. The second goal was sheer luck, with the ball taken by a strong gust of wind”
The Sydney goals were lucky Matt. That’s how Sydney was lucky.
December 15th 2011 @ 7:49pm
Matt F said | December 15th 2011 @ 7:49pm | Report comment
Smart play from Cazarine and a confused Roar defence isn’t luck, rather it’s clever thinking from Cazarine and poor defending from the Roar. The time of the goal is irrelevant. The same scenario could have happened in the 67th minute. Nothing lucky about good attakcking play and poor defending.
The second goal was certainly lucky though given Sydney created more chances, and better ones (Theoklitos had a lot more to do than Reddy) calling it “lucky” is a stretch. If Sydney had taken their 2nd half chances like they took their 1st half chances it could have been more.
Brisbane are clearly the best team in the A-League but on that day Sydney were better.