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Departing Brisbane Roar interim coach Frans Thijssen believes the squad John Aloisi will inherit deserves to be seen as “favourites” for next season’s A-League title.
Thijssen will coach the Roar for the last time on Wednesday night in a friendly against Spanish outfit Villarreal at Suncorp Stadium, before Aloisi – who will be watching from the stands – takes over the full-time reins.
And according to the Dutchman, the Roar are ready to challenge for honours once again despite a forgettable end to last season.
“I think Brisbane Roar will be the favourites again,” Thijssen said.
“If you look at the team and our defenders, our midfield players, even our strikers where we had some changes it’s very strong.
“We didn’t win a prize but we came very close … we had so many games and injuries (to our) experienced players.”
Thijssen said Brisbane’s failure to qualify for the Champions League will actually help their A-League ambitions.
It was when their domestic and continental campaigns combined that the Roar’s promising start under Thijssen quickly dovetailed into disaster, with injuries and international call-ups cruelling their A-League title defence.
Thijssen said he will leave the Roar with “no bad feeling” despite the confusion surrounding his proposed shift into a technical director role at the end of the season, which was scuppered by chairman Chris Fong.
Unlike most post-season exhibition matches, the appointment of Aloisi dramatically raises the stakes for Brisbane’s playing group.
Skipper Matt McKay said no player will want to disappoint their new coach, who has already started making changes to his squad by releasing Serbian striker Andrija Kaluderovic last week.
“It’s a great opportunity for everyone to get a run and the new manager will see that as well,” said McKay, who has an additional reason to perform after he was selected for Australia’s upcoming World Cup qualifier in Kyrgyzstan on June 16.
“(But) even before the appointment was made with John, Frans could tell you our training was the strongest it’d been all year.
“The players didn’t drop off once the season finished, we kept going and our training sessions have actually been longer and probably more intense.”
Villarreal, meanwhile, are set for their second and final match on their tour of Australia, which is being underwritten by La Liga, Spain’s top-tier competition.
They came from two goals down to beat Adelaide United 3-2 in front of just over 10,000 fans at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
A smaller crowd is expected in Brisbane on Wednesday on the back of slow ticket sales.
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia admitted he knows next to nothing about the Roar – although left-back Jaume Costa said he was starting to become “worried” after learning Brisbane’s nickname during their back-to-back A-League title run was ‘Roarcelona’.
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