John Kosmina believes Brisbane Roar could be a Finals Series wildcard given how well Robbie Fowler’s side are performing at the moment.
Brisbane beat Newcastle Jets 1-0 on Friday night to cement their standing in the top six and move four points above reigning Premiers Perth Glory on the table.
Scott McDonald was the match winner for Fowler’s side, as he was in the Queenslanders’ 1-0 win over Central Coast Mariners last Friday.
The former Socceroo now has four goals in three games following his mid-season arrival from Western United, and given a Brisbane side which struggled for attacking impetus in the early stages of the campaign a sense of bite in the final third.
But for FOX Sports pundit Kosmina, it is the quality of the Brisbane rearguard and collective defensive organisation of Fowler’s side that make Roar an unenviable opponent for anyone in the Hyundai A-League right now.
“If you look at how they play now, they are scoring early, they’ve started scoring in the first half, their combination play in the front third of the pitch is getting better week by week,” Kosmina said.
“But most importantly, the back three. Tom Aldred, Macaulay Gillesphey and Scott Neville are virtually impenetrable.
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“Tom Aldred was a giant tonight, he was winning everything in the air and it was so difficult for the likes of Roy O’Donovan.
“Once you get to the finals, if you look at how the Roar are performing at the moment, they can beat anyone in the league.”
Brisbane’s current standing under Fowler cuts a huge contrast from a team which conceded an all-time league high 71 goals in 2018/19.
Only Sydney FC, Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory boast better defensive records than the Roar right now.
“They’ve been fantastic,” said match-winner McDonald of his side’s defensive resilience.
“The shape that we play, we’re very difficult to break down and I think we have been all season.
“Just getting the goals and getting ahead early on was a problem but we’ve managed to curb that and we’re doing really well.
“We just have to keep bouncing on.”
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