The Roar
The Roar

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Restoring the Roar's pride - on and off the field

Mike Mulvey has signed up with the Mariners. (Image: AAP)
Roar Rookie
25th October, 2014
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Brisbane Roar have a new look and a new kit this year, and have bucked the trend to modernise team logos and uniforms by donning a more traditional kit. It looks to be some sort of Gaellic-symbolism, but don’t tell the FFA.

Last season the Roar became the A-League’s most successful franchise, securing their third title, and hopes were high that the pride would continue to dominate the football jungle in A-League season 2014-15.

However, after three rounds the pride remains without a kill, rooted to the bottom of the table.

As only 14,000 fans at Suncorp on Friday night can attest, at this stage it does not feel like it’s the defending champion’s year.

A lot has been made of the departure of Besart Berisha and Ivan Franjic in explaining the Roar’s current predicament, and sure these losses will be given their due. However, Roar are not only losing games due to their stuttering attack but are also conceding far more goals than last season, as Andy Keogh can attest.

So where and how can they improve to save their faltering start to the season?

Attack
Berisha is a genuine goal-box player who troubles defenders and keepers from positions he has no right to, and the Roar miss him terribly. In response, Mike Mulvey is now starting Henrique, however this also robs the Roar of the ability to introduce a genuine second half attacking option to shake up the game when Plan A fails.

They also sorely miss Franjic, who played as a genuine wing-back, bombing up and down the sideline all game and giving Roar an overlapping attacking option. As the Roar swept down the wings from defence, Thomas Broich would find Luke Brattan, who would feed Franjic, who would scoot down the sideline and either cut back inside for a shot or distribute the ball to the forwards through a cross or a short ball.

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Franjic’s work rate meant the Roar were essentially playing with 11.5 men on the pitch. Unfortunately nothing is going to replace this kind of talent, especially when Visa spots are currently filled. It might be that the current crop of replacements or some young talent steps up – I’d personally like to see more of Devante Clut – but this will take time.

Defence
While it is tempting to focus on the Roar’s attacking losses, there are also significant defensive worries for Mulvey to iron out. Yes, Roar scored the most goals last year, but they were also the best team defensively. Unlike attack, where flair and individual brilliance are key attributes, defence largely comes down to attitude and confidence.

And when stalwarts like Jade North and Matt Smith are making defensive blunders, you know that something has seriously rattled this team. For me, a good defence starts at the back, and this means having a keeper with Schwarzenegger-like confidence who charges into tough situations to take out the trash.

If the defenders know the keeper has their back and will step in authoritatively to manage situations they have lost control over, it makes a world of difference to the confidence with which they approach their work.

I feel for Jamie Young, who seems to have been suddenly thrust into a situation that he had little time to prepare for. Michael Theo has big gloves to fill and it cannot be easy for a long-standing deputy to suddenly guard the posts for the champions of Australia. Long-standing Roar deputy Matt Acton was dumped at the end of last season – despite performing well in two appearances – for Young who trained with the Roar last year.

Young has played for lower division clubs such as Reading and represented England at U21s level. He seemed like a good option for Mulvey and should have played at a high enough level to be confident in the A-League.

Now let’s be clear here, Young has performed reasonably well in terms of pure shot-stopping ability, and the numerous goals inflicted on the Roar have been largely the result of mistakes by his teammates. But what I see is a keeper who does not have the confidence of his box, and by implication, does not have the confidence of his defenders.

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Young’s lack of confidence in the box is eating away at the usually stoic approach that seasoned defenders like North and Smith take into the game.

Restoring the pride
In attack, the antidote is likely to be time. Last year the ease with which players like Berisha, Franjic and Broich terrorised opposition defences seemed so natural that it felt like it had always been that way. However, the year before in season 2012-13, Mulvey’s men scored only a limp 33 goals, despite the success they previously had under Ange.

The new players that Mulvey has brought in will also take time to forge their partnership and understanding with both Mulvey’s playing style and the existing members of the team. In the meantime Broich cannot be expected to fill the void left by Berisha. Broich, the best player in the A-League, is an Oezil-style creator of chances, not the finisher of them. In a hundred-odd games for the Roar, Broich has only scored 16 goals, but he has probably created a hundred more.

Defensively, Theo cannot come back fast enough, and Mulvey will be hoping his troops’ confidence is not too badly shaken until he does. However, the Roar defenders are all seasoned veterans, and I’ll wager as soon as Theo’s back things will start to get better. Nearly every great manager has extolled the need to get defensive structures right first, and then build the team’s attack from that base.

A team is a unit from front to back, and when confidence is low at one end it affects the whole squad’s performance. Mulvey himself has identified the lack of confidence in the squad, and will be keen to establish that winning feeling. Once Theo returns and Mulvey can get the confidence of the Roar defenders back on track, this will energise their attack and Mulvey can take it from there.

As it stands, the Roar are a team who are clearly rattled, and for the moment things are getting worse. Roar’s season is not over, but restoring this pride is going to take more time.

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