- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Reigning champions Central Coast Mariners host the best A-League team of the past three years in Brisbane Roar. Join us for the A-League’s match of the round from 5.00pm AEDT.
It’s too early to call it game of the season, but it terms of quality and preparation this will definitely be a quality game and a great advert for the league.
The Mariners struggled last week in the F3 Derby and escaped with a draw, a very similar result to the Melbourne Heart game.
Brisbane put three past the aforementioned Heart last week in what was a walk in Lang Park.
Brisbane have comfortably dealt with the weaker teams, whereas the Mariners only took five points from Adelaide, Newcastle and Melbourne Heart.
However, they played very strongly in patches in those games. Can they put it all together against a stronger opposition?
Brisbane were matched by Melbourne Victory in a game of exact styles, and lost.
The wins against Heart, Sydney and Wellington may be a broken barometer to measure the Roar if they lose to another top four team from last season.
Last week brought a new A-League-oriented Socceroos coach in Ange Postecoglou, and Brisbane boast Matt McKay and Ivan Franjic in the national set up. But Postecoglou avoided the Mariners like the plague and no on was picked.
I think the Mariners are a bit like plain-packaging cigarettes; when you’re in their colours you look cancerous, a drain on society.
However swap those colours for a crisp shiny outer that Celtic, Jeounbuk and Winfield use to wear, and suddenly you’re really popular and the obvious choice.
None of the title-winning team got a mention, however ex-Mariners Tomas Rogic and Alex Wilkinson got picked.
Thomas Broich came out this week saying that they won’t use their injury list as an excuse if they don’t beat the Mariners.
Which is a great play, because now if they lose they were ‘injury plagued’ and if they win they have ‘strength in depth”‘.
Well in, Broich.
Brisbane have Besart Berisha, Liam Miller, Jade North and Shane Stefanutto all on the medical table, not the same one of course. Well, for the sake of medical standards, hopefully not.
The Mariners have McGlinchey up to speed, and Flores said during the week that he was on of the leagues best midfielders, not the best, because that would Flores, right?
On paper, the Mariners have the stronger lineup with Brisbane missing four from their best XI. However, anyone remember Dimitri Petratos? He’s hanging around on their bench, and may even start today.
He’ll be the one to look out for, with his direct dribbling and sheer arrogance to shoot.
Central Coast have yet to hit to truly dominate a game so far and it’s Round 5. No longer can they use the excuse that it’s still early in the season as coach Graham Arnold has said recently.
“We always start slow,” he said.
“We do our pre-season different to other teams – we try to build into the season.
“You could see a few of our boys cramping towards the back end of the game so, in another three or four weeks, we’ll hit our straps.”
Brisbane have hit their straps, and according to their own head coach, the Mariners are still at least three weeks from being near their best.
Brisbane have nine points from a possible 12, and so far are my favourite team this season.
They play attacking football with a touch of flair, German technique and that arrogance that they oozed in their title-winning years, and have played the best football of any team this year.
Brisbane know they’re the best, and don’t park the bus like Western Sydney did against Melbourne Heart and the Mariners did against Adelaide. They go in for the kill.
Though the Mariners are on six points, that is still too kind, and if they didn’t have the luxury of three penalties they would have lost against Newcastle and Melbourne Heart.
I can’t see them scoring more than once, without the next goal being from a dot shot, whereas Brisbane are looking odds on to score at least two goals.
Prediction: 1-2.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.