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With the wonderful power of hindsight and retrospect, we can now look back at Brisbane Roar’s two emphatic wins this season and take them for what they were: flukes.
The 5-0 whitewash of Melbourne Victory came at a time when the self-proclaimed biggest club in the A-League was at its most vulnerable, still coming to grips with what is required under the Ange Postecoglou regime.
And, given the visit of their former mentor, the Roar actually had a reason to be up for the contest. Everything clicked. Critics – this one included – were falling over each other to call them new, improved, and unbeatable.
But then they got beaten. Three times in a row. First by a Western Sydney side that was yet to score. Then by an Adelaide outfit that had one chance to score, made it count, then parked the bus.
The final flourish came against Melbourne Heart, who have been entirely unfancied this term save for when misty-eyed romanticism of an opening round derby win disguised their own serious defensive issues.
After that 4-1 loss, Rado Vidosic was ropeable. Tired of the weeks and weeks of questioning whether it was his own inability to carry the Postecoglou baton that was the problem, he flipped the script.
“I am hungry and I want to achieve more, but can (the players) match my hunger? We have played six games and lost four. Whatever they have achieved in the last two years is all in the past. So why wouldn’t they be hungry? They have contracts to play for two more years and they all want to go overseas and play for Socceroos. Shouldn’t you be hungry enough?”
For those engaging in the often-snobbish discourse surrounding tactics and ‘proper football’ in the A-League, questioning the desire of professionals and attributing it directly to the reason for a loss is punishable by death.
This time, though, Vidosic had a point. At no stage over the last two years – not even during last season’s five-match losing streak – has Brisbane ever looked so disinterested.
It’s as if the same players who made their name delivering the Roar’s scintillating brand of football are on auto-pilot, just going through the motions and expecting things to happen because, well, that’s how it worked before.
It doesn’t work like that anymore. The 4-2 win over Sydney FC was – just like it felt – a blip on the radar. The coachless Sky Blues were a rabble in every sense of the word.
Presented with their easiest challenge in weeks, Brisbane at first appeared to regain their mojo. But still they conceded two poor goals, which raised Vidosic’s ire again.
And then Sunday he blew his top after a “naive” 2-1 loss against Central Coach, which featured “kindergarten stuff” defending because “(the players) didn’t listen or follow instructions.”
The suggestion that it is Vidosic’s fault for all of this seems to have been roundly rejected – and rightly so. The system, if it has changed at all, has only improved to allow slightly more direct routes to attack on occasion.
All the other teams, of course, have improved. But over a six-month off-season, is it really possible for one of the most intimidating teams in A-League history to become so off the pace in terms of quality and organisation? Not quite.
Like Vidosic says, the problem must lie between the ears. Brisbane Roar look too comfortable.
The players are not being challenged for their spots in a system that, after three years of shaping and shifting and fine-tuning, is made for these players.
And for five players in particular, it is theirs for at least the next three years.
Perhaps this is part of the problem – the long-term contracts that were handed out in early September.
Michael Theo, snobbed of a Socceroos spot last week, has another three years locked in after this season. Same with captain Matt Smith, defender Ivan Franjic and forward Henrique.
Marquee man Thomas Broich, who is anything but the midfield maestro he can be at the moment, will be in that distinctive orange shirt for another four seasons. At the end of it he’ll be 36.
So what’s the motivation if you’ve etched your place in history with two championships, and your future is set with a long-term deal at a club and environment you love?
Your place in the team is set. You know the 4-3-3 formation inside out, and it’s not going anywhere. There’s a spot in it just for you.
It’s not like they’re not trying, but in such a closely-contested competition it is that extra one per cent that can decide games and create momentum, which is key.
A natural driver for so many players is pure survival. When your survival is assured, you have to look to other sources for motivation and right now those buttons just aren’t being pressed at Brisbane.
Of course it’s possible that suddenly Roarcelona will wake up and play their football again, but if that doesn’t happen the club is stuck.
What happens then? It makes rebuilding that much harder. And there is no superstar marquee in the ADP vein that Brisbane can sign in the next four seasons while an ageing Broich occupies that spot.
There’s a reason why long-term contracts are so rare – they’re a gamble.
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