Brisbane control the play

Last night’s game against Sydney FC saw Brisbane Roar dominate the first half and, despite appearances, dominate the second as well.

Instructions given to the Sky Blue by coach Viteslav Lavicka were to go on the defensive. But according to him, not as far deep as they were forced to.

“The first half wasn’t good.

“We had a game plan, but not like this.

We should have been more aggressive in the middle third but we sat back.

Sometimes we should play more aggressive in defense” Lavicka stated.

Lavicka was happier with how his team played in the second half, pointing to the substitutions having an impact.

While Brosque and Petratos did significantly boost Sydney’s attacking ability, it was moreso due to the Roar gameplan that they were allowed so much into the match come the second stanza.

Coach Ange Postecoglou explained after the game that he wanted his team to settle into the game and hold out for the 1-0 win, looking at gaining experience in doing so for games later in the season when this will become a vital tactic.

“We said at half time maybe for the first time this year we should play for a result, see if we could grind-out a result, keep a clean sheet. And see if we could control a game for 90 minutes in terms of not just playing good football and scoring goals but, when we need to, just be solid” Postecoglou said.

For Postecoglou, this season has seen teams use two main tactics against his table-topping side, and is happy with how his boys have handled them to date.

“More often than not we tend to dominate pretty early in the game and it was the same today – we dominated possession. I guess there’s one or two ways you can try and stop us, you can press up and try and stop us playing out of the back, or you concede the ground and defend in your half. We’ve had to encounter both this year and we’ve handled both fairly well” he stated.

Next up for both Brisbane and Sydney is a trip to Townsville, where they will face off against cellar-dwellers North Queensland Fury at Dairy Farmers Stadium, or as it’s been christened for December, Santa’s Grotto.