The Brisbane Roar’s final pre-season match against the University of Queensland (UQ) showed a promising future for the A-League champs, with an impressive display from their youth players.
Fielding a team compiled largely from the youth ranks, the Roar played exceedingly well, demonstrating the style of play that took the A-League competition by storm under Ange Postecoglou.
The youth players exhibited fluid passing, strong possession football, frequently attacking wingbacks, high pressing and creative off-ball movement. In the first 30 minutes in particular, the Roar held complete dominance over the tempo of the game and imposed their style of play almost flawlessly.
The key to the day, despite UQ being a much weaker opponent, was the style of play that the young Roar squad was capable of performing.
“For me, I ask them to play in a certain way and for the younger guys I want to see where they are in terms of understanding our game plan,” Postecoglou said.
“That’s what we’ve used our pre-season for – defining our game plan – and it is important the young guys understand that.”
Of the youth players that showed outstanding future promise were the likes of Luke Brattan, Corey Brown and George Lambadaridis.
Brattan has been described by Postecoglou as one of the most gifted passers he has worked with, and the 21-year-old midfielder showed his vision and technique once again during the match. Controlling possession in the midfield and reading the play in the attacking quarter, Brattan delivered his passes with crispness and accuracy.
The former Young Socceroo produced several moments of brilliance with perfectly-weighted through balls threaded through and around the opposition defences. Expect to see a lot more of Brattan in this year’s campaign.
Brown, a relative unknown to most Roar fans, showed his quality and heart with his own stellar performance. Playing as the left wingback, the 17-year-old Australian representative showed a strategic understanding of his role in attack which was complimented by his quickness, agility and technique.
He also expressed a fantastic work ethic to power back into position after an attack and maintain the integrity of his team’s defensive structure. This young man will definitely be one to look out for in the future as he takes on the challenge to step up to the A-League.
Lambadaridis, signing with the Roar after a stint in Belgium with Club Brugge’s youth academy, utilised his 185cm frame to impose a powerful physical presence in the midfield.
The 18-year-old battlement demonstrated that he is not only capable of pressing high on the opposition to win the ball, but that he is also comfortable drawing in and fending off multiple defenders in the final third, which allowed him to disrupt the opposition defensive line and bring teammates into play.
James Meyer, although not in the youth age category, was another player that gave an outstanding performance that day. Playing in the central forward/striker role, his movements and interplay with teammates created gaps in the opposition defence that would make Moses parting the Red Sea proud.
His finishing was also exceptional, scoring all three goals of the match within the first fifteen minutes.
A criticism of the match was that, after the first half hour of play the intensity in movement and attacking plays had dropped significantly. However, by this point, the Roar were leading three goals to nil. Despite maintaining control over the tempo and possession in the latter stages of the game, the Roar lacked in creating attacking opportunities and showed very limited movement in the final third.
The midfield was static, with two central midfielders acting as holding midfielders and the central forward failing to drop into space. Most of the creative play was occurring on the wings, but without the support in the middle the attacking plays were destined to be ineffective.
Overall, it was a promising sign for future of the Roar’s playing style under Postecoglou and a feather in the hat for the up-and-coming players of the Brisbane Roar Football Club.
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