Heading into the second half of the 2021/22 A-League Men’s season it’s about time we assess the Brisbane Roar’s season as it stands so far.
Semester summary
So far the 2021/22 A-League Men’s season has been a rollercoaster for the Brisbane Roar.
Brisbane started sluggishly, collecting only a single point before the New Year but having missed three games due to postponement in that period, their points tally may have been deceptive.
The Roar seemed revitalised coming out of the Christmas break, collecting their first win of the season along with a draw away to Sydney FC.
Their 3-1 loss to Adelaide United, their third game in 12 days, put another curve in the campaign but could easily be blamed on tired legs.
Since then the Roar have struggled for consistency winning their next game 3-0 before again losing on the road in Newcastle and repeating the win-loss back and forth in the following weeks.
Brisbane’s most recent game was a 3-0 loss away to Perth Glory which has sunk the team to the bottom of the A-League ladder. Despite being tied on points with four other teams their negative seven goal difference is weighing the team down.
Coach Warren Moon will hope the Roar can find some consistent wins to finish the season on a high and avoid the wooden spoon.
Areas of excellence: Team fluidity and passing
Many of the Roar’s goals this season have come from genuinely excellent passing moves that engage nearly if not all 11 players on the pitch.
Coach Moon clearly has a style he wants to play and it shines through in these moments of crisp off-ball movement and slick passing in Brisbane’s build up.
Players across the top third of the pitch often move seamlessly around one another as well as the defenders in their way with one touch back and forth passing to create some truly beautiful passages of play.
The ability of every player to attack and defend is highlighted in Moon’s constantly overlapping and ball-switching system that can run defences ragged.
Passing is key to this system and Brisbane’s squad has a range of excellent passers who can distribute the ball all over the pitch with ease whether that be long or short, high or low much of their passing is pin point.
Areas in need of improvement: inconsistency and a lack of clinical finishing
Despite how good they often look on the pitch Brisbane have struggled to bring it all together on a regular basis.
The Roar are yet to achieve back-to-back wins this season and it is this inconsistency in form that is plaguing their campaign.
Brisbane can be excellent for entire matches but too often they have a quality half an hour or certain exceptional 15 minute spurts before fading out of the match for long stretches.
This up and down tempo of play in matches from the Roar is not exclusive to home or away games with both yielding similar results all season however, all three of their wins have come at home which is something to be noted.
Winning on the road is a mandatory prerequisite for any A-League side aiming for a finals berth. Brisbane will need to address their travelling demons if they are to become a competitive side to close out the season and grow into 2022/23.
If this Roar squad are to become a force under Moon they need to start controlling matches from the first whistle until the last both at home and away. These drop-offs often come straight after a missed opportunity in front of goal and this is Brisbane’s second biggest problem.
The Roar have struggled to put away many of the chances placed in front of them.
The best example of this was the Roar’s 0-0 draw with Sydney FC in which they had 14 shots and seven on target but couldn’t find the back of the net to win the match.
Another example was Nikola Mileusnic in the first half of Brisbane’s match against Western Sydney Wanderers in which he scored one but fluffed a further three one-on-one chances against the keeper in the first half alone.
If Brisbane are to become a winning team in the A-League they need to finish their chances and put games to bed before opposition teams have the chance to grab a foothold in the game.
Top student: Henry Hore
Henry Hore made his debut this season and has been a major bright spot for Brisbane in what has been a torrid campaign.
The young winger has contributed two goals in 500 minutes of action.
Making an excellent transition from the NPL into Australia’s top tier.
His is so often involved in smooth attacking moves for Brisbane with his constant movement and fast feet causing havoc for defenders.
Hore is proving his worth as an A-League player and looks like a real key for Brisbane’s track in the future.
Needs improvement: Juan Lescano
Juan Lescano joined Brisbane at the start of the season and has fallen flat of what coach Moon would have hoped for him to contribute thus far.
Lescano has only contributed one goal so far through ten matches played far below what was expected when he joined for $35,000.
The 29 year old forward has also often looked out of place in Moon’s fast flowing fluid brand of football, playing more like a traditional target man up top.
The Argentinian will need to bring more to the table if he is to remain a Roar player into the future.
Grade: D
Outlook
The Roar face a tough run into the end of the season, they are currently sitting 12th on the table which means the only way is up.
The Roar now have 11 games left of the 2021/22 season along with 3 postponed games to catch up on. If the Roar can string consecutive wins together they could move off the foot of the ladder but that requires growth from the squad as a whole.
The mental barrier that exists when they play away games needs to be broken for this squad to improve.
The hope for Brisbane exists in the youth of much of the squad.
If these young guns can establish themselves fully in the A-League with quality performances they will represent a bright future for the Roar if not this season then the next.
If the Roar can begin to dominate a full 90 minute match and address their finishing woes the they can avoid the wooden spoon which they are currently front runners for.
Feature image credit: Brisbane Roar FC
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