It may have taken a few more rounds than desired but at long last Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi’s repeated insistence that the feel-good sensations would be back in the Sunshine State are starting to come to fruition.
The 3-1 win over Melbourne City went a long way to resurrecting the ailing Roar season after a topsy-turvy first few weeks for the men in orange.
Week after week went by without a win and yet Aloisi continued to hammer the point home that his side were going to get better and still far from their best.
It was clear that certain players were not in peak condition and as a result, the much-publicised veteran age debate began to gain more and more momentum as a scapegoat for poor performances.
On Friday night Aloisi acknowledged that he knew his side would not start the season with a bang.
“I take the blame for our start of the season because I threw players in that hadn’t had any minutes but I knew I had to give them minutes because I know how good they are and how good they’re going to be for us,” he stated.
“I thought I was going to have three months of pre-season to gel with these players but Khalfallah didn’t kick a ball, Eric (Bautheac) ended up coming late, Brett (Holman) virtually didn’t kick a ball and then all of a sudden they haven’t played with Massimo (Maccarone) either.
“We knew we were going to have a slow start to the season but we thought we’d still pick up points but we’re going to get stronger and stronger.”
Brisbane’s attacking quartet of Holman, Maccarone, Bautheac and Khalfallah has still only put forward five goals and a single assist between them through seven rounds.
Aloisi still passionately insists though that the chemistry in the forward line is improving with every day on the pitch and the rewards will eventually arrive.
“People forget that it’s not easy when you replace virtually four players up front with a different four, it takes time to gel,” said the Roar coach.
“There were some really good signs (against Melbourne City) with the way they combined and the positions they took up on the pitch.
“They’re only going to get better and better the more they play with each other.”
