@ footballkingz

Skapetis Is the only truslist and I'd say he's got a good chance of getting a position. There's two visa positions available and they say they're looking for a visa winger

We need a creative playmaker to replace Broich of we are going to be serious challengers.Holman is not that type of player.It's one of the reasons SFC are still well above the rest of the teams.Milos Ninkovic.

@ crimsoncrosoe

Holman is far more direct rather than creative but I don't think that's a problem. Broich only had 5 assists last year (same as Oar) so he won't be missed as much as the Broich of 5 years ago. Personally I wouldn't underestimate the contribution Massimo will make

Caletti has shown fantastic vision too, perhaps with TK and Matty in a more out and out DM mindset, Caletti could enjoy some freedom in the middle of the park?

@ Borstal Breakout

I hope Calletti gets an extended run, his ball speed should open up more chances. This is where Massimo will link well with him where Calletti moves the ball forward quickly and Massimo receives it, holds it, and distributed it ... too often last season season the ball went forward and it was a 50/50 turnover

Not sure if Caletti and Daggers both speak italian, but would help Big Mac settle and could help on the pitch too.

Time will tell.But Roar's struggles have coincided with the less effectiveness of Broich.When we were most lethal Broich was the lynch pin.
Our style has changed from the heady days and these days we don't dominate teams.I struggle to see why we will be any better than last year.
SFC is the only team that looks like they can dominate teams again using their 'cough ', style.
Roar along with other teams at this stage don't look anything special.Certainly nothing there to suggest another dominant team emerging. But who knows a few key signings can still make a difference.

@ crimsoncrusoe

As Ange found out with the Socceroos if you don't evolve your game you stagnate, Roar last season played to Borrello and Mackarens strength so tried a counter attacking approach which kinda worked but not quite (although got a 3rd finish). This season they're talking about changes towards a more possession based approach again only with "more penetration" which presumably means a more direct passing style and not just possession for the sake of it, and more shooting.

Roar Academy briefing by Drew Sherman live and on replay:

https://www.facebook.com/BrisbaneFootballReview/videos/1464908176897212/

Big Mac got two on his debut today in the 4-2 win over power. It's only a penalty but his first is here:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1569944936404506&id=1361064053959263

How did Skapetis go?

Scored a cracking goal in the first half. Looked good playing in a team of mainly NYL players plus DeVere. So a solid start

How did Maccarone go aside from the two goals?

Hard to say. I think he came on for the last 15 minutes. He moves well, very slick runner and takes up good positions as you'd expect. Certainly not short on confidence when the pen was awarded he was behind the touch line relieving the ball boy of the ball - the only person taking that penalty was him lol. The second goal showed his class, even if he's flowed down physically his spies of thought is still there. So only 15 minutes but the old man looked good 👍

Thanks for the update, much appreciated!

👍

I went to the Power game and he looks like he'll be much more involved in build up than Macca. He often received the ball back to goal and fed passes out wide and made good runs. Was hard to tell how he was doing as far as speed, but the technique and know-how is there.

I'd agree with maxxie. Maclaren couldn't cross a road or pass the bread basket but he could score, but those 20 goals came at a price to the overall team effort. Maccarone looks to be in a different class technically and is very comfortable receiving, holding and distributing the ball.

The other important thing to come out of this which is being overlooked is both Skapetis and daggers played well and scored. Skapetis will apparently be signed as an injury replacement for Bowles tomorrow with a view to a permanent contract after that

Awesome to hear that all three of the attacking options were amongst it yesterday.  Can't wait for the Victory game.

Did Oxborrow play?

Good that we have our strikers .All seem to be a bit different ,which is good.
What is the story with Bowles?Is he gone for the season?If so who will be the utility back?

I still don't get a fuzzy feeling about the Roar this season.

If we end up near third again then it's only because of the poor recruitment of other clubs otherwise I suspect we will end up mid table.

Top of the ladder no chance.

Well one thing is that both MV and SFC i feel are way weaker. Also teams will be ready for sydney style of play. 

Getting 3rd is barely a pass mark now. This is johns team now and he needs to get it to perform. 

Does anyone know if we actually going with a back 3? I personally think if we go for a formation like that it will improve our chances.

@ Paulc

Our defence and midfield are set well - Avraam is the best CB in the comp by a country mile and his partner is DeVere and all around them is quality with depth.

Up front remains unknown but I'll be amazed if Maccarone isn't s success, you're not playing Serie A a few months ago and flopping in the A league now.

But then the question marks start - who else will stand up in attack? Do we have depth in attack? Where will the creative spark come from?

I thought Holman looked quite lively yesterday. Got into good positions and opened up holes. We need someone else as another advanced midfield option. Caletti is more of a Massimo Murdocca with more skill. I think he is good at keeping the ball circulating but not so great at defence and so far doesn't have a defence splitting pass. He will need to develop this if he is to progress to the next level. If Holman is injured not sure what our options will be .
Maccarone was worrying me with a rather clunky start yesterday but that second goal showed his class. I think he will be fine once he adapts to Oz in general ie football ,climate and general settling in .

Teams that standout tend to have a key creative player.SFC have Ninkovic.When he isnt playing they look unimaginative.
Holman appears to have the role of creator for Roar.But I don't see him as that type of player.Give him the ball and he will move it on quickly and he has good positional awareness.But as a central pivot looking to unlock defences.Nope.
Fortunately for Roar most other teams have the same problem.

@ crimdoncrusoe

Sydney didn't win the title because of Nincovic, they won it because they were a good team. Same with Roar and Broich. I think we tend to reverse engineer these things, how good was Nincovic the year before last? He played well but nothing special because the SFC team was average that season.

I think Massimo will be more creative than scorer which will be a good thing, we need threats and creation coming from multiple players not just single players. Can't wait to see how we go as I think we're doing alright on recruitment, we're just one player short

They were also helped by the late rule change 2 years ago to scrap the Australian marquee. As s result BR & MV were stuck with McKay and Oliver Bozanic as marquees last season while SFC had 2 visa players.

SFC are a disciplined well structured team that are hard to breakdown.They have the best defence by miles.But they performed against very weak defensive teams last year.I agree they didn't win because of Ninkovic alone.They needed goal scorers,which they got.But he was the key to creating chances in attack amd of course carrying out his defensive duties at the same time.Without him,they would not have been so far ahead.They would have been much closer to the pack.
He didn't win the johnny Warren medal for nothing.To me it's no surprise Roar was killing it when Broich was winning the same medal.
Anyway time will tell.I am sure Maccarrone will bring different attributes,like holding up the ball.But creativity wise we will struggle as we will against fast energetic teams.

@ crimsoncrusoe

The defence against fast aggresive sides is possession, possession, possession. They can't score if we have the ball. The question is can we deal with press - that, I recon, is where Maccarone will figure

Brisbane Roar marquee Massimo Maccarone waiting on visa clearance to play Melbourne Victory in FFA Cup

MARCO MONTEVERDE, @marcothejourno, The Courier-Mail

August 6, 2017 8:08pm

BRISBANE Roar marquee man Massimo Maccarone says he’s ready for at least 45 minutes of football against Melbourne Victory on Wednesday night – now all he needs is his visa clearance.

The veteran Italian striker scored twice in his 20-minute Roar debut on Saturday as the three-time A-League champions fought back from 1-0 and later 2-1 down to beat Brisbane Premier League club Peninsula Power 4-2 at AJ Kelly Park.

Being a trial, Maccarone didn’t need visa approval for his cameo.

But it’s a different story for Wednesday’s FFA Cup battle with the Victory at Perry Park.

Maccarone said he was hopeful he would have his visa approved on Monday.

“It’s not here yet but I think it will arrive in time,” the former Middlesbrough and Empoli attacker said.

“I want to play (against the Victory).”

Brisbane Roar marquee Massimo Maccarone in action against Peninsula Power in their trial match on Saturday.
The Roar will take a steady approach with Maccarone should he be available

“I need more time to get my fitness up because I started training less than two weeks ago and I need confidence,” he said.

“But (on Saturday) it was a good 20 minutes. Next time I’ll play some more minutes. We’ll see day-by-day with my fitness.

“I think I can play for a half (on Wednesday night), but that’s up to the coach (John Aloisi).”

Maccarone was delighted to open his account for the Roar, albeit in a friendly against third-tier opposition.

“A forward always needs confidence and when they score a goal, it’s better for everybody,” he said.

“It’s good start, two goals – for the fans and for me as well.”

Aloisi is yet to decide on his starting team for Wednesday night.

Former Victory star Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Greek international Avraam Papadopoulos didn’t play on Saturday, and are no guarantee to be involved against the Melbourne club.

A certain omission is goalkeeper Michael Theo, who has contracted the influenza A virus.

Neither Theo nor fellow gloveman Jamie Young played on the weekend, but Young will start against the Victory.

The Roar are set to announce that triallist Peter Skapetis, who scored against Peninsula, will be offered an injury-replacement deal as cover for long-term casualty Daniel Bowles (knee).

Former Newcastle and Perth midfielder Mitch Oxborrow was to have signed as Bowles’s injury replacement, but he instead put pen to paper on a regular season-long contract.

The Roar have also signed teenage midfielder Emilio Martinez on a scholarship deal.