Despite just a single game remaining before a temporary reprieve from their exhausting mid-season slate, competition leaders Brisbane Roar are still firmly focused on their upcoming match against Central Coast Mariners this Sunday.
The Roar’s schedule has seen them play seven games in the last month and, after this weekend’s pivotal matchup, they will have kitted up for five matches in the last fourteen days.
Midfield stalwart Erik Paartalu is happy with how his teammates have responded throughout the tough stretch.
“We’ve had a few games now and travelled a lot, which is tough,” Paartalu said.
“But we’ve been eating and recovering as well as we can, and the boys have been pulling up pretty well after the games.”
Central Coast has played three less matches than the Roar this season, but Paartalu pointed to his side’s depth as another weapon in their armoury for when they square off against the fourth-placed Mariners.
“You can see the competitiveness. There are a lot of boys that want to be in the [Roar line-up]. And the starting eleven wouldn’t be anywhere without the boys pushing them. It’s a big group effort.” he said.
Brisbane have taken advantage of their depth, with attackers Jean Carlos Solórzano and Mitch Nicolls playing key roles off the bench on the league-leader’s way to securing 14 of a possible 18 competition points this month.
Coach Ange Postecoglou has refused to use the hectic schedule as an excuse for any potential drop-off in his team’s play.
“We’ve had plenty of opportunities for whipping out an excuse for not winning a game of football over the last month, and we haven’t used any of them,” he said.
“Whether it’s tiredness, refereeing decisions or injuries; nothing is being used.”
“No one is patting each other on the back, and that’s an indicator of where we are at the moment, and that we’re still switched on.”
As their flurry of games subsides, the Roar are looking forward to a more comprehensive and tactical approach to training, rather than the recovery-based program currently being followed.
“It’s been fantastic, the run we’ve had while getting results and playing good football, but we’ve got to go to another level now. We can only do that on the training track,” Postecoglou said.
As the schedule lightens, Roar players and coaches are finally getting the chance to reflect on their record-equalling 13-game undefeated streak.
“It’s massive for the club, but the boys haven’t said anything about it . . . we just go about our business,” Paartalu said.
“Hopefully this year we’ll set a lot of records. But it’s all about the next game for us. It’s a bit cliched, but Sunday [against Central Coast] is our biggest game.”
Brisbane Roar will look to extend their unbeaten streak to 14 games when they travel to Bluetongue Stadium for a 4:00 pm AEDT kick-off against Central Coast Mariners on Sunday.
