He was being polite. Saying "I'm not sure" doesn't mean "I don't think it was".

This is a common fault I see with most Australian A League defenders.  There is rarely any desperation to block a shot or a cross.  Look at O'Toole here, he just half-heartedly hangs his foot out instead of throwing himself leg first to attempt to block the cross.  Defenders should always be doing as much as they can to block shots and crosses from areas close to and within the box.  Look at Europe, particularly EPL, the defenders there are very skilled (and committed) at getting their legs and body in the way of shots and crosses.

yep I think you are right...defenders need a little mongrel in them ...not a lot..and I don't mean dirty  ...just a "you are never getting past me " attitude. O'Toole and Brown before him seem to play like "Oh well I tried ..never mind... maybe next time"  

O’Toole was ill apparently. Probably shouldn’t have played - anyone know if Nigro travelled?

The tackle was reckless from both players, both red or both yellow or both nothing,
Instead one gets knocked out and sent off and the other gets a pat on the back and player points.
Sub007 I see your argument but disagree. Sorry mate but you'll never convince me. i just don't see it and I've had my eyes checked recently.

Geez Waz, you don’t really believe that just because Mauk touched the ball last (so had possession) that he can’t commit a red card offence?
Mauk lunged, studs up, hit the top of the ball but unfortunately went over it and makes contact. That gets a red most times.
I don’t think there was any intent - just desperation, which some of our defenders could learn from.
Not a single Brisbane player reacted to Goodwin’s challenge on Mauk ... which is a bit of an indication that there was nothing in it.

I thought it was a pretty good game. 

Adelaide looked very good structurally and their decision to play a traditional game with Width in the midfield/offence  played real dividends.  They could be dark horses for the title, i think, as they seem to be a good team rather than a team of good players.  For some reason, i got the feeling they might just punch above their weight this year. Their defence does look brittle though.

Regarding Roar, i think that next week is absolutely crucial to a side who in my opinion should (if they play well) win the league.  they have the depth, the ability and the room to improve the squad in the next window.  But, assuming Bautheac, Mauk and Taggart are all missing next week, i think it is a must win game.  Roar cant play much worse than what they have been, but they can be crippled by injury and if they are to  mount a challenge, they really need to start hitting form, realisitically.

The Defence is the obvious first problem.  Pepper and Bowles are average players who played above average (brillian for them) last year.  At the moment they are back out of form. Not disgraceful, but not playing as well as we need.  I think that both needs to be dropped, until they refind a purple patch of form like last year (Though i must be honest, that must be a hard thing to do without a reserve grade competition.  I am guessing the hunger is a little gone and hopefully putting someone else in will inspire them to lift their game when next given the chance.  This leaves one of two options.  Option one is to promote Reardon.  I know nothing of him but he is young and apparently talented (and playing well from reports of his trial matches).  There is more to gain from trialling him (if he does well) than there is to lose (if he fails) . in other words it is better take a 50-50 chance  of Gem vs Bust than to stick with Pepper and Bowles where we could get a solid game vs bust.

Option 2 and the most logical one is Devere. Devere is a class player,when in form he is probably the best centre back in the league.  Unlike others, i think if has been poor at training, Aloisi was right to bench him and in these circumstances the coach must always win out over the player.  But, he has done his stint.  This is where Aloisi needs to earn his keep as a coach.  He proved his point and won out.  NOw he has to reach out, get him back in the frame and help him lift.  If it were me, i would have a conference with the player tell him he is selected for the next three weeks regardless and still in plans provided he plays well.  For a bit of cloak and dagger, i would play up the rift to the media and make his appearance a total surprise.  We need him badly.  Him and avraam work better together (even when devere is out of form) .  His cover to Conner O Toole and to a lesser extent hingert is very important to the Roar defence.  i think he would transform the defence (not that i am out and out blaming Pepper and Bowles).

Hingert is badly out of form although i rate him higher than most.  He needs a bit of a shake up somehow, although i have never really thought Ingham was as good as an out of form Hingert. Given the injuries id give him another chance, but i do think JA should think of an innovative replacement.  Shannon Brady, Nigro or someone else should be considered as a replacement if HIngert doesnt pick up his form.

IMO, our central midfield is doing Well.  It might be hard for Calletti to get a run, though i would like to see him fit in their somehow.  On the wings, the decision to play Beautheac and Mikelson on the wrong wings is baffling.  JA needs to have the play as proper wingers and on their proper side, so that they can cross the ball with their preferred foot.  if Bautheac doesnt play then  Surely the Dane will play on the right not the left.  

Replacing Taggart is a difficult one.  Henrique is the best back up striker around, but he is really a second striker playing in a free role.  On his own, he is caught out of position too often to play up front for the whole game.  He works best against a tiring defence.  This leaves a choice between Dagastino and Wenzal Hall.  On last nights form it seems a no brainer.  If he scores a couple of goals (which i actually think he will if he gets a few games in), he might actually make things very interesting when Taggart returns.

@ bender

Good post. Aloisi’s hand is going to be forced one way or another with Mauk, Eric and Taggart out for at least two weeks, Taggart probably 3-4.

Holman is done in my mind, and let’s rule DeVere out st the back just for now.

In defence there’s only one choice to make - Hingert in or out?

Midfield is fine although TK is hot n cold

Up front is problematic with no recognised striker now

Wenzel-Halls would probably be better suited to a wing, Mikkelsen on the other, then its who takes the striker role? Ricky or Daggers?

Personally I’d go with:

Wenzel-Halls, Mikkelsen;
D’Aggers

In a kind of 4-3-1-2

What was it after Beutheac and McKay were off? That seemed to work ok.  Push Lopez into the Mauk role and play Mckay or Nigro in the Lopez role.

Hi.

Just a reminder that you lost.

@ clockwork

Hard to tell from tv what formation they’re playing sometimes but I think it was a 4-3-3 all game. Mauk just took over the pressing in midfield and Wenzel-Halls took the wing.

If they can get rid of the training cones in defence the rest will take care if itself. I don’t think we’ll score many goals without Taggs in the team but as long as we can get the defence functioning that will be okay - but for how many seasons have we been bitching about Aloisi’s defence. All four lol??

One more thing on Friday night - a huge shout out goes to Roar CEO David Pourre who challenged the supporters groups to get 50+ fans in the away bay, last time around it was around 20, and said he’d buy every travelling Roar fan a beer at the game if we got 50+.

We stopped counting at 63 and Dave, true to his word, bought everyone in the away section a beer 👍

Hindmarsh Stadium themselves weren’t all that helpful and would only serve him four beers at a time which was funny “4 beers please ....... beep; 4 beers please .... beep; 4 beers please ... beep 😂

But with a bit of teamwork everyone was satisfied

Now, getting around 70 people to an away game is no earth-shattering achievement even though it was 3x normal but it was a lot of fun and the whole thing got picked up on social media including by the likes of Ray Gatt

Hopefully there’s a few in Newy next Sunday. I’ll be there.

I am normally very cautious with predictions ...lets face it last season Victory fans were calling for Muscats head ....he then went on the to win the Big Show ...but I am feeling our current ladder position is exactly where we will be come seasons end.....6TH.
Hope fully I am wrong and we soar upwards for some reason but being realistic we do not have the tactical nous to beat teams above us consistently . We may jag a few exciting wins but I don't see us having enough consistent football in us to win any silverware .
JA reminds me of Farina . We play a loose style that can look dazzling when on song but more often than not we will have more scored against us than for .
Our defence is shaky and our forwards don't have many goals in them  (unless DWH turns out to be some sort of saviour ...).
Maybe I am in just a pessimistic mood ...or maybe I am being realistic ..I don't know .
Am I alone here ?

You’re not alone.

A coach with better tactical nous would have us top two.

Unfortunately we don’t look like winning any silverware with JA in charge.

Im not going to say much about the game because i didnt watch this one closely enough. I thought DWH looked good when he came on. You can tell that he has a bit to learn at this level (ie some of his touches were just too heavy) but he is quick, gets in good positions and the pass and run for the goal were perfect. It looks like he will get a bit of an extended run now with taggs and eric out for a couple of weeks surely, hopefully he can improve on the little things because he looks dangerous.

i just dont know what is going on with our defence, we look great one week then terrible the next. 

Oh dear, John Aloisi’s time surely must be approaching the end.

Love to be a fly on the boardroom wall.

The teams that win comps always have a set structure and stick to it ... tweaking it only a little at times to suit a particular team.
I am not sure we even have a regular structure . Our style appears to vary wildly depending upon who we play .
We have a few good players but if you look at our squad it is also littered with problems .
Hingert...to me barely A-league standard ...
O'Toole .... thrown in a little early and needs more bench time and defensive coaching
Holman...who ?
Devere ...who ?
Nigro...who ?
McKay - benchie at best now
Calletti- who ?
Dane Ingham - who ?
Bowles- good backup but not a starter for me .
Pepper- squaddie only
Mikkelsen - Hmm? not really shown much for an import ...might come good after settling in period.
Eric , Taggart, Lopez, TK,Mauk, Avram,Henrique, DWH,Young are the solid looking players at present....but they need systems that work and they need a strong defence so the rest can concentrate on scoring .

I’m sure we could do just as good with a local instead of Mickelsen.

Very unimpressed with him.

so any ideas on who your next coach will be? 

On paper Brisbane have a lot of decent players.Most would be snapped up by other clubs.
But the some of the parts is less than the total unit.
It happens a lot around the world.
How many teams chocked full of talent have been relegated over the years?
How many teams have played good football and keep losing?

I am a mere mortal.So working out Brisbane's problems and solutions is beyond me this time.
But what is clear is that.
1.We dont score enough goals from the chances we create.
Maybe our players are just not good enough at scoring goals.Players like Bautheac,Mikkelsen,Lopez and TK are all good players.(Mikkelsen a big ?).But none are known for scoring goals.
Even our best ever player TB didnt score many.
2.Our player workrate is not that high.
3.When we are stretched with players forward our Fullbacks arent good enough to close down fast atacking wingers.
4.McKay,Lopez and TK are not quick,which leaves the midfield struggling getting up and down the field .If Mauk is playing he is much more mobile.
5.Our defence is erratic.We can only guess why.There are so many reasons possible.
6. Team structure.It's just not solid.Sometimes it looks ok ,but clearly its shakey.Keep testing it and it cracks!
7.Playing philiosophy..I cant tell you,because i just dont know.During a game it changes.from week to week it changes.
8.The coach is struggling.He is experimenting after more than three years.After three years has he a hub of players he has recruited to build a team around? i say no.
If there was a hub of players,they would know the playing style and structure and help new players adjust.There is no hub of players and no playing style or structure.
Hence Brisbane is a battling midtable team on the road to nowhere!

No way Roar is a top two team even with a good coach. Fourth at best.

A few things to take away from the game.

• The consistency of the defensive structure is abysmal.  If it was a one off it would be ok, but the constant lapses are demoralising.  Young made the scoreline look so much better than it would have been.
• The excuse of "horror injury list" will be making a regular appearance in post match press conferences over the next few weeks. 
• Ross Aloisi got angry - I know, shocking isn't it?  Maybe next time Ross shapes up to someone, the support staff should just sit down and see how it plays out.  Ross either punches someone and gets a lengthy ban or slinks away in a wimper.  Either way the club wins.  Alternatively the club moves Ross on.  His boorish antics have worn thin and it's embarrassing to the club. 
• Kurz is tool.  I think JA calling him a dickhead was about the right response in the circumstances.
• Wenzel-Halls looks really sharp, hopefully he can take this opportunity and kick on.

Taggart in the frame for Sunday’s game v Jets. No news on Eric though.

Agree with all of this.

Our defence has always been shaky since the brothers took over. Ross is in charge of this, is he not? I dare say if John wasn't in charge, then he'd have been gone a long while ago.

@ BRFC92

The defence is a bug-bear of mine and has been for several years. I have asked JA on numerous fan forums “who coaches defence” and he’s said it’s shared between him and Ross.

Will finish 5th

....in other words Ross does . JA was a striker and never played defence in his senior career...sure...there are certain things he could show a defence from a forwards perspective but there is a lot he could not . Ross was defensive midfielder .  We need an actual defender to coach defence or get a very experienced defender in to play and guide/coach his teammates what to do. Not sure Avram says very much out there ....as good a player as he is .

ROAR FANS IN... | We've had a influx of fans from all over the country getting in contact this week, so we've decided the collective noun for fan groups has to be a PRIDE! Depending on where you are, what you love and where you travel, head over and like any or all of these pages:

📍You go left to turn right? Roar Fans in Melbourne
📍Wrong side of the border? Roar Fans in Sydney
📍Schnitty the size of your head? Roar Fans in Adelaide
📍No teams but love the game? Roar Fans in Tasmania
📍Beach football? Roar Fans on the Gold Coast
✈️Travelling? Brisbane Roar Away Days
🧡 Brisbane Roar W-League? The Roar Corps!
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🇪🇸️ Speak Español? El RSF en Español
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Don't forget our friends over at The Den - BRFC The Roar Review Roarcast Roar Social Club and the official club page Brisbane Roar FC as well!

#somuchRoarlove #RoarAsOne #anyonefromperth #anyonefromcanberra #anyonefromdarwin #howgoodisthat #feelthelove

Link to all the above links (which probably didn’t work on pasting):

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2154592851273042&id=1361064053959263

The admin/backroom of the Roar is now amongst the best in the HAL.  Amazing what a good CEO (and some consistent cash flow from the owners) can achieve.  Regardless of the onfield performances, the Roar look set for better things in the longer term.