Brisbane Roar's cup final defeat may not be all doom and gloom, with some valuable lessons learned ahead of the A-League Men's season.
Weary without Waddingham:
While his trailblazing goalscoring has his name up in lights, Thomas Waddingham asserts a far greater effect on the Aloisi approach. There was a collective drop in the Roar's mentality when Waddingham was substituted. It was as if their silverware hopes rested solely on the stripling shoulders of the 18-year old.
Having found himself as the only striker in the Roar's ranks at the start of pre-season, his debut was born more out of necessity than merit. Notching a tidy seven goals for the Roar Youth was enough for Ross Aloisi to go out on a Waddingham whim. After all, what did he have to lose?
His debut, while goalless, characterised the kind of dogged determination that could lift his side. It marked a return to the pressing days of old. Gone are the Maccarones and Austins and back are the Berishas and Maclarens. Roar had been crying out for a striker to bound around the ground before running himself into it. Waddingham of course goes one better and grabs goals, but his efforts offer a more profound effect on the ten men behind him.
While credit for capitalising on his chance goes to him, focus is shifted to the 30 minutes where he wasn't on the park. The high intensity press was quickly picked apart without its talisman, shipping three goals as the Sydney side turned the tide. It highlighted the paperthin paucity in that position.
If the Australia Cup run is anything to go by, Aloisi will get a good 60 minutes out of Waddingham. But from there on, questions remain about what becomes of their press in the final 30, with some tactical tweaking required to see out a lead.
Left-back lament:
If anything can be said about Joe Lolley's performance, it reaffirmed that Brisbane Roar need a leftback. The Englishman is a difficult prospect for a natural fullback, let alone a midfielder-cum-leftback like Zabala, who was hung out to dry by the Mark Viduka medallist.
Louis Zabala's boundless drive up and down the flanks fits the archetype of the modern fullback. But against a quality winger like Lolley, the positional flaws came to the fore, with Sydney sauntering into the space left by the onrushing Zabala. While his performances in the leadup to the final make him a handy option, the Roar will need a natural if they're to shut out higher quality opposition.
The decision to allow Noah Smith to join the Central Coast Mariners has been called into doubt, leaving Corey Brown as the only leftback in the squad. While Brown looms as a boon for Brisbane, he is yet to take part in a fixture, competitive or friendly.
Aloisi's attacking acumen:
If anything was to be learned from Warren Moon's spell at the club it's that Brisbane Roar are best when they're playing free flowing football. Aloisi has impeached the insipid and installed his own ideas.
Social media has been alight with comparisons to Ange Postecoglou's Roarcelona, and after the first half against Sydney, it's not hard to see why. Fullbacks sitting high, forcing play wide to break down the defensive block, and underlaps galore. They go about breaking their opponents down with an unbridled optimism, as if they have nothing to lose. And when you haven't made finals in two season, you don't.
So it was surprising to see Aloisi revert to a more compact defensive block in the second half. Perhaps it was the lack of attacking options on the bench, but bringing off Waddingham for Taras Gomulka exuded everything Aloisi seemed so antithetical to.
With that change came a change in mentality. The quick footed combinations that made the first half flourish gave way to errant passes. The free flowing midfield became disjointed and imagineless. The space in behind the fullbacks was exposed and Sydney scythed through.
The Roar brought about their own demise. They flicked a switch that allowed a superior Sydney side to show their quality. It was a learning moment for Ross Aloisi. The Roar look best when they play the game their way. Sustaining that style for 90 minutes may prove to be this season's greatest challenge, but the results are too irresistible not to try it.
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