If Melbourne Heart beat Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park tonight, the defending champions will drop to last place on the table. They need one man in particular to snap out of his early form slump.
With Besart Berisha ruled out by a mysterious abdominal injury, now more than ever the Roar need their midfield talisman Thomas Broich to influence proceedings.
The German maestro is the reigning Johnny Warren Medallist yet the more he’s tried to influence proceedings this season, the more frustrated he’s appeared to become.
And Broich is such a ‘confidence’ player he may need a stroke of good fortune to kick-start what has been a sluggish opening to the campaign not just for him, but his Roar team-mates as well.
Barely two months ago in an interview with German website Fussball Transfers.com, Broich spoke openly about how happy he is in Australia and admitted he was “as excited as a little kid” about the arrival of Sydney FC star and marquee opponent Alessandro Del Piero.
Yet his body language over the opening five rounds of action has more closely resembled the Roar’s five-game losing streak last season than their eventual championship-winning form.
His tendency to try and pass instead of shoot hints at a lack of confidence but with Berisha missing against the Heart, Broich needs to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
He may even play up front as a quasi-striker with the pacy duo of Ben Halloran and Henrique either side of him given the Roar’s lack of depth in the striking department.
Of course, Broich can’t do it all on his own but no doubt he would dearly love to get on the scoresheet or at least create a goal in Melbourne in a bid to try and play himself into some form.
And with the Roar having failed to score in three of their five games this season, they desperately need to find some firepower fast.
Ironically Melbourne Heart find themselves in more or less the same position.
Josip Tadic’s highly technical volley against Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend was the Heart’s solitary goal in their past three matches and after making a bright start, they too have lurched into a form slump.
They’ll hope Socceroos stalwart Vinnie Grella can help turn their slow start around, though new coach John Aloisi has stated the former Serie A star is at least a fortnight away from featuring.
And with the influential Fred missing through injury as well, fans at AAMI Park could be set for a scrappy affair between two sides more renowned for their attempts to play attractive passing football.
Both Aloisi and fellow newcomer – at least in a head coaching capacity – Rado Vidosic find themselves under some early-season pressure following a run of poor results.
Neither man is in any immediate danger of suffering the axe, however a win tonight would at least put three points in the bank and provide some breathing space for the weeks ahead.
But while the Heart may possess several serviceable attacking players, what they don’t have is a German import destined to go down in history as one of the most talented foreign players to have graced these shores.
Right now Brisbane Roar desperately need Thomas Broich to step up and prove decisive once again.
In a clash between two sides down on their luck, the stage is set for the man known as ‘Mozart’ to once again prove his worth and orchestrate a much-needed win.
jack
Guest
Sometimes Brisbane just take the wrong option, a player has a chance to shoot and has space but but passes it off to a worst position. Nichols has been horrible, i am not surprised he did not get much interest from European clubs....
onside
Guest
What is Matt McKay doing. Brisbane need a mid feild general to direct traffic. The Roar have plenty of talent, gain heaps of possession, but their current play is a little manic. Mckay would steady things down a bit. The Roar remind me of a business analogy, life is about output not input. Some people can appear to be busy as all get up, but produce little. Brisbane need to slow play down a bit before moving up a gear when required. Matt McKay is the missing link.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
I always have a special sympathy for those who end up destroyed by that which they dreamed of. Matthew Primus was like that - I hope Rado is not as well but with a start of 1-1-4...
Realfootball
Guest
I think there is another factor at work too, JB. Partaalu's weakness has always been his lack of pace and mobility. The A League has got markedly quicker over the past 2 seasons, and Erik hasn't. Frankly, I think the standard of general play is leaving him behind.
Realfootball
Guest
I feel desperately sorry for him. He's finally got what he wanted after waiting so long, and it's turned into a nightmare around him. Leadership is a tricky business. You can learn to be a better leader, but there is a level where you've either got it or you haven't. It concerned me right from the start that Rado has been an assistant for so long. That in itself suggested a lack of ambition, which was worrying. You can be ambitious without leadership abilities, but you don't get leadership abilities without ambition.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Difficult to avoid the conclusion that Rado is simply not a leader of men.
Realfootball
Guest
Rado Vidosic is on borrowed time. He doesn't have the respect of the players. The lack of motivation and discipline starts with him. It's one thing to be a career number 2, and quite another to lead from the front. He looks like a rabbit in a spotlight every time the camera finds him during a game. It is clear as crystal that Vidosic hasn't got what it takes to run this team.
Ian
Guest
Just wondering why no one is talking about using Do Dong Hyun. Seems to me changes need to be made to shake thing up.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
So who will be doing the scoring and leading the forward line? If Berisha is having his problems, someone is going to need to step up to the plate and Brisbane's recognised striker roster seems a touch thin.
Ian
Guest
can't we just revel in thinking of all these games we shoulda woulda coulda drawn or won without you spoiling it. really. ;-)
Dillan
Guest
Yeah, would like to see Brattan in Paartalu's position. Paartalu seems too one dimensional at times, where as Brattan has the ability to beat his man or make space for himself and is looking for an attacking pass, and has the ability for a decent pass...
jbinnie
Guest
Griffo. Players do have form slumps and your observations on Eric Paartlu are correct,but in recent weeks the high pass completion rate has slumped, much to the detriment of the team's performance. Last week I decided to chart the team performance on "overturns" and the results may surprise you. Eric,true to his recent form,turned the ball over 8 times in the first 30 minutes of the game. In the remaining hour he turned the ball over only once. Not surprisingly the rest of the team's figures track that performance for in the first 15 minutes the TEAM gave away the ball 28 times,and though in the remaining hour they gave it away 30 times, 11 of these turnovers occurred in the last 15 minutes when a slight case of urgency entered their play So the turnover rate greatly decreased after 15 minutes so let us hope Eric has "got round the corner" and will get his completion rate up to it's former levels. jb
Peter Wilson
Roar Guru
I don't think BRoar have struggled either, in all the games they have actually dominated possession and looked the better team. Its just a matter of time before the chances start going in and not hitting the post or the keeper or defenders shins. They also need to adjust and tighten in defence. The Roar are still capable of putting in 4 or 5 past any defence and once the psychological issues settle down and the confidence returns they will be challenging again.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Paartalu not that long ago was viewed as needing some Socceroo time (making a fringe camp) and had a consistently high passing completion rate. Any thoughts Roar fans on why his form has slumped? From memory there was some talk of him leaving Roar - any hints at dissatisfaction at remaining with the club?
BES
Guest
__________Theo Franjic Smith Jurman Stef _______ Brattan _____ Massimo Broich Halloran Henrique Fitzgeral Bench: Anton Hingert Paartalu Visconte Paartalu and Nichols both badly need a wake up call. Massimo has been the most consistently best player all season to date Our complete lack of willingness / ability to launch quick counterattacks or shoot from outside the box is killing us
Nathan of Perth
Guest
"I thought against Perth, they should have drawn" You know, I really didn't think that.
Realfootball
Guest
What game has Brisbane struggled in: Perth WSW Wellington (I did see the game) Adelaide, in that they had a lot of the ball but couldn't do anything with it. Certainly not writing the season off; rather, looking at what isn't working and why.
dinoweb
Roar Guru
Yes Brisbanes results have dropped, so it must be the coaches fault! Seriously, apart from WSW, which game has Brisbane struggled in? They have had 56-59% of possession in every match except against Victory, had 68 shots to 52 against, and converted 9% of the time against 8%. Brisbanes only problem has not been scoring at the right time. I thought against Perth, they should have drawn, didn't see Wellington but by all accounts should have won, dominated Victory, were poor against WSW, and should have defeated Adelaide by 3 or 4 goals. Maybe the results aren't coming, but generally they are not playing too badly. The only problem I have seen with Rado is inexperience about knowing when and who to substitute. It's one of the things an assistant doesn't get much practice at. Otherwise, I'm still pretty happy with the way the Roar are playing, and certainly not prepared to write the season off just yet.
jbinnie
Guest
Mike - It may be you have solved a problem for Roar, for way back in the history of our game there are countless examples of players moving position and by doing so, have upped the performance of their team.Starting pre-war a small,"quick on his feet".player Sindelar was introduced into a deep lying position behind 2 strikers and was the man the Austrian "Wunderteam " was built around. After the war Hidegkuti ,a reasonable left winger moved into the same position and the Magic Magyars were born.Celtic in 1967 did the same with another average winger Auld, who became the playmaker in their great European Cup side. Nearer home Sydney did the same with anothe ex-winger Stevie Corica, and have been struggling to replicate their early form since he retired. What is Broich's best position & where he would help to make Roar tick???? For weeks we have been watching Berisha run his guts into disrepair trying to get a touch of the ball. Perhaps it was time he was given a strike partner up front that he can feed off and it is here the imagination starts to work. Could Broich be the central playmaker Roar are so badly missing?.As others have said, Paartlu is not the fastest player in the world and does show a tendency not to like straying away from his defensive midfield role,so transition becomes slow.Play Broich in front of Paartlu, but behind Berisha, get another workhorse to work the midfield flanks as Murdocca does, and try anyone up front in partnership with the "hit man" As it is the Roar are playing some good football in spells and the defence is not leaking a lot of goals but the trasition has to be made faster and much more accurate than it has been for some time. I wouldn't mind seeing this eleven play Theo Franjic Smith Jurman Steffanuto Paartlu Brattan Murdocca Broich Nichols Berisha. The reason I include Nichols up front is that he does demonstrate a scoring ability but due to his lack of what I call the "workhorse mentality" it is doubtful he wil ever fill the gap left by Mackay's style of play.It would be worth a try for Broich as a left winger has now become the target for lesser players using cynicism as a weapon to stopping him. jb
mahonjt
Guest
DIssapointed somewhat if true about digital rights. I, as were many others, expecting these were seperate as the Optus deal is only a year or so old. So I guess it will come down to the details, that is, digital re-BROADcasting in this deal and, hopefully, a boost to the rest of the online rights (webiste commercialisation, new apps, pay-per-view etc..) at the expirary of the curent Optus deal. Anyway, time will tell.