There is no right or wrong way to play football, but it is near-unanimous that Ange Postecoglou’s Brisbane Roar had an attractive style of play.
His successful Brisbane Roar team, which won two A-League Championships and holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak, had a clear, distinct philosophy.
Five years on from that groundbreaking era, John Aloisi has forged a new identity for Brisbane. There is no right or wrong way to play football, but it is intriguing to see how Brisbane have become more pragmatic over the years, while still retaining core elements of the Postecoglou style.
Postecoglou himself described the vision he brought to the Roar as extremely possession-based in his biography, Changing the Game: “The start of the process was just drumming into the Brisbane players that this was not about winning and losing,” he writes.
“There was only one measure for us: the ball. That was all that counted. We were going to keep the ball until it bored the opposition to death, and then we were going to keep it some more.
“Scoring goals wasn’t even our main objective; it was keeping the ball. The mantra was unflinching and eventually it permeated all the players. It became a shared obsession.”
Postecoglou’s own words sum up Brisbane’s playing style between 2010-12.
The Roar’s possession dominance began with build up play from the goalkeeper, with the centre-backs splitting and the full-backs moving high and wide. Goalkeeper Michael Theo was constantly involved as Brisbane moved the ball from side to side, looking for gaps to penetrate the opposition or else simply continuing to circulate possession until the defensive block opened up.
To create time and space further forward, Brisbane often utilised midfield rotations. These involved the lone holding midfielder (or #6) Erik Paartalu and the two advanced midfielders (or #8s), typically Matt McKay and Massimo Murdocca. Rotations involve players moving from their starting positional slots into new areas of the pitch, either to drag an opposition player away from a certain zone or to allow a teammate to move into the previously occupied position.
One example of this is the rotation of the No. 8s into wide positions when the centre-backs have possession. This rotation allowed the fullbacks to move further up the pitch (as the midfielder had moved into their zone), which in turn freed up the winger to drift slightly inside. In theory, if the opposition central midfielder followed his direct opponent into the wide area, this opened up a passing lane between the centre-back on the ball and the winger who has moved inside.
Another rotation Brisbane utilised was a vertical ‘dropping’ movement from the No.6, Paartalu, in between the two centre-backs, creating a temporary back three. By vacating the space in the holding midfield zone, Paartalu would either draw an opposition player away from the central area of the pitch – which could then theoretically be occupied a teammate for them to be able to receive in time and space – or alternatively, allow Paartalu himself to receive the ball in time and space at the back, where he could then pick out teammates higher up the pitch with long diagonal passes, or drive into space on the ball.
Positional rotations require cohesion and chemistry between teammates, but with Postecoglou’s team all firmly on board with the new mantra, they were always able to manipulate opposition defensive structures to create crucial pockets of space to play penetrating forward passes into. That was the cutting edge of their possession obsession.
Fast-forward five years (admittedly skipping over the messy Rado Vidosic, Mike Mulvey and Frans Thijssen spells) and Brisbane now have a different but still discernible identity.
The formation is the most obvious change, with Aloisi firmly committed to a 4-2-3-1 system. What is most interesting, however, is that Brisbane now alternate between approaches.
Throughout his tenure, there have been games where he instructs the side to sit quite deep. The wide players drop back alongside the midfield, creating a 4-4-2 block. When winning the ball, they play forward quickly, trying to take advantage of the pace of Jamie Maclaren in behind. This counter-attacking style was particularly useful, for example, in a crucial 1-0 win over Melbourne City earlier this season.
However, they still retain many elements of the possession style. The build up is methodical, with many of the previous rotations still utilised. For example in their last game – against Newcastle Jets, a 3-2 defeat – one of the two deep central midfielders would often drop goal-side of Newcastle’s first-pressing line (a front two). This created a three vs two overload at the back that then enabled a Brisbane centre-back to have space to play a forward diagonal pass to the feet of a full-back positioned wide. When this occurred, the other Roar central midfielder would move forward into a line of pass with the full-back.
This was important, because the Jets pressed in a 4-4-2. Their near-side striker would move up the pitch to prevent a backpass from the full-back to centre-back, while the near-side winger would move out to press the full-back on the ball. If the Roar midfielder positioned himself well – which Thomas McKay and McKay and Thomas Kristensen often did – he could receive a simple pass inside from the full-back, cutting the Jets’ pressing striker and winger out of the play.
Brisbane also performed rotations further up the pitch. A core tenet of an effective possession playing style is having players positioned between the opposition lines of midfield and defence. Aloisi encourages the three attackers behind striker Maclaren to interchange in order to find this space. Against the Jets, they had a clear asymmetrical pattern to achieve this.
Thomsa Broich, on the right, stayed very wide. Dimitri Petratos, playing centrally, positioned slightly right of centre, and made little forward movements towards the right to drag away one of the Jets’ holding midfielder. This allowed Tommy Oar, from the left, to drift very far infield to practically become a second No.10. He received a number of passes in space in that dangerous pocket of space between the lines, where he often took shots from outside the penalty box. It was from this position he scored the opening goal.
There is no right or wrong way to play football, and while some may debate the effectiveness of Aloisi’s approach, it is intriguing to see how the coach has built on the platform of Postecoglou’s philosophy, combined with the more pragmatic bent of his predecessors, to create this well-organised unit, both with and without the ball.
There has been an evolution in the exact nature of the philosophy, but Brisbane still have one of the league’s clearest identities in how they play.
pacman
Guest
No offence intended jb. To me, the football term "back room" refers to coaching support staff. Out of interest, I "Googled" the term. Even Gareth Southgate has a "back room", and all ten of them were on the bench (large bench!) in support for the match England v Malta. I only read the first Google page, mostly devoted to EPL "back rooms". Almost exclusively coaching staffs with the exception of an owner or two wishing to big note themselves. The conclusion, to me, is that JA has no quarrels with the English type of "back room", the terminology with which I am familiar, but rather, with the Australian styled "back room", i.e. the finance department. Cheers, and once again, no offence intended. PC
j binnie
Guest
iAN - that 4-0 drubbing of Adelaide actually puts further pressure on what we are talking about. The latest figures for 14 games is 18 scored, 17 conceded. if you ignore that 4-0 result it shows Roar have only scored 14 goals in 13 games while conceding 17. Not what one would call "top' performance is it? Cheers jb.
j binnie
Guest
pacman - It is quite normal to call the non football administrators as the "backroom" staff. That would be from top to bottom ie the Bakries down. How that slight difference in opinion between you and I re. a word alters what John has said is a bit beyond me. To me it means he is not satisfied with the way things are being run. Cheers jb.
pacman
Guest
jb, according to a press article this morning in my local paper, apparently sourced from the sports desk at Sunshine Coast Daily News (Phil Dillon), JA's dissatisfaction relates to financial management standards at The Roar rather than "back room" activities. Whether the correspondent quoted is on the money, I cannot say, but the inference is that JA does not wish to endure another season of distractions caused by late payment of players, staff, or creditors. Sounds reasonable to me.
Ian
Guest
Hopefully sooner rather than later. Perhaps all those 1-1 draws we had was masking the problem. From memory the 4-0 win over Adelaide was the Roar's only goal scoring feast.
j binnie
Guest
Ian and MAG 11- We will probably never know the real reason why Mike Mulvey was let go,suffice to say there are many stories circulating among those "close to the action" ,as to why it happened. Suffice to say Mike hasn't really done much in coaching since so we have little against what we can measure his standard. Suffice to say that just this evening, John Aloisi has gone on record as saying ,unless things improve in the "back room" he will not be staying. That to me signifies all is still not well at Roar and John is simply keeping his options open by saying things like that in public. Cheers jb. PS Ian - It is now nearly 4 months since we noticed Roar were having trouble scoring goals. How long does it take for that problem to register and spark some sort of response?. jb.
Ian
Guest
I remember the press conference with out ex CEO who kept talking about philosophy. It was after a game against Victory in Melbourne where we lost 1-0. I recall Mulvey being accused of straying from our style of play. I have also heard of the straying from the fitness regime caused issues. if it was occurring in 2013-14 it didn't affect them winning the Premiership and Championship.
Ian
Guest
Of course we set the A-League alight under AP. I think there is sometimes an underestimation of the job that Mulvey did. I couldn't walk in a rejuvenate a squad. There is a season missing in there - which is 2012-13 where Rado took over as the long time assistant coach when Ange left. We weren't successful with him. Mulvey took over towards the end and we won the double in 2013-14. On playing styles - the most talked about one was against City up here where we let them have the bulk of possession and played more counterattacking and beat them and kept them from a shot ontarget I think for the whole game. The games before that we hadn't played in that manner. We tried some of that system in games after Melb City less effectively. Since then I also haven't been sure in some games of what structure we were using. I also agree we have not been scoring enough goals. Perhaps that lies in the lack of game plan the Roar have used in recent weeks.
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
My understanding was Mike Mulvey strayed away from the Roar's conditioning program (which was supposed to allow them to press high for long periods). In his first season the Roar couldn't do anything about it because he was winning games and ultimately won the double. In the second season it caused an issue with the director of coaching (I believe he was one of Ange's assistant's and got promoted into that position) and the management took the side of the DOC.
j binnie
Guest
Ian - I am somewhat puzzled by your comment. Roar set the HAL alight under AP and most of that successful team continued to play in following seasons in fact even today it could be said that some of them ,Theo, Mackay and Broich are still there while many of the others are playing elsewhere in the HAL So the fact that Mike Mulvey, with a somewhat limited coaching CV, had some success with those players should not be so surprising The "behind the scenes" story is a different tale altogether. and let's be honest,although thing seem to be improving,we are still to be convinced. It is your last sentence that moved me to write for I would like you to describe these different styles of play being used. I have watched Roar's games all this season and I can't really start to think what "style" they are playing. All I know is that they have scored only 16 goals in 14 games and that to me signifies a rather large problem. Cheers jb.
Ian
Guest
Don't think the Mulvey era was any more messy than what we have gone through with management since JA joined None of that the coaches fault. Let's not gloss over the double under Magic Mike regardless of how he was disposed of. I loved that year of football........I love others too but that was a good one. Come to think of it.......wasn't Magic Mike dumped because he strayed from the philosophy? We are using different styles of play now and no one is being fired.
j binnie
Guest
Lionheart - That news is slightly worrisome,I thought by now the upper management would have been well and truly "frightened " by long term contracts per se. There are two sure things in football and that is the length of a playing career, and ,especially nowadays,the length of a coaching career, so that when long term contracts are being bandied about the true football aficionado starts to wonder about the "in depth knowledge" of the upper management. This is a world wide problem and while it is OK for Man.Utd. to sign players and managers to lucrative long term contracts and then in a few years, or in some cases, months, discard them to the market,.I'm not so sure Roar are in a financial position to follow suit. Re.. JA himself,I don't think he has the "imagination" to be a successful coach,he has the experience to man -manage well, he presents a very good and likeable public image, speaks well but, as I watch Roar struggle month after month trying to convert their possession football into goals I am starting to wonder if he can "see",in his "mind's eye", what he has to do to correct that "failing'. That to me is an absolute necessity in a successful coach's make-up and without that gift they can struggle. Cheers jb.
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
I tend to agree. There's elements of the identity (the ones Tim outlined) but some significant differences e.g. pressing isn't very aggressive (when they do press) and fullbacks don't start high when playing out.
Tezza
Guest
You are right , it is about the win and I`m sure you will agree with me that that is what a supporter goes to a game for, to watch their chosen side defeat the opposition not to watch a team carry on like they are doing a training drill, don`t get me wrong I support the Roar whenever I can get to a game or watch it on tv but it just frustrates me to see a coach not willing to change his style of play to suit whatever situation is needed and I feel that is why we haven`t scored as many goals as we should have as most teams when they lose possession in the front third then just drop off and allow the roar to muck around with it until there is a chance to close them down or they hit a misdirected pass. I really hope the courier mail is wrong and a long term offer is not made for the coaching staff.cheers.
Lionheart
Guest
it is crowded up front jb, good point, and I know you've said it before, even though our striker is pretty quick over a short distance. Courier Mail reports we are signing John Aloisi for the long term. mmm!
j binnie
Guest
Lionheart - I think you know I sympathise with you and how your team is playing. The problem is that Roar are not using a successful long ball strategy, for such a tactic would be hopeless due to the fact that there is no player in the front 5 who can head a ball with any skill or accuracy. That means long balls have to be used on the ground but the play out from the back with it's endless crossfield and backward passing is slowing transition, allowing opponents to crowd the Roar's front third, thus making long or short ground passes extremely difficult to get to "target". This is showing up in the number of goals scored ,16 in 14 games, not a figure that generates success or faith in either tactical ploy. Something has to change. Cheers jb.
j binnie
Guest
Ben - In the last World Cup Louis Van Gaal made no secret of the fact that his Dutch team would play with a back three,a six man midfield, and a lone striker. It took the 45 minute "fright of his life" from the Socceroos for him to make big changes at half time throwing Robben,one of the world's best attackers at that time, much further forward out of the condensed midfield and we all know what happened. The same man was still toying with the idea of a 3 man back-line when he moved to Man Utd. and a bit of searching will tell you how Arsenal introduced the 3 man back-line back in the mid 1920's. So you see there is nothing much new in football. Cheers jb.
Lionheart
Guest
fair point. I think it's more about win or loss. Reading Roar fans comments post match weekly I get a bit skeptical. This season they were heavily criticised for playing counter-attacking football, and long balls from anywhere, then they've been criticised for playing out from the back and when dominated possession like last week, for not going forward. Fans will boo the opposition for delaying tactics, but cheer their own team's delaying if it helps them win. It's all about the win, and thus goals. Not sure that T20 is about the win - who won last year? or the year before? T20's more entertainment, competing with Dreamworld more than the A League, in my view. Test cricket, now that's sport. If that's what you want from football you should follow the indoor game, it's big in its own right. I like articles like this as they help fans like me understand what's going on.
Waz
Guest
And I'm still confused, it's probably the title and the text don't really follow? If we're looking for consistency in identity in Roars play under different managers it's sort of not really there at the moment, mainly because JA hasn't quite got things figured out in his own mind yet. The formation is largely irrelevant as 433 or 4231 is merely a means to an end, but JA isn't to me playing with a consistent "identity" week to week let alone comparable to the last 6 seasons. If you do want to see Roars playing identity look no further than the NYL and W League team who provide a more readily identifiable playing style than JAs boys. And it will be interesting to see if the U20s carry that identity under the new TD
tezza
Guest
Lionheart I don`t think the fans write the team off too easily, I think they get frustrated watching a team have so much possession yet do so little with it. I can remember sitting in the stands when Ange was in the middle of changing the style of play to his possession style and the crowd was booing because they were getting bored watching the ball go from side to side and back to the keeper. It is not how much you have the ball it is what you do with it when you have it that counts. Not much point having 60% and lose. I imagine that is why T20 cricket is so big at the moment as people go there to be entertained. People also go to football too be entertained not just watch the ball being passed back and forth. your thoughts?