It was painful to watch.

When you start to see McKay hold back in making runs towards balls that he has a 50% chance of reaching before going over the sidelines, then you know something is seriously wrong.

And it's only taken Aloisi to 3 years to put together the worst Roar side ever.

When your keeper has to put in a match winning performance almost every game, you know you're in trouble. Just like last season, Young has us sitting higher up the table than we deserve.
Geez, we were playing the bottom club in the league, at home, and they were missing 3 of their top 5 players. Yet they had more than double the attempts on goal, and we had one shot on target all game.
Obviously caused by a disrupted pre-season .....

Our team looks undirected and unstructured, and our coach stuck in 'the plan' that may or may not be.

But - his coaching strategy is to have totally structured game strategy - where everyone knows what to do in any circumstance.

We had a pre-season that did not promise much more than pain, but that was the pre-season; when the team started to put into practice what they had built over the offseason..Our first game did involve some brilliant passing play with the threat of further development achieving results.

Immediately after that we had some injuries, brought in new name players, and had a lot more injuries, There is no way that a systemic style of play can achieve decent results when there is no stability and the players you deemed to be employing the style best from pre-season are not the players you now have trying to work within it.

Aloisi has no chance with our stop-gap/replacement squad of seeing his dreams and schemes implemented with either fluidity or confidence. His lack of creativity/leadership/Plan B is at his doorstep; but not necessarily the reason that he is in the position to need to change.

I say 'not necessarily' because I don't know. I am sure we lost our world class conditioning coach sometime back so who is now responsible for so many players getting injured?

Does a coach have any say over other support staff (aside from who might come to support as club if they have confidence in the head coach and team)? Do we have a strength and conditioning coach who is not doing a very good job?  Do we have a training regimen that did not include enough fitness in favour of strategic play early on?

I think the injuries and extra players we have picked up have highlighted Aloisi's inability to provide variance and direction when the wheels fall of (key factors in a good coach), as well as the weakness inherent in his systemic game plan - but as a result we are not getting a chance to see what good could have come from his strategic plan had he been able to maintain a stable side.

The players, seemingly devoid of leadership, are sinking into unlinked individual efforts, misdirected passes and dirty tactics that mark team play from a much lower division.

The loss of Bautheac is a real coffin nailer - as probably our best (only?) real solo danger maker between Young/Bowles and Maccarone.

(Note - I mean Bautheac was the last remaining danger - I counted FBK as another of those but he is already out)

Is it too many old muscles?

Look at Sydney ....same team week in week out ....Ok  they lost Ninkovic but basic side the same each week . It is a huge advantage to keep mostly the same team on the park It helps that Sydney also have very good quality players even on the bench ....and dare I say it ... a very good (if not boring) coaching team and back room staff.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record,there is no way the cause of Roar's problems are just injuries.There are enough good players to play well.It doesn't mean Roar will win ,but there is no excuse for the continual drivel we are watching
Roar's recruitment jas been rubbish and a major cause of the problem compounded by a coach who has hit his glass ceiling and injuries from poor recruitment and poor physical management.
Preseason showed the mess we were in.The players missing were never going to make a big difference.With Kristensen ,a significant goal scorer and a better team last year we managed third.(just).
At the end of last season Kristensen,our key DM was falling apart and noone could see he was a liability.Broich our most creative outlet finally retired and wasn't replaced by a like player.
BKF a reject from MV was brought in.We all know what he is about.
Maccorrone comes in.A quality player in the box,but no legs and hence no defensive capability or threat from a high defensive line.
No new serious midfielders were bought in.
Some long term injury players(Gameiro and Skapetis),who were massive gambles completed the list of recruitment.

No pace,no playmaker ,no DM.

You have to be brutally honest and say Aloisi dug his own grave.The recruitment was terrible and a recipe to fall down the table.
The only way out of this mess is by making some serious decisions for the future,which involves culling..What we have is a short term strategy which has failed.

@ miron Mercedes

Too your point on consistency; Brisbane could have put out the same team yesterday as won 2-0 at wanderers.

Instead Aloisi chose to make two unforced changes - Brown in for O’Toole was pointless as all he was saying is no matter how well you play someone with a bigger reputation will always get the nod; Franjic in for Skapetis was even more questionable

But for me the BS meter went off the scale when a fast winger goes off injured in the first half and he’s replaced by a specialist DM. Wtf 😂😂😂

Totally agree...not blaming our woes just on injuries either. We looked no better earlier when everyone was available . I am also not blaming the age of the players . JA is playing Macca as a "lead the line' striker (a) he is too slow  and (b) his skills to me would be better uitlised sitting just behind someone like Gameiro .I think Macca can be very handy used the right way.
Our big problem is the insistence on passing long 50/50 balls forward which we inevitably lose. Where is the short triangle stuff we used to do ?  We are also extremely unfit. We used to steamroll teams in the last 20 mins.... now it is the opposite.
I could write for hours on what we now don't do that we used to do well.... but I think most people realize what they are ....except the Aloisi's  !

Aloisi is in the first 6 mths of a three year contract. Hard to see them moving against him tbh

Agree with all of the above.  Despite what the clueless masses on all the roar forums say, if you actually watch Big Mac, he makes fantastic runs and finds great positions but we lack the necessary vision and decisiveness to reward him and let's face it, he's only going to make that one run.
When we DO get in early crosses or through balls to him he's dangerous but that's the exception to the rule.
We looked so much better when Gameiro came on, as Macca pulled into more of a false 9 and I really think this where things could improve for us in the next few weeks.
Despite his kness troubles, Corey looked quick, sharp and hungry yesterday and in the absence of a true number 10, Big Mac pulling the strings in behind Gameiro, Skapetis and Daggers could be the key to turning things around.
On that note it must also be pointed out that neither Skapetis or Daggers are wingers.

@ Borstal Breakout

Maccarone is a convenient whipping boy for some, but he’s actually doing very well in a team that’s playing poorly. 442’s player ratings said this about Maccarone:

“With some world class touches and amazing distribution, it was a delight to watch his close control under pressure”

And I’m not going to argue with that, by in large he’s been great to watch this season - but with the team seemingly lacking a game plan, and certainly no plan to get Maccarone the ball in the right place, the focus shifts not to players but to Aloisi. And he’s struggling badly.

He can take satisfaction from two clean sheets but has his keeper to thank for that and while he’s organised his team to be conservative (to basically “not lose”) it’s killed any forward creativity, starving Maccarone of ball, and counter to everything Roar fans have come to expect from their team.

1 defeat in 7 games should be breading confidence but they look anything but confident

This in the Mail today:

John Aloisi defends Roar’s pedestrian start to A-League campaign

ROAR coach John Aloisi says he’s building for the future as well as focusing on the current A-League season as he defends Brisbane’s pedestrian start to their 2017-18 campaign.

Jeers echoed around Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday at the end of a dire 0-0 draw between the Roar and competition cellar dwellers Wellington Phoenix.

While the draw was a good result for the Phoenix, for the Roar it was a huge disappointment.

Brisbane’s football was too often tedious and they created little in one of the worst games of the season.

The Roar have won just two of their 10 matches this season and have largely failed to inspire with football that’s a far cry from the style that revolutionised the A-League and led to the club winning three championships between 2011 and 2014.

Aloisi has rightfully pointed to a lengthy injury list as a reason for the Roar’s failure to fire.

Unavailable on the weekend were attacking pair Brett Holman and Fahid Ben Khalfallah, key midfielder Thomas Kristensen, goalkeeper Michael Theo, and defenders Luke DeVere, Jade North and Avraam Papadopoulos, who is serving a seven-match suspension for spitting.

And things got worse when Brisbane’s best player, Frenchman Eric Bautheac, was forced off in the first half with a hamstring injury.

With the spate of injuries, Aloisi has been forced to turn to the club’s younger brigade, with the likes of Nick D’Agostino, Joe Caletti, Connor O’Toole and Peter Skapetis getting plenty of game time.

“The young boys have really shown they are stepping up and helping,” Aloisi said.

“There’s a bright future for them at Brisbane Roar ¬ that’s really positive.

“I know a lot people don’t care about that at the moment, they just care about the results, which I understand, but I care about building this club and making sure it is in a good position not only today but tomorrow.”

However, Aloisi admitted the Roar were “desperate” ahead of their clash against Melbourne Victory at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night.

Like the Roar, the Victory have battled and are on the same points, 10, as Brisbane.

“Victory want to come here and would like get the three points ¬ we’re no different, we want to get the three points at home in front of our fans,” Aloisi said.

“It’s going to be a good game, both teams desperate, I’m sure our fans will come out in numbers and back us and support us, because we’re all in it together and it’s going to be an entertaining game.”

"ROAR coach John Aloisi says he’s building for the future"

“I know a lot people don’t care about that at the moment, they just care about the results, which I understand, but I care about building this club and making sure it is in a good position not only today but tomorrow.”

Piss off Aloisi. 

It's not the injuries, but the fact that Aloisi's system relies so heavily on everyone knowing the playbook.

New players, and players who weren't playing the system too well in pre-season and so didn't get a first team run, are now trying to play a style that can't be natural or instinctive and results in formulaic play while they try to work out if they are meant to or allowed to do something.

I blame the injuries for the ever-changing team and the Aloisi system for not working if all the players aren't on the same page with it. Same players would see improvement. Changing players mean they can't even get to know each other's likely behaviour in set circumstances.

Yes, recruitment did nothing to bolster our losses from last season - so there is not the individual brilliance to get us out of the holes we so often used to fall in.

"making sure it is in a good position not only today but tomorrow" - doesn't that mean we need the former to add the latter?

Aloisi has had a lot of media training, he needs to be very careful what he says to the media because it will bite him.

“Building for the future” is not what his signings suggest, one of Maccarone, Theo, North, or FBK would have been “adding experience” but all of them?; and dropping O’Toole yesterday does not suggest he’s building for the future (especially if Brown is away at seasons end), Theo over Young has nothing to do with the future either.

Aloisi needs to recognise just how sh*t Roars performances are. Yesterday was absolutely dire, just like the Mariners game, and you can’t spin your way out of that

Bautheac out for 3-4 weeks

Ok, I will admit that Kristenen's return will strengthen the team. A midfield of TK, Ivan and Matty is potentially pretty strong.
But our defence has looked better without Theo, North, Brown and DeVere. Aloisi needs to build a culture where form players, not name players, get a game.
Not a big fan of Gameiro but he looked very committed in his time on the park. Based on form (and assuming Eric is out) I'd be starting the next game with:
Young
Hingert. Bowles. Pepper. O'tool
Franjic. Holman. McKay. Skapetis/Brown (diamond with Holman at top)
Gameiro. Maccarone

“Aloisi needs to build a culture where form players, not name players, get a game”

Bloody Oath !!

Oh, was Aloisi asked in the post-match to clear up the mystery of why he thought a DM for a LW was the right tactical move at 0-0, playing at home against the (very depleted) cellar dwellers?

"A midfield of TK, Ivan and Matty is potentially pretty strong."

Disagree, we played our best football last year when mckay was out of the team and TK and Caletti played together.

Matty has been a great servant but he's noticeably dropped off across all aspects of his game this year.  He's slowed down considerably both physically and mentally.

Off contract players:

Keep - Bowles, Corey Brown, Nicholas D’Agostino, Ivan Franjic, Corey Gameiro, Jack Hingert, Emilio Martinez, Connor O’Toole, Mitchell Oxborrow, Jacob Pepper, Petros Skapetis, Brendan White, Jamie Young.

Lose - Khalfallah, Brett Holman, Massimo Maccarone, Matthew McKay, Jade North, Michael Theo

Leaving us needing:

A new striker
Winger
2x midfielders
Center Back
One spare (no need to replace Theo like for like)

And two marquee slots free.

19 off contract players. We gonna win the league with the players chasing new contracts in the second half of the season! LOL

16 off contract. The whole league is the same. The worst has 21 off contract and the best 13.

Saddest thing is that on the list above of players to keep, there's not a single player who'd be in the top 3 in the league in their position. And not one that you'd back to ever play for the NT. O'tool would be a 'possible' because he's so young. Apart from Young, there's not even a real 'crowd favourite' among them.

I'm sorry, the list you posted above regarding keep and leave shows 19 players. I don't understand. 

@ Footballkingz.

Your right. I didn’t actually count them - the article this came from said 16 but counting the list it is 19. I’ve no idea what’s right now lol.

I guess that's why the article you commented on had Brisbane listed as clear 2nd even though 2 other teams had 16 off contract.

Thank #*@$ ....

Kristensen has been named in the squad for Sunday

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

not necessarily going to mean we suddenly turn into a superteam but its better than the alternative