I have made little effort to disguise my admiration of Adam Taggart’s skills as a finisher.
There is no reason for me to do so. We are not related, Adam doesn’t pay me to write nice things about him and having a little man crush on an Australian footballer sits fine with me.
The start that the 25-year-old has made at his new digs in Brisbane might also have quite a number of those up north feeling much the same way.
With five goals from as many matches and a number of other chances coming close to the mark, Taggart leads the race to the golden boot alongside Sydney FC’s Adam le Fondre.
There is little coincidence that Taggart’s arrival makes Brisbane look decidedly more menacing in front of goal, even though the Roar haVE produced far more rocks than diamonds over the opening month of the competition.
Bluntly, Brisbane has not been particularly convincing as a team thus far. A scrappy scoreless draw with Wellington and a first-half nightmare in Mudgee against the Wanderers are two clear examples of the inconsistency that has marred its early-season performances.
Stubbornly I still lock them in as likely winners when I do my tips on a Wednesday, feeling sure that Taggart is the key and believING that once his combinations with Alex Lopez and Eric Bautheac blossom to their full height, the Roar will be roaring.
That tipping strategy has not paid dividends thus far – until Saturday night, that is, when the men in orange grabbed their first full complement of points for the season against a mysteriously Bruno Fornaroli-less Melbourne City.
It was Taggart on either side of the break with his fourth and fifth goals of the season. Again there were other chances gone begging, and if the Perth-born striker does have a day on which a little luck goes his way, the possibilities are mouth-watering.
Of course he has done it all before, winning the golden boot in 2013-14 with the Jets. Taggart found 16 goals that season and Australia collectively hoped that he would lead the next generation of Socceroos striking stocks.
As is so often the case with Australian footballers, Taggart experienced little success abroad thanks to unfortunate injuries and limited opportunity, and his time with Fulham and Dundee United did little to further his development.
Two recent seasons back at the Glory saw Taggart far more settled and back in the consistent footballing rhythm required to succeed as a marksman up front.
(Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, north of the eastern seaboard border, John Aloisi was performing a minor miracle and guiding the Roar to a highly unlikely appearance in the 2017-18 A-League finals. Despite the collective sigh of relief expended by Aloisi and his staff, the entire organisation knew that something had to change and far more punch up front was required.
Since the departure of Jamie Maclaren, the Roar have missed the point of focus that he provided. Massimo Maccarone tried hard as a spearhead yet became something of a blue-collar worker rather than the flashy goal scorer for which Brisbane had hoped.
Bautheac looked the goods, Thomas Kristensen brought some class to the midfield and Jamie Young’s performances in goal led to peer and public acclaim. Yet Aloisi still hadn’t found what he was looking for – until he completed the signings of both Taggart and Spaniard Alex Lopez prior to the 2018-19 season.
Lopez looks a flat-out star, and the evidence of vast La Liga experience is clear for all to see. However, he will not find the net frequently. Control of midfield and creative assists are Lopez’s thing. Taggart will be the key for Aloisi when it comes to the score sheet.
So key, in fact, that Brisbane has just six goals to its name this season. Lopez is Brisbane’s only scorer other than Taggart to this point.
Aloisi has now gone public, stating that his striker has much more in the tank. If the overall performance of the team improves 20 to 30 per cent, as it needs to, Taggart could be in for a mammoth haul this season.
With so much made of the supposed dearth of talent in Australian goal-scoring stocks, it is fantastic to see Chris Ikonomidis, Craig Goodwin and Taggart himself flying the flag when it comes to Australian A-League goal production.
It is possible that Graham Arnold may call on all three for the rapidly approaching Asian Cup defence in January. I for one would like to see Taggart there as the Socceroos enter a scary place without Tim Cahill lurking to heroically produce the astonishing.
Taggart’s Socceroo journey began in 2012 as a young man, and at just 20 years old and after three goals in national colours he found himself at a World Cup in 2014.
Was he ready? Certainly not. Yet the experience and subsequent hardships will have stoked a fire in him and helped shape the aggressive and reinvigorated player that we see today.
I predicted a 20 goal-plus season for Taggart. With 22 matches remaining and just 15 goals needed, I’m fairly confident that my man will get there comfortably and in style.
Mark
Guest
The SPL is what it is. It’s not the SPL’s fault that some Aussie players have recently moved there. It’s a reflection of where the Socceroos are at right now, the players have no better offers. On the sustainability point, I can understand that from one point of view, being that there will always be cannon fodder from lower divisions to serve up for Celtic to smash. However, I would argue that whereas the quality of the A-League is slowly improving, or at least remaining still, the quality of the SPL is in a long-term decline that shows no signs of slowing down, to the point where with the exception of Celtic most A-League clubs are now on par with most SPL clubs.
stu
Guest
That's ok, I understand that. The inference of my comment has been ongoing. A link seems to be made that due to a lot of our players playing in the SPL it seems to be the leagues fault that our players are not performing to 'expectation' at international level ( those players made their own choice). As a continuance, the link, for some unknown reason seems to be made that the SPL is not as good as the A-League, which in all honesty is coming over more and more as an scapegoat for the A-League possibly not being as good as some think. May be worth noting that if we had a mainstream media that firstly gave a toss and secondly had some passion about the game we may well see the same type of ariticles published here. Before I say leave the SPL out of it, I could suggest that at least the SPL has a more 'secure' future than the A-League. This is the challenge.
stu
Guest
That's ok, I get that. The inference is that a number of negative comments referring to the SPL make it the 'cause' why our SPL players are not performing at international level (it is the players choice to play there). And as a continuance, for some strange reason it is used as a comparison to the a-league without any bases of fact. If we had a switched on football mainstream media in this country the scathing headlines from the Guardian may well be seen here.
jupiter53
Roar Pro
Totally agree. Neither Kruse nor Juric look like they are ever going to score, it is a shock if they do. Taggart may miss 'em, but at least he gets in position to miss, and it is not a surprise when he does score.
jupiter53
Roar Pro
You might be interested in this fairly scathing article about the current quality of Scottish football from the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/17/football-hampden-roar-scotland-plastic-pitches
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
I am licking me lips at that. Revenge for 2011/12.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Yeah look, the first step is “we have a problem”. Then we move forwards ... this is probably not the thread for these discussions but some solutions are already in play - an end to the in-fighting, and independent HAL, Div 2, expansion ...
Waz
Roar Rookie
Here’s hoping for a Roar/Glory GF. Have to be in Perfff though, we don’t have a stadium booked thanks to the FFAil :(
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Ok, the Glory is definitely not a place for young talent because otherwise i would have at least been playing Jacob Italiano and would have bought a younger goalkeeper. I still believe they were ready to go for you but there talents were definitely being under-utilised like Jacob Italiano's.
Fadida
Guest
Hardly scapegoating. It's a comment that the SPL is at best a sideways move.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Of course there is a problem. But what is the solution? There seems to be a bit of head scratching going on, which doesn’t bode well for considering solutions.
stu
Guest
The statement regarding the SPL continues from the same sources time and again. You have a number of Australian players playing there now and from the past, I should add it is their choice and not the fault of the SPL. Take the first step of asking our players who have played in the league, current and past. Many are on twitter or can be contacted through club contacts. Make the argument rather than what could be construed as a scapegoat.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Oh no, you didn’t “serve them up”. Roar had to rescue them from Glory where their talents were being under-utilised and subservient to the Irish over-lord you call Keogh. Glory is not a place for young talent, with Popa assembling a team with TEN over-30’s in it that much is pretty obvious.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Thanks for admitting that we served up 2 quality strikers on a plate to you.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I’m just gonna say “I told you so” because whenever this trend has been mentioned on this site before I get attacked. TV viewing. Down. Attendance. Down. Both down on last season which initself was a very bad season. The 5 year trend is about to become six. The first step in recovery is to acknowledge we have a problem. Say it with me folks: “we have a problem”.
Waz
Roar Rookie
jb. All good, we’ve been over this a few times and guess what, we’re back here again lol. I’d swear Aloisi was playing a 4-2-1-3 earlier in the season in an attempt to give Taggart some support, as usual injury (to Mauk) forced a change in tactics to something like 4-3-3 ... it’s actually getting hard to tell with JAs sides as, even though he talks a lot in structures, his sides often don’t display a consistent one. But back to the question - if you were to choose between Maclaren and Taggart for the Asian Cup, who would you take? I’d go Tagz even though it’s way too early to be sure.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Stuie, Much as I hate to agree with kingsporn, Fad and Mid let’s give them acknowledgment these guys aren’t Queenslanders, not that we’ve claimed it mind you. Aloisi though does seem to be a good coach of young, Australian strikers and both Maclaren and Taggart transferred from bit parts at Glory to leading roles at Roar and were better for it. The question is if Taggs form continues how long will he stay in Brisbane? P.S. And yes, nice to have some Roar content. Pass on my thanks :)
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Yes, no doubt about it, still, the FFA has another 5 seasons (including the current season), so can make a bit of hay while the sun shines. There are many who believe that once the clubs have control of the A-League, they'll be able to bring more revenue in.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Team 11 appears to be in a Catch 22. The FFA giving the green light is dependent on a cast-iron guarantee that some level of government is going to build them a $200 million stadium on the outskirts of metropolitan Melbourne, but State government is saying they'll make no commitment until they know the team is definitely in the A-Leauge (which was smart of them).
Kangas
Roar Rookie
So good for Newcastle, he made the World Cup squad for 2014