Brisbane Roar boss John Aloisi has taken a slight swipe at Graham Arnold, believing Sydney FC’s “stifling” tactics contributed to Friday night’s 0-0 draw between the top two.
In a stop-start clash at Allianz Stadium, both defences cancelled each other out, with barely a genuine chance created over the 90 minutes.
“Why do you think [the game] wasn’t pretty? Is that because Arnie stifles games?,” Aloisi said when asked about the quality of the match.
Sky Blues stay top after Roar stalemate
“I’m not surprised because we know Arnie builds from the back,” Aloisi added.
“His teams do end up playing good football, it takes them a while to get into that groove. The same happened last year, the same when he was at the Mariners.
“He’ll get results and then you know come middle or end of the season, they are going to play some really good football.
“He builds from the back first and we found it difficult to break then down. So surprised? No. Will the supporters like it? You will have to ask the Sydney FC supporters that.”
Told about Aloisi’s comments, Arnold couldn’t help but respond, standing up for his tactics and claiming it was Roar who were content with the point.
“Defence wins championships. If he goes and has a look at all the best teams across Europe that win the titles they all have the best defensive record,” the Sky Blues boss said.
“[Roar were the ones happy with a point. From the first minute, [Shane] Stefanutto took a minute to throw the ball in. Jamie Young took a minute to get the ball back in for goal-kicks.
“They slowed the game down and killed the tempo and took the fun out of the game completely.”
In a blow for Roar, the returning Jean Carlos Solorzano lasted just eight minutes before he limped off with a hamstring injury, just nine minutes after come off the bench.
It was the Costa Rican’s first appearance of the campaign after an injury-disrupted pre-season.
“It’s very disappointing. Disappointing for him, especially because he’s been out with these niggly injuries for the last year or so,” Aloisi said.
“He was going to be an important player for our squad and he still is going to be…we don’t know how serious it is.
“But Jamie [Maclaren] goes away on Sunday [with the Olyroos] and we really haven’t got another out-and-out striker so we have to see what we have to do.”
As well as Solorzano and Maclaren, Matt McKay and Corey Brown are also unavailable for next weekend’s clash with Perth Glory due to international duty.
