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Will Brisbane Roar's lack of quality be their downfall?

27th December, 2011
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Sydney FC tackle the Brisbane Roar at Allianz. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Roar Guru
27th December, 2011
22
1899 Reads

I wonder if Ange Postecoglou received worry beads for Christmas. There he was sitting on the top of the A-League pile, praised by the football commentariat for leading the A-League out of the dark ages; the undisputed leader of the managerial pack.

Football life, it seemed, could not get any rosier and then the unthinkable happened.

His team, Brisbane Roar, have started to suck. And I mean big time. Five defeats into a remarkable losing streak, and the bewildered football community are asking if one player make or break a team.

Just like Achilles, they think, Thomas Broich’s long term heel injury is proving fatal to Postecoglou. But the problems at Brisbane Roar go much deeper than the absence of one gifted player.

During this losing streak Ange Postecoglou has told his players to keep playing the same way. He’s been like the conductor who refuses to turn the page. The song has remained the same.

However, the orchestra seats have changed. The players who provided the fizz last season in McKay, Barbarouses, and De Vere have departed.

Their replacements Adnan, Jurman, Nakajima-Farran and Danning are now combining with the rest of the orchestra to produces performances flatter than a day old open can of Coke.

It makes for excruciatingly painful viewing. Sure they are getting the usual Roar numbers in 67% possession and 600 passes per game. But on the scoreboard, where it really matters, it has yielded them a paltry TWO goals in 450 minutes of football.

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Astonishingly, their conquerors have only averaged around 200 passes a game, have had the ball for half the time and have scored nine goals.

They have done this by pressing them into errors, marking Mitch Nicholls, the only creator in Broich’s absence, out of the game and sitting back tightly when required to watch the Roar’s predictable impression of Pass the Dutchie.

And don’t think all of Brisbane’s woes will be over as soon as ‘Mozart’ returns from his heel injury.

The A-League has come along leaps and bounds this year. With the season now in full swing and teams starting to hit their straps, pre-season assumptions have been brushed away to reveal some very talented teams with serious claims to the championship title.

It has also revealed that Brisbane’s squad does not stack up well when compared to their challengers.

Yes, every team in the salary-capped A-League walks a tightrope when it comes to injuries to their best players. Money is tight and clubs can’t just buy their way out of trouble. But in Brisbane’s case there is room to move for their new owners in the January transfer window.

They have not effectively replaced McKay and desperately need a back-up striker for Besart Berisha, the only new face to have succeeded this season.

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What Postecoglou would do for the midfield dynamism of Fred, the guile of Mate Dugandzic or unpredictability of Bernie Ibini-Isei, just to name a few.

You have to admire Postecoglou for sticking to his guns during this slump. He has ignored the cries for the team to revert to a Plan B, as if it will be their panacea. But what he can’t ignore, at his peril, is that a limited well drilled team can only take you so far.

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