In his 2012 autobiography, football’s most intriguing player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, made comment of the significance of galvanising his Inter Milan teammates during his first season at the club, en route to the Nerazzurri’s 2005-06 Serie A crown – their first in 17 years.
“If you don’t stick together off the pitch, it shows in your game,” he wrote.
“It impacts on motivation and team spirit. In football, the margins are so small that those kinds of things can be the deciding factor.”
This, coming from a man who admittedly finds disharmony more comforting than its antithesis. Nonetheless, it’s evidence of the implications a unified club culture can have on the football pitch.
The theory was given further weight as Shane Stefanutto bellowed down the throat of Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young following the defeat to Melbourne City on Saturday.
The argument that footballers thrive on passion has been scarce in the aftermath. It was the loudest warning sign that something is not right at Suncorp Stadium.
Of course, when the defending champions lose four on the trot to begin their title defence, the criticism will be fired from all angles.
Plenty opt to focus on the departure of Besart Berisha and for good reason. His replacement, Mensur Kurtishi, was dropped for the City match after an underwhelming start to his A-League career.
And Berisha’s former partner in crime, Thomas Broich, has strayed slightly from the lofty expectations placed against his name. But Roar’s problems are planted deeper, making this one of the most important weeks in coach Mike Mulvey’s career.
Not only is his concentration on curtailing the most undesirable of records, he will feel compelled to assert his control over what appears to be a fragmented dressing room.
The departure of former Manchester United midfielder Liam Miller now has even greater significance, with the 33-year-old’s alleged no-show at a National Youth League game prior to his exit seeming increasingly suspicious.
The on-field issues have provided little comfort, either. Winning momentum often enables a team to skim over frailties behind the scenes, but Brisbane remain firmly under the microscope.
The right-back spot has caused immense debate among the Roar faithful, with Olyroo James Donachie and Jack Hingert locked in a battle for the position, although Mulvey’s decision has been made easier by an unfortunate injury layoff for the latter.
There is a cacophony of questions waiting to be answered by a Roar outfit that is used to operating as a near flawless machine. The consonance that defined Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at the club has wavered and it now becomes Mulvey’s job to rein that back in.
Roar have the squad to make a finals appearance this season the minimum expectation, but their early struggles have highlighted the importance of embedding a thriving culture into a club.
Consider Sydney FC, who look a rejuvenated outfit this season, thanks to a couple of handy signings and Graham Arnold. The Sky Blues remain unbeaten from their first five matches but will be more impressed with the confidence they are now exuding.
And Socceroo Terry Antonis has credited that solely to the positive vibe on show.
“Everyone is just really happy and confident,” he said.
“We’ve started really well and we just keep going… Everyone gets along well and when training starts everyone is working hard and willing to push each other to the next level. I’m happy with it.”
The benefit for Mulvey and Roar is that their weakness has been exposed so early in the season. The Englishman must get his players back on board and make it well clear that the Stefanutto-Young episode will remain an isolated incident.
A win against Newcastle on Friday night will go a long way to easing tensions. For the sake of the neutral viewer, it would be a great thing to see Roar return to their old ways.
Fish
Guest
Mike mulvey hard done by. Get rid of Ron smith then too. Roar administration needs a shake up as well. Six games in and they sack the coach. 3 out 4 grandfinal wins. We can't win every year. Sack Sean Dobson. Bring back Luca trani. Who the fuck is this new coach. Hope they know something we fucken don't.
Ben
Guest
Looks like you may have got your wish!
Fish
Guest
Hope mulvey wakes up to himself and puts brioche in the middle. With borello and petratos either side, their will be pace going forward. And who better then broich to give them the balls they need. With bratten just playing behind broich and Makay, he will help take work load off broich and Makay when needed. I mean bratten is one off the best passes in the game. Solozano up front with kutishi. Give them a chance together. A little change and we might just get results. At the end of the day we have to try new things, always with the afc approaching, we will get belted all over the park.
TK
Guest
The reverse Samson.....
The Bear
Guest
It's the beard. Like Archie's mohawk he plays much better clean shaven. Can't wait til Movember is over.
j binnie
Guest
Fish -You do not appear to be alone in saying that Broich should be played in the middle of the midfield. The man has the talent,the experience and the know how,no doubt,but in today's game does he have the stamina to play a box to box role.The man is approaching 34, he has had 3 or 4 seasons of physical abuse on his legs but has consistently been used in an apparent left -wing position when supplying ammunition for the "gun" Berisha. His "gun" has now gone and we are left to wonder where we could be best served by this man's talent in a game that is inexorably moving towards a defence based strategy,utilising speed to achieve success in counter moves. If this genre of football is accepted as the "going thing" where best could we use the German maestro so that his very presence would create unrest and surely that has to be in the middle of the opponents defensive structure.We have seen various people tried there since Berisha's departure,even the diminutive Henrique who gets bounced around like a tennis ball in the penalty box with absolutely no threat to taller defenders,and ,although no regular header of a ball, Thomas, at 6 feet is still a potential threat in the air. Give the German a go in there,what is there to be lost?,nothing but what could be gained by getting pace out wide on BOTH flanks while his inherent ball skills are either attracting foul play,or alternatively,gaining midfielders time to get forward to link up with him.. It is working elsewhere could it work at Roar???? Who knows until it is tried. jb ps Can you imagine the giant Oga, playing well for Sydney as a sweeping centreback having to directly oppose the quicksilver feet of TB?????. Interesting thought is it not? jb..
Ian
Guest
kaks - you had another dig as i expected but you're probably reading too much into jbinnie's comments if you think there was an endorsement of your liverpool theory of tired legs and crazy strikers who score goals. i'll indulge and give you a better comparison of what your last post was about. last season MV scored heaps of goals but had average defence. they were about the 3rd worst for goals let in from memory yet finished 4th because their ability to score goals got them wins despite regularly letting in goals.that's attack' overpowering' a bad defence. but keep providing these high level team comparisons with no technical analysis to debate
Ben
Guest
Brisbane had an excellent defensive balance last season. Mulvey's signing of North was a fantastic addition and the back four (and Theo) were rock solid. Surely you haven't forgotten the defensive trials and tribulations the Roar suffered post Adnan when Jurman was found out game after game - now that was a defensive shambles - it was heart stopping stuff.
Ian
Guest
jbinnie - thanks for the reply. i concur with some of the goal scoring touch is missing a bit so far this year but the defensive woes are the main area of concern. and yes i've mentioned myself and seen the high press causing Brisbane a lot of trouble and we need to find a tactic and structure to combat what other teams are doing more often.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Its alright J Ibinnie, people who only look at stats and think that it paints a picture arent the best to debate with, they forget about the contributing factors all too often.
j binnie
Guest
Pablo -I do try not to be condescending leaving my comments open to debate,that being the purpose behind a blog but if there is one thing that "bites me on the ass" it is when I read people writing things about others.not opinions mind you, but what they "state"" are facts when in fact they are mostly rubbish,and if you don't mind I will continue to point out where these types of misquoting "facts"are taking place. Apart from that, cheers once again. Keep voicing your opinion. jb.
Realfootball
Guest
Apologies jb if I attributed to you something you didn't say. My memory let me down.
TK
Guest
Consternation....
TK
Guest
I think it has been difficult for Kurtishi to get into a rhythm. Service to him has been pretty poor and from what I have seen he appears to be trying to get used to the way the roar are playing....and the way they are playing is probably frustrating the hell out of him or any striker due the the lack of good ball. He scored a good first time goal from a quick ball into the box against Perth after losing his man but since then I think the midfield have been holding the ball too.long and he has to pull up on his runs or by the time the ball gets to him he is facing a wall of defence in the middle of the park. I'm reserving judgement until I see him get some better quality service, which includes pushing balls through the line for him to break the offside trap and run onto....judging from some of the runs he has had to abort I think this is more the style he is used to and that is perhaps where he is looking a bit ineffective as this isn't the roars bread and butter way of going forward - they like to keep passing the ball to someone's feet until they get to the box....and sometimes even closer as we have all watched at times to our constination.
Cameron
Roar Guru
I don't see it happening unfortunately. Well they're not finals bound at least.
Fish
Guest
The roar need a bit of a shake up. We are clearly having problems in defence. Even though young has made a few mistakes, the defence haven't helped him one bit. Time to give cory brown a shot at left back. Jack hingert when back from injury needs to be the right back. In the mean time put bowels on the right. Donarchi is a natural central defender. He will get his chance. In the midfield we should have broich and Makay in the middle with either borello, petratos or henreiqe on the right or left respectively. Up front I would have kutishi and time to give solozano a chance. He has speed and he will look for the ball. Time mulvey bites the bullet and change before we go mouldy.
matthew_gently
Guest
I've been thinking that 3-4-3 might be an increasingly sensible option: Hingert and Brown out, Steffanuto disgraced, 3 first-choice centre-backs. Makes sense to me.
TomCahill
Guest
The first game against WSW last season epitomised what Berisha gave Brisbane: he harangues defences into mistakes and is always looking to turn towards goal to score. No one is doing that anymore, no one wanted to have a shot it seemed.
TomCahill
Guest
Good points all round
Pablo
Guest
j binnie ... i enjoy reading your posts (mostly), you obviously have some knowledge about football but do you think you could try harder not to come across as a condescending ass? Just my little bit of enlightenment for you.