Brisbane Roar FC
0
Match Complete
Melbourne Victory
1
| 89' |  | J. Poulsen | ||
| T. Aldred | | 80' | ||
| 79' | | J. Donachie | ||
| R. O'Donovan | | 62' | ||
| S. Neville | | 39' | ||
| 19' |  | A. Nabbout | ||
| 16' | | T. Deng | ||
| 8' | | S. Roux |
| 17 | Shots | 10 | ||
| 4 | On Target | 3 | ||
| 16 | Fouls | 13 | ||
| 4 | Corners | 2 | ||
| 2 | Offsides | 2 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
Both Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory will look to get their first wins of the season at Suncorp Stadium in their Round 3 A-League clash on Friday evening, 7:30pm (AEDT). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.
Melbourne Victory under the new management of Marco Kurz have only 1 point from 2 games, and suffered a fairly comprehensive home defeat to the Western Sydney Wanderers in their last outing.
Kurz is yet to find the winning formula with Victory, literally and figuratively, and he brings plentiful structural headaches into this match.
He has inherited a Victory squad that is a shadow of previous seasons. Victory’s problems are magnified in midfield, where Keisuke Honda, James Troisi, Raul Baena, Terry Antonis and Carl Valeri have all departed, and new signings Jakob Poulsen and Kristijan Dobras have not yet settled.
And while star striker Ola Toivonen has done his best to keep the ship afloat, he seems to be demonstrably missing strike partner Kostas Barbarouses to play beside.
It’s an exodus of midfield quality that should make Victory fans cringe. The pre-season PR was positive around the announcements of Socceroos Andrew Nabbout and Robbie Kruse, but with Kruse injured and unlikely to take the field in Brisbane, Marco Kurz needs a re-think here to change the outcome.
Elvis Kamsoba’s superb shuttle work in the second half of last week’s game suggests he could thrive in a deeper midfield role, while Nabbout’s speed and “Barbarouses-esque” energy would also suit a front two.
It might be bit much to expect Kurz to embrace the same diamond formation as Kevin Muscat, but right now it would have to be a consideration.
Robbie Fowler’s Brisbane Roar comes into this game fresh from a Round 2 bye, and likely still buoyant after pinching a draw away at Perth in week 1.
Roy O’Donovan’s final-minute-of-injury-time equaliser against the reigning (minor) Premier was a positive opening effort from this ragtag Brisbane team.
With a mixture of British and Irish scrappers from the lower tiers, A-League jobbers, and high energy Olyroos Aiden O’Neill and Stefan Mauk in the heart of midfield, Robbie Fowler has assembled a squad that will worry teams more than dominate them.
While they lack polish, this Roar unit will not be swatted away easily like last season’s incarnation.
The fact that they had slightly more of the ball against Perth, more shots (11 to 26), and more shots inside the box (8 to 5), suggests a professional unit that will have eyes on a finals spot.
One stat that Brisbane will dominate throughout this season is the number of O’s in the squad. Four O’s and one Mc is a combination to warm the hearts of many an erstwhile Celt.
Prediction
This should be a close game. Victory will be desperate to get their first win of the season but won’t find it an easy proposition at Suncorp.
As this progresses the game should open up – Victory in particular have a soft underbelly in front of their back four – so I imagine goals but not enough of them to break the tie.
Brisbane Roar 1 – Melbourne Victory 1
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
and the VAR official, Stebre, in clarifying the handball rule for R Fowler, declares that if the body is moving then arms extended are in a natural position. For balance he said. No other VAR or ref has interpreted natural position in that way thus far. So once again, our refs set new standards. Guarantee that interpretation won't be used again this season.
uapgx
Roar Rookie
Fair comment JB but what about the performance of Crocombe in conceding both this goal and the goal last week. Against Perth, whilst the ball was well struck by Ikonimides, the fact remains that it went 'through' the keeper, who only reacted when the ball was nestled in the back of the net. Contrast that bit of keeping with the double save in the corresponding match from last year from Andy Keogh which earned Jamie Young the A League save of the season. Against the Victory, not only was Crocombe rooted to the spot but he did not spread his body lengthwise, in fact the opposite. His shot stopping technique deficiencies were also evident when Athiu nearly scored and when Elvis scored but was chalked off for offside. He has got the spot over Young for his alleged greater distribution ability. As pointed out where did that get them against Victory. In the pre season Cup Young kept them in the game against Sydney and he conceded a tap in goal after Gillespey misheaded a ball. What has Young done to deserve such treatment?
RF
Roar Rookie
An absolutely dire game, jb. The most worrying thing about this Brisbane side is that, unlike other teams, there is little room for improvement because of Fowler's misplaced recruitment. Mauk apart, this is a poor squad. Fowler set his recruitment bar too low.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Only 12,000 turnded up for a Friday evening blockbuster. Other games will battle for 5 figures.
jbinnie
Guest
12,850 fans turned up last night with hope in their hearts and 90 minutes later 12,000 went home wondering what all the fuss has been about. Having perhaps a couple of nights before been entertained by a team scoring 4 goals in a non stop assault on their opponents they were treated here to all that is destructive in our modern game of football. At one time in the second half, when still behind by a solitary goal I counted eight 20 yard passes being made while not one yard of advancement was gained. Football is a "go-forward " game and building up "possession figures" in this manner is actually an insult to those who have paid to watch. Goals are still the main aim of the game and a team does not create ,or score goals passing the ball back and forth in their own back third, while an opponent is getting up to ten players "behind" the ball.. So what is to be done?. RF still has a huge task ahead. First of all he has to improve drastically the time and passing accuracy that will create a much faster transition up and down the field. This throws the gauntlet down to any opponent who wishes to "defend in depth" when seeking an away point or two. The big Swede highlighted this last night doing as much work in his own back third as he did in Roar's back third. A lesson to be learned. Attacking fullbacks.? There is a trend today to use "wingbacks" AND wingers, and this is counter productive ,especially when they cut down on each other "workspace" and in fact can cause a "shortage" of teammates in more important positions deep in the opponents danger area. Two players caught out wide are in fact "overplaying" what they are trying to achieve, defence breakdown. Substitutions? RF is yet to build experience in this department and will have to attend to this area himself. Against packed defences, O'Donovan,Taggart and McLaren are all poacher type scorers and need someone working hard at creating space for their talent. Last night, and in Adelaide Wednesday night, this factor was again driven home forcefully and is something that coaches DO have to solve. On to the next game. Cheers jb.
Nick Symonds
Guest
"Be sure to fire up your barbies for that one." - Just make sure that you have a few vegan options if you're hosting any Rovers fans.
TK
Guest
Coorection - O Donovan's miss.
marron
Guest
Heerenveen vs Groningen (Dutch northern derby)
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Agree that it was a tactical battle and Roar did not have the wherewithal to break through. But at a skill level it didn’t live up to much except that Ola’s skill level was a cut above the rest. I also think the playing surface didn’t help which amplified the poor touches.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Terrible quality game. Roar couldn't get 3 passes together, Elvis and Kenny butchered every toucj
Fadida
Roar Rookie
I'm not sure people forget how to play football in a week. Very good in patches last week, vulnerable in wide areas and lacking creativity Very poor in patches this week, vulnerable in wide areas and in transition, and lacking creativity Interesting to see which will be the mean Fit though
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Just taking the opportunity to have a pop at the Roar before they improve out of sight and win the League.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Schalke v Dortmund's on this weekend too, in whatever they call that derby. The hits keep on comin'
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Very true.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Waz...Lionheart?? Thoughts??? Admittedly, it is very early days, and the Roar did have a week off, which couldn't have helped. But, gawd, nobody should have to pay to watch that, and many won't. Please get better.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Oh, and a london derby on monday morning (AEST) - Arsenal v Palace.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Actually, looking at the fixtures, there's another Yorkshire derby (Huddersfield v Barnsley) AND a Lancashire one (Preston v Blackburn)... AND OF COURSE, better yet, the South Wales derby between Swansea and Cardiff.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Interested to know which part worked well?
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Ok, that's me done! Big weekend of football this one. The Sydney derby's on tomorrow night, there's a Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday (inc Mass Luongo) and Leeds tomorrow night at a good hour (10.30pm) - just the Sydney derby actually - and, if you're into that sort of thing, Man City are on early too tomorrow night. AND if you love vegan football, Forest Green Rovers are celebrating their 130th anniversary at home against Crewe in League Two. Be sure to fire up your barbies for that one.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Compared to the rest he was maradona and Best rolled into one